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DAVID McHUGH
Tuesday, 03 September 2013 10:04 AM EDT
LUDWIGSBURG, Germany — The special prosecutors' office that investigates Nazi war crimes said Tuesday it is recommending charges against dozens of alleged former Auschwitz guards, opening the possibility of a new wave of trials almost 70 years after the end of World War II.
Kurt Schrimm, the head of the Ludwigsburg federal prosecutors' office, said an investigation of about 50 alleged former guards turned up enough evidence to recommend that state prosecutors pursue charges of accessory to murder against 30 of them in Germany. Another seven suspects who live outside the country are still being investigated.
The cases are being sent to the responsible state prosecutors' offices in 11 of Germany's 16 states. It will be up to them to determine whether the elderly suspects — primarily men but also some women — are fit to stand trial and whether to bring official charges.
"The biggest enemy is time," Schrimm told reporters.
Accessory to murder charges can be filed under the same legal theory that Munich prosecutors used to try former Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk, who died in a Bavarian nursing home last year while appealing his 2011 conviction on charges he served as a Sobibor death camp guard, Schrimm said.
Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk was the first person convicted in Germany solely on the basis of serving as a camp guard, with no evidence of involvement in a specific killing. Under the new legal argument, anyone who was involved in the operation of a death camp was an accessory to murder. Demjanjuk steadfastly maintained that he had been mistaken for someone else and never served as a camp guard.
Efraim Zuroff, the top Nazi hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, said the decision could mean even more cases will be opened against guards at the other five main death camps established by the Nazis.
"We commend the [prosecutors] for seeking to apply the precedent as widely as possible and hope that they will be able to find as many perpetrators as possible," he said in a telephone interview.
"It's only a shame that this kind of legal reasoning was not applied previously, because it would have led to many, many more cases of people who definitely deserved to be brought to justice."
Schrimm said that even guards who worked in a death camp's kitchens played a role in the facility's function as a site that existed for the purpose of mass murder.
Still he cautioned that the health of the suspects — and of possible witnesses — would make bringing them to trial difficult.
"I don't want to raise excessive expectations," he said.
About 1.5 million people, primarily Jews, were killed at the Auschwitz camp complex alone between 1940 and 1945.
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You know what they say, Italians do it better.
Christmas is no exception. I had heard of the Feast of the Seven Fishes, a coursed Christmas Eve tradition to count down the hours to Christ's midnight birth, but never have I experienced it. Until this year.
On the Table Set's holiday episode this year we decided to shake up tradition and go intimate dinner party instead of all-out Xmas bonanza like last year. Add my co-host Greg's recent collaborators Alaska Seafood graciously sharing some of their top-of-the-line sustainable seafood and our Buone Feste was heartily underway.
AND the table is set (no pun intended). In fact, Greg is such a pro I believe it was set a full day in advance.
As per usual, we had too many cooks in the kitchen — That's because some of our most talented friends were in attendance. Seven courses for seven wonderful cooks. And for extra credit, seven beverage pairings. No lazy bloggers 'round here!
To serve as guests arrived, I thought Philadelphia Fish House punch seemed a fitting choice.
Course #1: The Cuisinerd and her main squeeze are no amateurs when it comes to sea bugs, and they knocked us flat with their Grilled Alaskan Oysters and Mignonette Trio: Spicy Chipotle, Cilantro Lime, and Classic Cocktail Sauce. (Seriously, these sauces should be sold in jars.)
Their offbeat pairing choice of Cantine Elvio Tintero Grangia frizzante (90% Favorita and 10% Moscato) created a wonderfully dry and fizzy bridge to the next course.
Course #2: I volunteered for the amuse bouche. Starting with salmon roe, I got inspired by dishes from LA's Son of a Gun restaurant and in the sexy NOMA cookbook. For added depth I first cured the roe in a beer brine. I used Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel's sweet and spicy Route Des Épices rye beer brewed with black and green peppercorns.
The finished amuse comprised of a Rye Crisp with Maple Cream, Beer-cured Salmon Roe, Green Chile Sugar and Fennel Top.
Course #3: Jackie the Beeroness (also behind Domestic Fits) wowed us all with her comforting Seared Alaskan Scallops wtih Smoked Sweet Corn Puree and Stout Balsamic Reduction. A sparkling wine cocktail with fresh basil and elderflower liqueur was an elegant brace.
Course #4: Chef, artist, and former Table Set guest Brian wove a tapestry of a "soup course" with his Seared Halibut over Forbidden Rice with Miso Pork Broth. For a cleansing respite, fresh lavender-infused spa water was paired.
Course #5: It wouldn't be a Table Set supper without something showy from Andy. His "Surf 'n' Turf" entree was no exception. Here, oceany Uni Capellini with Scallop, Bonito and Nori Crumble met earthy Rye Toast with Pine Nut Porcini Butter for a unique twist on the concept.
It was paired with Kabaj Rebula, a full-bodied Slavic white wine (100% Ribolla) capable of standing up to the intense flavors of the dish.
Course #6: Salad after entree? Why not?! Salad with crab? Hit me! Joy the Baker made magic with her crisp and refreshing Alaska Crab, Apple and Pomegranate Salad — a new Insalata di Mare classic. Get her recipe here.
Six courses in, I can hardly recall what we were drinking anymore... but my blurry photo shows that it was bubbly, and that we were having fun!
Course #7: And boy, the fun wasn't over yet. Greg built a mountain of it with his festive Caffè e Frittelle Dolci (Coffee & Donuts) — Glorious rosemary glazed donuts studded with gummy Swedish Fish, a highbrow/lowbrow win. I think I had seven.
In all, a beautiful night of subtlety, skill, festivity, and togetherness. Thank you to Alaska Seafood and all of our lovely guests!
Video and additional photography courtesy of Ted Houser

subset: commoncrawl


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Hi there! I have a Nail Of The Day post for you today.
For this mani I painted my nails with Rimmel Lycra Pro 500 Peppermint (2 coats, middle and index fingers, thumbs) and Miss Sporty Lasting Colour 500 (2 coats, pinkies, ring fingers).
I used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure 610 Over The Rainblue (1 coat) on my pinkies and ring fingers.
I used Bundle Monster's BM 711 stamping plate (from Bundle Monster's Secret Garden collection) and Revlon Colorstay 270 Stiletto to stamp floral images onto my thumbs, index and middle fingers.


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June 6, 2007— -- A campaign to send CBS thousands and thousands of pounds of peanuts to protest the network's decision to cancel a television show appears to be working.
When CBS canceled "Jericho," a show about life in a small town after several nuclear bombs go off across the country, its fans started to rebel.
Internet chat rooms -- including a popular one on CBS's own Web site -- filled with talk about how to convince the network to bring back the show.
One method: nuts.
So far, nearly 40,000 pounds of nuts have been sent to various network executives in New York and Los Angeles. That's about 8 million peanuts.
Now it looks like the outpouring of peanuts might be working.
Quoting an anonymous source, The Associated Press Tuesday said CBS is reconsidering its decision to cancel the show. A decision on whether to bring the show back, probably for a midseason run, is imminent, the AP reported.
"They got us hooked on this great drama. … They make you actually care about the characters," said Kevin M. Russell, a fan-turned-nut-shipper from Fort Smith, Ark. "Then they pull the plug."
"Bottom line, it's to make a statement," Russell added. "We're tired of the networks telling us what to watch."
What started out as individual fans shipping nuts quickly became an organized movement.
Jeff Knoll, a fan in Oakville, Ontario, was thinking about shipping some nuts but was worried about them getting delayed in customs. That's when he stumbled across nutsonline.com.
He started talking to Jeffrey Braverman, whose family has run the nut distribution company now called nutsonline.com for three generations.
"I had never watched 'Jericho,'" Braverman said. "I was brushing this off at first. I didn't understand the magnitude of this."
He had noticed some strange orders coming in for nuts to CBS but didn't piece it together until Knoll picked up the phone.
That's when Braverman decided to revamp his Web site so "Jericho" fans could pool their resources.
Instead of shipping a few nuts at a time, the fans could chip in $5, $10 or $20 for a larger delivery that would make a statement.
So far, about $54,000 has come in.
Braverman said he is offering the fans the nuts at close to cost.
Granted, he gains a group of new customers and is getting plenty of free advertising on blogs, message boards and from the mainstream media.
Clarke Ingram is one of the people who started working on a campaign earlier this month. Before the series even ended, he and others on the Web started talking about what to do if CBS decided to cancel the show.
"I'm 50 years old, and this is the best show I've ever seen," Ingram said.
He and other fans just started tossing out ideas. Radio host Shaun O'Mac also started talking about "Jericho."
So why nuts?
In the final episode of "Jericho," the town is under siege from a neighboring community.
When asked to surrender, lead character Jake Green, played by Skeet Ulrich, has a one-word response: "Nuts."
The response is a reference to Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, a U.S. Army general who in World War II was surrounded by Germans demanding his surrender.
His response: "Nuts."
The fictional residents of "Jericho" took Jake Green's "nuts" as a rallying cry as they fought the larger force from the neighboring town. Fans never got to see the outcome of the battle. The season -- and now apparently the show -- ended there.
So is CBS nuts?
"Right now they are," Russell said. "They still have time to change their minds."
This is not the first time a protest has taken on a culinary nature.
When fans feared that WB was going to cancel "Roswell," they sent tiny bottles of Tabasco sauce to the network. It was the favorite condiment of the show's aliens. "Roswell" was moved to a new night and time and was renewed for a second season.
When Fox canceled "Arrested Development," fans sent the network bananas in protest. (The family featured in the series ran a beachfront banana stand.)
So what is CBS going to do now that it has enough peanuts to feed a parade of elephants?
They will be donated to City Harvest, a New York City program that takes excess food and distributes it to community food programs for the poor, according to Phil Gonzales, a CBS spokesman. Some of the nuts are also on their way to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan through the Staten Island Homefront Project.
Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment, was one of the nut recipients.
After receiving the packages, she posted a statement on "Jericho's" message board.
"We have read your e-mails over the past few days and have been touched by the depth and passion with which you have expressed your disappointment. Please know that canceling a television series is a very difficult decision," she wrote.
"In the coming weeks, we hope to develop a way to provide closure to the compelling drama that was the 'Jericho' story," she added.
Dan Shotz, producer of "Jericho," told ABC News in an e-mail: "We, the producers, are so moved by the outpouring of support for 'Jericho.' The way this show has resonated with our audience means the world to us. We have the greatest fans. We appreciate their tireless efforts to help their favorite show return to television. We are doing everything we can to help in that endeavor."
Several of the actors have also weighed in on the message boards.
"I'm thrilled to witness that the themes of our show have resonated with you," wrote actor Kenneth Mitchell, who played Eric Green. "Your recent rally has brought new meaning to the episodes 'Why We Fight' and 'Coalition of the Willing.' I'm surprised Planters Peanuts hasn't called to do a cross promotion."


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A PDI argument is a named, user-supplied, single-value input given as a command line argument (running a transformation or job manually from Pan or Kitchen, or as part of a script). Each transformation or job can have a maximum of 10 arguments. Each argument is declared as space-separated values given after the rest of the Pan or Kitchen line:
sh pan.sh -file:/example_transformations/example.ktr argOne argTwo argThree
In the above example, the values argOne, argTwo, and argThree are passed into the transformation, where they will be handled according to the way the transformation is designed. If it was not designed to handle arguments, nothing will happen. Typically these values would be numbers, words (strings), or variables (system or script variables, not PDI variables).
In Spoon, you can test argument handling by defining a set of arguments when you run a transformation or job. This is accomplished by typing in values in the Arguments table accessed through the Arguments button in the Run Options window.


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Top Items:
John Battelle / John Battelle's Searchblog:
FACEBOOK: $6 BILLION? NAH. — Look. If you're Facebook, why on earth would you sell to Microsoft for $6 billion if you didn't sell to Yahoo for $1 Billion last year? You just wouldn't. You don't NEED anyone right now. Do you? Mark and his senior team has probably already been …
Discussion: Business Week, HipMojo.com, Insider Chatter, The Paradigm Shift, Joe Duck, Inside Facebook, Peer Pressure, rexduffdixon.com, Todd Watson and ParisLemon
Ashkan Karbasfrooshan / HipMojo.com: Mark Zuckerberg/Facebook: The Entrepreneur's Dilemma
Justin Smith / Inside Facebook: Facebook Fascination at an All Time High
Rex Dixon / rexduffdixon.com: $6 Billion for Facebook, confirmed?
Robert Scoble / Scobleizer:
Why Facebook, why now? — John Battelle asks a compelling question: why Facebook and why now? — Scott Rosenberg of Slate follows up with another point: that Facebook's friends definitions are all messed up. — Over on TechMeme everyone is talking about how Facebook's advertising isn't working.
Discussion: Bruce Clay, Inc. Blog, Smalltalk Tidbits … and Traffick
James A. Robertson / Smalltalk Tidbits, Industry Rants: Personalized Ads? [James Robertson] - July 12, 2007 — 4:23:50 pm
Andrew Goodman / Traffick: Scobleizer, As Seen Post-Goodmanizer
Luke / Reach Students blog:
Facebook advertising brings poor results — Facebook is the website du jour, but in Reach Students' experience it delivers appalling ad clickthroughs. — We've run four targeted campaigns this year using its flyer ads, and each time the results have been disappointing.
Donna Bogatin / Insider Chatter: Facebook Advertising: Rumors of Its Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Joe Weisenthal / Techdirt: Facebook's Advertising Woes Reminiscent Of MySpace
Dave McClure / Master of 500 Hats: Facebook Advertising Sucks? Nope, CPM Sucks. (and Widgets = Advertising 2.0)
Kristen Nicole / Mashable!: Facebook Ads Performing Poorly for Some
Scott Karp / Publishing 2.0: Facebook Monetization: Lessons From Google
Steve O'Hear / ZDNet: Facebook, show us the money
Ashkan Karbasfrooshan / HipMojo.com: Memo to Facebook Advertising Team
Sam Harrelson / CostPerNews: ValleyWag Doesn't Get Marketing
Nick O'Neill / All Facebook: How Facebook Can Fix Their Ads
Emily Koh / Searchviews: New Ad Networks Leveraging Facebook Apps
Alan Patrick / broadstuff: WELL FANCY SEEING ALL OF YOU LOT HERE.....
Kevin Maney / Portfolio.com: Invisible Ads on Facebook
Frederic / The Last Podcast: Does Facebook Advertising Work?
Giovanni Rodriguez / hubbub: Advertising: Is There a Chink in the Facebook Armor?
Nathan Weinberg / InsideMicrosoft:
Microsoft To Buy Facebook For $6 Billion? — Rumor is that Microsoft is looking to close a deal to buy Facebook for the amazing sum of six billion dollars. Henry Blodget says that while he can't confirm it, he has definitely heard that Steve Ballmer is desperately trying to make a big splash play …
Discussion: WebProNews, Digital Daily and Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog
David A. Utter / WebProNews: Google Not Likely To Buy Facebook
John Paczkowski / Digital Daily: Facebook for $6 Billion? ...
Dennis Sellers / Macsimum News:
Apple patent involves media data exchange and portable electronic devices — An Apple patent (20070161402) is for media data exchange, transfer or delivery for portable electronic devices. It would seem to indicate wireless data sharing features between iPods, iPhones and perhaps other devices Apple has in the works.
Charles Starrett / iLounge: News: Apple patent suggests wireless transfers for iPhones, iPods
Ed Oswald / BetaNews: Apple Files New Wi-Fi iPod Patents
Apple patenting Zune-like sharing, wireless buying
Apple patenting Zune-like sharing, wireless buying
Discussion: Gizmodo, Listening Post, CrunchGear and Contentinople
Eliot Van Buskirk / Listening Post: Apple Patent Indicates Wireless Music Sharing, Purchasing Plans
A. L. Friedman / Contentinople: Filesharing Coming to iPods?
Katie Marsal / AppleInsider:
Future Apple iPods, iPhones may talk to each other
Future Apple iPods, iPhones may talk to each other
Discussion: Engadget Mobile and MacDailyNews
Anne Broache / CNET News.com:
Court rejects Webcasters' plea for relief — A federal appeals court has declined to grant a petition by Webcasters to delay the onset of new royalty fees that they argue could imperil their offerings. — In a one-page order filed late Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District …
Jason Lee Miller / WebProNews: Webcasters Will Have To Pay Up On Sunday
Thomas Mennecke / Slyck: Net Radio Broadcasters Face Higher Rates
Jim Puzzanghera / Los Angeles Times: Web DJs silenced by royalty fees
Mark Hefflinger / Digital Media Wire: Appeals Court Denies Webcasters' Request to Stay Royalty Rates
Linda Rosencrance / Computerworld: Internet radio firms hear a sour note from appeals court
Don Jeffrey / Bloomberg: Appeals Panel Won't Delay Web Radio Royalty Increase
Karl / dslreports.com: Webcasters Face Royalty Rate End Game - Stay denied, rates go into effect on Sunday
John Murrell / Good Morning Silicon Valley: Weekend forecast: sunny Saturday, Internet radio doomsday Sunday
James A. Robertson / Smalltalk Tidbits, Industry Rants: RIAA Bombs the Village
Doug Isenberg / GigaLaw.com Daily News: Appeals Court Refuses to Stop New Webcasting Fees
Eric Bangeman / Ars Technica:
Court declines to postpone Internet radio royalty hike — Internet radio broadcasters' best hope to avoid the onset of higher royalties beginning Sunday, July 15, fell by the wayside as the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit denied a motion to postpone the onset of the new royalty regime.
Discussion: Contentinople, Mashable!, Copyfight, Zatz Not Funny!, Listening Post and digg
Frank Smith / Contentinople: Is Net Radio Worth Saving?
Kristen Nicole / Mashable!: Another Court Loss for Internet Radio Broadcasters
Posted by Alan Wexelblat / Copyfight: Web Radio Stay of Execution About to Expire
Mari Silbey / Zatz Not Funny!: Three Days Till the End of Internet Radio?
Eliot Van Buskirk / Listening Post: Countdown Clock Until Webcaster Royalties Are Due
Associated Press:
Sony BMG sues CD software firm — Sony BMG Music Entertainment is suing a company that developed antipiracy software for CDs, claiming the technology was defective and cost the record company millions of dollars to settle consumer complaints and government investigations.
Discussion: DailyTech, p2pnet, Boing Boing and UNEASYsilence
Tuan Nguyen / DailyTech: Sony Sues Rootkit Developer Over Faulty Music CDs
Cory Doctorow / Boing Boing: Sony BMG sues SunnComm over DRM
Eric Bangeman / Ars Technica:
Sony seeks closure on MediaMax DRM fiasco by suing developer — Although Sony's rootkit fiasco was arguably the most harmful bit of DRM to ever come from Big Content, the MediaMax copy protection software deployed on other Sony discs also caused problems for consumers.
Discussion: CNET News.com, Good Morning Silicon Valley, Inquirer, TechSpot News and Digital Media Wire
Robert Vamosi / CNET News.com: Sony BMG sues CD vendor over rootkits
John Murrell / Good Morning Silicon Valley: Sony BMG finds a dog to kick
Justin Mann / TechSpot News: Sony sues rootkit developing company
Mark Hefflinger / Digital Media Wire: Sony BMG Sues Maker of Faulty CD Copy-Protection Software
Virtual Earth:
Mobile Search V2 released - Improved Navigation, Cache, Movie Searching, GPS, Traffic reporting and more! — The Mobile Search team has released V2 of the rich client application for Windows Mobile, as well as a major update to the browser based interface. Whether you have a J2ME (Java) …
Discussion: LiveSide, Webware.com and TechSpot News
Harrison Hoffman / Webware.com: WINDOWS LIVE MOBILE SEARCH HITS V2
Justin Mann / TechSpot News: Live Search Mobile V2 released
Mike / CUPS:
Article #475: CUPS Purchased by Apple Inc. — In February of 2007, Apple Inc. acquired ownership the CUPS source code and hired me (Michael R Sweet), the creator of CUPS. — CUPS will still be released under the existing GPL2/LGPL2 licensing terms, and I will continue to develop and support CUPS at Apple.
Discussion: The Unofficial Apple Weblog, MacUser, 451 CAOS Theory, Slashdot, The Mac Observer, Macworld, Technovia and digg
Erica Sadun / The Unofficial Apple Weblog: Apple buys CUPS
Dan Moren / MacUser: Apple's CUPS runneth over
Raven Zachary / 451 CAOS Theory: CUPS acquired by Apple
Kdawson / Slashdot: CUPS Purchased By Apple Inc.
Peter Cohen / Macworld: Apple scoops up CUPS printing software
Ian Betteridge / Technovia: Apple acquires CUPS printing code
Matt Marshall / VentureBeat:
Warner streams entire catalog of music for free on imeem — Warner Music Group is offering its entire music and video catalog for free streaming on imeem, a Web site focused on letting users share music playlists. — The music is currently live on the San Francisco startup's Web site, the company told VentureBeat Wednesday evening.
Mark Hefflinger / Digital Media Wire: Warner Music Settles Imeem Suit, Licenses Catalog to Social Network
Mathew Ingram / The Globe and Mail: Warner strikes a music deal with Imeem
Brian Heater / AppScout: Warner and Sony Get their Stream on
A. L. Friedman / Contentinople: What the Warner/imeem Deal Means
George Gardner / TECH.BLORGE.com: Warner offers free music through new iMeem deal
Michael Garrett / Profy.Com: Warner Music Group Offers Entire Catalog on Imeem
Peter Ha / CrunchGear: Warner Music Catalog Streaming For Free
Doug Caverly / WebProNews: Warmer, Imeem Resolve Suit, Share Music
Kristen Nicole / Mashable!: Warner Drops Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Imeem
Deborah Fallows / Pew Internet:
China's Online Population Explosion — There are now an estimated 137 million internet users in China, second in number only to the United States, where estimates of the current internet population range from 165 million to 210 million. The growth rate of China's internet user population …
Discussion: The Technology Chronicles, TechCrunch and Search Engine Land
Ellen Lee / The Technology Chronicles: Internet users in China
Nick Gonzalez / TechCrunch: Chinese Internet Usage Rivals U.S.
Chris Sherman / Search Engine Land: An Inside Look At China's Internet Population
Dan Kaplan / VentureBeat:
Yoomba introduces VoIP and IM directly into your email — Updated — Yoomba, a Menlo Park-based company founded in Israel, lets you send and receive VoIP calls and instant messages from your existing e-mail service. — It's a download but requires no sign-up — and so avoids you having …
Discussion: Mobile Technology News, Roam4free, Mashable!, Mobility Site and Digital Inspiration
Joanna Stern / Mobile Technology News: Your E-mail is Ringing with Yoomba
Kristen Nicole / Mashable!: Yoomba Lets You Make VOIP Calls from your Email
Saul Hansell / New York Times:
A Sigh of Relief for Blockbuster: Few People Copy DVDs — It turns out that not every new bit of technology is a nightmare for Hollywood. There are more than 50 programs available that people can use to defeat the copy protection on DVDs. So some fear that Blockbuster and Netflix are turning …
Discussion: TechSpot News and Compiler
Justin Mann / TechSpot News: DVD copying not as high as expected
Grant Gross / InfoWorld:
FBI: Expect more spam prosecutions — (InfoWorld) - U.S. Internet users should expect a growing number of prosecutions for sending spam and related activities, such as creating botnets, officials with two U.S. law enforcement organizations said Thursday. — The U.S. Federal Bureau …
Discussion: GigaLaw.com Daily News
Doug Isenberg / GigaLaw.com Daily News: FBI Agent Predicts More Spam-Related Prosecutions


text:
LONDON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A planned nuclear power project touted as important to Britain's energy future was dealt a blow this week when French and Chinese investors pulled out.
The French engineering group Areva confirmed Wednesday it has dropped negotiations with Horizon Nuclear Power, a joint venture set up in 2009 to replace the existing twin, 40-year-old nuclear reactors at Wylfa on the Welsh island of Anglesey in a $13 billion effort.
The plant, which features obsolete Magnox-type reactors, is to be decommissioned by 2014.
Horizon's partners, German energy companies E.ON and RWE, put their license up for sale in March, seeking new investors to move forward with the plans. They said then the move was prompted by the global economic crisis as well as Germany's decision to phase out nuclear power in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident in Japan.
Areva had worked with the state-owned China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group in preparing a bid to buy Horizon but the consortium revealed Wednesday it decided not to submit the proposal before last week's deadline.
"I can now tell you that Areva and CGNPC have suspended their interest in the planned sale of Horizon Nuclear Power and did not submit a bid," an Areva spokeswoman told the broadcaster.
Two other bids are believed still on the table -- one from the U.S. engineering group Westinghouse and another led by Hitachi of Japan.
But the pullout of Areva, which boasted the most advanced design with its European Pressurized Reactor-style reactor and deep-pocketed Chinese backers, was seen as a blow to Britain's "private-finance only" policy for a new generation of nuclear plants, the BBC said.
The Welsh government declined to comment directly on the move, saying only, "The sale of Horizon is a commercial process which is being led by the current owners and their sales advisors Nomura."
But Westminster last month touted the potential of foreign backers creating nuclear energy jobs in Wales, deeming Wylfa "a vitally important piece of national infrastructure" and tabbing it as one of its chief infrastructure priorities.
New Secretary of State for Wales David Jones -- given the job by Prime Minister David Cameron last month in his first major Cabinet reshuffle -- said there was "strong overseas interest" in the Wylfa station, expressing confidence that plans for a replacement would go ahead, The Western Mail reported.
"There are a number of interested parties who have personally assured me that their intention is very serious," he said before a trip to Anglesey, adding, "You'll certainly find there's a strong interest from overseas. There are a number of overseas companies and entities interested in it."
But interest on the part Chinese financial backers has in fact now waned, The Guardian reported.
"The Chinese could not get the commitments they were looking for from the British government," an unnamed source told the newspaper, adding the problems were technological ones rather than political.
That Chinese skittishness has also extended to Westinghouse's potential consortium, where the state-owned China National Nuclear Power Corporation has also withdrawn, the report said.


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Guitarist/vocalist Patrick Mameli of the resurrected late '80s/early '90s death metal outfit PESTILENCE has released the following statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:
"Recently, bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling (NUFUTIC, OBSCURA) and drummer Yuma van Eekelen (EXIVIOUS, THE NEW DOMINION) have decided to work more intensively on their main projects.Therefore, bassist Stephan Fimmers (NECROPHAGIST) and drummer Tim Yeung (MORBID ANGEL, DIVINE HERESY, VITAL REMAINS, HATE ETERNAL) will join PESTILENCE for the upcoming new album, 'Obsideo', and live performances."
'[I] would like to thank Jeroen Paul Thesseling and Yuma van Eekelen for their hard work and great musicianship on the 'Doctrine' album and live shows and we (Mameli and PESTILENCE guitarist Patrick Uterwijk) wish them both good luck in the future with their projects."
Commented Fimmer: "I'm looking forward to be part of a great, new PESTILENCE album, 'Obsideo'; I'm sure that [it] is gonna blast!! It's great to join the band and play with these awesome musicians."
PESTILENCE 2012 is:
Patrick Mameli – Guitar/Vocals
Patrick Uterwijk – Guitar
Stephan Fimmers – Bass
Tim Yeung – Drums
PESTILENCE's latest album, "Doctrine", was released in North America in July 2011 via Mascot Records. The eleven-track CD was recorded and mixed at Woodshed Studio in southern Germany with engineer Victor Bullok (a.k.a. V. Santura; TRIPTYKON, DARK FORTRESS). The artwork was designed by Marko Saarelainen.
Source: Blabbermouth


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Many people, especially children, are still becoming ill and even dying due to unsafe hygienic behaviour. Good behaviour – using a hygienic toilet, washing hands with soap, safely managing drinking water – are typical behaviours resulting from effective water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programmes.
Effective hygiene programmes, what does that mean? How is effectiveness translated into hygiene programmes in the WASH sector? Are there key principles that all programmes should practice if they want to be effective? What is known to work in all circumstances?
Let's try to identify on what grounds the sector calls a programme effective. To find out what important players in the field of hygiene promotion say, we did a quick scan of ten review papers of hygiene promotion programmes by seven leading sector organisations: the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, WaterAid, UNICEF, WHO, WSP, the Water and Sanitation Collaborative Council and our own organisation: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.
We came up with five general programme principles:
1. Political will and support
Political will is crucial for success. Obviously political will alone does not make it work, but it is a sign of political support for undertaking hygiene promotion programmes. To be successful, a hygiene promotion programme also needs to be well coordinated and operate through cooperation and partnerships. Shordt (2003) reviewed 52 references in which more than 50 hand washing programmes were described and found that "many of the successful programmes were mounted through collaboration with health departments, local government and civil society. Inter-agency cooperation appears to be a key to effective programming"
2. Own plans and budgets
While an obvious need, in real life it is not always common practice for hygiene interventions to have their own plans, budgets, research, monitoring and staff (or human resources allocated from the programme into which hygiene promotion is integrated). Good hygiene plans also include formative research to determine key behaviours to focus on, and have or develop behavioural change communication strategies. More on these planning principles can be found in the programming guidance document of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council.
3. High user needs or interests
Thirdly, a hygiene programme should be wanted by the target groups. Here demand assessment and creation come in. Before implementing a programme or activity, there must be arequest from the population, a specific group or the local authorities. Users must also find programmes relevant and applicable.
4. Repeated interventions are a "must"
After comparing the outcomes of about 100 studies on the effectiveness of hygiene promotion programmes, Cairncross and Valdmanis conclude: "It is likely that hygiene promotion activities need to be repeated from time to time — say, every five years — but are not required on a continuous basis". Shordt and Cairncross indicate that hygiene interventions should last more than one year, and/or beyond the time of physical implementation of water points or latrines (when part of a broader water or sanitation programme). Too often, once construction is complete, the communities and households are left alone.
5. Include audience research and targeting
"Finding out what messages are best for which groups helps design better programmes" say Appleton and Sijbesma in their thematic overview paper on hygiene promotion. Doing so is easier said than done though. Finding out what really motivates or prevents different categories of people to adopt safe hygiene practices and translating these into a hygiene promotion programme is an art in itself. Luckily we are learning more about hygiene behaviour triggers and barriers and how to address them in programmes.
So what? We know more of what works. But how do we measure effectiveness?
According to the reviewed publications, using these five principles will mean greater success in achieving sustained improved hygiene behaviours. What is the validity of these principles in practice? Are they indeed sufficient together for effective programmes? Could they be considered as key indicators? How do we measure their effectiveness in the field?
Knowing what works is a first step for action research on measuring the effectiveness of hygiene interventions and collecting and analysing the involved costs. At the moment this is happening in three African countries: Ghana, Mozambique and Burkina Faso and also in Andhra Pradesh, India. More information on the methodology of this research can be found in WASHCost Working Paper 6 and the upcoming Working Paper 7 to be published on the WASHCost working paper pages.
We'd love to hear from you
Do you have similar experiences? Or have you found more or other principles important? We hope this post will encourage you to reflect on the successes or failures of hygiene interventions and to share your thoughts and experiences. We would love to hear from you!
Contact: Amélie Dubé, email@example.com and Ingeborg Krukkert, firstname.lastname@example.com
IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre
See "Reference List : Effective hygiene promotion – blog article 2012" for a list of all documents referred to in this article with links to the full text documents.


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Jolla Announces Full Android Compatibility for Sailfiish OS
By Humberto Saabedra on September 16, 2013
Jolla announces full Android compatibility for its Sailfish OS as well as Sailfish OS compatibility with common Android hardware platforms
Posted in Android, MeeGo / Mer / Sailfish | Tagged Android, Jolla, Sailfish OS
Nokia N9 Owners Ask Nokia to Uphold Their Commitment to Updates Through 2015
By Christopher Price on March 8, 2013
Also, what Nokia can do to buy their way out of the problem… and how Nokia cost our founding editor five figures along the way.
Posted in Editorials, Jolla, MeeGo / Mer / Sailfish, Nokia | Tagged Apple, Intel, Jolla, meego, N9, n950, Nokia, nokia maps, powerbook 5300, powerbook g3, sailfish, steve jobs, steven elop, Tizen, Windows Phone | 26 Responses
Report: Jolla to Support Android Apps via ACL Runtime (Updated)
By Humberto Saabedra on August 20, 2012
Jolla's CEO reveals that its first device will be able to run Android applications, Jolla's spokesperson subsequently downplays the report.
Posted in Android, Jolla, MeeGo / Mer / Sailfish | Tagged Amazon Appstore, Android, Google, Jolla, meego
Core Nokia MeeGo Team Announces New Company in Jolla
By Humberto Saabedra on July 7, 2012
The core Nokia MeeGo team bails on the Finnish conglomerate and announces a new company dedicated to manufacturing phones based on the technically great, but underappreciated operating system
Posted in General News, Jolla, MeeGo / Mer / Sailfish, Nokia, Software Platforms | Tagged Jolla, meego, Meltemi, Nokia, Tizen | 7 Responses


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Considering its been nearly 12 years since the last Diablo and three years since Torchlight, Krater is here to fill that action-RPG niche that has long been ignored by PC developers. Wait, what's that you say? Diablo III is already out and Torchlight II is on its way?
Err, well, this is going to be awkward.
Krater (PC)
Developer: Fatshark AB
Publisher: Fatshark AB
Released: June 12, 2012
The 11th Hour
I have just listened to the last episode of Snap Judgement available on my iPod when I realize I've been in the same dungeon for hours. As have my level 15, maxed-out Bruiser (the heavy), Medicus (healer), and Brawler (nimble attacker). Oops, never mind. There goes my Medicus for good … and my brawler and … now it's time to ctrl + alt + del my game and do a hard reset so I can roll back to my earlier save. Joy.
Looking back at my 11-hour journey into apathy, I now discover that my emotions have changed more than anything in the game itself. I've gone from love to like to ambivalence to hate. How did I get here?
The 10th Hour
For every step forward Krater takes, it takes two step back; eventually falling down the stairs because that's just what idiots do. Despite this, I'm now privy to its dark, elemental secrets that have scared other, weaker men away. Here I am, rocking my level 15, buffed-out team like a hurricane. After hours of grinding, I have achieved the perfect team. My early group of stunted weaklings limited to level 10 is a distant memory by this point.
Now, I have a capable group outfitted with only maximum level buffs that give them strength, defense, and other advantages. In the cruel Swedish world of Krater, these buffs are the only way to improve characters stats. Once they hit their level cap — 5, 10, or 15, depending on the character — you'll need to focus on buying, crafting, or finding level 3 buffs to apply. Like most aspects of Krater, it's a pain.
Every enemy in this area is easily mowed down, despite belonging to the highest threat level the game has offered thus far. I wonder: What is the point? Why do people play these games? For the loot? To see their characters grow? To unlock abilities? Yet, my characters can't grow since they've reached their level cap at 15, an hour ago. What loot? There are only weapons and gadgets to acquire and I've seen the best of both hours ago. The rest is just junk to be sold so I can buy and craft nothing. Abilities? There are none. You get the ones your characters have from the outset.
And then, I meet the bear that kills me. Again and again. Every enemy dies with no effort and this bear gives me a taste of my own medicine. Too bad I can't, you know, apply strategy. In Krater, it's all about clicking fast and getting lucky. I haven't felt lucky in a while.
The 9th Hour
The 8th Hour
The world of Krater, as wonderful as it once was, is starting to drag me to the ends of the Earth. Or whatever planet the game takes place on. Like, literally.
One mission asks me to visit a village on the other side of the map, while the next asks me the same, only this time it's even more of a trek. I'm a fan of the Vangelis by-way-of Final Fantasy overworld music and Fallout-style layout, but the random encounters are becoming a real bummer. In these high-level areas (currently Threat level 6), there are some enemies that can kill in a couple strikes. It doesn't help when the game glitches and my Medicus can't throw his grenade (gadget), so he just stands uselessly. Where to next I wonder? I'm not sure I want to know at this point.
The 7th Hour
Grinding in old areas to level my new Medicus, listening to "Gimme the Loot" on repeat.
The 6th Hour
Well, there goes an hour of my life I won't get back. My beloved level 15 Medicus has died for good. Perhaps it's my fault for choosing the game's more severe difficulty which gives characters permanent injuries (these injuries are non-permanent on easier difficulties). Collect four injuries and you'll get permanent death. Although I hate the system now, I still think it's a brilliant way to approach the permadeath feature of roguelikes. You suffer the loss of a character, but you can always recruit a new one to fill its place. It's like Jagged Alliance slept with its half-sister Diablo and they hid their kid in a sewer, feeding it garbage until it became Krater.
The problem with this system is that finding new recruits is harder than it should be. Recruits have different classes (essentially healer, heavy, attacker, and support), level caps (5, 10, 15), and abilities (classes have two different loadouts, each of which only has two abilities). Nearly every town has a recruitment officer, but only a couple carry the ones you want (level 15 with the right abilities). This results in having to go out of your way to hire recruits, level them, and then head back to your mission.
I see no reason why this system couldn't be dictated entirely by funds instead of location. By taking a literal approach to keeping things out of the player's reach, Krater turns a fun journey into a rather annoying trip full of pit stops and long detours.
The 5th Hour
I'm slowly starting to realize that every quest in Krater revolves around fetching something or clearing an area of enemies — the same enemies, ALWAYS — all supported by inconsequential dialog and storytelling. It's not without its charms, but it's not making up for the lack of imagination in quest design.
Even worse, I'm coming to realize that the game repeats the same dungeon tile sets time and time again, albeit they are are 80% randomized in their layout. You have your generic cave, generic factory, generic mine, and that's about it. The same is largely true for the towns, with only a couple having a bit more personality like Westfall. Even these towns are so tiny and barren that they may as well look the same as the rest. Krater exists in a sad little world where the only joy comes from clicking on things.
The 4th Hour
Call it blasphemy but I'm enjoying Krater more than Diablo III. Then again, I really didn't care for Diablo III at all. The key difference comes from combat. While in Diablo you click away, Krater is more about quick timing and accuracy with your special abilities. Since you have six abilities constantly recharging, you'll be slamming the number keys, rendering your hands numb by the time you leave a seven-floor dungeon.
In addition to characters' abilities, you also have gadget abilities. These can be equipped one per character and can drastically change a battle with a bigger foe. The gadgets aren't very imaginative, ranging from area-of-effect grenades to stamina boosts, but they are fun to use. These items have much longer cooldown times, so you won't be able to spam them from battle to battle. Though the combat isn't very deep, I find it a lot more engaging than similar games.
The 3rd Hour
Throughout the game, you'll command a squad of three characters which gives the game a group dynamic missing from Diablo. It's a small detail but managing three health bars instead of one makes battles a lot more hectic. It's not Dragon Age — or even Dungeon Siege, for that matter — but it helps Krater stand out from similar games.
Although you control a group, placement and crowd control never become an issue. I was a bit disappointed by this since so much potential is there for more complex battles. Instead, enemies rush your team and you'll just spam attacks on them as you would in Diablo.
You'll have a character dedicated to healing and maybe even a character for support spells (slowing down enemies, for instance), but you'll rarely control party members individually. The only time I would select a single character was when my Medicus was at the front of the party, taking heavy damage. If the enemies were less vicious but had larger health bars, there could be some more room to be creative with group strategy. This group element in Krater is mostly a visual flourish.
The 2nd Hour
It's hard out here for a loot-based action-RPG, but Krater manages to carve out a wonderful niche. For a wasteland, the world of Krater sure is bright and its inhabitant jovial. The houses — glorified cargo crates — have personality. Christmas lights decorate one while a Swedish cover of PJ Harvey's "This is Love" blasts out of another.
Quest givers don't have the most original things to say, but they are entertaining enough that I didn't ever feel an urge to skip dialog. There is an interesting backstory to the world of Krater, even if it isn't fully realized.
The 1st Hour
This is going to be fun. I think?


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Big Brother writ large
By Henry Lamb
Last week's column about the coming shift to tax-by-the-mile devices in automobiles brought many interesting letters. One writer says he was working on this project way back in the 1980s when he was building special Buicks that would run on methanol for the Department of Energy, with on-board computers to control the car's operation. By 1993, test cars in Colorado were controlled from Pontiac, Michigan. The popular "OnStar," system, promoted by Government Motors, is an outgrowth of this work.
Another writer listed 15 different possible applications, such as shutting down the vehicle when its allotted emissions cap had been reached. Why not? The current cap-and-trade bill would limit industrial emissions and force each business to pay an extra tax for the privilege of emitting additional carbon dioxide. Why not arbitrarily assign a weekly or monthly cap on auto emissions, and shut down the vehicle when that limit is reached? The new Global Positioning Satellite device would have that capability.
Every American ought to be outraged that such a system is even contemplated. This system is the tool that makes slaves of every person who depends upon a vehicle. Every person should consider just how his life would be changed if he were required to get approval from the federal government to start his car.
Another writer argues that the government has the authority and the right to impose whatever conditions it wishes, since driving on public roads is a privilege, not an individual right. His argument says the government may impose any condition it wishes on the license to use public roads.
This argument completely ignores the 4th Amendment guarantee of the right to be secure from government intrusion without probable cause and due process. Does the government's right to tax trump the constitutional right to individual privacy?
The proposed GPS road tax system could easily be programmed to listen to and record conversations inside any vehicle. It could stop a vehicle, lock the occupants inside, and notify the "jack boots" that the occupants were en route to a "Tea Party."
We would hope that the federal government would never sink to the level of paranoia that gripped Nazi Germany. But then, we also hoped that the federal government would never sink to the level of labeling legal, peaceful assemblies, such as the recent "Tea Parties," as gatherings of potential terrorists.
Who would have believed, even five years ago, that the federal government would take over GM, much of the banking industry, and appoint more than 30 "Czars" to administer government without congressional oversight? Who would have believed that Congress could be bullied into adopting a cap-and-trade program that deliberately increases the cost of energy for every American, with absolutely no offsetting benefit – except increased government control over the life of every citizen?
Who would have believed that Congress would even consider allowing the government to take over the health care industry and create a system that allows government to ration health care and make life-and-death decisions for individual citizens?
The Democratic socialists who have taken control of the federal government are giddy with their power. Their view of utopia is government control of virtually everything. In Cuba, people who owe their livelihood to Castro, are not about to vote for anyone but Castro. The Democratic socialists are creating a society in which the vast majority of people are dependent upon the government for their livelihood. These are the people who are most likely to keep the Democratic socialists in power.
Opponents are increasingly labeled as "potential terrorists," and "anti-government." These are the people who are most likely to be punished.
Government control of every automobile is the perfect way to control – reward or punish – every citizen. This GPS road tax system is being promoted as a way for road tax revenue to keep pace with road maintenance and construction requirements. This goal can be easily achieved by simply increasing the tax rate collected on each gallon of gasoline sold. For electric cars, a tax could easily be applied at the recharger.
Tax collection is simply an excuse to put this system into every vehicle. Once in place in every vehicle, every automobile owner will be a slave to the government. By increasing or reducing the tax rate, the government can lead the automobile owner around like a dog on a leash. Should the owner become uncooperative, the government can transform him into a pedestrian in the twinkling of an eye.
Expect the Democratic socialists to promote this system as the way to end stolen vehicles. It can end dangerous high-speed chases. By monitoring in-car conversations, all manner of crimes can be prevented before they happen. By increasing the tax rate at rush hour, government can force people to take mass transit. By reducing the tax rate on GM vehicles, the government can assure the success of its auto enterprise.
There is virtually no end to the mischief the government can achieve once this new GPS system is in place. The only way to prevent it is to dump the Democratic socialists now in power, and replace them with people who understand and support the U.S. Constitution.
Henry Lamb is the author of "The Rise of Global Governance," Chairman of Sovereignty International , and founder of the Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO) and Freedom21, Inc.
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Healthy eating: Nutritious nineteen
Here are a mish-mash of ideas to get your family eating better. The one thing they have in common? The get kids involved. Sometimes the simplest of ideas will get kids excited.
1. Noodle fun. Kids love noodles. Skip the Ramen, and pack sesame noodles for lunch. They're just as good cold as they are room temperature: Combine 3 cups cooked spaghetti, 1 cup shredded cabbage, 2 chopped green onions, 1/4 cup soy sauce and 2 tablespoons each of peanut butter, rice vinegar and oil.
2. Who moved my fruit? When fruit was put in a colorful bowl in school lunchrooms, sales increased by 104 percent. The message — make fruit visible and attractive, and kids will eat it. This works at home, too.
3. Cool trick. Place 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 cup half and half and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a quart-size zip-top plastic bag. Seal. Place that bag in a gallon-size zip-top bag. Layer ice and rock salt in the gallon bag and seal. Toss back and forth until it's ice cream.
4. Eat your colors. Add these colorful and super-nutritious fruits and vegetables to your diet:
Red for lycopene: Tomatoes, cherries, cranberries, watermelon and raspberries.
Orange and yellow for beta-carotene: Sweet potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, bell peppers and cantaloupe.
Green for vitamin C, lutein and indoles: Broccoli, spinach, green beans, kiwi and green apples.
Blue and purple for anthocyanins: Blueberries, blackberries, purple grapes and prunes.
5. Kids' tools. Create a kids' utensil drawer or basket with easy-to-use and kid-friendly cookware.
6. Cool lunch bags. Get a fun insulated lunch bag that allows you to pack cold foods. We love the bags from Built and Kid-Konserve.
7. Draw it. Get a chalkboard and let your kids write the menu on it each night. They'll learn about food and meal planning and get a little spelling and writing practice, too.
8. Remember milk. Consumption of milk decreased by 35 percent when flavored milk was eliminated from school lunches, according to the Milk Processor Education Program, resulting in a decrease in calcium, vitamins D and A, and protein — key nutrients for kids. A little sugar may be a small price to pay for nutrients kids don't get elsewhere. Plus milk, even when it's flavored, is caffeine-free.
9. Try sushi. For a quick dinner better than the drive-through, try sushi. Try the California rolls or crunchy shrimp rolls, where everything is cooked. Sushi is made fresh daily at most supermarkets and is low in fat and nutritious.
10. Better than soda. Make fruit ice cubes and serve with club soda or in a cup on their own. Puréed watermelon, blackberries or any other juicy fruit will work well.
11. Low-fat healthy granita. Make some nutritious frozen treats and get the kids involved, too. Freeze juice in a shallow pan. Let kids scrape it with a fork into a slushy, icy treat. Voila, you have granita!
12. Add protein. For an easy breakfast, make a waffle sandwich. Layer two frozen toasted waffles with cheese and ham for a high-protein breakfast that will last longer than the waffles alone. Better yet, add milk.
13. After-school snack. Keep nutritious after-school snacks easy and accessible. Hummus is a great one; pair with carrot sticks and pita bread.
14. Almond milk. If your kids have a problem with dairy products, give almond milk a try. It has a mild, nutty flavor that works great with cereal or on its own. It's made from ground almonds and contains no cholesterol or lactose. It comes in a variety of flavors, is low in calories and fat and high in vitamin D, E and B12. It also contains 45 percent of the daily values for calcium in one 8-ounce glass.
15. Use chopsticks. Kids love a challenge, and chopsticks are definitely it. In addition to teaching coordination, it slows kids down, forcing them to eat mindfully and savor their food. Remember, it takes the stomach 20 minutes to signal to the brain that you're full.
16. Seal it with a kiss. If your kids would rather have sugary cereal than oatmeal, try topping the oats with a Hershey's Kiss. They'll still get the benefits of the whole grain oats.
17. Pod luck. Serve edamame, the green soybeans that come in a pod and are served in Asian restaurants. Kids will love getting the beans out of the pod, which will occupy them. Plus, they're very healthy.
18. Breakfast rule No. 1. Make breakfast a fiber opportunity. Buy whole grain breads with at least 3 grams of fiber per slice, or cereals with at least 4 grams per serving.
19. Straws, straws, straws. Give a kid a fun straw and anything will be more fun to eat. Let them use straws to slurp soup and even ice cream.


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A zealous gumbo of regionalism, magical realism, post-Katrina allegory, myth, and ecological parable, Beasts of the Southern Wild, the southern Louisiana-set debut feature of 29-year-old Benh Zeitlin, rests, often cloyingly, on the tiny shoulders of Quvenzhané Wallis. Her character, Hushpuppy, the film's six-year-old (also Wallis's age during filming) protagonist and narrator, is meant to recall the resilience that Lillian Gish, addressing her flock of itty-bitty orphans and runaways, spoke of so memorably in The Night of the Hunter (1955): "When you're little, you have more endurance than God is ever to grant you again. Children are man at his strongest. They abide."
Co-written by Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar, whose play Juicy and Delicious served as the film's starting point, and using a cast of locals, almost all of whom make their acting debut here, Beasts of the Southern Wild strains to remind us of Hushpuppy's wisdom and courage beyond her years. She is a motherless child: "She swam away,"explains her father, Wink (Dwight Henry), a chronically ill, frequently drunk man, of Mom's absence. He and Hushpuppy live in separate trailers in a grassy, overgrown expanse in a fictional bayou area called the Bathtub. Stomping around her ramshackle, squalid domain in white plastic rain boots, dirty T-shirt, and orange Underoos, this peewee heroine confidently wields a blowtorch. Perhaps saluting his child's precocious strength, Wink refers to Hushpuppy as "boss," "boss lady," and the gender discordant "man," whether exhorting her to cover up ("Get your pants on, man!") or goading her to flex her pecs ("Who's tha man?").
This little girl will need to prove her might repeatedly. Her neighborhood is washed away by a hurricane, her father grows sicker and sicker, and she fearlessly stares down enormous, rampaging creatures called aurochs — actual prehistoric animals, here reimagined as giant wild boars, unleashed by the melting of the ice caps or by Hushpuppy's fervent imagination. Yet all of these disasters — both natural and emotional — are merely part of Hushpuppy's grand cosmic lesson: "I see that I'm a little piece of a big, big universe, and that makes things right," she says in voiceover, an aural blanketing as unremitting as the swampy, string-heavy score, co-composed by Zeitlin.
Beasts of the Southern Wild is not the first project by Zeitlin — the white Queens-born, Wesleyan-educated son of professional folklorists who has made New Orleans his home for the past few years — to feature a young African-American girl as its first-person narrator. Glory at Sea, his 25-minute short from 2008, which shares Beasts' diluvial setting and multiracial, marginalized Louisiana denizens, is told from the perspective of a child under water. The missteps of Beasts aren't necessarily rooted in the voice that Zeitlin assumes (presumptuously at worst, naively at best) to tell this uplifting story of survival and fortitude — both Hushpuppy's and her Bathtub neighbors'. But in trying through incessant narration to make a 6-year-old a prolix sage, Zeitlin can't avoid falling into sticky sentimentality.
That's a shame, because Wallis, whom Zeitlin cast after auditioning more than 3,000 other little girls, has such a commanding presence on-screen — never more so than when the camera observes her up close and in silence, before the music, Hushpuppy's maxim-filled voiceover, and Wink's bellowing kick in. In Beasts' opening scene, Hushpuppy quietly entertains herself by playing with a small mound of dirt in her trailer and clutching, almost too hard, a chick in her tiny hand. Her intense concentration during these moments — in which she becomes aware of her power over beings smaller and more vulnerable than she is — is the one image I'll never forget from Beasts of the Southern Wild, despite its many effulgent scenes of Roman candles, drunken revelries, and unfazed mariners on jury-rigged boats after the storm. For it seems the truest, simplest expression of what Zeitlin is trying so relentlessly, if with the best intentions, to honor: a child's understanding of responsibility, both to herself and others. In that one precious instant, Hushpuppy becomes, like pint-size Ana in The Spirit of the Beehive (1973) or, more recently, Iris in Night Catches Us (2010), a witness to forces within and without her — while still unmistakably remaining a child.


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Enjelas old, Persia, around 1920/1930, wool oncotton, approx. 133 x 119 cm, condition: 2.Rugs, Carpets & Flatweaves . German Description: Enjelas alt, Persien, um 1920/1930, Wolle auf Baumwolle, ca. 133 x 119 cm, EHZ: 2
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9. "Buy It Now"-Items Items in the "Buy it now" catalogue are items available for open sale and are sold at fixed prices. Sales are made on behalf and for the account of the seller. The contract is formed directly between the seller and the buyer. All items are subject to change without notice.
10. Cancellation policy (subject to Section 11)
Right of cancellation: You may cancel the contract concluded within 14 days without giving any reason. This cancellation period of 14 days will commence on the day you or a third party named by you and which is not the deliverer have or has received the goods. To execute your cancellation right you must inform us, Henry's Auktionshaus AG, An der Fohlenweide 10-14, D-67112 Mutterstadt, fax: ++49 (0)6234 8011900, e-mail: [email protected], of your decision to cancel this contract by an explicit declaration (e.g. by mail, facsimile or e-mail). For this purpose, you may use the enclosed model cancellation form (Musterwiderrufsformular) which is, however, not mandatory. You also may fill in and forward electronically the model cancellation form or any other explicit declaration on our website www.henrys.de. If you make use of this option, we will immediately send you an acknowledgement of receipt of such cancellation (e.g. by e-mail). In order to observe the cancellation period, it is sufficient to send off your cancellation in time before the cancellation period has lapsed.
Consequences of cancellation: In the event of an effective cancellation by you, we have to return immediately and, at the latest, within 14 days after the day we have received the cancellation notice all payments received from you including delivery costs (excluding additional delivery costs arising from the type of delivery you have chosen and which exceed the costs of the standard delivery offered by us). For this return we will use the same means of payment which you have used for your payment unless it is agreed upon otherwise; in no event will you be charged for the return. We are entitled to retain the payment as long as we have not received the goods or you have provided evidence that the goods are sent back, depending on whichever is the earlier. You have to return or surrender the goods immediately and in any case within 14 days after the day you have informed us of the cancellation. In order to observe the period of 14 days it is sufficient to send off the goods before the period has lapsed. You have to bear the direct return costs of the goods. You have to compensate us for deterioration of the goods only if the deterioration was caused by a handling of the goods that is beyond a necessary inspection of the characteristics and the functionality of the goods.
11. Exclusion of the right of withdrawal The right of withdrawal only applies to distance contracts in the meaning of the BGB. The right of withdrawal is excluded for distance contracts which are concluded in the form of an auction pursuant to Sec. 156 BGB, especially in the context of the Internet-Live-Bidding-System according to section 7.
12. Transfer of Possession and Risk Possession and the risk of accidental loss and accidental damage shall pass to the buyer immediately upon the acceptance of the bid/purchase, although title does not pass until full payment has been received. The auctioned/purchased goods shall be delivered by the service company Hans Cronauer on behalf and at the expense of the buyer, provided this was expressly noted on the order.
13. Collection In case the item is not being delivered, the buyer is obliged to collect the auctioned/purchased item immediately and/or to pay the purchase price. If the buyer fails to collect the items within ten days of the auction/sale date, he/she shall be in default. Thereafter, HENRY's is entitled to decide whether the item shall be stored or delivered to the buyer, each at the buyer's expense. In the case of storage, HENRY's will charge the buyer with the costs of handling, storage and insurance in the amount of 5% of the gross sales price, but not less than 25,- € per item per month or part thereof (plus VAT). In the case of delivery, items shall be packed and delivered by the service company Hans Cronauer (see Shipping & Delivery). If the buyer defaults on payment of the storage costs or if the buyer does not accept the items delivered to him, HENRY's reserves the right to have the item auctioned; HENRY's hereby declares in advance to set off its own outstanding claims against the buyer's claim for the proceeds and is, in addition, entitled to deposit the remaining proceeds in favour and at the expense of the buyer. Furthermore, HENRY's reserves the right to subject the buyer's claim for the remaining proceeds to the reimbursement of the deposit costs.
14. Default of Payment If the buyer has not paid the purchase price in full within ten days after the auction/purchase date; he/she shall be in default without further notification or warning. During default, the buyer must pay the statutory interest. No further payment demand will be given. If the funds are not credited to our account by the specified date, we reserve all rights both in the name of the seller and on our own behalf. We expressly reserve the right to claim the invoice sum plus additional costs on behalf of the seller, and/or compensatory damages pursuant to the agreed auction and supply conditions (buyer's premium, discount, penalty interest and other loss arising from the delay) on our own behalf, or to re-auction the goods at one of the next auctions, whereby the buyer shall not be entitled to the difference if a higher price is achieved, and shall be liable to make good any shortfall.
15. Place of Performance and Place of Jurisdiction If the buyer is a trader, the place of performance and place of jurisdiction is the registered office of HENRY's. German law applies. Should any provision of this Agreement be wholly or partially invalid, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions.
16. Information according to section 36 Consumer Dispute Settlement Act (Verbraucherstreitbeilegungsgesetz - VSBG)HENRY's will not take part in any dispute settlement proceedings before a consumer arbitration board according to the VSBG and is under no obligation to do so."
17. Responsibility The auctioneers named in the catalogue are responsible for the auctions.
Buy goods at auction by post, fax or the internet
The easy way
Browse our catalogue or website to find what you are looking for. We have provided a description and photographs to help you make your choice. The information has been checked by experts for your protection.
This means you can inspect the goods in advance and participate in the auction from the comfort of your own home, by post, fax or internet.
Written bid
By submitting a written bid you are instructing us to bid for the lots you have noted in the catalogue. We undertake to outbid the last bid by no more than the sum specified as the bidding increment.
Participation by telephone
If you would like to bid by telephone, please mark the catalogue numbers of the lots you are interested in on the form and tick the relevant box to indicate that you wish to participate by telephone. We will call you free of charge when your lot comes up.
If you are successful
If your bid wins, we will send you an invoice by post. Please pay the specified amount by cheque or bank transfer within ten days.
Once payment has been received, and provided you have requested this on your order, the delivery company contracted by our auction house - Hans Cronauer - or another suitable transport company will deliver the goods to you for your account. Please observe your country's import regulations.
Approximate costs for insurance, packaging and shipping by Cronauer:
Jewellery and watches, Fashion Shop
Invoice amount up to € 500 € 18
Invoice amount up to € 10,000 € 35
Invoice amount up to € 15,000 € 48
Up to € 25,000 € 65
Invoice amount up to € 1,000 € 35
Invoice amount up to € 10,000 € 48
Above € 10,000 and deliveries to Switzerland or overseas upon request*.
Antiques, Fine Art, Silver and other small goods
Germany up to 20 kg
Invoice amount up to € 500 € 24
Invoice amount up to € 5,000 € 28
Invoice amount up to € 25,000 € 45
Above € 25,000 upon request*.
Europe up to 10 kg
Invoice amount up to € 1,000 € 36
Invoice amount up to € 5,000 € 48
Invoice amount up to € 10,000 € 75
Above € 10,000 and deliveries to Switzerland and overseas upon request*.
up to 10 kg € 22
up to 20 kg € 32
up to 30 kg € 40
Deliveries abroad upon request*.
Additional charges apply for consignments which cannot be carried by parcel carriers for security reasons or because they exceed the maximum permitted dimensions.* For invoice amounts exceeding EUR 1,000.00, the export of goods to non-EU countries is subject to a charge per invoice of € 30.00 for the first product group and € 5.00 for all subsequent product groups. All charges are exclusive of VAT. For further information please contact Versandservice Cronauer, tel.: +49 (0)6234 8011-260. For furniture, bulky items and carpets above 40 kg you will receive a cost estimate from Michail Turko shipping company together with the invoice. Arranging the service and payment will be your responsibility.
Michail Turko, tel. +49 (0)1520 885 92 05, [email protected]
Any damage caused in transit must be reported within 24 hours to the transport company concerned. Failure to do so will invalidate any compensation claims.
Last revised 11/2022
Please ask for shipping cost
For the first purchase we only accept wire transfer.
In order to create more transparency in the processing of personal data by companies, the European legislator has introduced a new obligation to provide information. Already at the time of data collection, you as a customer should know what happens to your personal data and for what purposes they are processed. The following information is provided in accordance with Art. 13 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
1. Responsible person (Controller) and data protection officer
Responsible for the processing of personal data is HENRY´s Auktionshaus AG, An der Fohlenweide 10-14, 67112 Mutterstadt, Germany, Phone +49 (0) 6234 - 80110, E-Mail: [email protected] You can contact the data protection officer at [email protected]
2. Purposes, legal basis and provision of your data
2.1 Initiation and processing of contracts
Your personal data is processed for the initiation and conclusion of contracts, communication within the framework of contract processing, invoicing and payment processing. The admissibility of the processing depends on Art. 6 para. 1 b) GDPR (implementation of a contract or a pre-contractual measure). The admissibility of the processing is also governed by Art. 6 para. 1 f) GDPR (legitimate interest). Our legitimate interests lie, for example, in the electronic and more efficient processing of data and the optimization of work processes as a whole.
The provision of your personal data is necessary for the conclusion of a contract with us. Non-provision has the consequence that no contract can be concluded and carried out.
2.2 Direct mail and internal analysis
We process your personal data in order to send you information about our offers. Furthermore, your data will be used for internal analyses and supplemented by publicly available socio-demographic data in order to enable an individual approach with tailor-made offers. Further analyses for the purpose of improving and developing our offers are only carried out with anonymised data. The admissibility of the processing is governed by Art. 6 para. 1 a) GDPR (consent). The admissibility of the processing is also governed by Art. 6 para. 1 f) GDPR (legitimate interest). We have a legitimate interest in actively offering our services, attracting customers and designing the advertising approach as individually as possible.
2.3 Credit check
We reserve the right to obtain appropriate information about you prior to conclusion of the contract or in the event of circumstances affecting your creditworthiness becoming known. If this is negative, we can refuse to conclude a contract with you. The admissibility of the processing depends on Art. 6 para. 1 f) GDPR (legitimate interest). Our legitimate interest lies in assessing your creditworthiness and reducing the risk of non-payment.
3. Recipient
As part of the service provision, your personal data is forwarded and processed to the respective HENRY's divisions and may also be passed on to other companies (e.g. shipping service providers, tax consultants, cooperation partners, computer centres). In these cases, the transfer is covered by a legal basis or takes place within the framework of order processing.
We do not intend to transfer your data to a third country outside the EU or the EEA.
4. Storage of your data
Your data will be stored for the first time when you contact us, e.g. by e-mail or telephone or when exchanging e-mails or written documents. We delete your personal data when the contractual relationship is terminated, all mutual claims are fulfilled and no legal storage obligations or legal bases for storage exist. We will continue to use your postal address for advertising purposes even after termination of the contractual relationship, provided you do not object.
If your data has been made anonymous for analysis purposes, it will be stored and used without time limit.
5. Rights of the persons concerned
You have the following rights:
You have a right of access (Article 15 GDPR), correction (Article 16 GDPR), cancellation (Article 17 GDPR), limitation of processing (Article 18 GDPR) and data transmission (Article 20 GDPR). We make every effort to process enquiries as quickly as possible.
If your personal data are processed on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 f) GDPR, you have a right of objection if there are reasons for this which arise from your particular situation or if the objection is directed against direct advertising (Art. 21 GDPR). If you object to direct advertising, we will no longer send you any advertising messages.
6. Revocability of consent
Any consent given for the processing of personal data can be revoked at any time. The legality of the processing on the basis of the consent until revocation remains unaffected.
7. Questions or complaints
You have the right to contact the competent supervisory authority (Landesbeauftragter für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit Rheinland-Pfalz, Hintere Bleiche 34, 55116 Mainz, Germany).
The buyer´s premium is 25% + 5% platform charge. Both includes the German tax.


text: This course can also be taken for academic credit as ECEA 5361, part of CU Boulder's Master of Science in Electrical Engineering degree. Hardware Description Languages for Logic Design enables students to design circuits using VHDL and Verilog, the most widespread design methods for FPGA Design. It uses natural learning processes to make learning the languages easy. Simple first examples are presented, then language rules and syntax, followed by more complex examples, and then finally use of test bench simulations to verify correctness of the designs. Lecture presentations are reinforced by many programming example problems so that skill in the languages is obtained. After completing this course, each student will have fundamental proficiency in both languages, and more importantly enough knowledge to continue learning and gaining expertise in Verilog and VHDL on their own.


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03/18/2014 Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH introduces certified energy management
Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH in Lindenberg, Germany, recently received certification that it has successfully introduced an energy management system in compliance with the global DIN EN ISO 50001:2011 standard. Key to the standard is the continual improvement of an organisation's energy performance.
The energy management system supplements the environmental management system in accordance with DIN EN ISO 14001 that Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH introduced in 2007. The new system will allow a systematic improvement in energy use, energy consumption and energy efficiency, and will entrench awareness of these aspects in the company. The certificate is valid for three years and is reviewed annually.


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Polarisation of the Islamic and Western Worlds: Us against Them
Robert MisikPosted Apr 18, 2010 •Permalink • Printer-Friendly Version
Polarisation of the Islamic and Western Worlds: Us against Them
by Robert Misik
The longer we talk about identity conflicts in the West and the Islamic world, the more certain we can be that they will come about, writes journalist Robert Misik in his anatomy of a war psychosis
The longer we talk about identity conflicts in the West and the Islamic world, the more certain we can be that they will come about, writes journalist Robert Misik in his anatomy of a war psychosis
It smells of war. At least we are gradually getting the idea of what it must have been like in former times. When we suddenly stood face to face with the enemy: us against them.
How entire peoples arrived at a point where they assumed that their existence was at stake because it was under threat from those with a completely different existence. Later, such behaviour would be described as "war psychosis" or "collective pathology".
Field, tilled by extremists
Whatever one calls it, it is back: "Us" and "them". "Us" and the Muslims. Or the other way around: "Us" and the West. "Us" against … Of course everything is much more complicated today. Caricatures in a Danish provincial newspaper lead to violent demonstrations in Gaza and Lahore. People in Tripoli lose their lives when a provocative Italian Lega-Nord Minister appears on television in Rome.
When Hamas wins elections in Palestine, people look sceptically at men with beards and jellabas in DIY stores in Vienna. Anti-Western films produced in Turkey are box office hits in Berlin-Neukölln.
This confrontational status-quo has created a maelstrom that is even exerting a pull on "normal people" on both sides. During the caricature dispute, many devout Muslims ran into the field that had been so carefully tilled by extremists, while in western left-wing liberal circles it has become the norm to argue that "we" have to defend our values, our civilisation's achievements, against "them".
Collective pathologies
Some of the arguments that are being put forward are the most astonishing combinations imaginable. On the one side, the feelings of humiliation harboured by the Muslim world in general and by the supposedly second-class migrant communities in particular merge with the anti-Western furore created by the fundamentalists.
On the other side, the liberal discourse of freedom, human rights, and freedom of speech merge with the arrogant, supercilious tones of a western rhetoric of superiority. It is fashionable and acceptable to say that western, enlightened tolerance and liberality must draw the line when it comes under threat. And it doesn't sound bad either.
But yet the liberality that is both claimed and denied at the same time, is battling with the cutting manner in which the words are spoken. But maybe this is a characteristic of such collective pathologies: even the best motives are capable of being combined with the worst ways of thinking.
Every side has its truth and the most unpleasant thing about this truth is that it is not usually wrong. Writing in the Egyptian al-Ahram-Weekly, Ayman El-Amir proclaims that "anti-Arab, anti-Muslim prejudices have become part of western culture".
"Avoid infection with hysteria"
As if wanting to confirm this assertion, violence researcher Wolfgang Sofsky writes in Die Welt that "this mass of devout people wants to take possession of its deadly infidel enemies; it wants to slaughter them and burn them." American strategists are already talking about the "Fourth World War" (the Cold War is neatly filed under "Third World War").
Writing in Die Zeit, Jens Jessen warns the West "not to be infected by its opponent's hysteria". Essentially, he is advising us to desert the frontline of the "clash of the civilisations" only to refer to the West a few sentences later as the "far superior social system". But is it possible to formulate such a sentence without taking sides in this conflict? What is happening here? Are we confused? Are storms raging in our heads?
But not taking sides at all is not the solution either when the liberal pathos of freedom brushes painfully against anti-Islamic agitation and when, at the same time, anti-racist or anti-imperialist rhetoric is not infrequently used to make totalitarian religious madness look harmless.
Muslims are starting to resent the West, while people in the West are becoming generally suspicious of Muslims. Suddenly, little Turkish boys kicking a ball around a football pitch are seen with different eyes. The world is rearranged.
As ever, the rhetoric of cultural superiority is an expression of fantasies of powerlessness and threats. A mixture of excitement and fear dominates both sides. The panic attack precedes the actual attack.
Increasing anti-western cultural awareness
When identities feel threatened, insanity thrives. So is this the clash of the civilisations predicted thirteen years ago by the US political scientist Samuel Huntington? Huntington wrote that the world's major civilisations were the stable elements in the world order. That being said, he added that these civilisations, or cultures, are merging with one another because the world is moving closer together.
Moreover, with the hegemony of western culture, anti-western cultural awareness is increasing in non-western civilisations. At times when people are searching for an identity, he wrote, the probability of people interpreting the situation in terms of "us" and "them" increases.
The transformation of "real existing" Islam - this jig-saw of Koran traditions and local ways of life blended together to create a uniform, pure, global protest Islam - needed the adoption of influences from western culture and could be said to have even doubled its tendency to homogenise.
In this way, re-Islamisation is just as "artificial" as western consumer culture. But that doesn't mean that Huntington was wrong in his diagnosis. If someone considers himself or herself to have a certain identity for long enough, they will in the end assume that identity.
One feature of discussions about identity is that they make people ignore their own concrete personal characteristics and drive them into an opposing camp or, in the best case scenario, into a camp alongside the one in which they find themselves.
Discussions about identity blur the vision. The West denies being a culture in the first place; it claims to be the norm. Culture? Others who deviate from the norm have culture. And whenever the West talks about "culture" the word always seems to imply backwardness.
"Identity goes to war"
These cultures are treated with a type of respect that often bears a strong resemblance to condescension. The multiculturalist defends the right of immigrant communities to live according to their own traditions (and would even do so for colourfully painted natives on remote South Sea islands); the militant liberal demands that "they" become like "us".
Discourses about identity always have the potential to become aggressive. "Identity goes to war" was the headline of an article in the most recent edition of the US magazine The New Republic. In this article, Amartya Sen, who has won the Nobel Prize for Economics, called for more attention to be paid to the multiplicity of identities.
This also means checking one's own rhetoric to see whether it helps tone down the clash of civilisations or in fact exacerbates it. We must learn to see things through other people's eyes. Should we defend human rights, freedom of speech, and civil rights and liberties? Yes, by all means! But we should always make sure that what we do does not bring about the opposite of what we claim to do.
Robert Misik
Source and © Qantara.de 2006
Translation from German: Aingal Flanagan
Robert Misik lives and works as a freelance journalist in Vienna and Berlin and has worked for the Austrian magazines Profil and Format. Genial Dagegen, his study of critical thought from Marx to Michael Moore, was recently published in German by Aufbau Verlag.• Permalink


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Less than 48 hours after declaring that the Houston Texans were "outplayed and outcoached" in their 27-24 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, safety Ed Reed might be facing the end of his football career.
The Texans are releasing Reed, NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday, per a source informed of the pending deal. Reed was officially released later Tuesday, the Texans announced, and he will go on waivers after earning $5 million guaranteed for just seven games. John McClain of the Houston Chronicle had the first report.
Reed's criticism of the coaching staff's schemes, assignments and situational football came just days after he was demoted from the starting lineup in favor of Shiloh Keo.
The Texans surely realized a disgruntled veteran of Reed's declining skill level and decorated resume would be a distraction on a team trying to pull itself out of the tailspin of a seven-game losing skid.
The future Hall of Famer is free to latch on to a contender for the stretch run. The question is whether any team in need of a safety has a spot open for a player who has become a competitive disadvantage at the tail end of his career.


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Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is a neurological condition that affects three areas of people's behavior in various ways - their attention level, their activity level, and their impulsivity level. You can be diagnosed with ADD only if these behaviors are chronic (you've had them for a long time) and severe (impacting your life negatively in serious ways, more so than other people).
It is extremely important to understand that this disorder is a neurobiological condition. While medication has proven to be very effective in reducing many of the symptoms of ADD; education, support and strategies should be included to enhance opportunities for success.
Attention Deficit Disorder is a physiologically based disorder. Although it is not categorized as a specific learning disability, ADD is legally regarded as a medical disability. Students with ADD may exhibit the following behaviors: distractibility, concentration problems, inability to stay on task, poor organizational skills, impulsivity, and difficulty in interpreting and reacting appropriately in social situations. These behaviors often contribute to inconsistencies in academic performances and social behavior.
Information Courtesy of Guilford Technical Community College. Used with permission.


text:
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Your gift of stock can also provide attractive tax savings. The first being that you can claim an immediate tax deduction. If the stock is worth more now than what you paid for it more than a year ago, you will be able to claim the full benefit of the stock's current fair market value. You can also avoid capital gains tax when you donate as opposed to selling this appreciated stock.
You may find that these tax savings can help you make a larger gift than you originally thought possible. Giving stock can help you and [[station_name]] convert your stock market gains into real community change.
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To learn more about giving publicly traded stock, mutual funds and other investments, please contact [[contact_name]] at [[contact_phone]] or [[contact_email]]. We would be honored to work with you and your advisors as you consider your plans.
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Having previously mentioned here, my passion for tracking Europe's returning African visitors, I recently attempted an analysis of the latest data from the Gibraltar region. To do this, I reviewed a spreadsheet, set up in previous years that use the First dates of migrant bird sightings, sourced from Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society. Having gone through my seven randomly chosen bird species' arrival dates (on return from Africa), they were to reveal some intriguing trends.
Below you can see a link to a copy of the above-mentioned spreadsheet.
What does this data tell you? To me it hints at a good pattern match to 2010, when looking at the First known sightings of the seven listed bird species. Later, I will refer to the actual climate of two years ago. Meanwhile, a question arises. When looking at these bird arrival statistics, is it possible to predict the future climate for the United Kingdom, i.e. what will spring and summer weather be like? Currently, the latest news from Gibraltar indicated a relaxation of the High Pressure areas that have largely plagued that part of Europe since last autumn. Furthermore, it is a fact that Low Pressure systems with their associated weather fronts can move the migrant birds on mass, which sometimes result in bird falls (exceptionally large numbers). What effect if any, will this have on the United Kingdom, being that it is still under the firm grip of High Pressure and has been for several weeks now?
Has the current atmospheric situation resulted in a lack of bird movement? Oh, no! With quite a few spring overshoots such as Night Herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) and Hoopoes (Upupa epops) already in, you can add to the mix the more usual Cuckoos (Cuculus canorus), Willow Warblers (Phylloscopus trochilus), Wheatears (Oenanthe oenanthe) and Blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla)*. Is it possible we could be having an early migration season this year?
2010's weather for the UK, based on my local data proved a dry and rather warm spring (March through May) and cool wet end to summer (June through August). The official data from the Met Office shown here – Spring 2010 and Summer 2010 roughly correlated to mine.
As you can see from the above, spring came early, as did autumn in 2010. Watch this space for further news of any resemblance with that particular year.
Kind Regards
Tony Powell
*as ever, Thanks to Birdguides