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Manatee and river tours
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Intertextile, Yarn Expo, Chic and PH Value, scheduled in Shanghai on March 10-12, have been postponed. FashionNetwork.com has learned the possible new dates are March 17-19, if the authorities give the green light.
Refine search
Shanghai textile trade shows postponedShanghai textile trade shows postponed| Fashion | Trade shows
WSN will not stage trade shows in Paris in March, only a Première Classe showroomWSN will not stage trade shows in Paris in March, only a PremiÃre Classe showroom
Health protection measures are once again preventing Paris's trade shows from being held regularly. WSN's joint event scheduled in early March has been cancelled, and only a reduced Première Classe show will be staged.
Première Vision show announces online conference programmePremiÃre Vision show announces online conference programme
Paris's Première Vision show will not be staged physically, but on February 15-19 it will hold a digital event featuring a revamped e-marketplace and several online debates with industry professionals and specialists.
Pure and Moda owner Hyve ticks over in Q1, helped by digital events and insurance payoutsPure and Moda owner Hyve ticks over in Q1, helped by digital events and insurance payouts
Pure London organiser Hyve Group has described near-term operating conditions for physical events as "fluid", with Covid-19-related disruption continuing to hit its domestic and European schedule.
Pitti Immagine forced to cancel physical eventsPitti Immagine forced to cancel physical events
Following a decision by the Italian government, trade shows Pitti Uomo, Pitti Bimbo and Pitti Filati will take place exclusively online on the Pitti Connect platform which will remain online until the start of April.
Pitti Connect: Herno trumpets sustainability; Oscar Farinetti expounds on Green PeaPitti Connect: Herno trumpets sustainability; Oscar Farinetti expounds on Green Pea
Pitti Connect took a novel turn with Herno CEO Claudio Marenzi presenting the brand's latest sustainable ideas with Globe, before linking to Eataly founder Oscar Farinetti, who has launched eco-retail concept Pea Green.
Brunello Cucinelli opens Pitti, in Solomeo, not FlorenceBrunello Cucinelli opens Pitti, in Solomeo, not Florence
Brunello Cucinelli on Tuesday opened Pitti Connect, the latest version of the famed Italian menswear trade fair, but in Solomeo in Umbria, not in Florence in Tuscany.
Pitti determined to go ahead with February event, says NapoleonePitti determined to go ahead with February event, says Napoleone
Pitti is determined to go ahead with its next physical trade show in February, and expects around 300 brands to attend, according to Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of the Florentine fashion salon.
Première Vision show to be staged again digitally in FebruaryPremiÃre Vision show to be staged again digitally in February
The February session of Première Vision Paris once again won't be staged physically, and will be replaced by a digital version scheduled on February 15-19, benefiting from several innovations in its e-marketplace.
Return to live: Hyve Group launches Scoop x Pure show for SeptemberReturn to live: Hyve Group launches Scoop x Pure show for September
In anticipation of a return to staging live events, Hyve Group has launched Scoop X Pure, a concept show uniting its two fashion events, Scoop and Pure London.
Milano Unica show "forced" to shift to digital format next FebruaryMilano Unica show âforcedâ to shift to digital format next February
Italy's benchmark textiles show, which had been one of the rare trade events to be staged physically in September, has announced that its February edition, showcasing the Spring/Summer 2022 collections, will go digital.
Webinar: The future of trade showsWebinar: The future of trade shows
On Tuesday December 8, global trend forecasting agency FashionSnoops is bringing together a number of fashion show top executives to try to find answers to the questions about the future of trade shows.
Jewellery trade show Bijorhca cancels its January editionJewellery trade show Bijorhca cancels its January edition
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 health crisis, international jewellery trade show Bijorhca has cancelled its January edition and has thus far not announced any upcoming dates for its next edition.
Playtime show cancels winter editions, relies on digital formatPlaytime show cancels winter editions, relies on digital format
Playtime, the trade show dedicated to the world of children, has cancelled the winter editions due to be held in Paris, New York and Shanghai. Organiser Picaflor emphasised however that Playtime continues online.
Denim Première Vision kicks off Denim Digital Week eventDenim PremiÃre Vision kicks off Denim Digital Week event
The Denim PV show has started its Denim Digital Week, scheduled from November 30 to December 4, an online event presenting new materials for the Spring/Summer 2022 and featuring conferences on the latest trends.

subset: commoncrawl


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Elf blush 'Berry Merry' - swatches
Mirenesse Blush Brush
Skinfood Salmon Dark Circle Concealer in #2
Dove Essential Nutrients Moisturiser
L'Oreal Nude Magique BB Cream
Face of Australia Mineral Therapy Illuminator in Angel Flame (review to come)
Too Faced Shadow Insurance - see more
MUA Undressed Palette - review
Revlon Colorburst Lipstick
Nivea Repair and Protection Lip Balm
MUA Intense Kisses gloss
Simple Eye makeup remover
China Glaze - For Audrey
Rimmel 60 Seconds - Green with Envy
Rimmel I Love Lasting Finish - Disco Ball
OPI - Skyfall (its not as orange as it looks here!)
OPI - Gold Shatter
Batiste brunette dry shampoo
TIGI Bedhead Foxy Curls Contour Cream
Berber Oil Mask
PC Games
Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy - not for the faint at heart, it features a man who is possessed to kill others and you play as his character and the detectives to uncover the truth
Sims 3 Showtime - I am a Sims addict!
Jodi Picoult - Plain Truth: This is about a young unmarried Amish girl who gives birth to a child in her family barn. The child is found dead in the morning, and all fingers point to her as the murderer as she did not want to be shunned by her community. This was a great read as it considers different viewpoints of what the girl did, including the Amish view and the Western legal views.
Nora Roberts - Montana Sky: A rich but heartless man dies and leaves his ranch (worth millions) behind to his three daughters, who have never met. In order to inherit the money, they must all live and work together on the ranch for a year. One of the sisters is relieved, as it is an escape from her stalker ex-husband...but can she really hide from him?
Stephen Chbosky - The Perks of Being a Wallflower: A beautiful novel about life, love and growing up. If you haven't seen the film, I highly recommend it.
If there is a product here that you would like me to review, just ask in the comments section, I'm more than happy to do so!
Happy new year!


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Jet Fuel Company (BJFCo), a joint venture between nogaholding and Bahrain Airport Company (BAC), has started work on the construction of its fuel tanks which will be ready by March 2019, said a report.
BJFCo will be in charge of transporting jet fuel within the airport, as well as for the operation and maintenance of the new tanks, reported BNA, citing senior officials at the regular weekly Cabinet session, which was chaired by HRH Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa at Gudaibiya Palace yesterday (November 20).
BJFCo has in April signed aviation fueling restructuring agreements for Bahrain International Airport (BIA) with several companies including Bafco, Chevron, BP, nogaholding and Bapco.
These deals will result in a more streamlined and efficient aviation fuel supply, operation and maintenance process at the airport, said the report.
The cabinet also took note of the completion of the necessary foundations for the fuel tanks and was informed that the entire fuel network will be ready for operation in July 2020, it added.
from Construction Realestate Readmore công ty pacific travel
Links topic: https://www.wegocasablanca.com/2017/11/bahrains-fuel-tank-construction-work-on.html


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
To arrange inspection please call 201-529-5757
Roula extension: 235
Pam extension: 284
Christina extension : 288
Inspections will be conducted periodically during the process of construction to insure that the work performed conforms with the approved plans and requirements of the codes.
The owner or responsible person in charge of the work must notify the Building Department when work is ready for inspection. Final inspections are required prior to a Certificate of Occupancy or Approval can be issued.
New Jersey State Law 13:45A-16.2 provides protection for a homeowner to not pay final payment to any contractor prior to all final inspections have been approved.


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How to cook
This recipe will allow you to eat fresh-like peppers all winter long.
Put water to boil in a deep pot. Add the salt to dissolve.
Core the peppers, remove the seeds.
Then put them in the water. It needs to come to a boil again. Let boil for 5 min.
Next, dip them in cold water. Leave to drain.
You can pack the peppers tightly in jars next to one another, top off with water, cap and boil again or distribute them in bags, 10 per bag, and store in the freezer.


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ERIC Number: ED390327
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1995-Dec-1
Pages: 41
Abstractor: N/A
Recruiting Trends 1995-96. A Study of 527 Businesses, Industries, and Governmental Agencies Employing New College Graduates. 25th Anniversary Edition.
Scheetz, L. Patrick
This study sought to determine recruiting trends of business, industry, and government among the pool of new college graduates. Questionnaires were mailed to 4,072 employers, of which 507 returned complete responses. The survey found that new college graduates of 1995-96 can expect mild growth in job opportunities. For the third consecutive year, surveyed employers anticipated minimal growth in hiring intentions. Engineering and computer science garnered among the highest starting salaries for new graduates, and the Southeastern and Northcentral geographical regions reported the most favorable employment opportunities for recent graduates, according to the survey. Women represented 42.9 percent of all new hires in 166 organizations reporting gender data, while racial and ethnic minorities represented 18.2 percent of new hires at organizations surveyed. Good oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills were reported among the most important attributes of successful new hires. They were also reported among the most notable deficiencies observed in new college graduates. Computer literacy and a command of popular office technology continue to be much sought after attributes in future employees, according to the survey. A list of employers responding to the survey is included. (MDM)
Descriptors: College Graduates, Communication Skills, Employee Attitudes, Employer Attitudes, Employers, Employment Opportunities, Employment Patterns, Employment Practices, Employment Projections, Employment Qualifications, Higher Education, Labor Market, National Surveys, Questionnaires, Recruitment, Salaries, Work Attitudes
Michigan State University, Career Services and Placement, 113 Student Services Building, East Lansing, MI 48824-1113 ($25).
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Michigan State Univ., East Lansing. Collegiate Employment Research Inst.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: For the 1994 24th edition, see ED 376 787.


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Complete Commercial Roofing Services
From roof repair to roof coatings and new roof installations, Larry Walty Roofing & Guttering Inc. offers total commercial roofing services. We work with building owners, facility managers, architects and builders to find the best roofing solution for a building's needs. Call us today to find out why we're the roofer of choice throughout greater Wichita.
Our Options
There are many commercial roofing products and even more companies offering roofing services, but Larry Walty Roofing & Guttering Inc. offers comprehensive services for the life of your roof. We install both TPO and EPDM products. Sometimes, after an evaluation of your current roofing system, we can use a roof coating to delay the need for a total roof replacement. If you have a steep-slope roofing system, we offer asphalt, tile and metal roofing for your steep-slope commercial roofing needs. We are proud to sell and install the following brands:
- Versico
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Of course, no matter your facility's roofing material, Larry Walty Roofing & Guttering Inc. can provide expert roof repair and maintenance services – either as needed or on an annual maintenance contract.
Choose Larry Walty Roofing & Guttering Inc. as Your Commercial Roofer
When you choose Larry Walty Roofing & Guttering Inc. for your roofing services, you're getting a team of experts who can advise you as to the best course of action for your roof. Because we're dedicated to our craft, we believe in offering the best materials installed by skilled and experienced roofers. In fact, we're one of only seven roofing companies in Wichita approved by the city to perform our own roofing inspections. Our customers trust our nearly 30 years of experience.
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No matter what roofing services you need for your flat or steep-slope building, LLarry Walty Roofing & Guttering Inc. can help. We're locally-owned and -operated, licensed and insured. Call (316) 733-2843 or fill out our contact form today for your no-obligation consultation.


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Severe impairments in speech and difficulties with verbal communication can be common in people with Angelman syndrome.
Complicating such problems are the disease's other symptoms, such as difficulties with mobility because of poor balance and muscle coordination, epileptic seizures, and behavioral issues.
Types of communication difficulties in Angelman syndrome
Verbal speech can be completely absent in some Angelman patients, and others — even as adults — may be able to only voice a few words. These people usually rely on gestures, sign language, and devices to communicate with others. They may point, touch, or give out objects to express a feeling or an idea.
Nonverbal skills can improve in some individuals as they near or attain adulthood, and attention spans lengthen. These individuals may rely more on natural, self-developed gestures, and non-speech vocalizations rather than electronic communication aids.
Communication difficulties can cause frustration. In some patients, such frustrations can lead to aggressive behavior and anxiety.
What causes communication difficulties?
Difficulty with speech can be due to several factors, such as motor problems, poor tone in muscles essential to speech (like those of tongue and throat), and structural anomalies such as a protruding tongue. Delayed development and intellectual disabilities, as well as the possibility of apraxia (damage to motor neurons in the area of the brain that regulates speech) may also play a role.
Management of communication difficulties
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems can be used to improve communication in Angelman syndrome. This includes using pictures, symbols, objects, and different mobile applications.
Speech and occupational therapists can teach parents, schoolteachers, and others who regularly communicate with Angelman patients various movement and gesture techniques to improve communication. Learning these techniques are often beneficial, but they can require considerable time and effort.
Music therapy is another effective way to help develop speech, language, and communication skills in children with Angelman syndrome. A specific song, for example, can be used to teach a letter or to help in pronouncing a word, and also works to exercise the muscles of the mouth. Instruments, such as whistles, also target mouth and throat muscles. Music can also be used to help the child in choice-making, sentence structure, phonemic awareness, and speech intelligibility.
Visual aids, sign language, and AAC devices can be incorporated into music therapy sessions to aid communication.
Last update: September 5, 2019
Angelman Syndrome News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.


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Dean Wyckoff has been selected as the new Chief Ranger for Theodore Roosevelt National Park. He began his assignment on July 17, filling the position previously held by Tom Cox, who retired from the NPS in January.
"It is wonderful to have Dean join the park management team," said Superintendent Valerie Naylor. "He has deep knowledge of the park and its issues, along with a strong connection to the local area. Dean will bring exceptional leadership to our law enforcement and resource and visitor protection programs."
Wyckoff grew up in Sentinel Butte, North Dakota and has a Bachelor's Degree from Dickinson State University. He served as the park's South Unit District Ranger from 1996 – 2003 and as a seasonal ranger in the park from 1988 – 1990.
As Chief Ranger, Wyckoff oversees law enforcement, fee collection operations, emergency medical services, search and rescue, concessions management, special park uses, wilderness and backcountry management, and campground operations for all three units of the park.
Wyckoff began his National Park Service career as a seasonal Park Ranger at Theodore Roosevelt National Park and also worked in seasonal positions at Badlands National Park in South Dakota. He held permanent positions as a park ranger at Statue of Liberty National Monument in New York City, and as a refuge officer at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa. After serving as District Ranger at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Wyckoff was a Zone Law Enforcement Officer with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Bismarck. His most recent assignment was as a Supervisory Criminal Investigator with the Bureau of Land Management in Billings, Montana.
"I am very honored and excited to serve as the park's Chief Ranger," said Wyckoff. "I look forward to working with the local communities on park-related issues."


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Cancer Patient Edie Sundby Loses Her Insurance Plan And Doctors Due To The ACA
The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by cancer patient Edie Sundby today. Sundby suffers from stage-4 gallbladder cancer. In her piece, she writes that due to the Affordable Care Act, her health insurance policy will be cancelled on Dec. 31.
"For almost seven years I have fought and survived stage-4 gallbladder cancer, with a five-year survival rate of less than 2% after diagnosis," Sundby says. "I am a determined fighter and extremely lucky. But this luck may have just run out: My affordable, lifesaving medical insurance policy has been canceled effective Dec. 31."
Her plan is being canceled because her provider, United Healthcare, is pulling out of the Covered California individual policy market.
Sundby's only options at this time are to either get a new insurance plan through the Covered California ACA health exchange or to pay 40 to 50 percent more for an insurance policy outside the exchange. Either way, she will not be able to see the medical team that has taken care of her for the past seven years. She writes that she and her broker have no clue what their best option is going forward.
Her treatment has been provided by a combination of Stanford and University of California, San Diego (UCSD) medical staffs. Under exchange policies, she would be forced to choose between either Stanford or UCSD providers.
"So if I go with a health-exchange plan, I must choose between Stanford and UCSD," she says. "Stanford has kept me alive — but UCSD has provided emergency and local treatment support during wretched periods of this disease, and it is where my primary-care doctors are."
Sundby closes out her post by calling out President Obama on his claim that Americans who are happy with their insurance plans would get to keep their policies.
She writes: "What happened to the president's promise, 'You can keep your health plan'? Or to the promise that 'You can keep your doctor'? Thanks to the law, I have been forced to give up a world-class health plan. The exchange would force me to give up a world-class physician."
Sundby's dilemma is a tragic one that nobody in the world's richest nation should find themselves in. With that said, I think it's wise to put her ordeal in perspective. Thousands of Americans who cannot afford health insurance die from curable diseases every year. The ACA is not messing up a faultless system. For every person like Sundby who loses their old insurance plan because of the ACA, there is a multitude of dead Americans who could never afford treatment in the first place.
Health insurance in America is the result of a flawed dynamic between insurance companies and the government. Let's not point the finger at one entity while ignoring the other.
Source: Wall Street Journal, Daily Mail


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In the ever-changing world of online PR, Stephen Davies is one to watch. His blog was recently named the UK's "Top PR Blog" and has a daily readership of more than two thousand. Forward-thinking and creative, Davies left distribution company webitpr after helping to introduce Europe's first Social Media News Release. In September, he celebrated the launch of his newest venture, 3W PR.
3W PR is an online specific PR agency introduced in response to the growing trend of web use by consumers and corporations alike. "My long term strategy will have the company competing with the large, multinational PR agencies in the next five to ten years. Do you think that's being a little too ambitious?" he jokes.
Davies started blogging in 2005 at prblogger.com, but admits that he has evolved as a blogger since then. "I suppose these days I try to be more 'big picture' in my thinking and in my blog posts," he explains. "I tend to take a more skeptical look at the 'new thing that's going to change PR forever' and focus on the way the PR industry is here and now."
Although blogs and blogging are more popular in the States than in the UK, British use of social media is huge. In 2007, The London Facebook network surpassed Toronto to become the largest network on the site. Davies has written many blog posts about the growing importance of the use social media in PR, including a recent comprehensive list of UK PR people on Twitter.
Speaking of Twitter, Davies has sound advice for newcomers. "Be nice, be interesting, be yourself and don't go into sales mode at every possible opportunity," he says.
One of the reasons Davies has been able to gain so much ground in the fight to be considered a great PR mind is that he reads constantly. "I read to the point where it's quite worrying how much I read," he admits. "Reading articles, whitepapers and other people's blogs is usually where I find inspiration for blog posts."
In August of this year, Davies blogged that we have entered the "Golden Age of PR," citing the advent of social media as one of the top reasons. "Public relations is about three things: Communication, reputation and relationships. The same is true for social media," he says. The similarities between the two are what make them such a perfect match, and it is crucial for PR people at all levels to embrace many types of social media to remain relevant.
"Social media is breaking down walls and stereotypes," Davies says. "I have a very positive outlook on globalization and I believe social media is helping to make the world a smaller place."
Another blogger who has certainly carved a niche for herself is Leigh Householder of the Advergirl blog. A self-proclaimed "brand strategist," Householder was kind enough to record a video response to the questions I had for her. She was on the social media panel at the PRSA conference that took place in October and is a veritable social media connoisseur.
Advergirl Interview 2 from Leigh Householder on Vimeo.
Emily Jeter is a student at Auburn University in Robert French's class on public relations messages in emerging digital media. You can learn more at http://www.theloveliestvillage.org.


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Depending on whom you speak to, 1947's Dark Passage is either foolishly "overlooked" or appropriately "forgotten."
Not liking such critical absolutes, I would choose something between these two poles of opinion, though if forced to choose a side, I would lean toward the latter – and less flattering – of the two judgments. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, the real-life couple who generally shine and sizzle in just about any film they appear, cannot rescue this workmanlike film noir.
Considering the genre we are dealing with, I was fully prepared for an opaque and bleak finale, but much to my surprise, Bogart and Bacall emerge from the rather straightforward prison-break plot relatively unscathed. When we last see them they are on a terrace overlooking a South America beach, gently swaying in each other's arms – an art-imitating-life conclusion that feels like the result of a studio executive who made his intentions known by scrawling on the film's screenplay draft: "B&B MUST end up happily ever after."
Champions of the film point to its nifty camerawork and lasting influence on other directors – both of which provoke a resigned shrug from this particular viewer.
|San Franciso on display
The decision by director Delmer Daves to film the first hour or so almost entirely from Bogart's perspective – that is, with the camera literally functioning as his "eyes" – is not something one comes across that often (Lady in the Lake tried – and largely failed – to pull of the same feat for the length of an entire picture). Undoubtedly, it is a brave and innovative move, but it also robs the film of one of its best qualities – Bogart – for almost half its running time. At the same time, I have to wonder if the director really needs to spend as much time as he does showing us what it looks like to conduct the mundane business of existence – walking, entering an elevator, shaving, etc. – from his protagonist's perspective. It is many things, but interesting is not one of them, and the end result is the audience feels trapped inside a film school gimmick that does not end as quickly and as neatly as it should.
In the meantime, though, we do get to look at Bacall.
In relative terms, she is not nearly as racy or openly suggestive in this role as she is elsewhere. Indeed, she is so demure she seems almost de-clawed. Her ticket into the action is initially presented as circumstantial – she happens to be painting nearby the place Bogart runs to when he escapes from San Quentin prison. However, during the course of the film, it is revealed she faithfully attended Bogey's murder trial and believes he was falsely convicted for killing his wife with an ashtray. Bacall sympathizes with Bogart and aids his escape by spiriting him straight to her apartment in downtown San Francisco.
If this seems odd, that is because it is. Bacall is clearly presented as the mixed-up type who today would be caught by her friends writing letters to convicted men in the hope of marrying one of them while he was incarcerated. She is, in other words, fairly creepy despite her tame and domesticated pose. Bacall's character also relates to Bogey because she claims her father was wrongly imprisoned by her stepmother, and thus the relationship that develops on-screen between her and her real-life husband works as a kind of Cassandra-complex run amuck, in which she replaces her departed dad with another older man.
|The obvious villain
The third peg in the plot is a busybody named Madge Rapf. It was Rapf's testimony that put Bogart behind bars, and when Rapf begins showing up around Bacall's place, he fears the worst. This leads him to accept an offer – made by the world's oddest and most helpful cabbie – to allow a back-alley doctor to alter his face. The result is Bogart is given a new lease on life – and a chance to resolve the plot's pair of dangling mysteries – through a new look, although the anonymity he hoped for proves oddly elusive.
There is not much else to assess here. Clearly, this is a film about characters that are not in control of their lives – and what is worse, they know it. The decisions by Bogart and Bacall to simply take what comes and respond to it as best as possible is a powerful example of the brand of stoicism often celebrated in film noir. That fact everything ultimately works out in the end for both characters is distinctly out of step with accepted noir tropes. There is no bloody finale and no downer-ending depicting the futility of it all.
Instead, the audience is treated to a moody, almost surreal San Francisco, populated by odd characters, fog horns and sweeping vistas. It is a delight to watch, but the claim some critics make that this picture is a Kafka-like nightmare, in which an innocent man stumbles through a plot he is incapable of influencing, seems a bit much. There are some quirky moments to be sure, but if there is a metaphor here, it involves the notion of rebirth.
Both Bogart and Bacall are looking to build new lives on top of old ones that are riddled with error or regret. The title itself could refer to the inevitably violent transition a baby makes from the womb, through the birth canal to the light of the outer world. When the bandages come off Bogey's face, he is helpless and has to be mothered by Bacall for a week's time. He must suck his nourishment through a straw the same way a baby feeds from an umbilical cord.
Or maybe I am reading too much into all this and looking for greatness in a simplistic movie about a guy on the run from the law?
Regardless, there is neither enough metaphor nor simplicity to make this film stand taller than the name of the stars on its marquee. The villain is too obvious, the mysteries dangled too meager and the final product in no way reflects the quality of the constituent parts, all of which is a longwinded way of saying that this film is ultimately forgettable, even if parts of it are likeable.


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Steel is moved by a steel-worker in a mill at the plant of German steel company Salzgitter AG in Salzgitter, Lower Saxony on March 3, 2016. (Photo: Reuters)
After all the condemnation of US tariffs on EU metal exports and calls for unity, the European Union still has two decisions to make - how hard to hit back at the United States and whether to engage in trade talks with Washington.
Neither is a given. The EU can act only by consensus, and its 28 members have different interests. Germany, by far the largest European exporter to the United States, is the most fearful of a trade war. Others, including France, are determined not to yield to what they see as US bullying.
The European Commission is considering safeguards to prevent a surge of imports into the bloc and will launch a legal challenge at the World Trade Organization after the EU producers were hit by US tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum.
EU countries have also given broad support to its plan to set its own duties of 25 percent on 2.8 billion euros ($3.3 billion) of US exports, including bourbon and motor-bikes to "rebalance" the US tariffs on 6.4 billion euros of EU metals.
This rebalancing could enter force from June 20, with tariffs on a second list of products from March 2021, although this will first need a formal decision by the EU's 28 member states.
"The moment of truth," French trade minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne aptly said.
A joint Franco-German statement said the EU would take "all appropriate measures" in response to the US decision, but did not spell out what "appropriate" meant.
German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, a signatory to that statement, said a month ago that EU states still needed to determine whether and when to apply the countermeasures.
Germany, whose car exports to the United States are more than half the EU total, is the most desperate of EU members to avoid a trade war and mindful that car and truck tariffs could be next after Washington launched an investigation last week.
Other countries will also need careful thought, EU diplomats said. US bourbons and whiskies make up the largest sector outside steel to be hit under the EU plan and EU producers, such as Britain and Ireland, might fear their own spirits being hit.
The bloc also needs to determine how to deal with the Trump administration now, particularly after he opened an investigation into cars and trucks that could lead to similar tariffs as now on metals.
Germany has tended to favor a more conciliatory approach, while others believe, after weeks of metal tariffs talks, that Trump will only respect a hard line.
Germany has more at stake. In 2017, German exports to the United States reached 112 billion euros, more than twice that of the next biggest EU country, Britain, and more than triple that of France, according to the Eurostat statistics office.
EU leaders had agreed to offer Washington the prospect of discussions to open their markets wider, with a potential reduction of existing tariffs on industrial products such as cars, and cooperation on energy and regulation.
The proviso was that Trump grant the European Union a permanent exemption to the aluminum and steel tariffs, which he has failed to do.
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told a panel at an OECD conference in Paris on Wednesday that the bloc should follow China's lead and continue talks even with tariffs in place.
"There can be negotiations with or without tariffs in place. There are plenty of tariffs the EU has on us," he said.
European officials gave a cool response, a French source at Macron's office questioning whether Washington's "brutal bilateralism" had even worked with Beijing.
Altmaier, again, has previously said Europe should discuss with the United States a potential agreement to lower tariffs across a broad spectrum of products, even without an exemption for its metal exports.
But French President Emmanuel Macron appeared to rule this out on Thursday. "This American decision stops the possibility of opening other pro-active and positive discussions on other subjects," he told reporters.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, while questioning whether the United States was truly an ally, told German media that the situation was now difficult, but that the bloc did not want to stop talking with Washington.
"We do not want to cut off talks in so far and further talks will of course need to address the automobile sector," he said.


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Create a survey which is needed by the campaign, open the Survey Management list category in the left list ,you can see the Surveys link ,click it and you will see the page on the right and click the add button on the top. Add like this:
Fill in the surveyname (* required), click the save button to save the survey,then it will display in the list of survey page and add the content for this survey.
Create a campaign for popup,you need to change the list category to CallCenter Outbound ,open it and you will see the Campaigns link , click it and you will see the page on the right and click the add button on the top. Add the campaign like this:
Fill in the campaignname (* required),then click the save button to save the campaign. Notice: if you do not choose the ,it will create a customerpackage by the , the customerpackage's name will be the same with the campaign which you has added.
If the CustomerpackageType is individual ,the customerpackage's Tabletype is individual which has been auto created. If the CustomerpackageType is enterprise ,the customerpackage's Tabletype is enterprise which has been auto created.
If you do not want to create the customerpackage automatically, you can create the customerpackage before create the campaign.
Choose the survey at ,then the survey will bind with this campaign.
When the customer call in,popup the customer information,we need to controll the display field,so edit the 'stepOfCampaign' data in the list:
the editpage like this:
Controll the display field by the ManagementFieldSet button and InterfaceFieldSet button. Click the ManagementFieldSet button to controll the field display in the management. Click the InterfaceFieldSet button to controll the field display in the interface.
If you want to show field but can not edit it ,please check the view checkbox. If you want to show field and can edit the field,please check the edit checkbox.
Make sure your campaign's CustomerpackageType, if it is individual,you need to add a individual customer in the Outbound Individuals page , if it is enterprise,you you need to add a enterprise customer in the Outbound Enterprises page.
Add a individual customer ,like this :
After completing,click the save button to save the customer.
Need to add a customer for the customerpackage which has been added, because the customerpackage (automatically created or created by yourself) is empty.
Click the data in the list to editpage,like this:
Click the Edit Customer IN CustomerPage , it will show this page:
This page show all the customer in the customerpackage, it dosen't has customer now ,so we need to add the customer for the customerpackage. Click the add button , it will show the page :
Then add the customer to this customerpackage, select the checkbox and click the confirm button, so the customer will be in the customerpackage, like this:
After create the campaign, need to add the Cvnumber for this campaign,like this:
Fill in like above,then click the save button , then the campaign will have a Cvnumber,so when the customer 'asterccIndividualCustomer' call in ,it will popup the campaign 'stepOfCampaign' by the Callerid.
Set up the above steps, we has create a campaign 'stepOfCampaign' which has been binded a survey 'stepOfPopupSurvey' and has a Cvnumber 'asterccCampaignStep', and the customer 'asterccIndividualCustomer' has been added in the campaign's customerpackage 'stepOfCampaign' .
So when the customer asterccIndividualCustomer call in,it will popup the survey stepOfPopupSurvey.


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Released 12/28/28 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; Director: Tod Browning; Producer: Irving Thalberg; Screenplay: Elliott Clawson and Waldemar Young, from the play Kongo by Chester DeVonde and Kilbourn Gordon; Cinematography: Percy Hilburn; Film Editor: Harry Reynolds; Settings: Cedric Gibbons; Wardrobe: David Cox; Titles: Joe Farnham; Assistant Director: Harry Sharrock; 7 reels (6,150'); Print Source: Warner Brothers Classics
CAST: Lon Chaney (Phroso), Lionel Barrymore (Crane), Warner Baxter (Doc), Mary Nolan (Maizie), Jacqueline Gadsdon (Anna), Roscoe Ward (Tiny), Kalla Pasha (Babe), Curtis Nero (Bumbo), Fred Gambold (comedian), Art Winkler (Phroso's Assistant), Edna Tichenor, Rose Dione
SYNOPSIS: Phroso, a popular stage magician, is performing a trick with his beautiful wife, Anna, where he puts her into a coffin and turns her into a skeleton. After the show, Phroso learns that she is running away with Crane, and when Phroso attacks the man, he is knocked over a balcony and paralyzed from the waist down. Months pass, and Phroso learns that his wife has returned with a baby. He finds them in the church; Anna has died, and he swears revenge on Crane and the little baby that is the child of Crane and his wife. Eighteen years later, west of Zanzibar, Phroso has the local natives under his spell with his magic tricks. Phroso, now known as "Dead-Legs," and his buddies, Tiny, Babe, and Doc, are spreading tales of voodoo and evil spirits so they can rob Crane, now an ivory trader, every time he ships ivory through the jungle. He sends Babe to Zanzibar to bring back Anna's daughter, Maizie, who he has had raised as an alcoholic prostitute in the lowest brothel in town. Babe tells Maizie that he is there to bring her to her father, but when they arrive at the jungle shack, Dead-Legs insults her and says he will tell her why he brought her there when he is ready. Dead-Legs always participates as the head witch-doctor in a local ceremony...when a man dies, he and his wife or daughter are burned alive with his body. Doc is a former physician who has fled to the jungle for reasons unknown, and Dead-Legs keeps him around to work on his back so that he can keep crawling. Doc befriends the girl, and tries to comfort her when Dead-Legs abuses her, which is often. Dead-Legs has sent a message to Crane telling him where to find the man who is stealing his ivory. Crane arrives, recognizes Dead-Legs as Phroso, and Maizie is brought out in a disheveled state, and shaking badly from needing a drink. Crane asks Dead-Legs why he ruined this young girl, and Dead-Legs tells him that Maizie is Crane's daughter by Anna. Crane puts his head in his hands as if in anguish, but Dead-Legs realizes that he is laughing hysterically. Crane tells Dead-Legs that Anna never went away with him, and that the girl is Phroso's daughter! The natives carry out Dead-Legs' instructions to shoot Crane, and Doc is unable to save his life. Maizie faints, and Dead-Legs hugs her to him. Doc realizes what has happened, and when Maizie comes to, Doc swears to her that Crane was not her father, and that her father had died years before. The natives come to get Maizie to burn on the funeral pyre, and Dead-Legs concocts a plan to save the girl. Doc convinces her that Dead-Legs is trying to save her, and she reluctantly agrees to say goodbye to him. The natives arrive and Maizie is put in Phroso's trick coffin. After some hocus- pocus, the coffin is opened and only a skeleton remains. Dead-Legs tells the natives that an evil spirit has taken her body, but they do not believe him and they attack him. As Doc and Maizie float down river to safety, a native fishes Dead-Legs' necklace out of the raging fire.
"In a grim, ingenious, but somewhat artificial tale, with a background of an African swamp festooned with cannibals, Lon Chaney once again returns to the impersonation of a cripple...It is a well concocted narrative and Mr. Chaney gives one of his most able and effective portrayals as he drags himself through scene after scene without using his legs." - --The New York Times
"With Lon Chaney in the principal role the picture is certain to be a box office drawing card, but there is nothing about the film itself that will cause anyone to go out and rave about it." ---Motion Picture News
"WEST OF ZANZIBAR indicates an over-worked Chaney. The star is there, but the rush of getting his quota on the release schedule is taking its toll in the most important phase of production--preparation. In this respect Chaney's latest impresses as having exhausted the property men and the casting director and allowing Tod Browning to follow religiously one of those cuff scripts...Musical score is regular. Attempts at sound effects are worse, the chanting of savages reproducing like a college boy chorus." ---Variety
"Lon Chaney goes cripple again for the sake of the public, but not for art's sake. Remembering his fine performance in a straight role in TELL IT TO THE MARINES, it seems a great pity that such a good actor should indulge in charlatan tricks...Revenge, dope, crooks- --all the tricks! There is color and little else." ---Photoplay
NOTES: The Hays office, the official Hollywood censor, banned the stage play "Kongo" from the screen, so to bypass the ruling, MGM changed the title first to SOUTH OF THE EQUATOR, then finally to WEST OF ZANZIBAR, and passed off the film as "an original story for the screen by Chester DeVonde and Kilbourn Gordon." The film was released with a synchronized musical score and sound effects.
A sequence planned for the original film had a sideshow tent advertising "The Human Duck," and Chaney made himself up as the half-man/half-duck. Stills of the sideshow tent and Chaney's makeup exist, but it is unclear whether the scene was actually shot, or merely planned and publicity stills taken. The original cutting continuity of the film does not contain the scene, so if it was shot, it was clearly removed before the original release. Browning decided to use the idea instead for his finale of the 1932 FREAKS, with Olga Baclanova as a deformed duck-woman, mutilated by the freaks.
Like most other Chaney films of 1927-29, WEST OF ZANZIBAR was a modest production, costing $259,000 with a production schedule of 31 days (one source says 29 days, but MGM records indicate 31 days of shooting). The film earned $337,000 in profits.
MGM remade the story in 1932 under the original title, KONGO, with Walter Huston in the Chaney role. The remake was fairly faithful to the original except that an additional female character (Lupe Velez) was added to the cast. Many of the shots in the remake even used the same camera angles, and some of the jungle footage looks like they were lifted directly from the original.
For further reading on the production of WEST OF ZANZIBAR, readers are referred to the Feb/March, 1991 article in FILMFAX by Bret Wood.
Also, check out this ad art and lobby card in my Poster Gallery.
© 2000,2008 Jon C. Mirsalis
Return to Filmography


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Cosmos Bungalows is very proud to connect with a wonderful Marine research facility located in the north of Sulawesi.
The team at Coral Eye are passionate about their project and have produced a fantastic facility for study groups, experts and all round ocean lovers to come together and enhance their shared understanding of nearby reefs.
Perfect for universities and conservationists.
Check them out at www.coraleye.net


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Solitary confinement
Prolonged Pre-Trial Isolation
The UN Committee Against Torture recognises the harmful physical and mental effects of prolonged solitary confinement and has expressed concern about its use, including as a preventive measure during pre-trial detention.
The effects of solitary confinement on pre-trial detainees may be worse than for other detainees in isolation.
"The wide use of solitary confinement in prisons and other places of detention has long been a source of grave concern to those involved with the international protection of human rights. Never more so than in recent years, which have seen a marked increase in the use of strict and often prolonged solitary confinement across the world...
Solitary confinement has a well documented negative impact on mental health and wellbeing and may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, particularly when used for a prolonged time."
Prof. Dr. Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
Preface to: 'A Sourcebook on Solitary Confinement' by Sharon Shalev - Mannheim Centre for Criminology
Solitary confinement for an indefinite period
The use of solitary confinement should be reserved for extreme cases, for as short time as possible, but usually no more than a matter of days.
Solitary confinement should never be imposed indefinitely and prisoners should know in advance its duration.
Uncertainty about the expected duration of solitary confinement is likely to increase its adverse effects...
The UN Human Rights Committee has stipulated that use of prolonged solitary confinement may amount to a breach of Article 7 of the ICCPR.
The UN Committee against Torture has made similar statements, with particular reference to the use of solitary confinement during pre-trial detention...
Isolation without access to legal council
Suspects may be held in isolation without being charged whilst their interrogation is ongoing.
In most jurisdictions such pre-charge detention is limited by law to a few hours or a few days...
In some cases detainees are isolated without access to legal counsel. This form of detention, called 'incommunicado', may be illegal under international law and is subject to special provisions.
The UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) has been critical of practices involving prolonged solitary confinement and has stated that these may amount to treatment in violation of the prohibition against torture or inhuman treatment.
The Importance of Family Visits
a) Solitary confinement is an extreme and potentially harmful measure;
b) Its use should be reserved for a handful of exceptional cases;
c) Periods in solitary confinement should be as short as possible, and;
d) Where prisoners are isolated they must be held in decent conditions and offered access to meaningful human contact and to purposeful activities. The deprivations inherent in solitary confinement should not be made worse by further restrictions on family visits...
On December 9th 2007, a working group of 24 international experts adopted the Istanbul Expert Statement on the Use and Effects of Solitary Confinement, calling on States to limit the use of solitary confinement to very exceptional cases, for as short a time as possible and only as a last resort...
The right of prisoners to be treated in a manner respectful of their human dignity and the prohibition against all forms of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are reaffirmed in a large number of human rights instruments, including two international treaties, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) which are legally binding on all signatory parties to them, and parallel regional instruments.
Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) stipulates that: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence.
Sarah Shourd, one of the '3 US hikers', was held in solitary confinement in Evin Prison, Iran, for nearly 14 months.
Iran was one of the first countries in the world to ratify the ICCPR, in 1975 (it entered into force in 1976).
Ref: 'A Sourcebook on Solitary Confinement' by Sharon Shalev - Mannheim Centre for Criminology


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Monday, December 31, 2007
Lobster and the New Year: Last Hurrah
For it's not just the end of the year, it's the end of lobster season. Come January, the vast majority of lobstermen pull their pots until spring, repairing them and their boats until the water warms enough to bring the lobsters, pretty much too cold to move from the bottom, back to the surface. Although they are scarce and therefore expensive—not that they are ever cheap—now is the time to have a fresh-caught lobster before they disappear for the winter months, and nothing is available but "held" lobsters, caught previously and kept in tanks or other special holding areas for who knows how long and under what conditions. Eating lobster, accompanied by its perfect match, champagne, seems a fitting way to send off both the year and the winter-torpored arthropod.
My favorite way to cook lobster is to grill it over charcoal, but the season, at least here, is not conducive to outdoor cooking. And maybe, just maybe, the preparation is a bit summery anyway; certainly boiled lobster with drawn butter doesn't attract the way it does on the 4th of July, when bright sun, a pile of steaming lobsters, drawn butter, lobster bibs, and wooden picnic tables overhanging the pier are akin to a holy tableau. You could bake and stuff your last lobster of the year, a favorite New England preparation, and certainly a warming one. But for New Year's Eve, one must approach the uncertainty of the turning point in Time's relentless march—will it be a good year? A bad year? A same old, same old year?--with the defiance, confidence, and dignity so well-represented by the luxurious splurge: lobster bisque and champagne. As you head into the unknown of 2008, only the best will do.
Jane's LC Lobster-Corn Bisque
This soup is my Rhode Island variation on the classic French haute-cuisine lobster bisque, made with the addition of corn and simplifying the steps a little while preserving the intensity and fineness of the finished product. While not quite as complicated as the original, it still takes a bit of time; I suggest making it over two days, dealing with the lobsters one day, then actually preparing the soup the next. Westport Lobster in Westport, MA, was kind enough to provide me with scarily huge extra lobster carcasses for the stock. Ask your own lobster purveyor or fish market to save you some. If you do not have corn stock (shame on you!), you may substitute a light homemade chicken stock or use all lobster stock. Serves 6.
A 2# lobster
12 cups water
About 2-3 lbs lobster bodies (torsos)
2 large bay leaves
12 peppercorns
¼ tea red pepper flakes
6 sprigs parsley
6 sprigs cilantro
4 T unsalted butter
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 ½" piece fresh gingerroot, minced
½ large sweet onion, roughly chopped
1 large carrot, roughly chopped
1 large stalk celery, roughly chopped
1 ½ cups corn off the cob, thawed if frozen
¼ tea saffron, coupe grade
1 cup dry white wine
½ cup homemade plain tomato sauce or, if not on hand, imported ground tomatoes
1 quart corn stock, or use all lobster stock or light chicken stock
2 cups strong lobster stock
salt, pepper
3 T converted white rice
2 T cognac or brandy
¼ cup or more heavy cream
Reserved lobster meat for garnish
Chopped parsley for garnish
In a small stock pot or other pot of at least 16 cups capacity, boil the water and plunge the lobster in head-first, covering with the lid. Boil 15 minutes, remove the lobster with tongs to a colander (reserving the water), and rinse well with cold water. Cool until you can handle it, then remove and refrigerate the meat, reserving the body with the others (see Note).
Preheat oven to 400 F. Clean the lobster bodies of any tomalley, roe, and head sac (you may keep the tomalley for stirring into the soup, but I do not); place them into a buttered roasting pan and roast for about 40 minutes, or until they smell lobster-y. Add ½ cup of water to the hot pan to deglaze, then add the bodies and the deglazed liquid to the pot of lobster water, pressing them down to submerge as well as possible; add the bay leaves, peppercorns, pepper flakes, cilantro, and parsley. Bring to a boil, skim, and then reduce and simmer for about 2 hours. Near the end of the cooking time, add a little salt and taste. It should have a deep lobster flavor. Remove the bodies with tongs, letting them hang over the pot for a minute to drip their juices, and discard; you should have about 2 ½ quarts. Remove two cups broth and freeze the rest for future soups or chowders. At this point you can either proceed or refrigerate the 2 cups broth, covered, until next day.
In a Dutch oven or other pot of at least 16 cups capacity, melt 3 T of the butter. Add all the aromatics and vegetables except for the corn and cook over moderately high heat, stirring so they don't scorch, for about 8-10 minutes, or until the vegetables are brown. Add the corn and the other T of butter and cook, stirring, for about 5-6 minutes. Dissolve the saffron in the wine and add to the pot along with the tomato sauce; let it boil 2-3 minutes.
Add the corn and lobster stocks to the pot (6 cups total). Bring to a boil, skim the foam from the edges, and reduce and simmer, lid ajar, for 1 ½ hours. Add a large pinch of salt and a few twists from the pepper mill; taste and correct seasoning. Add the rice and simmer for an additional 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Using a food processor or an immersion blender, puree the broth and vegetable mixture. Strain through a conical strainer (a "China cap") or other fine sieve into a 3 qt saucepan. Refrigerate until serving time.
To serve: Reheat the pureed soup base over medium heat. Heat and ignite the cognac, and pour it into the soup. Stir in the heavy cream; this is one of the unusual instances where less is more. Serve in shallow bowls (the classic is a white two-handled cup or shallow, rimmed dish), garnished with the reserved fresh lobster meat and a little finely chopped parsley or other compatible herb. Don't forget the champagne.
Note: In Rhode Island, as along most of the New England coast, children learn how to remove the meat from a lobster before they know how to tie their shoes. If you are, as they say, "not from here," you can follow these directions. I use minimal water when making stocks; just cram the bodies into the pan, crushing the shells down if needed.
Monday, December 24, 2007
I heard the bells on Christmas Day; their old familiar carols play, and wild and sweet the word repeat of peace on earth, good-will to men!
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Christmas Bells," December 25, 1864
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Dates: Gooey Delight
Luscious, fat, and exotic, dates are favorites at the holidays. They are a stone fruit or "drupe" like olives or peaches, with a central seed surrounded by a fleshy wall. This makes them excellent for stuffing—with cream cheese, almonds (whose shape fits nicely into the elongated cavity left by the pit), or glacé orange peel; you can roll them in coconut or, of course, dip them in dark chocolate. Date puddings (including steamed puddings), cakes, and ice creams are other popular uses. But the primary way I use them is in a seemingly endless quest to replicate Thomas'® Date Nut Loaf. Those of you of a certain age know exactly what I'm talking about, as you, too, think longingly about date-nut and cream cheese sandwiches, made as a snack after school or, if you were incredibly lucky, sent to school with you as your lunch when there was nothing else in the house. The Thomas'® loaf was very small, perhaps 10 ounces, baked in a crinkly paper liner like a muffin cup (yellow, I seem to recall), and wrapped in pre-plastic cellophane. It was very, very dark, and very, very moist, and the top—ah, the top!—was very, very gooey. It was heaven. Somewhere along the way, probably in the misguided 1970s or cost-cutting 1980s, Thomas® stopped making it except for a month or so around the holidays, and ultimately stopped making it altogether. It is now food history, and we can only, with hope and perseverance, try to remedy this egregious error of branding judgment by seeking to recreate it on our own.
Almost-Thomas® Date Nut Bread #1
This is one of several variations I've developed in my quest to clone the quintessential Thomas'® date-nut loaf; another adds a little graham flour and has no egg. I'm still experimenting, but for now, this one will do. Use at least a pound of best-quality dates, or you will not come anywhere near the real thing. Makes 1 loaf; may be doubled.
1 lb giant Medjool dates, pitted and quartered, halved if on the smaller side
¼ cup finely chopped glacé orange peel (optional)
3/4 tea baking soda
1 T unsweetened cocoa
1 tea instant espresso powder, such as Medaglia D'Oro
½ cup boiling water
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup dark molasses
1 egg
1 tea vanilla
2 cups a-p flour
1 tea baking powder
¼ tea salt
¼ tea each ground cinnamon and cloves
1/8 tea freshly grated nutmeg
½ cup sour milk or buttermilk
½ cup shelled walnuts, broken
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a small bowl, sprinkle dates with baking soda, cocoa, and espresso powder. Pour boiling water over all, toss, and let stand while you prepare the batter.
Cream butter and sugar in an electric mixer, scraping the bowl well from time to time. Add molasses, egg, and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Sift together dry ingredients and add very slowly on low speed, alternating with the milk. Fold in the nuts and the date mixture by hand, turning it over and over until the dates are well distributed. The batter will be thick; spoon it into a buttered standard 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ½ loaf pan, smooth the top, and rap the pan on the counter a few times. Bake about 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is brown. Turn out of the pan. And now, the secret to having any chance at all of achieving the genuine article: While still warm, double-wrap tightly in foil. Let it stand two full days on the counter before cutting to allow it to settle and densify, and the top to turn gooey. Slice thinly with a thin bladed slicing knife and serve with good cream cheese.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Short Work: Filling the Cookie Tins
1 cup sugar
1 cup sweet rice flour (see Note)
4 cups a-p flour (or less—see instructions)
½ cup finely minced fresh crystallized ginger (optional)
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Suet: Such a Pudding, Martha!
Fat is the miracle worker of the dessert world. All fats contribute richness, flavor, and melting quality in the mouth; some have special properties for making products more or less flaky, firm, tender, delicate, or earthy. One can debate the relative merits of butter for cakes, lard for pies (and one does). But for steamed puddings, especially of the holiday variety, there can be little argument as to the fat of choice: beef suet.
The suet used in dessert cooking is the protective fat around the kidneys of beef cattle. It has a relatively high melting point, which means that it doesn't melt until the product is structurally sound; this results in a moist, airy grain in a cake or steamed pudding (which is really an unleavened cake) and crisp pastry. Suet is a primarily saturated fat, but it's the holiday season of forgiveness, when we try to overlook faults. Moreover, the rich but clean taste it creates cannot be duplicated with shortening or even butter; in a pudding, such substitution would make it taste greasy.
Like many things in today's era of agriculture on a massive scale, it is increasingly difficult to find good or even real suet. If you live near a farmer who raises beef, let him or her know that you would like some--although you should probably put this request in well in advance. If no farmer is hard by, your next best chance of getting suitable fresh suet is a butcher shop--but of course those scarcely exist anymore. You can buy suet in many markets at this time of year--indeed, you may have to--but you will have to buy more than you need to get a usable amount, because what's available is likely not all true suet and what is may have been frozen for long periods as well, resulting in a loss of quality. Fortunately, suet is relatively cheap and buying a lot in order to sort through it is possible. For the recipe below, buy at least a pound. Look for suet that appears to be smooth, creamy white to slightly pinkish and somewhat glossy, and in clumps rather than chunks or strands. Choose a package that contains as little fat with a powdery or sawdusty look as possible; this is either old/over-frozen, or not true suet. At home, you will need to pick it over. First, brush or wipe off any loose powder, and begin to pull it apart; it is held together by fine, papery connective tissue that comes right off, leaving you with clean, creamy bits. These are the pieces you want to use. The rest is for the birds, literally. You can thread it on a skewer, securing the end with a small apple to prevent it sliding off, and hang it outside. Recently, a suet product cut in small pellets or shreds has become available, but I have not tried it.
Steamed puddings made with suet include the famous "Spotted Dick," Sterling pudding (a molasses pudding), and a lovely carrot pudding that makes a nice winter dessert. Not only are steamed puddings easy and quite fun to prepare, they make successful, welcome gifts: many people have never tasted one, and are pleasantly surprised by their rich, moist, fragrant crumb and undeniably festive serving ritual. You can make small ones in mini bread pans, small coffee bowls, or even muffin tins (use paper liners). A little goes a long way.
The classic, of course, is Plum Pudding, sometimes called Christmas Pudding or Suet Pudding--all slight variations on a theme. I am a little late this year, but generally try to make my plum puddings the Sunday after Thanksgiving to let them ripen for Christmas. In England it is customary to have every family member stir the pudding once as it sits, and this is sometimes called "Stirring Sunday." Plum puddings do not absolutely need to age--they will be very good if you don't get around to making them until a week or even day before--but on the other hand, some aging is beneficial, and even a lot doesn't hurt. I have occasionally found a small, neglected pudding in the back of a cabinet or the freezer from the year before, nearly indistinguishable from the carefully tended. If you want to keep an extra on purpose for Easter or just because, remember to unwrap and douse with brandy from time to time.
Universal Plum Pudding
Though Mrs. Cratchit did confess that she had her doubts about the quantity of flour after her ever-supportive husband declared her pudding "a wonderful pudding"--"not at all a small pudding for a large family"--the fact is that plum pudding is fool-proof: the recipe is completely flexible, the cooking relatively insensitive. So I have written this recipe for plum pudding, which I have been making according to this basic formula for more than 30 years, in a manner that reflects that easy-going quality. Don't for one minute hesitate to try it.
In my family, we eat plum pudding with dinner, served alongside what was the turkey when we were young, and the prime standing rib roast as we became more prosperous. This was yet another of my grandmother's ways: plum pudding is usually served as dessert (we had pies). The sauce is also "her" sauce, at least as close I have ever been able to come to replicating it. Which is pretty close.
Start these a day ahead of steaming (two days won't hurt if things get hectic). Makes enough for molds totaling about 8 cups capacity (although you won't fill them all the way), and to serve a small portion (which is what you want) to 12-14. The recipe may be doubled.
1 3/4 cups beef suet, chopped or ground fine
2 1/4 cups fine fresh white bread crumbs
1 1/2 cups seeded muscats or, if unavailable, another large chewy raisin such as Monukkas
1 1/4 cups other dried fruit, mixed in any proportion or alone (such as currants, cranberries--preferably unsweetened--, apricots, figs, and/or pineapple)
1 cup mixed citron, orange peel, and crystallized ginger, in any proportion (my preference is for about half ginger)
1/2 cup a-p flour
1 large apple or pear, peeled and chopped (optional)
1 1/2 T Vietnamese cinnamon
1/2 tea ground cloves
1/4 tea cardamom
1/2 tea freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tea salt
1/2 cup unsulphured molasses (dark or "full flavor," not black strap)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup good but not great brandy, whiskey, or bourbon
Another 1/2 cup or more brandy for soaking and igniting.
For the crumbs: trim crusts of bread, tear into large pieces, and process 'til fine. Use a fine-grained, plain white loaf, not a sourdough or chewy-textured bread.
For the suet: After cleaning and picking over as described above, put in the food processor with a large pinch of flour and process until it looks like your bread crumbs. Don't overdo or it will begin to form a paste; you want it to distribute well into the batter.
To prepare molds: Butter the insides well, paying special attention to crevices. Using the mold as a tracing guide (turn the mold upside-down), cut out a piece of clean white cloth (I use old sheets) to fit the opening. Butter and flour the cloth on one side.
Put all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and toss well. Pour the molasses into a 2-cup glass measure to the 1/2 cup line; add the brandy to the 1 cup line, then beat in the eggs. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir in well. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit on the counter overnight (two is fine). Stir from time to time, adding a little more brandy or some apple cider to maintain a thick but still somewhat fluid texture if it becomes too stiff; do this once more before cooking.
Fill the prepared molds about 2/3 full; with your fingers, press it lightly into any corners, and try to have batter, not fruit, touching the sides. Lay the buttered and floured cloth upside down on the batter, smoothing it down gently. Cover the mold with its lid (if you have pudding molds) or, if using bowls or pans, with aluminum foil secured with kitchen string or double elastic bands (I use elastics, which can break part-way through cooking, but not so soon or often as to matter).
Boil a large kettle of water. You may steam your pudding on top of the stove on a rack in a Dutch oven or other large, deep pan with a lid, or in the oven; this is useful when you are making a lot of small puddings, which you can place on a rack in a big roasting pan and cover with its lid or heavy duty foil. Pour the boiling water around the molds until it reaches half-way up their sides. If using the oven, find the temperature that will keep the water at a simmer--350-400 F. Steam about two-three hours for small-medium puddings and six hours for medium-large; the pudding surface should swell a little, feel firm to the touch, and will pull just slightly from the sides, like a cake; the suet particles will have disappeared. Remove to a rack, remove and discard foil, and gently peel back the cloth and discard. Cut cheesecloth large enough to wrap the puddings and place on the
counter; put about a half-cup of brandy into a shallow dish. Turn the puddings out smartly onto the cheesecloth while they are still hot; they should be very dark, almost black, a sign of good quality, with no visible traces of the suet, all of which should have melted. If any pudding bits remain in the mold, simply lift them carefully and press them down onto the pudding where they belong, smoothing the edges; they will blend right in. Wrap the cheesecloth around the pudding, and immerse into the dish of brandy, turning it over and over until all the cloth is saturated but not drippingly so (press gently to drain excess). Wrap in foil. Once every week or two up to the time of serving, open the foil and douse the pudding lightly; its should be kept moist but not wet.
To serve: Place the cheesecloth-wrapped pudding into a steamer and steam for about half an hour (although I confess to having simply microwaved them 'til steaming hot). If you are not the ceremonial type, unwrap, place on a serving plate with a shallow rim, and serve with the sauce. If you are a traditionalist, top with a sprig of holly, pour a shot-glass of brandy around the pudding, ignite it, and send blazing to the table. Applause is likely (and de rigueur): take a bow.
Grandma's Pudding Sauce
There are many wonderful sauces to accompany steamed puddings. The traditional sauce for plum pudding is hard sauce, which is creamed butter, confectioners' sugar, and flavoring; it goes on "hard" and melts. I don't particularly like it, and neither did my grandmother. Here is the one our family likes--as I have managed to recreate it. I don't think my grandmother used an egg, but I can't get close enough without it; the rest, and the taste, is about right. It's rather boozy (although not nearly as boozy as my grandmother made it); you can cut the liquor in half if you wish--or add more.
1 T unsalted butter
1 T flour
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar (10x), generous, or scant 3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup bourbon or whiskey, more or less
1/4 tea or more freshly grated nutmeg
1 large brown egg
In a one-quart saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour (i.e., make a roux), being careful not to let it color at all. Let it bubble nicely and then gradually stir in the water
until thick. Add the bourbon or whiskey and let it bubble for a minute or so, stirring. In a small bowl, beat the egg and beat in the sugar and a pinch of salt. Take the pan off the heat and slowly whisk in the egg/sugar mixture; stir in the nutmeg. Put the pan back on the heat and, over moderately low heat, let it bubble again for another minute or two. The sauce should remain smooth and the egg should not cook. It should look translucent, speckled, and pale beige. Taste, and add more nutmeg or liquor if you like. Remove and pour into a small pitcher or bowl; if all goes well, no need to strain. Refrigerate if you make it the day before; it will keep nicely for several days. Reheat slowly to just barely warm/to restore fluidity.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Glistening Glacé: Let the Holiday Baking Begin
The ingredients are as exciting and abundant, in their own pantry way, as summer's earthy produce. If sour cherries and currants are summer's gemstones, surely glacé fruits are winter's. And if glacé fruit weren't so sticky, you just might string it up and wear it, or pin some to your winter coat. It sparkles, like all good jewelry.
If you're wondering whether glacé fruits are the same as candied fruits are the same as crystallized fruits: well, sort of. All will have been cooked in sugar and water to start with, and the terms glazed and candied are often used interchangably. They may be finished differently, however. Crystallized fruit is generally sugared after being cooked in a syrup; though a root, not a fruit, ginger is the classic example. Very fresh crystallized ginger is a hot and sweet treat that I always have on hand to satisfy that after-dinner sweet craving. True glacé fruits are just-ripe fruits cooked in water and then preserved in a sugar syrup in a multi-stage process. Over the course of several days, weeks, or even months, the fruit is heated and steeped in syrup of increasing sugar concentration, gradually replacing a significant percentage of the water content of the fruit, and then dried.
Sensitive to the vagaries of timing, technique, and moisture, glacé fruit qualifies as an artisan product. Historically, glacé fruit falls into the category of luxury food items, traditionally reserved for holiday eating and baking; indeed, the heavy cake of fruit barely held together by other ingredients was nothing so much as a demonstration of bounty, sort of like having a clutch of black truffles or pound of best beluga on your table. Today, quality glazed fruit still commands a premium price, and a fine fruitcake is still a splurge. Indeed, the price can seem like a barrier because it is hard to buy good quality in small amounts--certainly not in the quarter- or half-cup amounts that some recipes might call for. Fortunately, because glazed fruits are essentially preserved fruits, they keep extremely well, and can be frozen. While you may not use cherries much after the holidays (although they are surprisingly good folded into vanilla ice cream or plain white bread for toasting), peels are versatile in the kitchen year-round, in baking, candy making, Asian cooking, and just to nibble on. Another strategy is to divide and conquer: buy a pound, and share the cost with a friend.
Working with glacé and sugared fruits is a sticky job. I use a sharp chef's knife for slivering or fine chopping, and use scissors when I want larger pieces--e.g., to cut cherries in half or apricots into quarters. Keep a damp cloth at hand as you work and wipe the blade of your knife or your scissors frequently.
Maple Ginger Orange Peel Bread
Recipes for orange peel bread are in some of my early 20th century cookbooks; my adaptation is richer and denser, with a more complex flavor. Use the finest and freshest fruit you can find and afford; as always, quality makes a huge difference (see note for sources). This tight-crumbed, moist bread is suited to the paper-thin slicing that makes fruited products satisfying rather than overwhelming. It makes great sandwiches with cream cheese, butter, or a little homemade deviled or plain ham (see note below).
1 ¼ cups glazed orange peel
¼ cup crystallized ginger
2 T unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
½ cup sugar
Scant ½ cup 100% maple syrup
3 ½ cups a-p flour
5 T baking powder
¼ tea cardamom
1 ½ cups sour milk
For glaze: 2 T apricot jam, 1 T water
Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter a 13x4.5x2.5 loaf pan; line with waxed paper, butter the paper, and flour the bottom and sides of the pan. You could also use a standard 8.5x4.5x2.5 bread pan plus one mini bread pan.
Slice the ginger and the peel into fine slivers; pack lightly to measure, and set aside. In a large bowl (use a standing mixer if you have one), beat together the melted butter, eggs, sugar, and syrup. Gradually add the dry ingredients and the milk alternately, beginning and ending with the dry. Beat a good four minutes until well combined, scraping the bottom of the bowl if necessary to incorporate all flour; the batter will be thick. Fold in the orange peel and ginger, distributing well.
Pour the batter into the pan and let it sit on the counter for 15-20 minutes. Just before putting it in the oven, decorate with a few thin slivers of orange peel, laid diagonally on the batter. Bake until a toothpick in the center comes out clean; for the long loaf pan, this is 50-55 minutes. Start checking after 40 minutes. The top will split near the end of the cooking (one aggressive old recipe even tells you to slash the top part-way through in a pre-emptive move). Surface will be dry and pale.
Remove to a rack. Melt 2 T apricot jam with 1 T water in a small saucepan and brush over the top of the cake while warm. When cool enough to handle the pan, turn the bread out and allow to cool completely on the rack. Wrap well. If you bake a standard and a mini, you may consider the latter an extra and eat it all.
Note: If you live in a city, you can probably find good quality fruit at this time of year: try the Italian, Eastern European, or German neighborhoods or look for specialty nut and candy shops. In Boston, I used to go to Dairy Fresh Candies in the North End (they don't carry quite as much as they used to); in Philadelphia, Nuts to You; the stores generally have a more comprehensive selection than is sold online. Other online sources include www.nutsonline.com, in New Jersey.
To make deviled ham: Cut a 1/2 lb slice of smoked ham into chunks and toss in the food processor with 1 tea mayo, 1 tea minced onion, 1-2 tea Dijon mustard, a T each of golden raisins, maple syrup, finely chopped dill pickle, and cider or orange juice. Add a dash of salt, white pepper, and allspice. Whiz a few minutes until it forms a loose, spreadable pate.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Pumpkin: After Pie, Beyond the U.S.
When I was in college, we used to stuff whole small pumpkins with mashed potatoes and seasoned ground beef, and roast them until the flesh was soft and the outsides glazed and mahogany brown—cheap, hearty, and initially impressive, but ultimately rather dull, in the shepherd's pie tradition. Some years I just roast and mash them, or make soup. Ho-hum. Not that these aren't good, but really, what's so pumpkin-y about them? They may just as well have been made with butternut or acorn squash. Pumpkin is a little sweeter and denser, and seems to ask for something that showcases their difference. The Italians of course make the wonderful ravioli de zucca, bathed in sage butter; it's fabulous, and I have made it, but I'm happy to use canned pumpkin for that purpose as well—or to save eating them for dining out, and let the restaurant do the work. The Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and other Latino and Hispanic cultures use pumpkin a lot too, both in main dishes and desserts, particularly custards. But again, canned is fine. How to really showcase the taste and texture of the fresh item had eluded me.
Then about five years ago during a conference in Baltimore, our large group ordered a pumpkin appetizer at an Afghan restaurant run by a member of Hamid Karzai's family. It was the house specialty, but arrived looking astoundingly uninteresting— chunks of ostensibly plain cooked pumpkin sitting unadorned in a big bowl (for our crowd it was served home-style, with a another big bowl, this one of yogurt, alongside). Looks were deceiving: it was exotically sweet and tender, with a true pumpkin taste. I asked our waiter how it was made, and he said it was just pumpkin cooked in the oven with water and honey, served with a savory seasoned yogurt. There is a well known Afghan pumpkin dish made with tomato sauce and served with yogurt, but this was not it, but rather something altogether different and delicious.
As I think these fritters are—inspired by that Afghani appetizer but pushed into the dessert category with New England ingredients, and fried (thinking about Mexico made me do it, but fritters are classic New England fare). For me, they capture the sweet, fruity taste of pumpkin as pumpkin, not pumpkin as squash. Be sure to use a nice hard specimen, and if you like the seeds, clean, dry, and roast them with salt: they're full of minerals. Pumpkin itself is an extremely low-cal, low-fat food, high in vitamin A, calcium, and potassium.
New England Pumpkin Fritters via Afghanistan
These are a bit of work, but as I always say when rationalizing excesses during the holidays, whether of the pecuniary or laborious kind, "It's only once a year." And you can spread it out over two days, preparing the pumpkin on one and frying them on the next; extra hands, of course, make preparation light. These are a nice dessert, and a better breakfast. Even a small pumpkin makes a lot, so if you don't fry it all, you can eat any leftover sweetened pumpkin pieces plain with the yogurt, or mash them up as a side dish. As fritters, serves 15-20.
Preparing the Pumpkin (see safety note below)
1 small sugar pumpkin, about 7" in diameter
1 cup fresh sweet apple cider
¼ cup honey
½ tea Vietnamese cinnamon
2 T unsalted butter
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Cut the pumpkin into quarters and, with a large spoon, remove as much of the pulp and seeds as possible. Cut each quarter in half lengthwise, then further trim the flesh of all remaining fiber. Peel the rind with a vegetable peeler or paring knife. Cut each of the now eight pieces in half crosswise, then cut into 4 or 5 pieces of ½" each, taking care not to break them as they are curved. As you cut them, put them into a non-metal baking dish (a 15x10 "lasagna pan" is good) into which you have blended the cider, honey, and cinnamon, giving them a toss. Dot with the butter. Cover with a sheet of foil and oven-stew them for about 35 minutes, until they can be pierced with a knife and the smaller pieces are starting to turn translucent. You are looking for what might be called al dente—tender, but definitely holding shape; they will cook further when fried. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the juices. If frying the next day, refrigerate, covered.
Fritters—Batter and Frying
2 cups a-p flour
1 ¾ cups sparkling sweet cider
¼ cup strained cooking liquid from pumpkin
2 eggs, separated
Pinch salt
Mixture of corn oil and lard for frying
Heat 2" of oil and lard to 375 F. A deep, heavy frying pan of at least 12" is good for this.
Combine the flour and salt. Separate the eggs and beat the whites until just stiff; drop the yolks into the flour. Strain the juices from the pumpkin into a 2-cup measure; you should have about 1/3 cup. Remove 2 T and reserve for the yogurt sauce, below. Fill the measure to the 2-cup line with the sparkling cider. Gradually add about 1 ½ cups of the liquid to the flour, first stirring with a wooden spoon and then whisking to remove lumps; I don't bother to strain for this. When reasonably smooth, gently fold in the remaining liquid and the beaten egg whites. With this amount of liquid, the batter will make a relatively light coating; if you want it heavier, cut the liquid by ¼ to ½ cup.
Drop a half-dozen pumpkin pieces into the batter at a time to coat, then lower them into the hot fat. Cook, turning once, until they are a uniform golden brown. Remove to paper towels to drain. Serve as you go, or keep them warm in a 200 F oven while you fry the rest. The pumpkin will now be perfectly tender. After it has cooled, strain the fat into a large spouted cup or bowl, pour it into a bottle or jar, and save it in the refrigerator for another use.
Yogurt Sauce and Serving
8 oz Greek-style plain yogurt
¼ cup 100% maple syrup
2 T strained cooking juices
Powdered (10x) sugar mixed with cinnamon-sugar for dusting
Blend the yogurt with the maple syrup and reserved cooking juices in a small bowl; garnish with a dash of cinnamon. Sprinkle the fritters generously with the 10x-sugar-cinnamon mixture, and serve with the yogurt sauce and some good, strong coffee.
Safety Note: Pumpkins are hard and unwieldy, so take great care when cutting. Use a small, sharp knife with a rigid blade such as a good-quality 4" parer or an inflexible 6" boning knife; a chef's knife or cleaver, while perhaps your first instinct, is dangerous for this. Cut the top out first, making small connecting cuts all around; remove, then cut down each side until you can pop it apart. Rinse/dry your hands frequently while cutting; they get slippery. When peeling, be sure to direct the peeler or knife away from you while holding the pumpkin firmly, flesh-side down, on a cutting board.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving: Don't Forget the Succotash!
Friday, November 16, 2007
2 generous cups fresh or frozen whole cranberries
1 hard pear or apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
¾ cup chopped onion
2 T finely minced fresh peeled gingerroot
Zest of a large navel orange
¼ cup fresh sweet apple cider
¼ cup cider vinegar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 tea chocolate extract (optional)
½ tea Dutch ground caraway
¼ tea salt
¼ tea red pepper flakes
1/3 cup walnut meats, broken into small pieces by hand
10 oz very sharp, well-aged white cheddar
1 T flour
½ tea Dutch ground caraway
2/3 cup cranberry chutney, approximately
Photo of cranberry harvest in NJ by Keith Weller, courtesy U.S. Agricultural Research Service
Sunday, November 11, 2007
A Visual Feast: Farewell to the Growing Season
We knew it couldn't last. Warm days begat cool nights and finally, inevitably, one morning you walk out to find your thumping-hard pumpkin collapsed on the deck: first frost. So comes the end of late-fall lettuce and tomatoes, tender beans. It's over. Not that there won't be some brocolli, or a few root vegetables. But the thrill is gone.
I've been traveling this past week, and have been nowhere near a kitchen. I've eaten quite well, though: fat pancakes, the kind I don't usually care for, fluffy, tender, and good. A mess o' pork barbecue with greens, slaw, spicy beans, corn cakes, potato salad; we happened by when the owner was there, and because I was from out of town, I got a free sampler plate of every smoked meat the house made: large pork ribs, pulled pork, short ribs, chicken, kielbasa, and pigs feet. It was dandy. On from Nashville to Louisville, I had, hands down, the best steak I have ever had, with the best classic sides I've ever had (including a pristine iceberg wedge with Maytag blue cheese dressing and flavorful little red and yellow tomatoes), at the amazing Jeff Ruby's. The place bears no physical resemblance to traditional New York houses Peter Luger, Keen's, or the original Smith & Wollensky. It's glitzy, even shiny. But the steaks, house-aged like Luger's, are better. They come to table looking charred and black; sitting at the bar, I could see them arriving all around me, wondering if people had ordered them well done, perhaps "burnt." My strip arrived looking the same. Under that blackened crust—an edge, really—was the most perfectly, evenly cooked steak of my long steak-eating experience. It had been placed on a generous amount of absolutely fresh and sweet Worcestershire butter, which had melted across the plate and offered the ideal sauce to every rich and flavorful bite. The meat was so well seasoned it didn't need a speck of salt. Truly, you could live anywhere as long as they had steak like this, and a good bakery.And it makes the passing of summer sweet sorrow; we know there are other, soul-warming pleasures ahead. Nevertheless, in tribute to the gifts of summer, here is a final salute, a visual if not veritable feast, of the Rhode Island growing season. Each photo was taken the day of harvest, and each item was eaten at peak flavor, a taste memory that will tide me over through a winter that, carried on the shoulders of a great steak, need not be one of discontent.


text:
MP Glyn Davies calls for clarity on Shropshire and Mid Wales windfarm project
Credit: Shropshire Star | April 14, 2016 | www.shropshirestar.com ~~
Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies will write to National Grid today to ask what the 'trigger point' is for a controversial large-scale windfarm project to go ahead through Shropshire and Mid Wales.
Mr Davies said there were originally six projects – five windfarms and an overhead power line connection – in the proposed Mid Wales Connection Project (MWCP).
And he believes that the project, which has been put on hold, shouldn't go ahead now at all because there is no need for it and no subsidies are available to support it.
Mr Davies said: "National Grid has refused to tell us what commitment to connect there must be from windfarm operators to trigger building of the 400Kv line from Shropshire to Cefn Coch in mid Montgomeryshire.
"No windfarm can commit without planning permission, of course. We have faced point blank refusal to disclose a trigger point. And Ofgem, giving evidence seemed both surprised and unimpressed by this blatant lack of transparency."
As part of the project a strategic Traffic Management Plan for Mid Wales windfarms was developed to manage the delivery of turbine components from Ellesmere Port to the Strategic Search Areas (SSA) in Mid Wales, passing through Wrexham, Chester, Oswestry, Newtown and Welshpool.
Mr Davies said: "There will be a degree of disturbance from Tirgwynt Wind Farm but it won't involve the vast coverage of Mid Wales by turbines which is what I and most people I know in Montgomeryshire are against.
"The same applies to the Garreg Lwyd Hill Wind Farm which is located between Felindre and Llanbadarn Fynydd in Radnorshire.
"These windfarms are nothing like as threatening to the area as the MWCP, the scale of which has always been unsuitable, unfair and would cause damage to the area.
"There are no subsidies for windfarms and I don't think the MWCP will go ahead."
Sara Powell-Davies, communications manager for RenewableUK Cymru, said the delivery vehicles for Tirgwynt Wind Farm will consist of an articulated vehicle and extendable trailer designed for the transportation of wind turbines, with a blade length of approximately 45 metres and tower section width of 4.5 metres.
This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.
The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe "fair use" as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar "fair dealing" provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.
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text:
Liz Lea joined Canberra Dance Theatre in early 2010 – following a very internationally based dance career, working extensively in many corners of the world. Her appointment was a wonderful coup for CDT and quickly opened up diverse connections in the dance world within and beyond Canberra and indeed Australia. Under her leadership CDT's vision and perspective broadened considerably.
During her six years Liz worked above and beyond the call of duty, with a passion and commitment that was inspiring:
- Partnerships were nurtured with so many of our national and local cultural institutions in Canberra including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Museum of Australia, the National Portrait Gallery, The National Library, CSIRO, the National Film and Sound Archive, Belconnen Arts Centre, QL2, Canberra Youth Theatre, and Ausdance.
- Local and visiting artists were involved with many aspects of CDT life – whether as performers, teachers, choreographers or advisers.
- Performances became a regular feature of the CDT calendar, providing opportunities for students of the diverse styles taught at CDT. The GOLD group was created, which has become an integral part of CDT life and toured internationally in 2015. CDTeens have flourished and grown within the expanded dance and performance opportunities. CDT class options expanded to include many a fan and a feather, and term-break dance programs especially in ballet have become a regular feature.
- Outstanding grant application success from numerous arts, Health and social sources was artfully and strategically used for CDT members.
- Life at CDT was enriched enormously with her presence, her vision and her making of partnerships. CDT's place on the Canberra dance landscape has been affirmed and nurtured.
Liz Lea – we salute you and we thank you for taking CDT into the next extraordinary chapter of its life.