text:
Our 20-blog tour starts today! Five days a week, Monday through Friday, for four weeks. Most of the host sites for this one are in Britain so it'll be fun to see the response from our friends there.
Will they like our collection of naughty gardening stories? Will we make the connections we're hoping for? We certainly hope so!
All of our Fifty Shades of Green authors are participating. Each has written a fascinating post on what inspired their sexy Fifty Shades of Green story.
I loved reading these posts on the story-behind-the-story. What fun to peek behind the narrative at the history, the spark that began the creative process, the personal experience that launched an erotic garden tale. Oh, I am a sucker for it all.
If you are, too, check it out. You'll see:
—how Jean Ashbless ("Love Lies Bleeding") originally wanted to write about a ghost in a garden.
—how Slave Nano's Edwardian BDSM story ("Lady Sally Rudston-Chichester and the Walled Garden") is really all about class warfare.
—how America's Spanish Colonial history inspired the setting for the tender eroticism of Evey Brett's "The Pulse of the Earth."
—how (like me!) T. C. Mill, inspired by her negative reaction to Fifty Shades of Grey was actually beginning the process of putting together her own anthology of feminist erotica, emphasizing mutual consent and communication in sexual relationships, called, at that time, 50 Shades of Negotiation* when she came across the call for submissions for Fifty Shades of Green. Although Mill's not a gardener it inspired her to write the enchanting "Rosewitch." (*Her collection's name changed to Between The Shores and is coming out this fall.)
There are also some slightly silly (but I hope humorous) posts by me on plant sex, insect sex, all kinds of sex in the garden. Because, you know, the garden is a sexy place. And it certainly was a big inspiration for me in creating the book's concept.
Below is the tour schedule. I hope you'll follow us on the tour and tell your friends.
Best to you all this Monday morning.
P. S. For this tour Fifty Shades of Green has been discounted on Amazon. It's at the lowest price it will ever be—and just in time for early holiday shopping!
Our Tour Dates
20th Oct. http://elizabethcoldwell.wordpress.com/
Post: Janine Ashbless, "The Gardener and the Vampire" & excerpt from "Love Lies Bleeding"
21st Oct. http://ReneaMason.com
Post: T. C. Mill, "Now Underway: Fifty Shades of Revolution" & excerpt from "Rosewitch"
22nd Oct. http://sallyannerogers0112.wordpress.com/
Post: Sandra Knauf, "How Fifty Shades of Grey Inspired Fifty Shades of Green" & excerpt from "The Pulse of the Earth" by Evey Brett
23rd Oct. http://jacquelinebrocker.net/
Post: Rebekah, "A Horned God in Her Garden—'Phallus Impudicus'" & excerpt from "Phallus Impudicus"
24th Oct. http://InThePagesofaGoodBook.com
Spotlight (no post). Excerpt from "Sunlight and Water" by Colleen Chen
27th Oct. http://alliwantandmorebooks.wordpress.com/
Post: Gloria Holden, "Hot for (Native Plant) Teacher" & excerpt from "Exploding Alfalfa"
28th Oct. http://houstonhavens.wordpress.com/
Post: Simone Martel, "Teaching a Techie Gardening . . . and More" & excerpt from "First, Take Off the Hoodie"
29th Oct. http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk
Post: Evey Brett, "Padre Kino and 'The Pulse of the Earth'" & excerpt from "The Pulse of the Earth"
30th Oct. http://eroticaforall.co.uk
Post: Sandra Knauf, "Dirty Hands, Dirty Minds/Naughty Things to Say in the Garden'"& excerpt from "Seed" by Michael Bracken
31st Oct. http://hawt-reads.com/
Post: Becky Trachsel, "Love's First Bloom" & excerpt from "The Education of a French Gardener"
3rd Nov. http://kdgrace.co.uk
Post: Slave Nano "Lady Sally Rudston-Chichester: A Story of Power in Class in the Edwardian Country Home" & excerpt from "Lady Sally Rudston-Chichester and the Walled Garden"
4th Nov. http://www.myeroticnotions.blogspot.com/
Post: Sandra Knauf, "Ten Places to Have Sex in the Garden" & excerpt from "Seed" by Michael Bracken
5th Nov. http://locglin.blogspot.com/
Sandra Knauf Interview & excerpt from "Love Lies Bleeding" by Janine Ashbless
6th Nov. http://galestanley.blogspot.com/
Post: Andrew Peters, "The Gods Screw Around" & excerpt from "The Judgment of Eric"
7th Nov. http://lcwilkinson.com/
Post: R. R. S. "Sex Among the Rationalists" & excerpt from "Lavished"
10th Nov. http://belindasbookshelf.com/
Post: Sandra Knauf, "Other Kinds of Kinky Sex in the Garden" & excerpt from "First, Take Off the Hoodie" by Simone Martel
11th Nov. http://erzabetsenchantments.blogspot.com/
Post: Sandra Knauf "Plant Sex 101" & excerpt from "Exploding Alfalfa" by Gloria Holden
12th Nov. https://choward2614.wordpress.com/
Post: Michael Bracken, "The Seeds of 'Seed'" & excerpt from "Seed"
13th Nov. http://www.kaceyhammell.com/
Post: Colleen Chen, "The Cultivation of Love" & excerpt from "Sunlight and Water"
14th Nov. http://afterdark-online.com/
Don't forget: the book is on sale now on Amazon. You can read one free story on the Garden Shorts website and sign up for a second free story.
See what the writers are talking about!


text:
BENTON HARBOR, Mich., Dec. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time in its nearly hundred-year history, KitchenAid will offer hand-painted, limited editions of its iconic stand mixer for the holiday season. These special models— individually created, numbered and signed by world class graphic artist Dean Loucks— are currently available at http://www.shopkitchenaid.com/custommade for $1,899. Orders placed by December 10 will be guaranteed for delivery by December 24.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121206/DE25766-a )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121206/DE25766-b )
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120717/DE41498LOGO-b )
"As a functional and enduring work of art, each of these meticulously hand-painted stand mixers is designed not only to be seen, appreciated and talked about, but used in creative ways for many years to come," notes Beth Robinson, senior brand experience manager for KitchenAid. "As the ultimate version of what many consider the ultimate culinary essential, we expect it will be on many holiday wish lists."
The six original designs include Leopard, Snow Leopard and Noir Leopard; a zebra-striped Serengeti model; a floral-inspired Golden Petals design; and Shimmer, featuring the artist's signature blue flowers.
The limited edition stand mixers will be offered on the brand's tilt-head model featuring 10 mixing speeds and a five-quart capacity glass bowl with measurement markings. Like all KitchenAid® stand mixers, they come equipped with a flat beater, dough hook and wire whip, as well as the brand's unique power hub that accommodates over a dozen optional attachments from a pasta roller to a food grinder.
Since the introduction of its legendary stand mixer in 1919 and first dishwasher in 1949, KitchenAid has built on the legacy of these icons to create a complete line of products designed for cooks. Today, the KitchenAid brand offers virtually every essential for the well-equipped kitchen with a collection that includes everything from countertop appliances to cookware, ranges to refrigerators, and whisks to wine cellars. Cook for the Cure®, the brand's partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure® is now in its eleventh year and has raised over $8 million to help find a cure for breast cancer. To learn why chefs choose KitchenAid for their homes more than any other brand*, visit www.KitchenAid.com or join us at http://facebook.com/KitchenAid and http://twitter.com/KitchenAidUSA.
About Artist Dean Loucks
Dean Loucks' passion is to create art that quickly catches the eye yet makes a lasting and perpetually fresh visual statement. His exclusive designs for the custom made stand mixers can only be found on shopkitchenaid.com. To learn more about his inspiration for each Custom Made stand mixer click here.
* Based on a 2012 survey, KitchenAid was found to be the home kitchen appliance brand chosen most often by members of the International Association of Culinary Professionals.
SOURCE KitchenAid

subset: commoncrawl


text:
"Oops, I Did It Again!" was the message that American Morning co-host Kiran Chetry sent her Twitter followers this morning. To be exact, she Tweeted, "If you see something on my leg this AM, it's an aircast. I sprained my ankle pretty badly jumping on a trampoline!" As her Twitter followers may remember, Kiran likewise injured herself (albeit her neck then) last year on a trampoline (Moonbounce) as she showed off for her daughter Maya's friends at a birthday party with an ill-fated flip.
Strangely, Kiran, co-anchor John Roberts, and AM producer Jamie Kraft made no mention of Kiran's sprained ankle during the show today. In fact, the cameraperson seemed intent on concealing it: e.g., in Kiran's standing shots, she was shown from basically the knee up. However, on occasion, her cast could be barely seen from a distance when AM returned from commercial break as the camera panned the studio.
Conversely, could one imagine its juggernaut competitor, Fox & Friends, missing such an opportunity to connect personally with its audience and showcase its co-host? Surely, its hosts, especially, Brian Kilmeade, would have given Kiran all kinds of grief as to how she was injured as their cameraperson took more than a few lingering shots of her gorgeous gams. However, AM executive producer Jamie Kraft seems to have taken the mayo tack to news–all too distinct from the spicier salsa approach that his predecessor Janelle Rodriguez had preferred.
Second-chance suggestion: Jamie, let JD pick a few songs to showcase Kiran's injury on the trampoline, e.g., Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Jump on It," Pointer Sisters' "Jump (For My Love)," or Van Halen's "Jump". Or, maybe even include the Van Halen vid itself, too, in which lead singer David Lee Roth bears a resemblance to John in his MuchTV veejay days: a twofer! At the very least, have John and Kiran do another "What's Under the Desk" segment.
Jamie, "Jump on It"!
Update: According to Mediabistro.com, Kiran is supposed to have her ankle in an aircast for 4-6 weeks but she hopes to have it off sooner, i.e., the Friday before the 2010 Daytime Emmys (June 27, 2010). (Kiran's seemingly self-shot close-up of her ankle is included in the Mediabistro.com article.)


text:
Labour's Jeremy Corbyn will insist the party is "alive and kicking" and on the cusp of making significant gains in Scotland as he addresses activists in Dundee.
The UK leader will rally the party faithful by declaring "Labour in Scotland is back" in a keynote speech to the Scottish Labour Party conference.
He is expected to set out the benefits of a "Labour Brexit" to Scotland but, alongside Scottish leader Richard Leonard, will face continued pressure from pro-remain delegates to back permanent single market membership.
Mr Corbyn will say: "This time last year there were more than a few people in the media who had written the Labour Party off. In Scotland we were told that Labour was dying.
"Led by Richard Leonard – who has already proven to be an excellent leader of Scottish Labour – we are making Labour's voice heard for a radically fairer society."
Mr Corbyn will say Labour, which gained six Scottish seats in the snap general election last year, is "on the cusp" of winning in about 20 more.
He added: "Of course I know that we didn't quite win. But we are no longer just an opposition. We are a party preparing to go into government."
Mr Corbyn, who backs a UK-EU customs union but not permanent membership of the EU single market, will say that the Tories' plans for Brexit are in "chaos".
He is expected to say: "At one of the most important times for our country in its history, we have a divided Government that has no clear idea of what it's doing, what it wants, or where it's going.
"As Theresa May has now admitted, under her plans for a reckless Tory Brexit the UK risks losing access to European markets.
"This is why we need a Labour government to take the reins from the free market ideologues who want to use Brexit to sign a race-to-the-bottom trade deal with Trump's America and turn the UK into a deregulated offshore tax haven.
"Instead, Labour will bring new common sense into the heart of government and help bring about a society that truly does work for all.
"With the Tories obsessed with elite deals in Westminster and Brussels, and the SNP obsessed with elite deals in Edinburgh, Labour is the only party focusing on the issues that matter to people in their everyday lives."
Brexit is due to be debated at the three-day conference during an hour-long slot on Sunday morning, with both Mr Corbyn and Mr Leonard facing calls for the party to back permanent single market membership.
A new Scottish Labour for the Single Market group is backed by Edinburgh South MP Ian Murray, former Scottish party leader Kezia Dugdale and MEP Catherine Stihler, while several constituency labour parties have submitted motions backing permanent membership.
SNP MSP George Adam said: "Labour remain hopelessly split over Brexit – and Richard Leonard's support for the Tories' extreme Brexit outside the single market will be the elephant in the room.
"That stance is alienating huge numbers of Labour supporters and members across Scotland and the rest of the UK."


text:
Press Release: Strategy, Copy Development, & Editing
One of the programs at Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) was active in Afghanistan helping to create maps and rid its mine fields of unexploded ordnance. A cartoonist learned about VVAF's iMMAP and included the organization in his story line. It was my job to collaborate with iMMAP, the cartoonist and his syndicator, to develop a press release.
- Copy/ text development and editing. This was a collaboration with King Features to make sure we complied with their language requirements. The press release still exists on the King Syndicate website!
- Communications Strategy. Along with the announcement of the comic strip, we organized for small "town hall" events where people could chat with our iMMAP program leaders and/or the cartoonist to talk about their process, what they knew about the situation in Afghanistan, and other things they knew.
Click here to see the full press release as a .pdf: Funky Winkerbean 28.06.2005 Cynthia Thomet


text:
Publisher: COMANGO GENEVA,Published on
Page last updated on
The United Nations Human Rights Council officially adopted the outcome report on Malaysia's second universal periodic review (UPR) today. In total, the Malaysian government accepted 150 recommendations out of the 232 that it received during the review in October 2013. Disappointingly, Malaysia rejected all of the recommendations to accede to the remaining six key human rights conventions. In addition, the Malaysian government also rejected recommendations to remove reservations on human rights conventions to which Malaysia has acceded.
"It is disappointing that while Malaysia received the most recommendations regarding the abolition of the death penalty, all such recommendations were rejected," said Yap Swee Seng from SUARAM, the co-secretariat of the Coalition of Malaysian NGOs (COMANGO).
"The death penalty is cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment. There are currently about 900 death row prisoners and there were at least two attempts of executions in 2014 so far. Malaysia should take immediate steps towards the abolition of the death penalty for all offences. In the meantime, there should be an official moratorium on all executions, and commute all death sentences to prison terms."
Malaysia rejected recommendations to accede to the Convention on Torture as well as to abolish the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act, Prevention of Crimes Act and the Dangerous Drugs Act.
"We are disappointed that Malaysia rejected all seven recommendations to remove its reservations to CEDAW, CRC, and CRPD," commented Yu Ren Chung of the Women's Aid Organisation (WAO). "Malaysia stated during its review that it is 'unfounded' that Malaysia's 'Islamic Family Law … discriminates Muslim women on marriage issues.' This means Malaysia should have no objections to removing its reservations to Article 16 of CEDAW, on equality in marriage." Yu added, "Malaysia rejected Canada's recommendation to criminalise marital rape. When a woman gets married, she is still entitled to say no."
We welcome the government's invitation to the Special Rapporteurs on the Right to Health and Trafficking of Persons for official visits. However, we are concerned that there are still many requests for official visits by other Special Procedures that are pending approval. We note that although the government has agreed to welcome the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Assembly and Association, no dates have yet to be set for the visit.
Yasmin Masidi from Empower, the co-secretariat of COMANGO said, "Despite endorsing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) twice in 2007 Malaysia now rejects all recommendations to ensure that laws and policies concerning indigenous peoples are in line with the declaration." She also noted with disappointment that "Malaysia also rejected a recommendation to address issues highlighted in the National Inquiry into the Land Rights of Indigenous Peoples pending the outcome of a Task Force set up to review the findings of the Inquiry. Indigenous representatives make up only 30% of this Task Force."
Recommendations on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) were rejected outright by Malaysia. "Violence against LGBT persons continues with impunity by the police, religious officials and some members of the public," said Thilaga Sulathireh of Seksualiti Merdeka. "Restrictions on freedom of assembly, association and expression equally affect LGBTI persons in Malaysia. It is of great concern that issues pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity continue to be politicised to further create religious and racial divide in Malaysia," added Thilaga.
Nearly all NGO speakers who addressed the UN Human Rights Council during the adoption session raised their concerns about the attempted banning of COMANGO, and the continued acts of reprisals by the government of Malaysia against it. The chairperson of SUHAKAM urged the Malaysian Government not to see NGO engagement in the UPR process as a threat, and that NGOs that do so should not be punished. Attacks by non-state actors against COMANGO were also highlighted.
Regretfully, the Malaysian representative did not address these issues during his right to reply.
"The Malaysian government must end the attacks, with impunity, against human rights defenders both from NGOs and other public figures. It should not support groups bent on suppressing civil society voices," says Jerald Joseph from KOMAS.
During the debate today, the Malaysian government stated that it would make more widely available the National Human Rights Action Plan, including disseminating it at the grassroots level. It also said that it would better engage with NGOs.
"It is unfortunate that the government engages civil society through SUAHAKAM, which is not a civil society body. We call for direct engagement with us," said Honey Tan, spokesperson for COMANGO.
Tan also called on the Malaysian government to translate the UPR outcome report including the Addendum and the Corrigendum into Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Tamil, Kadazan, Iban and other languages.
She added, "There should be two consultations a year, and adequate notice should be given before the consultations are called. Regular face-to-face meetings will help build better relationships as well. After all, both NGOs and the Malaysian government want better lives for all the peoples who live in Malaysia."
If society is to believe that the government is indeed committed to the spirit of the UPR, public pronouncements must be translated to reality on the ground.


text:
The Republican Party knows it cannot continue to compete nationally if it remains the party of old white men. In order to not be the party of old white men, it cannot afford to look racist. It's not so much interested in distancing itself from the racist elements within the party or abandoning racist policies, but it would like to not appear racist. To that end, it has come up with a solution wherein the few black and brown faces that dot the party are deployed to regurgitate the staid policy and rhetoric.
The newest member of this club is the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor of Virginia, Bishop E.W. Jackson. He's a pastor from the Chesapeake area of Virginia with extreme right-wing views on homosexuality and abortion. In other words, he fits right in with the modern Republican Party. But he's also joining the ranks of Herman Cain, Allen West and Ben Carson as the next great black hope of the GOP, the singular figure that will provide a counterweight to the Democratic monopoly on the black vote. It's a long shot, as Jamelle Bouie points out, "African Americans have yet to give support to anyone from this wing from the Republican Party, but this hasn't stopped white conservatives from embracing them."
Republicans fail to grasp that the rejection they experience from black voters is not due solely to the lack of black faces but because of their actual record. Despite the attempts by conservatives to cherry-pick Republican Party history to highlight the good times (they're the party of Lincoln, don't ya know), they refuse to atone for their misdeeds.
Law and order, welfare queens, the war on drugs, Willie Horton and Hurricane Katrina aren't ancient history. These are the living memories of the Republican Party's engagement with black America. Republicans are still pulling from the discarded playbook of Lee Atwater, as if Atwater himself didn't leave a warning before his death about where that path would lead. They are also still running away from the legacy of the last Republican elected president, one George W. Bush, though a generation of voters were politicized during his presidency and are now living in the wake of the wars and financial crisis over which he presided. Some cosmetic changes are in order, but they will hardly be sufficient.
Ironically, the person they should turn to in order to understand how to sell conservatism to black people is the same person they so desperately have tried to defeat: President Obama. They can take notes from the commencement address Obama gave at Morehouse College this past weekend. Ta-Nehisi Coates, Aura Bogado and Kiese Laymon have done a great job of explaining what was problematic in Obama's speech, but I think it's also worth looking at why he feels comfortable delivering personal responsibility lectures to black people. First, on issues of race, Obama has never been particularly progressive. Even his famed Philadelphia race speech from the 2008 campaign trafficked in the kind of false equivocation between black radical politics born out of a reaction to racism and actual racism that we generally associate with the Fox News wasteland.
But beyond that, he knows this kind of message will, generally, play well in front of black audiences. As Kai Wright notes, "There's always been a deeply conservative strain of black politics that embraces the American ideal that we get only what we earn." Whether we're talking about Booker T. Washington, the Nation of Islam, Bill Cosby or Condoleezza Rice, there is long tradition of prominent black public figures and organizations touting lifestyle "improvements" as an adequate rejoinder to systemic racism. As wrongheaded a philosophy as it is, it continues to resonate in black communities, as it appeals to the intellect and sense of self-determination. It also makes for rousing speeches that touch the ethereal, especially when coupled with the bravado of the black Southern Baptist church. It shouldn't be mistaken for a substantive critique of white supremacy, but it is anyway and Obama has mastered it. He makes it sound almost revolutionary.
This is where the GOP could find its opening if it was willing to talk to more than one black person at a time. The party's black representatives have made the mistake of insulting black folks, like when they call the Democratic Party a "plantation," and they've been using the issue of racism, which to their minds is no longer relevant, to keep blacks on that plantation while never seeing any actual benefits. In the process, Obama has beaten them to the right, tapping into the conservatism of black communities that recognizes racism but positions it as simply an extra hurdle on the path to black achievement. But he's only one man, and he won't be running for elected office again, so a window of opportunity will eventually be open.
If I had it my way that wouldn't be the case, but I also only one man and can't force the whole of black America to adopt my politics. The GOP, however, won't win over many black voters if even their black representatives behave as if black folks don't have eyes, ears and minds of their own.
Voting Rights Watch takes readers past the ballot box and into the community.
A quick message before you keep reading
We're proud to publish real news 365 days of the year, completely free of charge to our readers. But producing high-quality, independent work is not cost-free – we rely heavily on your support.
If you found the piece above useful, informative, or inspiring, please consider supporting Truthout with a tax-deductible donation. A gift of any size makes a difference and helps keep this unique platform alive.


text:
Related Posts
- "The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry."
- "I drink…" – Ernest Hemingway
- There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man….Ernest Hemingway
- "A man with no options suddenly has all the options in the world"
- "When the Nazis and Communists first came to Czechoslovakia, they declared war on pornographers and perverts. Everyone applauded: who wants perverts running through the streets? But then…"


text:
USAID continues to work around the clock to provide assistance to flood-ravaged Pakistan. Administrator Shah described the latest efforts to NPR while Mark Ward, acting director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, laid out the challenges in an interview with CNN. Dr. Shah accompanied Secretary Clinton and Special Representative Holbrooke and to New York to urge the international community to do more to support the relief effort and to announce an additional $60 million commitment by the United States; IPS covered a forum at The Asia Society before the United Nations meeting on Pakistan assistance.
USAID and the Coca Cola Company announced an initial contribution of $1 million to the Haiti Hope Project, a public-private initiative that aims to develop a sustainable mango industry in Haiti.
In other news, the AP provided further coverage of Administrator Shah's discussion of foreign aid funding in Seattle and The Himalayan highlighted a new health program for Nepal.


text:
Jun 21, 2013
Maker's Row ushers in a new wave of US manufacturing
Jun 21, 2013
When Roberto Torres and his business partners founded their Tampa-based clothing company Black & Denim in 2008, they had no idea how long it would take them to turn their made-in-America mission into a reality. "We spent the first three years finding vendors to manufacture in the U.S.," Torres says.
The process included trips that would have tested even the sturdiest shoe leather. Torres spent weeks visiting factories in New York City's Chinatown, in Los Angeles and in El Paso, Texas, in search of a manufacturer that would take a chance on a new menswear designer from Tampa.
"The clothing industry is not open-source," he says, noting that designers hold their contacts close to their custom-cut vests. "Essentially we were cashing in favors from strangers, people we never met before, to find somebody who could just print a T-shirt or sew a button on a woven or weave a knitted garment."
After finally locking down some manufacturers, Torres and company finished their business plan. The first Black & Denim menswear collection rolled out in the fall of 2010. In 2012 revenue was $100,000.
For every small designer in the U.S., there's the potential to put people at many other small and midsize businesses to work. At any given time, Black & Denim deals with about 10 vendors, including denim, cotton, leather and trim suppliers, an embroidery studio, a seamstress and a drop-ship and management facility. "As a business we're affecting 10 other businesses. That's how significant producing and manufacturing in the U.S. is," Torres says.
And keeping production in the U.S. isn't just a nice marketing move. "Having quality control here is paramount," Torres says. "It allows us to react to the market better. It allows us to react to the market faster. It allows us to either catapult or start trends that other people can follow. It's not only a benefit, it's the way of doing business for us."
Even so, when the decision was made to branch into womenswear, there was the unappealing realization that all new factories would have to be sought out. Then Torres found Maker's Row, a listing service of apparel manufacturers across the country. As the only partner who works full time on the business, he carefully monitors "anything to do with fashion and tech." Three months after stumbling upon Maker's Row, his search was over. Torres says the extensive list of factories not only made it easier to find manufacturers to hire, but he was also able to negotiate better contracts. "It saved us three years of our lives," he says.
A New Era
It's easy to imagine horse-drawn carts and wobbly trucks moving raw materials and goods along the cobblestone streets of Brooklyn's DUMBO neighborhood. During the early 20th century in this waterfront district, Brillo churned out steel wool pads, Hanan & Son made shoes, and E.W. Bliss manufactured machines, tools, presses, dies and sheet metal.
Today a new breed of company is helping entrepreneurs around the country capitalize on the small-batch industrial revolution. At Maker's Row headquarters, website founders Matthew Burnett and Tanya Menendez are determined to bring together designers and the factories that can help them turn their ideas into moneymaking realities. The potential matches include everybody from bootstrapping beginners to established names on both sides of the equation. In short, they want made in America to be cool again.
Though MakersRow.com just launched in November 2012, the site looks like it's on track to become the Match.com of American manufacturing. Says Jesse Meyer, founder of Montgomery, N.Y.-based Pergamena, which produces high-quality parchment and leather: "You smack your forehead. Why hasn't anybody done anything like this before?"
Burnett first partnered with Menendez (then a Goldman Sachs employee working on automation projects) in late 2010 to build Brooklyn Bakery, a seller of American-made leather goods. Previously Burnett had tried his hand at overseas manufacturing through his first entrepreneurial experience, a watch company called SteelCake. He'd received significant interest from boutiques, and celebrities like Kanye West were wearing his watches. But his reliance on overseas factories sank the business.
When his order of 10,000 finished watches arrived in New York from China after a monthlong customs delay in Alaska, he discovered that a manufacturing error had ruined 2,000 of them. "I was heartbroken," Burnett says. "With overseas suppliers, when somebody messes up an order, what's your power? I was begging them to fix these errors [to no avail]."
For Brooklyn Bakery's first products - bracelets - Burnett spent hours scouring the Yellow Pages, conducting online searches and making calls to find the raw materials, manufacturers and factories he needed. Eventually he sourced his leather from Queens and chose a midtown Manhattan factory to do the assembly. "I really became friends with all the manufacturers who were working with me," he says.
Then Burnett decided to add handbags to the company's offerings - but his vendor didn't do handbags. Menendez suggested that instead of focusing on leather goods, they build a platform to solve the ongoing problem of sourcing. They put Brooklyn Bakery on ice - "you can't solve made in America for small business on a part-time basis," Burnett says - and were accepted into the 2012 Brooklyn Beta Summer Camp program to focus full time on building what became Maker's Row. (That's also where they met their third co-founder, Scott Weiner.) Burnett recalls those first meetups with a laugh: "People didn't understand what we were thinking. They were like, 'Things are still made in the U.S.?'"
The Maker's Row platform breaks down the manufacturing process into six basic steps: ideation, patternmaking, materials, sample making, tooling and production. From there, the site provides a detailed rundown on manufacturers, including their history, capabilities, samples and contact information, as well as the type of customer they're seeking: student, startup, small business or big brand. The key, according to Menendez, is the standardization of company profiles, "so that entrepreneurs could quickly and efficiently look through different [factory] profiles and see what was the best fit for them."
Designers can search for everything for free, from one-stop shops that help take them from idea to market (an often-preferred choice of startups just learning the language of the manufacturing process) to specialized manufacturers that can produce custom branding stamps or offer laser cutting.
The site launched with a focus on the apparel industry. "We wanted to approach apparel in the beginning because the barriers to entry were so low [for entrepreneurs] as opposed to some of the other industries like electronics or interior design," Burnett says. "We thought if we're able to solve the apparel industry, then we'll know how to tackle all the other industries we want to go into."
Once the Maker's team began calling manufacturers to sign them up for $50 to $200 per month, "the response was almost instantaneous," Burnett says. "They would say 'I'm in' and that I should 'call Bob because he'll love this resource, too.' We knew we were onto something."
By April of this year, the site listed more than 1,400 manufacturers. And thanks to upcoming partnerships with manufacturing guilds and trade shows, Menendez projects they'll have 60,000 manufacturers on the site by the end of 2013.
Building Relationships
Although manufacturing in the U.S. has long had a rep for being pricier than its foreign counterparts, things have changed. Prices have gone up overseas. Burnett says one of the Chinese factories he used now charges three times what he paid during his watchmaking days. And overseas manufacturing minimums - often requiring orders in the thousands - can be prohibitive, particularly for startups.
Anna Livermore - founder of Chicago-based V. Mora, which offers services ranging from patternmaking to guiding startups through the first two years of their collections - says a factory's story has started to mean as much to designers as the designer's story means to consumers. "Here it's more something you've grown and been there for step by step," she says. "You have a relationship. You know where they're working. You know that the garments are being created there, and you can see it."
Livermore's own business has received a nice boost from being listed on Maker's Row. During V. Mora's first six weeks on the site, the company booked 28 strategy sessions and three new retainer clients.
"Maker's Row is a huge timesaver," says Elise Avera, founder of resortwear label Leon + Bella. "I'm on the beach, and it's beautiful weather, but it's not like I'm in New York and can just walk to a bunch of factories. I have to do it from here."
On the price front, Avera acknowledges that it's often more expensive to keep manufacturing within U.S. borders, but she believes it's worth it: "There's just something about the craftsmanship. I feel like it's a little bit more my hand."
Burnett grins when talking about the effect Maker's Row has had on designers and factories. It's even helping break down some of the industry's tight-lipped ways. They added review functionality to the site so designers can leave comments on the factories' profile pages. "We're surprised that some of the closed-off clients are willing to share that information in reviews," Burnett says.
But the desire to support the factories - and keep them in business - clearly trumps any old-ways concerns. There are plenty of reviews threaded throughout the site. And, Burnett adds, factories have started reaching out to each other through the site to build referral networks.
"We've been so happy to see that we've been able to have such a positive impact in such a short time," he says. "Not only are people able to hire more staff, they're able to hire more labor to handle the capacity. We've just begun."
© Thomson Reuters 2023 All rights reserved.


text:
|Cogito ergo sum
Logic and rhetoric
|Key articles
|General logic
|Bad logic
""Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority.
|—The Doctor, Doctor Who (The Wheel in Space)
Logic is the formal study, and use, of the interrelationship between statements in order to determine whether arguments yield useful, coherent, and correct results, or bullshit.[1]
Logic is a useful guide to thinking, as it is neutral to properties of things and focuses only on their relationships and what that implies. It is easy when examining a matter to get distracted by what pleases you about it or by the positive social effects believing in a statement's truth might have. Logic abstracts from contents that would make one think that way and can therefore direct our thoughts and others in a more helpful direction.
A logical argument has а conclusion which follows from its premises. Arguments come in two types, deductive and inductive.
In a good inductive argument, the truth of the premises renders the conclusion likely, though not certain. Such an argument is described as strong. But further evidence could be added which would weaken an inductive argument so that even if the premises were true, the conclusion would no longer be likely.
In a good deductive argument, the truth of the premises absolutely guarantees the truth of the conclusion. Such an argument is valid. It is literally impossible for the premises of a valid argument to be true while the conclusion is false. No matter what other facts crop up, the premises imply the conclusion, thus a valid argument is a good deal more powerful than a merely strong one. What you're really after, though, is a sound argument: a sound argument combines validity with true premises. Since true premises guarantee a true conclusion in a valid argument, and the premises are true, the conclusion of a sound argument must be true as well.
(Although we call all sorts of things "valid" to mean they make good sense, in technical logical terms, only a whole argument can be valid or invalid, not an individual statement. This makes sense because validity is a property of arguments and inferences, not of statements. On the other hand, we sometimes call arguments true or false. But, in logical terms, only individual statements, never whole arguments, are true or false. Truth and falsity come into play with respect to arguments when we consider the property of arguments called soundness. In short, an argument is sound if and only if it is (1) valid and (2) its premises are in fact true.)
The validity of an argument is determined by its structure. Where the argument structure breaks down is known as a formal logical fallacy. Of course, many other things can be wrong with an argument, such as it having misleading premises or missing the point entirely. Such errors are informal. Valid deductive arguments can be constructed with entirely false premises. Such arguments have a solid logical structure and can make interesting hypothetical cases, or they can just be not even wrong.
Traditional (Aristotelian) and propositional logic has as an operating assumption that all statements which aren't nonsense are either true or false. For instance, 2 + 2 = 4 is true, 3-7 = 84.6 is false. Extensions to logic include further possible values for a statement. Extending it like this isn't entirely as ludicrous as it sounds (contrast with paraconsistent logic); for example, three-valued logic poses three states of "true", "false", and "unknown". Further extensions suggest that there are (technically) infinite states, such as observed in fuzzy logic, where a proposition has specific degrees of truth represented by real number values in [0,1]. However, fuzzy logic should not be confused with Bayesianism. Though fuzzy truth values and probability values are real numbers in [0,1] and both fuzzy logic and Bayesian reasoning are tools for inductive reasoning, fuzzy truth values are truth functional whereas probability values are not. By truth functional, it is meant that the truth of compound logical statements like 'The ball is blue or it is orange' is determined by the truths of the atomic propositions 'The ball is blue' and 'The ball is orange' and the truth conditions of the logical operator (in this case, the disjunction 'or'). To see the difference between fuzzy truth values and probability values, consider the following: Given a fair die, let A stand for 'you roll a 1, 2, or 3' and let B stand for 'you roll a 4, 5, or 6'. The Pr(A) = .5 and the Pr(A and A) = .5. However, while the Pr(A) = Pr(B) = .5, the Pr(A and B) = 0. On the other hand, in fuzzy logic, since it is truth functional, if A stands for 'The ball is blue' and B stands for 'The ball is orange' and the ball is exactly half blue and half orange, then the truth value of A = B = .5 and the truth value of 'A and B' = 1.
(These logical systems need not be in conflict, however. Fuzzy logic and Bayesian reasoning are tools for inductive reasoning, and the value they assign to a statement represents the confidence we should have in its truth, which is very different from its actual truth. Thus these systems assigning a partial value to a statement is compatible with the statement itself being simply true (or simply false) as traditional logic dictates.)
Formal logic[edit]
In formal logic, any natural language used in an argument is reduced to abstract symbolism, with the results looking pretty much like equations in algebra or set theory. At its core, logic is the process of boiling down statements into pieces so that each individual step is unobjectionable. Indeed, looking at a single logical step, one might be forgiven for thinking logic is nothing more than stating the obvious, and has no practical use! Yet on another level, that is exactly what it is - each step is unobjectionable, but when placed together we can derive far more complicated ideas and know that they're right because each little jump is "obvious". This abstraction allows the clear and concise analysis of the content of the argument - i.e., not getting bogged down in things like "well it depends on what the definition of 'is' is".
A simple example would be modus ponens, which at a formal level is written like this (where p and q are variables ranging over propositions):
Formal logic is also known as symbolic logic or mathematical logic. It forms part of mathematics, and is often considered the foundational discipline upon which the rest of mathematics can be built.
Formal logic is not a single system, but rather many, with competing and contrary principles; the discipline concerns itself with studying the properties of these different logical systems, both as an end-in-itself (pure mathematics), but also to try to find which formal system best reflects our pre-existing intuitive ideas of what is "logical".
Logical systems can be distinguished on the basis of which types of statements they concern themselves with:
- propositional calculus is concerned with the relationships between propositions, but not the internal structure of those propositions
- predicate calculus breaks propositions down into subject and predicate, and provides quantifiers (all, some). It is broken up into first-order predicate calculus, which can assert that entities have properties, but cannot talk about those assertions or properties themselves; and higher-order predicate calculus, which enables assertions to be made about propositions and predicates.
- type theory extends predicate calculus with the notion that entities belong to certain types; restrictions are imposed on what can be said about entities of different types, to avoid paradoxes such as Russell's paradox
- modal logic is concerned with the notions of necessity and possibility.
- temporal logic formalizes temporal statements, and provides past, present and future tense (and aspect also)
There is one particular approach to logic which is known as classical, since it is the most popular approach, and the one which is generally presented first in textbooks. This approach is based on certain assumptions, such as the law of the excluded middle (everything is either true or not true, but not neither) and the law of non-contradiction (nothing can be both true and false simultaneously). Non-classical logics question some of the assumptions of classical logic:
- non-reflexive logic: allows for violations of or restrictions on the law of identity, such as Newton da Costa's "Schrödinger logics"[2]
- substructural logic: permits fewer rules of inference than those permitted in classical propositional calculus
- relevance logic: attempts to better model our informal ideas of implication, by insisting the premise must be relevant to the conclusion (a type of substructural logic)
- linear logic: a system of logic based on the idea of constrained resources (a type of substructural logic)
- paracomplete logic: denies or restricts the law of the excluded middle (every statement must be either true or not true); the chief example is intuitionistic logic, which is inspired by the mathematical movements of intuitionism/constructivism
- many-valued logic: denies the principle of bivalence (every statement is either true or false); distinct from paracomplete logics, as many-valued logics can still validate the Law of the Excluded Middle
- paraconsistent logic: rejects the principle of explosion; permits valid reasoning from contradictory premises. (All relevance logics are paraconsistent, but not all paraconsistent logics are relevant)
- infinitary logic: whereas classical logic only permits finite-length propositions and finite-length proofs, infinitary logic allows propositions and proofs of infinite length
- quantum logic: a system of logic used to reason about quantum mechanical systems
The constitution of logic[edit]
The study of logic tries to relate formal logic to natural language argumentation. This has led to an old classification of the activities of the justification into parts, some of which are:
- semantics: The validity of an argument depends upon the meaning or semantics of the sentences that make it up
- inference: The account of how one moves from premises to conclusions in formal and natural language argumentation
- logical form: The identification of the kinds of inference used in argumentation and their representation in formal logic
These activities have remained part of logic since the times of Aristotle's Organon, although their nature has changed during the various revolutions that have happened in the subject.
Reason and rhetoric[edit]
Rarely are arguments outside of formal logic classes presented in a way that can be readily abstracted. This is usually because a formalized rendition makes for poor natural language, and often would require stating many things considered "obvious". The dangers come when logical fallacies sneak their way in, disguised by the way natural languages are conjugated and expressed, and when the "obvious" assumptions that are only implied or taken for granted are themselves false, or at least debatable. The study of logic without formalisms is known as informal logic.
When good arguments are assembled into high-quality rhetorical speech, they form robust and even brilliant presentations. When poor arguments are disguised by translation into rhetoric, they will usually employ fallacies which may seem convincing for one who is not trained in understanding arguments. An example is technical jargon used by apologists to make it seem like what they say is somehow based on more truth than it actually is. Lots of websites are guilty of this when it comes to science too, donning the metaphorical white coat of the respected profession of science to dress woo arguments like they are based on scientific facts rather than PIDOOMAs.
Using what logic teaches[edit]
While it is often difficult to directly analyze arguments using formal techniques, it is worth the effort to at least try from time to time. This effort has the double reward of clarifying or refuting well or poorly constructed arguments, and reminding one how to construct a good argument oneself. A high quality argument could literally be footnoted or deconstructed in an appendix, expressing every element it contains at a formal level.
See also[edit]
Want to read this in another language?[edit]
Se você procura pelo artigo em Português, ver Lógica.
External links[edit]
- See the Wikipedia article on Logic.
- Logic, from Great Issues in Philosophy, by James Fieser (University of Tennessee at Martin)
- ↑ Logic, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- ↑ "Lógicas não-reflexivas" - from the abstract: "Non-reflexive logics are logics in which the principle of identity does not hold in general"


text:
Why Are These Chinese Message Board Users Fascinated By Dollar Tree?
Today, a top story on one of China's largest message boards is a boring gallery of a Dollar Tree store, right alongside truly interesting pictures of pickpockets caught in the act. The post currently has almost 200,000 page views. What's so fascinating about Dollar Tree?
"Today we show the daily lives of low-income people in the United States," writes the poster on the message board Mop.com. "You can buy so many things," marvels one commenter. It seems the post is comparing a U.S. dollar store to its equivalent in China and concluding that the poor in the U.S. have it much better. (True.)*
According to Adam Clark Estes, the French share a fascination with Dollar Tree. You will know the U.S. is in decline once we stop impressing foreigners with how much cheap shit you can buy here. We've still got it!
*I don't speak Chinese, though, and am relying on a broken Google translation. So if you know anything more please explain in the comments.


text:
Sharon M. Draper, Author
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, YA Fiction, March 2013
Suitable for Ages: 14 -17
Themes: Dance, Kidnapping, Sexual Predators, Sexual Abuse, Teen Dating Abuse, African-American
Opening: "Diamond knows not to talk to strangers. But just once couldn't hurt. Right?" (Jacket Flap)
Synopsis: The Crystal Pointe Dance Academy is shaken when one of its members, 15-year-old Diamond, goes missing and no one can find her. Diamond and her best friend, Mercedes, make a trip to the mall before a dance performance to purchase tights. While Mercedes is looking around, Diamond heads to the food court to buy food so they won't be late. A well-dressed stranger approaches Diamond and asks for directions to the food court. He tells Diamond that he's supposed to meet his wife and daughter there. Harmless, she thinks. When Mercedes arrives minutes later, Diamond is gone.
Every other chapter is the voice of one of the main dancers, Diamond, Mercedes, Layla and Justin. There are parallel stories told as Draper alternates between Diamond's abduction, the emotional reaction of the high school dance troupe to the situation and the every day drama of their own personal lives. There are some very important themes of relational and sexual abuse, teen dating abuse, trust, and family issues woven into the story. What holds the troupe together is their concern for Diamond and their love of music and dance. My favorite scene in the book is when the dancers are with their instructor, Miss Ginger. Each student selects a dance that fits their personality and expresses their own fear or desperation for Diamond — a beautiful and powerfully moving cathartic release.
Why I like this story: Sharon Draper has written a gripping and contemporary novel that is very real in today's world. It is a must read for teens. Even though kids are taught at a young age not to talk to strangers, abductions continue. There is no tidy description for sexual predators. But predators have one thing in common — the ability to artfully lure a child or teenager into a web of lies and manipulations that leads to kidnapping. That is what Draper addresses in her skillfully crafted and suspenseful novel. Draper handles Diamond's abduction scene realistically but with sensitivity. She also has a gift of getting into the minds of each character. Panic is one book readers will have difficulty putting down because it is a page turner. Hopefully teens will learn through Diamond the tragic results of taking risks with strangers. Panic is an excellent book for school libraries.
Book Giveaway: I will be giving away one copy of Panic during a random drawing on March 29. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and indicate whether you'd like to be included in the drawing. I will announce the winner on Saturday, March 30.
Sharon Draper a New York Times best-selling author has also won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent for Fears of a Tiger. She won the Coretta Scott King Literary Award for her novels Copper Sun, and Forged by Fire, and the Coretta Scott King Author Honor for The Battle of Jericho. She also was selected as a National Teacher of the Year. For more information about all the books she's published, resources, activities, interviews and information on school visits, visit Draper's website. I've also reviewed Draper's novels, Out of My Mind, Copper Sun and Double Dutch.


text:
The scene: A desperately-needs-to-be-cleaned-out Toyota minivan
The characters: An 11-year old boy in the backseat. A 40-something Mom driving.
The boy: "Mom, what is The Adulteress about?"
The Mom: "What did you say?"
The boy: "The Adulteress. What's it about?"
The Mom -- mentally canceling cable television, wondering what bad Lifetime movie he'd been watching, making note to check the older kids' Google histories and otherwise getting worked up that an 11-year old would be asking about a trollop: "Adulteress? Where did you learn that word?!"
The boy: "My Picture Bible."
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
How did the adulteress get in here?
Posted by Amy at 11:00 PM
Labels: as Robbie sees it, Catholic, word play
0 comments:
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Next: ax_ext_have_lib, Previous: ax_ext, Up: The Macros
AX_EXT_CHECK_HEADER(<header>, <paths>).
Check for <header> with -I<path> for each path in <paths> if need be. The first sucecssful path is chosen (eg if you say AX_EXT_CHECK_HEADER(foo.h, bar baz qux) and -Ibaz works then -Iqux will not be tested.
Any -I flags that locate a header are added to CFLAGS and CPPFLAGS. AS with AC_CHECK_HEADERS it causes HAVE_<header>_H to be defined as 1.
AX_EXT_HAVE_HEADER(openssl/rsa.h, /usr/local/include /usr/local/ssl/include /usr/local/openssl/include)
Download the latest version of ax_ext_check_header.m4 or browse the macro's revision history.
Copyright © 2008 Duncan Simpson firstname.lastname@example.com
Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification, are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright notice and this notice are preserved. This file is offered as-is, without any warranty.


text:
Bob Dylan awarded Nobel Prize in Literature
U.S. folk singer and songwriter Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday.
The 75-year-old won the prize "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition," the Swedish Academy said.
The surprise announcement marks the first time the award has gone to someone who is mainly seen as a musician.
"For 54 years he has been at it, reinventing himself," said Sara Danius, the academy's permanent secretary.
"Bob Dylan writes poetry for the ear. But it's perfectly fine to read his works as poetry," she said.
Minnesota-born Dylan is the first American to win the prize for literature since Toni Morrison in 1993.
Dylan, whose songs include Blowin' in the Wind and The Times They Are A-Changin, won a Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for his "profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."
DON'T AGREE? Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize draws mixed reviews
Earlier Thursday, the Italian news agency ANSA reported that playwright and actorDario Fo, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1997, died in a hospital in Milan at the age of 90.
Famous for his biting political satire, the writer of Accidental Death of an Anarchistperformed the one-man play Mistero Buffo around the world for 30 years.
"His satire, his research, his work on set design, his multi-faceted artistic activity remain the legacy of a great Italian in the world," said Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
The Nobel Prize in Literature was the last Nobel prize to be announced, after the prizes in economics medicine, physics, chemistry and the Nobel Peace Prize. The winners will collect them at a ceremony on Dec. 10.


text:
(A manifesto by anti-racist scientists)
These were the words of scientist Rita Levi Montalcini (also attributed to Gandhi and Satyendranath).
My English translation from the Spanish:
I. Human races do not exist. The existence of human races is an abstraction that has come about from a false interpretation of the small physical differences that we feel we perceive. It comes from mistaken "psychological" associations: differences interpreted from a basis of secular prejudice. These abstract subdivisions are founded on an idea that humans are made up of groups that are, biologically and hereditarily, greatly varied.
This is pure invention that has always used arbitrary classification between men and women as better and worse and in this way discriminates against those at the extreme (always the weakest) after having blamed them for being the key to all evil in every moment of crisis.
II. Humanity is not made up of large and small breeds. It is above all a network of connected persons. Certainly, human beings come together in groups of individuals, communities, ethnic groups, nations and civilizations. But this does not happen because we have the same genes but because we share life stories, ideas and religions, customs and behaviour, lifestyles and cultures.
These groupings are never established from the same DNA; in fact they are subject to profound historical changes. They are formed, changed, mixed, fragmented and dissolved with a speed that is incompatible with the lengths of times required by the processes of genetic selection.
III. The concept of race has no biological meaning for the human species. Analysis of DNA has shown that genetic variation in our species – less than that of our 'cousins' the chimpanzees, gorillas and orang-utans – is represented above all by differences between people from the same population, whereas they are less than the differences between populations and different continents.
The genes of two individuals of the same population are, on average, slightly more similar than those of people who live in different continents. Precisely because of these small differences between populations even racist scientists never defined how many races make up the human species. They made estimates ranging between two and two hundred races.
IV. There is a fake and deadly myth that has already been forged: the identification of the "Aryan race" with the image of a warlike people, the winners, 'pure' and 'noble.' Along with this, there is the theory that much of Europe, India and central Asia is the homeland of the basis of Ind-European languages.
History makes it apparent that it is extremely difficult to identify Aryans as a people in addition to the notion of an Indo-European language that stems from conventional classification. But on the other hand, modern archaeological data indicates that Europe was inhabited in the Palaeolithic era by a population of African origin and in Neolithic times other immigrants came over from the Middle East.
The foundation of present-day Italians is from the same southern African immigrants who today constitute the enduring fabric of life in Europe. Despite the dramatic originality of fascist racism the Italians allied themselves with the Nazi's due to their identification with "Aryans."
V. It is a legend that sixty million of today's Italians are descended from families that lived in Italy a millennium ago. These same Romans built their empire by welcoming people from diverse backgrounds, giving them the status of Roman cives.
The phenomena of social and cultural mixing, which marked the history of the entire peninsula – also including Greeks, Jews, Africans, Hispanics and those seen as "barbarians" – produced the hybrid we call Italian culture. Even though they were dispersed throughout the world and living in small Italian states, Italians continued to be identified with this culture that was global, varied, humanistic and scientific.
VI. There is no Italian race; there is only one Italian people. Italy was only unified as a nation in 1860. Many millions of Italian emigrants in the past often concentrated in foreigner areas. They were considered as, and are, Italian. One of our greatest assets is being mixed with so many people and our exchanges that "cross" physically and culturally.
"Purity of blood" and the "nobility" of the "Nation" have been ascribed to a country that has never existed. It has meant reducing the homogeneity of an alleged biological element in addition to the current populace of Italy's thousand years of heritage and spreading of cultures.
VII. Racism is at the same time both homicidal and suicidal. Empires became empires due to the coexistence of diverse peoples and cultures, and collapsed when fragmented. That has happened and is still happening in nations with civil wars. To cope with this crisis, they used minorities as scapegoats.
Racism is suicidal not only because it hits those belonging to different peoples but because it also strikes the same people who practice it. The trend of indiscriminate hatred that fuels racism is spreading infectious ideas about any "foreignness" or strange "otherness." This comes from an increasingly narrow definition of "normalcy".
There are those that do not match up to standard human types. They are "out of line", the "mad", the "weak spirited," gays and lesbians, poets, artists, and alternative writers. All of them are attacked, though it is they who are actually allowed to live and incessantly transform mankind. Every living system is capable of continuing only if it is capable of change, and we, human beings, change with fewer genes and always more with the inventions of our generously disordered brains.
VIII. Racism discriminates, denies relationships, and it introduces fear into various thoughts and behaviours. To defenders of the Italian race, Africa appears as a terrifying threat. The Mediterranean Sea simultaneously separates and unites. From this, the racists claim that there is no "common Mediterranean race."
To reject Africa even further, racist scientists put up a barrier against "Semitic" and "North Africans/Berbers/Egyptians". Science indicated that there is a clear distinction between the genetics of Mediterranean Europe (occidentals) and on the other side, Oriental and African. From the paleontological and genetic point of view the theory that earth's people originate from Africa is absolutely proven: we are all together in a single race.
IX. Italian Jews are both Jews and Italians. Like all migrant peoples (nobody migrates from free choice, but many do so from necessity) Jews have been spread across the World and have been part of diverse cultures. At the same time they have still retained their people's identity and religion.
So as in the cases of the Armenians, or the same Italian immigrants: the same thing is happening with migrants from now: African, Filipino, Chinese, Arabs from various countries, peoples belonging to Eastern Europe or South America, and so on. All these people had the painful need to emigrate, but also the luck in the best cases, of enriching themselves by combining their culture with those who gave them hospitality. All were equally enhanced, and where possible, neither one nor the other cancelled out each other.
X. The ideology of the racist bigot is based on fear of "disruption" of their own race. This is totally blind to the fact that many societies recognize that getting married outside their community, even with their own enemies, is fine because they know that partnerships are more valuable than barriers. In addition, human physical characteristics are altered a great deal by the particular living conditions, just as the psychological characteristics of peoples and individuals are not written in their genes.
Cultural mixing is the foundation and basis of hope for progress stemming from the European Union constitution. A racist Italy fragmented into "ethnic" separation, as has happened in the former Yugoslavia, would be devastating now and in the future.
The consequences of racism are the loss of culture and self-expression, homicide and suicide, fragmentation and implosion. These end results are uncontrollable because they are caused by an indiscriminate revulsion towards those who are considered the "other" and not "us".
Enrico Allevi, Professor of Ethics, Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Rome
Guido Barbujani, Professor of Genetics of Populations, University Ferrara
Marcello Buiatti, Professor of Genetics, University of Florence
Lauradalle Ragione, Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist, Perugia
Elena Gagliasso, Professor of Philosophy and Science of Living, University La Sapienza, Rome
Massimo Livi Bacci, Professor of Demography, University of Florence
Alberto Piazza, Professor of Human Genetics, University of Torino
Augustine Pirella, Psychiatrist, Co-founder of Democratic Psychiatry, Torino
Francesco Remotti, Professor of Cultural Anthropology, University of Torino
Philip Temple, Professor of Physiology, University of Torino
Flavia Zucco, Director of Research, Association President of Women in Science, Institute of Molecular Medicine, CNR, Rome
Original version of the Manifesto in Italian.


text:
Feeling philanthropic? Rolando Politi, founder of the Yanbuki trash worshipers, has launched a fundraising campaign to support a project with women rag pickers in Delhi, India. The idea: teach the members of the women's waste workers cooperative to make and sell trash art.
The campaign states two aims, to generate income for the women and to destigmatize their work by creating something positive from the materials they collect.
For more on waste, recycling and the informal industry of rag picking in Delhi, check out the documentary Delhi Waste Wars.


text:
Wow! Another year of new kosher food, lots of tasting, so many special guests and a lot of fun. GKC loved meeting up with old friends from Royal Wines (see the post on the Pacifica Meritage, so good!), Osem, and Jack's Gourmet. While still meeting new friends from new companies that wow our taste buds enough to mention.
So what was newsworthy or blog worthy this year? First, Facon, by Jack's Gourmet, was one of the highlights of the show. Many companies have tried to replicate the taste and texture of bacon but have failed in some way. Facon,"bacon-like" meat is a big winner! Facon cooks up crispy and crunchy, just like real bacon and tastes great and even has that bacon-cooking aroma. The product opens a whole new world to the kosher consumer. I am already imagining it as a great soup starter, crumbled on mashed potatoes, or wrapped around a hearty meatloaf. No surprise, Facon and Jack's Gourmet's Italian Style Salami were Kosherfest product winners.
Non-dairy desserts have come a long way with so many options but more are on the way and these are going to cure your "fear of fleishig". I tasted just a few sorbet flavors from Gelato Petrini; chocolate peanut butter, strawberry, cookies and cream, and peach ginger and was so impressed. Gelato Petrini, all pareve sorbets (they have a dairy line too) are rich, delicious, smooth and well worth serving to company. Available in stores soon. Don't forget to request lots of flavors at your local market because you don't want to miss out on all their creative genius.
Kosherfest was studded with companies addressing the gluten free needs of so many consumers. GKC recommends Finchi's desserts (she started as a Passover baker – yup all of her desserts are kosher for Passover, gluten free, nut-free, and dairy-free). Delicious chocolate desserts like mousse, torte, brownie fudge. My Dad's Cookies came out with some additional gluten-free cookies including a "Milano" like treat that looks and taste pretty close to the original by Pepperidge Farms.
GKC friends at Osem have some great Passover and everyday products. Congratulations on their big win at Kosherfest "best new rice or grain product" for Couscous with rice, roasted garlic, and sundried tomatoes. For Passover, I love the soft keep fresh bag that comes in every 5 lb. set of matzos. And the mix for Passover rolls will help all those fussy kids who live on air all Pesach. Bread-like rolls that are kosher for Passover, moist and tasty.
You asked for it, you got it…Both Norman's and Mehadrin have Cholov Yisroel Greek yogurt coming soon to markets. And two new just add water challah mixes. My best of the show and great pantry item is called Voila' Hallah, by Tribes a Dozen. I tried both the whole wheat and the spelt mixes with great success. Terrific flavor, so easy and mess free.
Snacking is an important part of Kosherfest. The super winners for me? Sweet Tammy's cookies and challahs, especially the snickerdoodles. These cookies are a perfect combination of soft, sweet and a little crunchy. In very generous sizes and cute packaging you should keep an eye out for them. Brownie Brittle has been a big hit here on the East coast. A rustic snack of rich brownie taste with a crisp cookie crunch. It's like brownie meets brittle and the only problem is that I can eat the whole bag because it's such an addictive snack. They have new flavors too, but try any of them, they are all terrific.
Manischewitz is so trendy too, with great new products like red velvet macaroons, frozen macaroon dough for delicious homemade macaroons out of your own oven without the work.
Lastly, well, hardly lastly because I could tell you more about the Golan Beer, or the super products from Pereg (do they make the best spices or what? Wait until you taste their Passover couscous, almost fooled me), yes lastly I wanted to tell you about a terrific new company that I hope we see in National markets soon. Woops, an Israeli company that makes frozen Belgium waffles, super chunky extra large cookies and some really moist and rich molten cakes was a show fav for me. I loved the waffles and apparently I'm in good company because Max Brenner Chocolates (another chocoholic and talented Israeli) carries their waffles, cookies and more in his chocolate bars
Now, I must get on my treadmill or close my mouth for a bit, well at least until I get home and munch on some of my favorite Kosherfest take home treats.


text:
The name 'Kahn' is thought in some quarters to mean 'boat' or 'ship.' The fact that a kahn is, or was, a type of cargo barge is probably a coincidence, although the origins of the term in a marine context are obscure. The German for barge is 'kahn.'
During the 19th and early 20th century, kahns were frequently seen sailing in the Baltic, especially on the rivers and estuaries of north Germany and Poland. They were sailing barges, well suited to the waters of long winding rivers and shallow seas close inshore.
Three types of kahn were built – koffenkahn, stevenkahn and mollenkahn. Typical dimensions were about 40 metres long by 6.5 metres beam and about 2 metres draft. They'd probably carry between 150 and 250 tonnes of heavy cargo. All types had three unstayed masts each with sails supported by sprits (long beams stretched at about 45 degrees between the foot of the mast and the opposite peak of the sail).
These were slow and boxy vessels, flat-bottomed, heavily built in the style of barges and with bluff bows and sterns Thus they were suitable for carrying relatively large loads of timber or barrels. To make passage in the often stormy Baltic Sea, kahns needed two sets of leeboards to avoid being blown off course.
As late as the 1930s, kahns were still in use.
Aside from this, the surname Kahn is probably a derivative of the more familiar Jewish name: Cohen.
NB: No analogy should be drawn between the characteristics of the Kahn family and those of the eponymous sailing craft. I'm afraid the author is far from flat-bottomed, although he has been known to be bluff and long-winded.
This page has the following sub pages.


text:
Here is Randy Seaver's (Genea-Musings) latest Saturday Night Genealogy Fun:
1) Find some of your favorite sayings, aphorisms, jokes, etc. They can be genealogy-related, or not.
2) Translate them into Latin using Google Translate (http://translate.google.com/?hl=en&tab=wT).
3) Share them with us in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook status line or Google Plus Stream post (impress your non-genealogy friends with your Latin skills!).
I decided to translate a saying that I learned in a Czech class. The teacher was actually Moravian, and said that this was a typical Moravian saying ("You can tell it's Moravian because it's super-correct Czech"). I took the English saying and had Google Translate put it into Latin, Czech (it didn't come out quite the same as the original saying I remember), and Georgian. None of the translations seems to get the last part right, but here goes:
This is something you would say about a person you do not trust:
Si verba ponte ire nolim eam.
Pokud se jeho slova most, nechtěl bych jít na to.
თუ მის სიტყვებს იყო ხიდი, მე არ მინდა სიარული იგი.


text:
100% Genuine, Real, Rare and Natural Round Cut Diamond in 100% Genuine Fully Hallmarked Solid 18K Rose Gold Pendant Necklace, Comes with Insurance Appraisal, Gift Wrapped and Now On Sale.
This High Quality Fully Hallmarked 18K Rose Gold Diamond Pendant Necklace with an 18K Rose Gold 18 inch Chain, features a Bezel Setting of a Sparkling Rothem
certified J color and I2 clarity Real and Rare Natural Earth Mined Conflict Free Round Brilliant Cut Diamond weighing 0.62 carat.
This High Quality Slide Diamond Pendant Necklace is THE REAL THING! 100% Real and Rare Natural Earth Mined Diamond, Not Moissanite, Not man made, Not lab grown, Rothem certified, polished only in our factory and 100% conflict free!
If you are looking for a peace of mind that you are buying Real and Rare Natural Earth Mined Brand New Diamond Pendant with chain in a Fully Hallmarked Solid 18 Karat Rose Gold setting, 1st hand directly,
this Sparkling High Quality Diamond Pendant Necklace is your Best Choice, Don't Miss this SALE! Included Matching 18K Rose Gold Chain (18 inch long) Sliding through the Pendant, Rothem Collection Insurance Appraisal and Extended hassle Free 60 Day Returns. This Rothem certified naturally mined diamond is clarity enhanced.


text:
By James Kwak
The recent New York Times story on Facebook Credits was just one of a slew of articles that have been coming out recently on this topic. (Hint: When that happens, it's usually because the company in question is putting on a PR campaign, which means they are pushing stories to the media in an attempt to build buzz.) According to the generally positive reporting, Credits are "a virtual currency system that some day could turn into a multibillion-dollar business."
As far as I can make out,* Credits are points that you can buy with real money and that are stored with your Facebook account data on the mother ship in Palo Alto (just like your bank keeps track of the Dollars you have on account there). You can use Credits to pay for a variety of stuff in Facebook apps, and Facebook takes a cut (currently thirty percent) of the value of any transaction using Credits. The story is that in the long run, you may be able to use Credits to buy anything, not just stuff on Facebook, positioning Facebook as a potential leader in electronic payments.
To me, this sounds like an ultimately futile attempt to keep marketing spin one step ahead of the real world. Unless I'm missing something basic, Credits should be crushed by another competitor–Dollars. The value of Credits, supposedly, is that you don't have to enter your credit card number every time you want to by something. This is true because you are logged into Facebook, which keeps track of your balance and deducts from it as necessary. But that has nothing to do with Credits themselves; Facebook could just as easily have used Dollars instead of Credits and gotten the same result (you use your credit card to put money in your Dollars account, and then when you buy things, Dollars come out of your Dollars account).
So why use Credits instead of Dollars? I can think of three reasons: (1) people are more likely to buy things with Credits than with Dollars, even if the real financial impact is the same, because Credits feel more fun, and Dollars remind them of their rent payments; (2) if Facebook tried to take a 30 percent cut out of Dollar payments, no one would go along; and (3) Credits sound much more exciting if you're trying to build media hype and drive up the value of your company (something I'm very familiar with from the Internet bubble). Note that all of these are actually bad.
Facebook's key asset is the fact that hundreds of millions of people are logged into it at any moment, so if there were a "Pay with Facebook" button on retailers' web sites, you could use that instead of reentering your data. There are not many companies that could compete on this level, but there are certainly a few, Google being the first that jumps to mind. If Google were to offer a competing service–and I think it does–but one that uses Dollars instead of Credits, it's hard to see why any retailer would take Facebook over Google. Facebook may have more logged-in users at any given moment, but it has some serious disadvantages: notably, that huge cut Facebook takes out of every transaction, and the fact that Credits are prepaid, so you can't use them for large impulse buys unless you keep your Credits account stocked with thousands of dollars . . . which is just crazy, even in today's low-interest rate environment.
Yes, Facebook might win this battle, if they bring their fees down to credit card levels, because of that huge user base. But that would be a bad thing, and not just for the reasons I mentioned below. Facebook not only has terrible privacy policies, it also just sucks at implementing security. Do we really want Mark Zuckerberg–a smart guy who is in way, way, way over his head–to own all the financial payment data in the universe? I don't.
So, it seems to me I must be missing some brilliant thing about Credits that will enable them to triumph over Dollars. Can someone tell me what it is?
* I have not used Credits because, well, I basically don't use Facebook. I also admit to having a general bias against everything Facebook, because I think it's a technologically incompetent, slightly abusive company.


text:
Dr Pallab K. Maulik
Deputy Director and Director of Research Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney
MD PhD MSc
Pallab leads Research department at The George Institute for Global Health, India. He trained as a psychiatrist at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, received training in public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, as well as Johns Hopkins School of Public Health where he pursued his Masters and Doctoral training.
He brings a wealth of experience to the Institute, with an expertise in mental health.
Dr. Maulik has worked with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Geneva on Project Atlas and other mental health programs, and clinically as a psychiatrist in India and Australia.
His particular research interests include social determinants of health, especially mental health services, mental disorders, international mental health, and intellectual disability.
He is an Intermediate Career Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance Fellow and is leading a program called SMART Mental Health, which is on provision of mobile-based affordable evidence based mental health services in rural India.


text:
It was 1968 when fellow film student George Lucas first introduced Walter Murch to Francis Ford Coppola. The trio was invited to a demo of the new CMX600 nonlinear editing system. This early computer workstation was the precursor to modern NLEs, but could only handle several minutes worth of black-and-white footage. In spite of that, they had seen the future and boldly predicted this device would sweep the industry in five years. That proved to be off the mark, of course. Nevertheless, this chance meeting sealed a relationship that would last for decades – leading Coppola to give Murch his start in feature film editing, first as a sound editor and mixer on The Rain People and later as a picture editor for The Conversation. Fast forward nearly forty years to find Coppola and Murch united again on Youth Without Youth – Francis Ford Coppola's first film in ten years.
Coppola wrote, produced and directed Youth Without Youth, adapting the screenplay from a novella by legendary Romanian author Mircea Eliade. The film stars Tim Roth as Dominic Matei, an elderly professor whose mysterious rejuvenation heightens his intelligence and whose apparent immortality makes him a target for the Nazis in this World War II-era parable. Coppola characterized the film as "a love story wrapped in a mystery." Sony Pictures Classics has picked up distribution for fall, so pre-release information is tight; but Walter Murch was willing to add that, "It's a little bit of Faust meets Dorian Gray." The film also stars Alexandra Maria Lara, Bruno Ganz, Andre M. Hennicke, Marcel Iures and introduces Alexandra Pirici.
Taking the Digital Route
Walter Murch spoke on the project's unique workflow at this year's NAB Final Cut Pro Users Group SuperMeet and was kind enough to elaborate more about it with me recently. When you think of Coppola or Murch and the big-budget films they've done together or separately, such as The Godfather series, Apocalypse Now, Cold Mountain or Jarhead, it's hard to fathom that the approach taken on Youth Without Youth provides a perfect roadmap for the indie filmmaker determined to use desktop tools to tell the story. Youth Without Youth is an almost total digital production – Coppola's first. Certain material was captured on 35mm for various reasons – speed variation, three-camera setups, etc. – but it appears that working digitally turned out to be so creatively and technically satisfying that the director has vowed never to shoot a motion picture on film stock again.
Francis Ford Coppola financed the production himself for a limited budget – under ten million dollars – so it became important to own or control as much of the process as possible. The digital parts of Youth Without Youth were shot with Coppola's two Sony F900 CineAlta camcorders, which in turn were fed to an HDCAM-SR field recorder. The onboard HDCAM recorders of the F900 cameras actually record the 1920×1080 HD signal with a sampling of 1440×1080 pixels in 3:1:1 color space. By sending the uncompressed, full raster 4:2:2 signal from the camera to the SR recorder, the team was able to preserve more of the camera's inherent image quality. In addition, the SR deck features the unique ability to record two simultaneous 4:2:2 A and B camera inputs onto a single tape. These recordings became the equivalent of the film negative and were used for the final digital intermediate. The onboard HDCAM tapes were used as back-up tapes for reviewing footage and to create DVCAM copies for ingest into the Final Cut Pro editing station.
The Villa
Production started in Bucharest in October of 2005 with the Coppola team working out of a rented Romanian villa that served as a combination of production offices, post and living quarters. At the time, Murch was wrapping up the mix on Jarhead, so the initial assembly of Youth Without Youth was handled by Romanian editor Corina Stavila and her assistant, Andrei Dascalescu, working on a single Final Cut Pro station with media in DVCAM resolution. Coppola shot a total of 162 hours, which is the equivalent of nearly 900,000 feet of 35mm film, so the first assembly came in at about 3 and a half hours long. Stavila and Coppola's next cut brought that down to 2 hours and 50 minutes, and this version was up-rezzed to HDCAM by Dascalescu. Murch joined the team in April 2006, along with Sean Cullen, long time first assistant and associate editor; Kevin Bailey, a post-production intern; and Pete Horner, sound designer and rerecording mixer with whom Murch had worked on Apocalypse Redux. The HDCAM version was screened at 2K resolution on a Christie digital cinema projector and at that point there was a collective sigh of relief as everyone was encouraged by the crisp and striking images on the fifty-foot wide screen.
Over the next few months, Murch set about the task of reviewing the dailies and recutting the film. His initial version trimmed a further 30 minutes (including restoring ten minutes of scenes that had been cut); however, the target was to bring in the film at two hours. Murch offered this rule-of-thumb, "I have found you can only cut out about 30% from a first assembly by tightening. If that gets you down to the target length, then every scene in the assembly is going to be in the finished film. But if the film has to be even shorter, you can't just use 'dieting and exercise.' You have to start making more drastic surgical changes and lose some major parts of the film. Francis is a process-oriented director. He has a powerful overall vision of what he wants, but welcomes experimentation and collaboration and loves to see the film continue to reveal itself through all stages of the filmmaking process. So he encouraged us to try dropping scenes and rearranging the structure where it seemed appropriate."
Vertical Editing
One of the advantages that Murch found to the digital image was a greater ability to manipulate it when compared with film. "Film has grain that's fixed in size at the molecular level, but pixels are different. When you magnify a digitally-sourced image, pixels are recalculated and averaged mathematically, so the image stays sharper longer. You don't have grain getting in the way and shots can be blown up far more than with film. The rule of thumb with 35mm is that the grain starts to become obvious when the image is blown up more than 20%. Some shots in Youth Without Youth, however, were resized more than 120% with no visible artifacts. Arranging shots along a timeline would be considered horizontal editing, so I guess you could call this vertical editing: editing the image within the frame. Francis deliberately shot most of this film with locked-off cameras, limiting camera movement to specific moments for maximum impact. So sometimes, I would need to adjust a shot for headroom, but we also modified framing in cinematically playful ways. About a third of the shots had something done to them in post as part of the storytelling language. I was slightly apprehensive before I started doing this, thinking that it might become a time-suck, but it was quickly obvious that Final Cut Pro could handle this kind of work effortlessly, and it became second-nature. We were very lucky to have Kevin with us, because he turned out to be a whiz with Shake. The film has about 200 effects shots. Most of them were done by UPP, a great effects house in Prague, but 60 shots were done in-house by Kevin. These included getting rid of non-period artifacts, dust-busting, invisible split-screens and some blue-screen compositing." In September, Murch worked with Coppola in Bucharest to get the cut down to two hours and a lock.
The in-house approach carried through to finishing, as well. Sean Cullen picked up the story, "We did all the final up-rezzing in-house. When it came time to conform the SR tapes, though, we found that their timecode wasn't frame-accurate with the HDCAM tapes, since the deck and the cameras hadn't been fed from an independent master timecode generator. Many shots were up to three frames out, so we recaptured with handles and then eye-matched every shot to align the SR footage with the locked cut. Once this full-resolution footage was matched, we used Shake to generate DPX files from the FCP QuickTime movies and these were sent to Laser Pacific, our DI facility. The DPX image sequences were for complete scenes and not just individual shots, so we were taking complete responsibility for the accuracy of the conform."
Sound also followed an unorthodox process. Sound designer Pete Horner flew Coppola's Digidesign ICON console (last used on Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette) to Bucharest where he did the predub mixes in a specially-constructed room at Coppola's villa. The concept of flying a film console halfway around the world and expecting it to work the day after it arrived would have been unthinkable in the days of analog behemoths, like SSL, Neve or Harrison film mixing desks; however, the ICON is a physically small but digitally powerful 128-input control surface that functions as the front-end for a Pro Tools workstation. It doesn't have any audio signal going through it. As such, it's robust and portable. Music for the film, composed by Osvaldo Golijov, was recorded in Bucharest and the soundtrack album was also mixed by Pete Horner on the same ICON board.
Walter Murch's Thoughts on the Role of the Editor
According to Murch, the term editing is inadequate to describe today's processes, preferring instead the French word montage – which implies the constructive aspects of the job. Murch said, "Film editing consists of three integrated parts: plumbing, performance and writing. These are all dependent on each other. Plumbing is the workflow – knowing how to get the media into and out of ever-more-complicated systems in the quickest and most reliable way possible. Then there's performance: the editor has to respond artistically to the internal rhythms of the material and to extend and develop those rhythms further in actually constructing the film. The impulse that reveals when it's the precise moment to make a cut is exactly like a drummer hitting a cymbal or a violinist plucking a string at the right time. Finally there is writing. The nature of film is 'abundance' and as a result you have to be creatively selective – on Youth Without Youth our shoot-to-final-film ratio was 80:1. This process of creative compression is like writing, but using the only vocabulary an editor has at hand – sounds and images. Which shot should follow which, like constructing a sentence. Then looking at the whole and deliberating about whether scenes, once constructed, are in the correct order or even ultimately necessary to the film."
Digital production, simultaneous SR recording and DI-ready output from an inexpensive desktop system might sound like bleeding edge technology, but lessons learned on Youth Without Youth will prove invaluable for filmmakers at any budget level for years to come. Francis Ford Coppola has been a pioneer in applying video technologies to filmmaking, but this latest effort shows that desktop solutions are finally reaching the potential that was first hinted at nearly four decades ago.
Written by Oliver Peters for Videography magazine (NewBay Media, LLC)


text:
I made these photo frames for my baby diary no.3 for Patchwork Tsushin magazine. This is my favorite project I've made for it because I so needed some cute frames to showcase monthly photos of Honoka :)
It was quite easy to put together, so I was able to finish them pretty quickly! I can hardly believe she is already 9 months old! I am looking forward to making more of these.
Along with the photo frames, I made this color cube. It will help me teach Honoka colors. Until she is old enough to understand the colors, she can play it by pulling the tabs. Babies love those!
And here are two blocks for the QAL for the baby quilt. I am quite looking forward to putting together this quilt although I don't know if anyone is following it lol.
my bag I made for the last issue. If you ever need simple translation help, I would be more than happy to help you out. Just shoot me email! I have Patchwork Tsushin No.180 available in my Etsy shop here.
Featured artists include Suzuko Koseki and Atsuko Matsuyama.
I hope you have a great weekend!!


text:
New 2023 Coachmen RV Clipper Camping Trailers 12.0TD MAX Express
Save your favorite RVs as you browse. Begin with this one!
Good things do come in a small packageLike most: size
Great Compact Rig for Empty NestersLike most: Off road suspension, color of flooring and cabinetry, layout, bike door, storage, light weight, portapotty and cabinet for it
Easy set up and lightweightLike most: Easy mobility, easy to haul and set up
Beckleys RVs is not responsible for any misprints, typos, or errors found in our website pages. Any price listed excludes sales tax, registration tags, and delivery fees. All prices may not include Beckley's Camping Center's 145 point pre-delivery inspection. Manufacturer-provided pictures, specifications and features may be used as needed. Inventory shown may be only a partial listing of the entire inventory. Please contact us at 833-930-0691 for availability as our inventory changes rapidly. All calculated payments are an estimate only and do not constitute a commitment that financing or a specific interest rate or term is available.


text:
Man in second Salinas SWAT standoff identified, arrested
It was a tense week in Salinas last week when a police SWAT team evacuated one neighborhood for a 10-hour standoff Monday and took over a second neighborhood Friday for an unrelated 10-hour standoff.
This week, Salinas police said the two men who were the targets in those standoffs were behind bars in the Monterey County Jail.
Friday's standoff began when Sam Bahri, 47, bit an officer before barricading himself inside a house on the 1400 block of Tehama Street, police said.
VIDEO: Two Salinas police standoffs in 1 week
Officers had been called to the Tehama Street house on reports of a domestic dispute at 7:30 a.m. Bahri threw heavy household items one officer, bit another officer during a tussle, and retreated back into the house.
During the ensuing standoff, a SWAT team and the man's mother were called in to help. The mother used a police megaphone to communicate with her son and urge him to surrender before police threw tear gas into the house. Natividad Elementary School was placed on lockdown until students were sent home.
Bahri surrendered at 5:30 p.m. and he was taken to Natividad Medical Center in an ambulance. On Wednesday, officers arrested Bahri when he was released by the hospital's staff and they took him to jail.
He was booked on a long list of charges, including battering a police officer, assault with a deadly weapon, and child endangerment.
Bahri's bail was set at $250,000 and he pleaded not guilty in court Thursday.
Last Friday's standoff closely mirrored last Monday's standoff in Salinas. A SWAT team thought it had Delbert Robles, 27, surrounded inside a house at 45 Sherwood Drive, but he slipped away moments before police blocked off all escape routes.
SWAT team members launched tear gas into the house, stormed the building, and discovered that no one was inside.
Robles went on the run for two days and robbed a woman at knifepoint before he walked into the Morgan Hill Police Station with his mother and turned himself in, officer Miguel Cabrera said. At his arraignment, Robles pleaded not guilty to brandishing a weapon, armed robbery, trespassing and violation of probation. He remains locked in the Monterey County Jail on $90,000 bail.