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By Mike Cuomo and David Van Pelt
I have a friend whose name is Mike Cuomo, and although we haven't personally met, we have emailed each other off and on since 2005. Our correspondence mostly centered on his experience in the Butler Gents, an Italian youth gang from South Brooklyn in the early 1960s. The other day, in one of our email exchanges, he made a comment about how his grandparents from his father's side had lived in the Fort Greene Houses, not too far from his home on Carroll Street in South Brooklyn.
This caught my attention because in February 2018, I had completed writing a book called Brooklyn Rumble: Mau Maus, Sand Street Angels and the End of an Era. It took 15 years to research and write. Part of my research centered on the Fort Greene Houses, where the Mau Maus youth gang had made their turf in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Although my book is completed, I still have an interest in Fort Greene. In this case, the possibility of learning about the perspective of the Fort Greene Houses from the point of view of Italian immigrants struck me as an important story to tell. So I asked Mike what he would think if I wrote about his grandparents and put their story on my website for everyone to read.
He liked the idea on the condition that he could read it over before publishing; he wanted an option to make edits and changes where needed. I thought this was a fair request and so the following is a joint project between Mike and me.
But first, the story begins in Italy, not Brooklyn.
In 1848, the Italian peninsula consisted of a hodgepodge of small states that were controlled by foreign powers like Austria and France. Instead of being the "Italy" as we know it today, these states were more like colonies of outside powers. It had been this way for centuries; in fact, the last time Italy had been unified was 1,300 years prior to 1848.
In the mid 1800s, forward-thinking visionaries began a process to unify these states into one nation. They had a word for this reunification: Risorgimento, meaning "resurrection." This process took quite some time and it wasn't until March 17, 1861, that Italy came into being. However, even then, the unification date of 1861 wasn't technically true because the Papal States (territories that were owned and controlled by the Pope) had not acquiesced to unification. That took another decade and it wasn't until October 1870, that Italy was truly "unified."
Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy
I used quotation marks around the word unified because even though Italy was now a nation sensu stricto, slapping the letters I-T-A-L-Y on a map after a 1,300 year hiatus hardly made it united. This brand-new nation of 22 million people had to overcome centuries of cultural, political and economic differences to truly become unified. In particular, there was a gap between the north and the south of the country. This following quote encapsulates the mood at the dawning hour of Italy's reunification: "Italy is made. We still have to make the Italians."
After the unification, the economy in southern Italy suffered greatly. Poverty and organized crime were chronic issues. Parched soil from a hot, dry climate, banditry and poverty are themes that are still felt in southern Italian culture today. The Mafia sprung forth from this scorched land to grow into a monolithic presence felt across many parts of the world today.
These hardships spurred many Italians living in the south to emigrate across the world, particularly to North America, South America, Australia and other parts of Europe.
It is only a decade and a smidgen after the Italian unification that we find ourselves at the next point of our story.
Michele Cuomo in Italy
About 19 miles south of the major city of Naples, there is a small hill town in southern Italy called Gragnano. Gragnano's claim to fame is that it is home to the best dried pasta in all of Italy. Just inland from the gorgeous coast of the Mediterranean and Amalfi, a resort city, the main street of Gragnano was built perpendicular to the coast so the sea air hit the street and mixed with mountain breezes that barreled in. This combination of sea and mountain air dried spaghetti that merchants hung like laundry on racks out on the streets and on balconies.
Pasta drying on racks in the early 20th Century
It was here in Gragnano that a baby boy was born on April 26, 1884. His parents named him Michele, but not much is known about his early life in Italy. Not even his family vocational background – likely farming, but even then, not certain – was known.
One of the very few things we know with certainty about Michele's time in Italy is that he met a young girl named Giovannina, who lived in a town nearby called Casola di Napoli (more on this town later). This girl was to become his future wife, so this is likely the reason that Michele eventually moved from Gragnano to Casola di Napoli.
But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.
The other thing we know about Michele is that he wanted out of Italy. His desire was to immigrate to the United States, where "streets paved with gold" awaited him. Michele was not the only one with this thinking. Many other Italians moved to America to better themselves, especially between 1900 and 1920, when the greatest influx of Italians had moved there.
While we aren't certain of the exact motive that Michele wanted to move to America, most likely poverty was the biggest reason. We already know that people living in south Italy were the "have nots" compared to their fellow countrymen living in northern Italy. Michele probably wanted out of a place with dim prospects to begin a new life, the classic tale of many immigrants. If his family was into farming – like many southern Italians were – this was a demanding job to perform in the hot, unforgiving Italian climate.
Some of the Italians that moved to America would make multi trips back and forth between Italy and the USA before they officially settled in their new country. Often they would send for family members that were left behind, almost like a scouting expedition. In this fashion family members followed and supported each other and began building new lives in the U.S.A.
Michele's immigration to America actually began with his Uncle Federico. Born in 1863 and 21 years Michele's senior, Federico was a pioneer because he immigrated to America and became a citizen in 1885, well before the biggest jolt of Italians came to America between 1900 and 1920. Although details of their relationship are sparse, Federico could have been the daring, adventurous uncle that appealed to Michele as he grew up into a young man himself.
Somehow Michele got word to Federico of his desire to move to America, and Federico, the experienced, older uncle agreed to help. He paid for Michele to come to the new country and provided support to his young nephew for the great voyage across the ocean to New York City.
Michele Cuomo Comes To America
Michele was a one-trip man, and unlike many Italian immigrants at the turn of the century, it does not appear that he travelled back and forth before settling in America.
He arrived at Ellis Island at the age of 22 on June 8, 1907 aboard the SS Calabria. The manifest stated that his passage was paid for by his uncle and that his destination was "Uncle Federico La Mura." Michele had $20 in his pocket, was in good health and his occupation was listed as a farm laborer, like most southern Italians moving into America were designated.
While we wonder to ourselves how Michele felt the moment he stepped off the dock and experienced New York City's bureaucratic system as he went through the immigration steps, we travel back to the old country to meet Giovannina.
Giovannina Vuolo in Italy
Not too far from Gragnano was Casola di Napoli, a small village nestled in the foothills just south of Mt. Vesuvius. Surrounded by low hills which opened to a spectacular view of the sea and coast, Casola was closely associated with Gragnano.
On June 24, 1892, the presumably proud parents Valentino Vuolo and Rosa Cesarano gave birth to a girl who they named Giovannina.
Like Michele, little is known of Giovannina's life in Italy, except for a couple of facts. The first is that she had two sisters living in Italy, and another sister who had moved to America. The second is that her family owned their home in Casola (which she later inherited and then gave to relatives). The structure of the house was very old and it was made of local stone. The kitchen was an exterior room, like a patio which opened to the outside, but was attached to the main building.
Giovannina Comes To America
Around the time that Michele entertained thoughts of moving away from Italy and immigrating to America, Giovannina – the girl that Michele met before he had moved – also decided to emigrate. Most likely she wanted to be with her love, but she was also probably affected by the poverty that afflicted so many southern Italians. And so it was that on December 31, 1907, Giovannina arrived at Ellis Island, on the SS Madonna, having sailed there from Naples on December 19, a 12-day voyage. Michele had arrived six months before her.
There is some confusion about how old Giovannina was when she arrived at Ellis Island. The ship manifest stated that she was 16 years old, but later her 1909 marriage document, as well as the 1910 census, stated she was 17. The reason for this confusion is it isn't clear when the exact year of her birth was – 1892 may not have been the year she was born. This is common in the 1800s and early 1900s when birth records were not kept as accurately as they are now.
The sister that had immigrated to America before Giovannina was the one who sponsored her and paid her passage. When she stepped off the boat, Giovannina was 4'10" tall and she had $10 to begin her new life.
The Marriage of Michele Cuomo and Giovannina Vuolo
With Michele and Giovannina both in the land of the free and the brave, they married on May 30, 1909 at St. Michael's church on Lawrence Street in Brooklyn. The church was in the neighborhood of Fort Greene which is where they also lived. According to several family members this was an arranged marriage between the two families in Italy.
Michele and Giovannina would eventually have six children: Carmine, born in 1910; Rita in 1915; Albert in 1916; Nunzio in 1920; Joseph in 1922 and Anna in 1926.
The Cuomo family lived at several Fort Greene addresses in these early years; all of them within a 5 or 6 block radius of each other. In 1910, they lived at 25 North Elliot and in 1925 at 88 North Oxford Street.
The Early Years in America
America was naturally different than Italy and the Cuomo's had to adjust to a different culture. One of those adjustments was learning the English language. However, even thought they had moved to America, Michele and Giovannina spoke virtually no English; in fact, 99% of what they spoke was Italian. Even though they were in a new land over 5,000 miles away from Italy, the Cuomo's world was still very much Italian.
Although Michelle and Giovannina chose what language they spoke, they could not control what names they were called. When they moved to America, Michele became "Mike," and Giovannina became "Jennie." This anglicizing of names is a common immigrant experience in the USA. This was especially prevalent in the school system when teachers who were confronted with unfamiliar names changed the name of their pupils to something that sounded more American. And so, all over the city, little Italian boys and girls names changed without their having a say in it. Michele became Mike, Scholastica became Mary, Angelina became Lena, Lizabeta became Elizabeth. Those ones made sense and you can see how a Michele became a Mike. But some made no sense at all. For example, an Italian girl whose name was "Damarda" inexplicably became "Florence." How a teacher got Florence from Damarda is anyone's guess. In Giovannina's case, her anglicized name is Josephine, but somehow she became "Jennie," another bewildering metamorphism that made no sense. We shall now refer to them as Mike and Jennie.
In moving to such an urban area like Fort Greene, there was no hope of farming, so Mike got a job as a foundry worker. In the 1910 US census his occupation was listed as a "melter" in the iron industry. In 1925, the NY census listed his occupation as simply "iron" and in 1930 census documents Mike was listed as a laborer in "brass." In one form or another, Mike worked in the metal industry for at least 20 years.
During that time he worked his way up to supervisory positions in the industry and became quite knowledgeable and experienced in metallurgy. His expertise was so good that he was supposed to have created a process that greatly improved the manufacture of brass from copper and zinc. However, his bosses took advantage of Mike – an uneducated and barely literate immigrant –stole his formula and took credit for his discovery. This netted them a huge financial gain and Mike never saw a penny.
Whether these details are true or not, by the time 1940 came along, Mike was out of the metal industry and the census had no occupation listed for him.
It was sometime between 1930 and 1940 when Mike became an entrepreneur. He owned a "café" and "poolroom" which was able to provide income that sustained the Cuomo family. This dive into the business world started something special and Mike became the first of a line of family entrepreneurs which included his son Joseph and Joseph's children (Mike's grandchildren), all of whom worked the majority of their lives as owners of small businesses.
Mike's first café was located on Park Avenue near North Portland. But in time it was closed and a larger one was opened on North Portland closer to Myrtle Avenue – still in Fort Greene. Both cafes were very close to the family home at 81 North Oxford. Mike sold pastries and Italian coffee at the cafés as well as time on the pool tables.
The cafés weren't just important for financially providing for the Cuomo family. They also served as a "fratellanza." Fratellanzas were a type of social club that could be found in many Italian neighborhoods; this is where the men would gather to fraternize (no women and children were allowed to participate). These community gatherings of Italian men were informal, but very important, functioning as social glue between friends and neighbors.
While a formal organization founded in Italy in 1866 was called "The Fratellanza," the term itself translates to "fraternity." It was simply the gathering of men in a particular place to gossip, discuss community affairs, births, deaths, christenings, marriages and the like, similar to the old world custom of the village men gathering in sunny piazzas to fraternize and wile away the idle hours.
Mike's interpretation is that Italian men are like yentas…they yap and gossip as bad as any woman you ever stereotyped. In Italy, the men who didn't have to go to a job (and that was a big percentage of "pensioners" in southern Italy's poor economy) would gather in the sunny village squares and lazily sit around and talk and gossip and play cards all day.
This old world tradition continued on in America and Italian neighborhoods had men who would meet and spend their day doing mostly nothing. They ate, drank homemade wine, and played bocce ball and card games at these gatherings. These collections of Italian men could gather anywhere: a bocce ball game, the street corner, an outdoor social club, someone's back yard, a courtyard or at a commercial establishment likes Mike's café.
81 North Oxford Street, Home of the Cuomo family, 1941
While Mike ran his cafés and contributed to make a fratellanza in Fort Greene, he and Jennie found another source of income: taking numbers for the local Mafia bookmaker. Bettors would come to their home at 81 North Oxford to play their numbers. Jennie kept "book" in a little ledger that she hid in a special compartment built into the inside of their refrigerator. Thankfully, Mike's Aunt Anna remembered these times and shared a humorous story with him about one of Jennie's adventures in taking numbers:
As Aunt Anna tells the story, one day a family "paisano" (peasant) came by to play, and with him was a man she had never seen before, but who was vouched for by the family friend.
Grandma took their money and entered the bets into her little book. She opened the refrigerator and placed the book into the compartment, unaware that the men were still in the room, but unconcerned because the friend was someone she trusted.
The next day there was a commotion and a pounding on the front door. Peering out thru the curtains she saw that it was a group of policemen. Panicking, she ran to the kitchen and took the book out of its hiding place and, not knowing what else to do, shoved it down into her underwear. She went to the door and let the police in, who told her she was being raided for bookmaking and immediately went to the refrigerator, opened it and opened the secret compartment. Obviously the man who came with the family friend was a policemen or an informant of some kind. She had been "ratted out".
Angry now that there was no evidence where they expected to find it, the police began to ransack the house, looking for the little book. As they searched, Jenny began to complain that she needed to go to the bathroom. Eventually they let her.
She went into the bathroom and quickly opened the window and climbed out. There was an alley and a fence between the house and the next. She had an agreement with her friend next door that in case of just such an event she would throw the book over the fence and into the neighbor's yard. She called to the neighbor and threw the book.
Climbing back into the bathroom, she came out to find the police scratching their heads and frustrated that there was no book and thus no evidence of bookmaking. They left and gave her a warning, but never came back, even though she resumed her bookmaking and continued it for years. I even remember that as a kid of 7 or 8 people would come to the door and give grandma money while whispering their bets to her. Grandpa Mike would just shake his head and smile.
It's here that a detour off the path of the Cuomo history must be taken.
As mentioned above, Mike and Jennie lived in the neighborhood of Fort Greene. Just south of the East River and the Brooklyn Naval Yard area, Fort Greene had a history that must be understood in order to appreciate what the couple were about to go through in the mid 1940s.
While Mike and Jennie settled into their new life in America, Fort Greene was going through some changes. Not that this was surprising, because Fort Greene, like any neighborhood, had been going through changes since its inception in the late 1800s.
In the early to mid-1800s, when Brooklyn was growing at a dizzying pace, Fort Greene was still sparsely populated, not yet tapped for its advantages. In the 1850s, Fort Greene was still farmland and one could imagine how amazed the original residents would be – some of them farmers – to imagine that it would balloon to its present-day population. This began to change in the 1860s, when people moved into the area during the Civil War. This war was brutal for countless civilians and soldiers across the country, but a boon for others. Prosperity from government contracts during the war created an abundance of wealth, allowing affluent people to build beautiful homes in Fort Greene. Close proximity to Fort Greene Park (the first park established in Brooklyn), gave the rich a reason to build their mansions on streets surrounding the park. The riches of these new Fort Greene residents gave Cumberland Street its own nickname – "millionaire's row" on account of the super wealthy living there.
This reputation and home for the rich continued into the turn of the century, past the First World War and into the Roaring Twenties. In 1923, despite the emergence of commercial buildings in the neighborhood, the New York University Bureau of Business Research considered Fort Greene "one of Brooklyn's best residential sections," where "apartments of the best class and private houses" could be found. Fort Greene was still the place to be for the wealthy. This was around the time the Cuomo family was busily building their new lives in Brooklyn.
It was sometime between 1925 and 1930 when the Cuomo family bought a two-family home at 81 North Oxford Street. By the 1940 census, Mike and Jennie still lived at 81 North Oxford Street, but also lived with five of their children: Rita, Albert, Nunzio, Joseph, Anna, and two grandchildren, Anna and Vincent.
81 North Oxford Street was a 3-story brick house with a large, wide backyard. It had a grape arbor with grapevines growing on it, a bocce court on the one side and a vegetable garden two big fig trees. Mike's friends would come over all the time to play bocce and drink wine. Mike made his own wine every year; a cellar under the house with two huge wine kegs held his home-made wine. Every year he had grapes delivered to the house in order to make the wine.
Mike and Jennie and their children lived in the first and second floors and a tenant lodged in the top floor apartment (later, other members of the Cuomo family moved into the top floor apartment and the tenant moved out).
Mike Cuomo in his backyard at 81 North Oxford, 1938
While the Cuomo family was industriously building their version of the Great American Dream, Fort Greene began to change for the worse – as quickly as the positive transformation in the 1860s had happened. Nine years after the 1923 report which said that Fort Greene was still an excellent neighborhood, new information surfaced that chronicled the beginnings of Fort Greene eventually becoming a poster-child for one of the most undesirable places to live in New York City.
In 1934, the New York City Market Analysis reported that some sections of Fort Greene that previously commanded high prices had declined in recent years and that other parts of the neighborhood were becoming more industrial. The reasons for this deterioration were varied. Although the Great Depression played a role in dropping the value of homes and seizing up credit, this was only part of the problem. Opulent buildings that were desirable in the late 1800s became outdated in the 1900s. Transportation worked hand-in-hand with changing ideals of where people wanted to live. A rapid transit system and the automobile allowed the middle class the luxury of moving further away from their employment. More modern housing became available elsewhere in the city and brownstone row houses became a relic of the past, ditched for newer designs and architecture. German and English residents dumped their houses for low prices and those moving in to take their places had less wealth and limited resources. Brownstone homes became shadows of their glorious past; nobody cared, and they fell into disrepair, unappreciated and decrepit. They became magnets for cheap, multi-family homes. Landlords rented them until they were brimming full, with no attention to upkeep. This mutation quickly transformed Fort Greene into a have-not section of Brooklyn with 82% of dwelling units needing repair and nearly 25% needing major work. By the late 1930s, Fort Greene was a slum, and something had to be done to halt its misfortunes.
The City of New York got involved and swung into action to fix the problem. Their solution was to raze large patches of Fort Greene's tenements to the ground and replace them with towers of brick and glass. Civic planners set progress in motion and dispatched heavy machinery to begin major demolition which was followed by construction of a new public housing development called the Fort Greene Houses.
The Fort Greene Houses were not built to solely purge the area of eyesores and spruce up the neighborhood. They were also homes for workers that toiled in the nearby Navy Yard, north of Fort Greene. In 1938, about 10,000 people worked there, but accelerated production of ships for the war effort triggered an economic windfall to the area; acute requirements for more labor skyrocketed. Employment exploded and at one point during the war, 71,000 were employed in the Navy Yard. These employees labored in dangerous situations, fixing and assembling boats for America's shipping industry. With the advent of World War II, the construction of hulking warships like the Iowa and Missouri began in earnest. Unfortunately, it wasn't an entirely efficient operation – employees often had to travel long distances throughout the city for their work shifts in the Navy Yard. Building the Fort Greene Houses neatly solved this problem by allowing workers to live in a nearby, central area and give them an opportunity to walk to work.
Land was purchased on September 23, 1940, and leveling of run-down buildings began on December 16, 1940. Entire blocks were scraped clean.
In total, 710 tenement buildings were demolished, forcing the City to relocate 1,570 families that lived there. It was a huge undertaking covering 39.02 acres of land, or twenty-three city blocks. It took a year and a half for the city's thirteenth housing project to be completely flattened. The project consisted of twenty-seven 6-story, four 11-story and four 13-story buildings. An overhead aerial view shows a conglomeration of buildings that look like Lego. Built between 1941-1944, the monstrous buildings cost over twenty million dollars (more than $250 million in today's dollars). It accommodated 3,501 families for an estimated population of 13,040 people. The families that lost their homes to the uncaring wrecking ball were among the first residents to move into the brand-new Fort Greene Houses, marshaling a hopeful new era of modernity and respectability.
One boy described what it was like for his single mother to move from a cold-water flat in the Navy Yard area to the gleaming Fort Greene Houses. It was a huge step up for their family, not only because it was a much better apartment, but because there were many ethnic groups and language groups to mingle with. These included Italians, Irish, Jews, black, Spanish and even Chinese. The people in his building got along famously and "everybody broke bread together…little kids. They would spend the night you know, Italian boys; we all got along very well in certain buildings." Somehow there was a balance with all the different types of people living there. But as time went along, many of the richer families moved to better areas in Brooklyn and Queens. This movement which became apparent in 1954 and 1955, launched an ethnic and income change in those living in the projects.
The Fort Greene Projects being built in 1942.
But was it good news for everyone? What about the adults that were affected by the Fort Greene Houses? What about their homes?
Unfortunately for the Cuomo family, not only was their home in the district of the so-called tenements that the City had proposed to raze, but so was Mike's business. It should come as no small surprise about who wins the battle between the City of New York and a new immigrant family. And so the Cuomo's home and business were both condemned by the City and pulverized to a pulp. They were offered a place to live in the Fort Greene Houses and reluctantly they moved into 160 Navy Walk, which fronted Myrtle Avenue. Their apartment was on the third floor.
Three generations of Cuomo's in one picture. Mike is on the left, Jennie on the right
While Mike and Jennie tried to get used to their new home, the Fort Greene Projects almost immediately began their own deleterious plummet into the same shape the buildings they had just replaced.
After the war, production in the Navy Yard waned, and families continued to move out or fell upon hard times. By the early 1950s, a mere ten years after their construction, the Fort Greene Houses were rapidly losing their luster. Despite the enthusiasm in building brand new housing projects, there were issues from the beginning that foreshadowed the problems that reared up in the 1950s. Because they were built during World War II, the war effort was of primary concern. This meant that attention to building quality was not top priority. Shoddily built from second-rate war materials like wooden sinks, apartments were equipped with used refrigerators and stoves. Other key parts of the houses such as community centers were never built even though they were standard fare in other post-war projects.
By the mid-1950s, cracked ceilings and garbage thrown out of windows were becoming a hallmark of the projects. Many windows were broken and garbage was strewn on the floors of hallways. Elevators jammed and made creaking noises like they were burping or about to be cut loose from the cables. Sometimes elevators served as urinals. The rank stench of urine in the elevators drove visitors and residents to use stairwells, but even that could be a sordid affair. A resident I corresponded with in researching Brooklyn Rumble, who lived in an apartment at 56 North Oxford Walk, recalled that one day while playing in his building, he came across "the most enormous turd I ever saw on a stairwell."
Even after all these years, Mike – who can still picture his Grandma leaning out of the third floor window in the projects whenever they came to visit – felt the sting of their loss through other surviving relatives:
Growing up I never saw this place, as my Grandparents, by then, lived in those projects… That home on North Oxford was in the middle of one of the wonderful Italian neighborhood's that filled Brooklyn. I've been told the backyard was right out of Italy, with Grape arbors, wine making equipment and a beautiful garden. My Grandfathers coffee shop was a local meeting place and community center. They lived a wonderful Italian life in the "new country". It was all lost. A shame.
Mike and Jennie only spoke Italian and weren't close to their grandkids, but when Mike talked to his only surviving aunt, she was able to tell him how his grandparents really felt about the Fort Greene Houses.
They never recovered. The word devastated was and should be used to convey their feelings. It wasn't just the fact they lost their home, which would be enough to sadden the toughest of people. Owning a home in the New World was the culmination of years of hard work and savings that began with their immigration. It was the symbol of their success in America. Italians in the early years settled in neighborhoods that, except for the differences in architecture, were identical to the home they had left in Europe, with Italian food stores, social clubs, street vendors etc…. just like Italy. In fact, when their home and neighborhood was torn down they cried. While the projects were being built, Mike and Jennie and all six of their children lived in a crowded apartment at 748 Myrtle Ave. Two of their sons went off to war, so while two brave Cuomo boys put their lives on the line for their country, in a way their country let them down by tearing their home down.
The worse part of it all was that when the Cuomo's moved into the projects, they were no longer surrounded by the culture and institutions they shared with their former neighbors. The buildings quickly became a slum and were populated by people of all nationalities.
One of the big cultural features that would have been lost for Italian men like Mike who moved into the projects was bocce ball.
Bocce ball is an Italian male social event. You would never see women at a bocce ball game, ever. For those who don't play bocce ball, Mike explained how it was played the Italian way:
The thing about bocce is that it is a slow, lazy game with two teams of 3-4 men each. Every roll of the ball is like a freaking debate!!! The team comes together and discusses how to roll it, how hard, what kind of spin, etc etc…and they argue and yell at each other like… "No you stupid A-hole…roll it this way"…in Italian with cursing and gesticulating arm movements. It's a sight to see, and a Bocce game can take literally hours!!!
Grandpa Mike had a bocce court in his backyard, and it is doubtful that he would have had as many – if any – chances to play bocce ball when his home was torn down for the Fort Greene Houses.
So did the Italian men gather together in their fratellanzas and bocce ball games after the Fort Greene neighborhood was destroyed by the city? Probably somewhere for a while, but Mike has no idea where. And once Italians started moving away instead of moving into the projects, their traditions began to fade away. Thus, their Italian culture was no longer actively practiced and instead became inertly passive – only alive through their memories.
In addition to the fratellanza, gardens were extremely important to Italians, and living in the Fort Greene projects did not allow Mike and Jennie to work their patch of earth like they could at 81 North Oxford Street. Understanding the importance of the garden to Italians allows us to understand a sense of their loss.
The garden was a part of their souls, a way they connected to the earth and lived within their fading traditions. If they had some dirt, they could NOT have a garden. The sacred importance of the garden was true of Italians everywhere – people in Bensonhurst even grew tomatoes in a little 4×4 patch in the front of their house. In reality though, Italians grew fruits and vegetables not because of any health concerns, but because it was less expensive than buying them (though they did take pride in particularly good crops).
The anchor of every good Italian garden is the fig tree and Mike and Jennie were no exception to that rule. Moving into a third story apartment building in the Fort Greene projects must have been tormenting for both Mike and Jennie not having a garden and a pair of lovely fig trees to tend to.
One particular aspect that interests me (David) is not just the stories that people tell, but also their characters. Not only what they looked like, but what their hopes and dreams were, what kind of hobbies they had and what their idiosyncrasies were. When I asked Mike what "Grandpa Mike" and "Grandma Jennie" were like, his memories of them were when he was a teen in the 1950s.
Grandma "Jennie" was tiny, short and round and always wore house dresses and aprons. Frizzy, silver-grey hair. Maybe at a wedding she would wear a proper dress. She was not Mike's favorite. She had this way of pinching his cheeks when he walked into the apartment. It was downright painful, but she paid no attention to his cries. She was not very hands on with her grandchildren and she yelled a lot.
Grandpa Mike was a big man, about 6'1" tall and a solid 180 pounds from working in foundries and iron works. He had a square jaw with a full head of pure white hair. Grandpa Mike was also taciturn: Italian men just didn't bother with kids. It was women's work to attend to children. Mike never had any real conversations with either his Grandpa Mike or Grandma Jennie. It didn't help matters they only spoke Italian and Mike did not.
Grandpa Mike was outgoing and personable. Not only did he run coffee shop "fratellanzas" he also had a perpetual bocce game or feast in his back yard. Later, when they lived in the Fort Greene Projects, the family would go over to their apartment for a Sunday dinner. Mike's dad had three brothers and two sisters and they would all be there yapping away in Italian as they ate. Grandpa Mike would hold court at the head of the table.
It is here that the story of Mike and Jennie comes to an end. The ending begins with Mike, when in 1958, at the age of 73, he died of spinal meningitis.
Jennie lasted longer than her husband. Even though the family feared for her safety living as an elderly widow in the projects, she refused to move in with any of her kids, two of whom owned nice homes in great neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Ft Lee, NJ. She made one move – to a smaller apartment in the projects a few years before she died suddenly of a heart attack. She was alone, in her bathroom preparing a bath when her time came. She died on January 28, 1973.
I'm (David) reluctant to end off on that fashion, although that's how everyone's story ends in one way or another. I would like to conclude this write-up with an excerpt from an email I received from Mike about a beautiful memory he had of his grandparents. This is the way Mike and Jennie should be remembered, 61 and 46 years after their passing:
One of the few memories I have of my Grandpa Mike that shows how they clinged to whatever they could of their culture, other than speaking and eating Italian, was this very strange thing he did. Across from their apartment on Myrtle avenue (remember at the time there was an EL, an elevated subway line that ran down Myrtle Ave) were stores and tenements. Behind those buildings was a path that led into some woods and dirt roads that hadn't been developed yet. He would grab this stick, like a walking stick, and throw this burlap sack over his shoulder and he would go back there hunting for wild mushrooms. I remember how my uncles and my dad used to comment about his expertise in distinguishing between poisonous and edible mushrooms. When he returned he and Grandma would painstakingly sort thru the days catch and meticulously clean the mushrooms and use them to make mushroom dishes or add to the tomato sauce cooking on the stove for hours. It seemed like the only time I saw them as a couple, sharing this little cultural ritual that no doubt originated in the old country. Hmmm…brings tears to my eyes actually.
If you have read and enjoyed this and anything resonates with you, feel free to email David at [email protected]. I would love to hear from you even if you or your families' NYC immigrant story isn't of an Italian background.


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Facebook Hooks Up With Attorneys General for Teen Profile Privacy Awareness
April 15, 2013 at 6:02 am PT
Obvious statement of the day: Figuring out your Facebook profile privacy controls is hard. So hard, in fact, that the social network has had the FTC on its back for years about it.
Hence this morning's announcement. Facebook will work with the National Association of Attorneys General to promote privacy awareness and general tips for teenagers on how to use the social network's page settings.
It's pretty straightforward stuff. Facebook will work with 19 attorneys general across the country (potentially more to come), creating state-specific videos on how to better manage your Facebook pages. There's also a general tip sheet with data points on the topic, as well as videos created by the privacy team answering questions sent from the Facebook-using public on privacy questions in general.
"At Facebook, we work hard to make sure people understand how to control their information and stay safe online," said Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg in a statement. "We're grateful for Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler's leadership on this issue, and we look forward to working with him and attorneys general around the country."
Sandberg met with NAAG President Gansler and a few other state attorneys general on Sunday to talk about the initiative in advance of a privacy summit this week, also chatting about general Facebook privacy and safety efforts.
It's another in a string of Facebook's recently promoted information session initiatives, headed by Erin Egan, the company's chief privacy officer. The goal is to find better ways to inform its massive user base of changes to the network, and how to better navigate it — a tough challenge, considering that there are so many users to inform, each with different levels of technology savvy.
Probably a good idea, considering that Facebook agreed to years of privacy audits as a result of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission back in 2011. Not to mention the heightened attention paid to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in recent years.
Expect to see the videos and initiatives promoted on Facebook over the coming year.
Tagged with: attorneys general, COPPA, Facebook, FTC, NAAG, privacy, profile controls, Sheryl Sandberg, teens
I think the NSA has a job to do and we need the NSA. But as (physicist) Robert Oppenheimer said, "When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and argue about what to do about it only after you've had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb."
— Phil Zimmerman, PGP inventor and Silent Circle co-founder, in an interview with Om Malik

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


A flaw was found in Linux kernel's handling of nested non-maskable interrupts (NMIs). This flaw could allow an unprivileged local user to escalate their privileges or potentially cause a denial of service through a system crash.
The Cloud Foundry project BOSH stemcells version 3025 or earlier contain this vulnerability.
Pivotal Elastic Runtime 1.5.1 references stemcells that contain this vulnerability.
OpsManager 1.5.1 includes stemcells with this vulnerability.
The Cloud Foundry project has released BOSH stemcell 3026 which contains a patched version of the Linux kernel. It is recommended that Cloud Foundry Runtime deployments apply stemcell version 3026 or greater.
Pivotal recommends that customers upgrade to the 1.5.2 versions of the Ops Manager and Elastic Runtime products, which are now available on Pivotal Network. These new versions reference patched stemcells that resolve the identified vulnerability.


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New York Art Fairs
NYAQ — March 7, 2018
Installation view, "Suburban Palm," Shane Darwent curated by Trevor King and Clara McClennon at Spring/Break Art Show, 2018. Courtesy of Spring/Break Art Show. Photo by Samuel Morgan Photography.
Spring Studios
50 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013
March 9 12–7 pm
March 10, 12–7 pm
Elliot Dodd, Cyberport 46, 2018. HD Video, MP4, 2:11 mins. Courtesy of the artist and Daata Editions. On view as part of a series of artist-created video and sound experiences curated by David Gryn for Independent 2018. Gryn's programming includes work by a range of international artists including Larry Achiampong, Lynda Benglis, Genesis BREYER P-ORRIDGE, Keren Cytter, Ed Fornieles, Leo Gabin, Laurel Nakadate, Puppies Puppies, Torbjørn Rødland, and Saya Woolfalk.
Aaron Birnbaum, Untitled – Country home with rainbow, 1985-89. Oil, acrylic, varnish, graphite, on wood panel. 15.75 x 72 inches. Courtesy of Kerry Schuss, New York. At Independent 2018, Kerry Schuss will present a solo exhibition of paintings by Aaron Birnbaum (1895–1998), curated by contemporary artist Matt Connors of CANADA.
Hans-Peter Feldmann, Birgit, doing her make-up. 73 photographs, 34 × 74 inches. On view at Independent 2018 with 303 Gallery (New York).
Christine Wang, California Painting #7, 2015. On view at Independent 2018 with Night Gallery (Los Angeles).
Piers 92 & 94
711 12th Avenue at 55th Street, New York, NY 10019
March 8, 12–8 pm
Martin Roth, Untitled (Donald Judd II), 2016. On view at the Armory Show 2018 with DITTRICH & SCHLECHTRIEM (Berlin).
Hans Ulrich Obrist. Portait by Kalpesh Lathigra. On March 9, beginning at 3 pm, Hans Ulrich Obrist (Artistic Director, Serpentine Galleries) will give a keynote address on exhibition making in the 21st Century.
JR, Migrants, Walking New York City, 2015. On March 11, beginning at 2:30 pm, artist JR joins gallerist and curator Jeffrey Deitch in conversation with Artsy's Curator at Large, Matthew Israel.
4 Times Square, New York, NY 10036
March 7, 11 am–6 pm
March 10, 11 am–6 pm
Installation view, Eric Mistretta's The Wrong Place, curated by Anna Kustera at Spring/Break Art Show, New York, 2018. Courtesy of Spring/Break Art Show. Photo by Samuel Morgan Photography.
Installation view, Kawita Vatanajyankura's Rituals of Otherness, curated by Alexandra Fanning at Spring/Break Art Show, New York, 2018. Photo by Johannes Berg. Courtesy of Alexandra Fanning and Spring/Break Art Show.
Skylight Clarkson SQ
550 Washington Street, New York, NY 10014
March 8, 2–8 pm
On March 10 at 2 pm, NADA presents Keeping Time, a conversation showcasing "three distinct models of collecting, displaying, and preserving time-based media art". Guests will include Jason Foumberg of the Thoma Foundation, William Nathan of The Current Museum, and Alice Gray Stites of the 21c Museum Hotel. Moderated by Ben Fino-Radin, Founder of Small Data Industries.
Romer Young Gallery (San Francisco) presents new work by Kirk Stoller at NADA New York 2018.
Tags: armoryIndependentNADANew York Art Fairsspring/break
Next post Impossible Objects, Trevor Paglen at Altman Siegel, San Francisco
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About the Author NYAQ
Independent, New York
SPRING/BREAK Art Show, New York
SUNDAY EDITION: Frieze / NADA
Edie Goldstein


Otilia Ramirez de Melgoza died peacefully at her Watsonville home surrounded by her loving family on Friday, Jan. 4, 2019. She was 77.
She was born to Gabriel Ramirez and Matilde Diaz in Michoacán, Mexico on Aug. 17, 1941. Together with her husband they raised their large family in this community. Mrs. Melgoza was a hard worker, before retiring she was a field worker in the strawberry industry. She was a loving and caring wife, mother, and grandmother. She was a happy and a good spirited person with a good sense of humor, she would like to tease and joke around. Mrs. Melgoza liked to watch her novelas and enjoyed cooking for her family and friends.
She is survived by her husband of 58 years, Raul Melgoza; seven sons, Jorge, Abel, Jose Luis, Nectaly, Mario, Porfirio, and David Melgoza; four daughters, Maria Elena, Maria Isabel, Veronica, and Eliana Melgoza; 29 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be held at Mehl's Colonial Chapel on Thursday, Jan. 10, from 5-9 p.m. with the rosary prayed at 7 p.m. Mass will be celebrated at Valley Catholic Church on Friday, Jan. 11 at 1 p.m. with burial to follow at Valley Public Cemetery.


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This is my favorite movie of all time. When I saw this as a youngster in 1986 on TV it solidified both my passion as an Ancient Roman-phile and as a Stephen Boyd fan. It stunned me to see 'Messala' on screen again (as I had only seen Stephen in Ben-Hur and Fantastic Voyage at that point in time). I thought to myself–'Awesome! This guy specializes in Romans!' The film not only has an outstanding international cast, incredible performances and an amazing musical score by Dmitri Tiomkin (that pipe organ introduction gives me goose-bumps each time I hear it!), but it also features some absolutely stunning set pieces and scenery. The Fall of the Roman Empire is actually a favorite flick among Roman scholars because it truly captures the mood and tone of Gibbon's dark second century Rome brilliantly. It is full of quandaries and conflicts, none of which are truly resolved. In my opinion it is a film that reflects a Stoic perspective on life itself.
It contains an assorted of characters, all of which are flawed in one way or another; the philosophic emperor (Alex Guinness) who is idealistic and grand yet the father of a profligate son (Christopher Plummer); the daughter of the emperor (Sophia Loren) who is beautiful yet bitter and hateful towards her mother; the imperial son (Commodus) who not worthy of his father but who ends up ruling anyway, only to discover he is the bastard son of a gladiator (Anthony Quayle); the emperor's advisor (James Mason) who is a philosopher himself despite being born a slave; and finally the Roman General (Stephen Boyd) who is loved by the emperor, his son and his daughter because he is a moral man and the ideal stoic Roman, but yet is a tacit force in the downfall of the Empire he so loves. Livius is powerless to control the events taking place around him, or at least unwilling to take power himself until no options are left. He walks away from his chance to become Emperor…twice! But after we see the kind of conniving and evil men in the political machine, do we blame him for giving up and walking away at the end of the film? Its questions like these which make me watch this movie over and over again. Besides that, it perfectly captures the Roman world teetering on the brink of the "Time of Chaos", which would take place at the end of the Severan era around 235 AD, 55 years after the death of Marcus Aurelius.
To summarize the movie, Marcus Aurelius, played superbly by Sir Alex Guinness, prefers to have the morally upright Livius to his corrupt son Commodus. However, when the Emperor dies abruptly due to poisoning without officially declaring Livius to be his heir, Livius is presented with a huge quandary. Should he stage a takeover and risk civil war but also rescue the woman he loves from an empty marriage to the King of Armenia? The risk is paramount: he would be doubted as the legitimate heir. 'Caesar must be undoubted Caesar.' So instead, Livius does the only thing left for him to do. He declares his friend and the son of the Emperor, Commodus, as Caesar, therefore ensuring continued peace in the Empire. Unfortunately, this choice comes at a huge cost; he loses Lucilla and he puts the power of the Empire into hands of the unstable and reckless Commodus. As Livius states: "There are only two possibilities, and both are impossible. That is a dilemma."
After defeating a rebellion of the Eastern Provinces, Livius himself turns his army against Rome and ends up confronting his friend Commodus in a riveting hand to hand javelin battle in the midst of the Roman forum. Commodus dies while embracing Livius in a touching reflection of their earlier friendship. Livius rescues Lucilla from the flames of the burning sacrificial pier and carries the dead Commodus with dignity (and ease) up the steps to the Roman altar. Livius is offered the chance to be Caesar once again by the same men who had rallied around Commodus. In one of the best last lines of any film, Livius turns to them and says, "I don't think you'd find me suitable, for my first official act would be to have you all crucified." Fin!!! Queue the dark pipe organ music again as the camera sweeps upwards, following the billows of smoke carrying the ashes of Germanic people being burned alive at the stake, their cries echoing the revenge Germany will have in the final days of Rome when the Visigoths and other German peoples bring down the Western Roman Empire. How can you not love this stuff? The Fall of the Roman Empire is dark movie with a very pessimistic ending, so it makes sense that it failed at the box office. It also was released in April of 1964, some five months after the John F. Kennedy assassination, so a dark epic about Rome probably did not serve as a good touchstone for the American public at the time either.
With his blond locks and blue eyes, Stephen really does look amazingly handsome in this film. Stephen Boyd is more muted than usual in his screen performance here and some people would probably say it is a dull performance (compared to Messala in Ben-Hur) but I disagree. I have always loved Stephen's quiet, thoughtful and powerful performance in this movie. Maybe it's the blond hair; maybe it's the regal way he carries himself in the Roman armor; maybe it's the soft, gentle way he speaks; or maybe it's the way he seems totally in awe of Sophia Loren. He has some truly tender and touching scenes with Italian super-star Sophia Loren. They look absolutely stunning together on screen as well.
The script has its good and bad moments. Some of the dialogue reminds me of 'George Lucas speak'. In fact some of the lines (especially in the romantic scenes) are used almost verbatim in Star Wars- Attack of the Clones and Star Wars – Revenge of the Sith. And the fact that you have Alec Guinness being about as Jedi as a Roman-philosopher-Emperor could be, I can't help but see Star Wars-isms in The Fall of the Roman Empire as well. Some of the character names are familiar to people who have seen the Russell Crowe movie Gladiator. But the plot lines are very different. Gladiator is a more straight up revenge story akin to a 1960's Italian gladiator peplums, whereas The Fall of the Roman Empire has a more intriguing, layered plot.
So, as a fan of Roman history and Stephen Boyd, this movie ranks above all others in my opinion. It is an astounding piece of film making.
Friend and enemy: Livius (Boyd) carries the dead Emperor Commodus (Plummer) up the steps of a Roman altar at the end of The Fall of the Roman Empire.
Stephen Boyd was both enchanted and awed by Sophia Loren.
Pre-Production and On-Set Still Gallery
The Fall of the Roman Empire Photo Galleries
The perfect Roman couple – Livius and Lucilla
GALLERY ONE- COLOR SLIDE STILLS
GALLERY TWO- BLACK AND WHITE STILLS/COLOR LOBBY
GALLERY THREE- BLACK AND WHITE/COLOR STILLS
GALLERY FOUR and FIVE- BLACK AND WHITE CONTACT GLOSSY SINGLE WEIGHT PUBLICITY PHOTOS, ISSUED SEPTEMBER 1964
THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE MATERIAL COLLECTION
Huge Spanish "La Caida Del Imperio Romano" Movie Book
"SCREEN STORIES" from 1964 – THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE SYNOPSIS
Movies Illustrated "The Fall of the Roman Empire" Layout, July 1964
Bonnes Soirées, La Chute De L'Empire Romain April 1964
Portuguese "Fall of the Roman Empire" Magazine Special, 1964
Two Fall of The Roman Empire books from Spain
Rare Persian "Fall of the Roman Empire" Novelization, 1964
European Stephen Boyd mini "Movie" card
The Fall of the Roman Empire Special 3 Disc Set booklet, Spanish "La Caida Del Imperio Romano" insert, "The Fall of Love" Sheet Music, Lobby Cards, Movie Posters, Sophia Loren Magazine Cover and The Fall of the Roman Empire Music book
Portuguese "A Queda do Imperio Romano" Magazine Special, The Fall of the Roman Empire USA Pressbook Ads


Hello to my beautiful scrap-happy friends. This month's theme at Lasting Memories is "Life's Affirmations". This week the challenge is to scrap anything about this month's theme. This got me thinking about a time in my life when I was working on myself. In 2006, I woke up one morning and disliked almost everything about myself. I didn't like the person I had become and made a decision to go on an intense journey to change everything about my life. I met the most amazing and inspirational people in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and they forever changed my life. It has been a continuous journey to make the positive changes necessary to life a full and happy existence. One of the most important lessons I've learned is to "Live in the Moment".
You see, my brain is never naturally living in the moment. I sometimes have to close my eyes and try to completely empty all thoughts. When my brain is finally quiet, I listen to the noises that are going on around me, then the smells, then open my eyes and see.. I love this moment right now.
Andrea what a great reminder to enjoy each moment. I love your page and the history behind it. Super page!
What a great reminder for yourself! Wilkes-Barre isn't so far from me if you ever get this way.
Wilkes-barre is so beautiful to me. I'll let you know if I ever venture back there. Thanks.
I love your layers Andrea and the gorgeous photo. The touches of gold foil are beautiful!! Lovely story behind the photo too!


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(u-turn update) foreign-source income budget 2022
All(u-turn update) foreign-source income budget 2022
Background information from Budget 2022
Under the Budget 2022 proposal, the exemption of foreign-sourced income received by any person (other than a resident company carrying on the business of banking, insurance or sea or air transport) which is provided under Paragraph 28, Schedule 6 of the Income Tax Act 1967 is proposed to be removed for Malaysian residents.
The proposed removal is to take effect from 1 January 2022. The amendment to the law is to be made through the Finance Bill 2021 which has been passed by both houses of Parliament.
Last minutes u-turn
The Ministry of Finance has announced today that subject to conditions, which will be set out in guidelines to be issued by the Inland Revenue Board, the following foreign-sourced income received from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2026 (5 years) will continue to be exempted from Malaysian income tax:
• Dividend income received by resident companies and limited liability partnerships.
• All classes of income received by resident individuals, except for resident individuals who carry on business through a partnership.


The term soft skills refers to the personal traits, characteristics and competencies that inform to how an individual relates to others and is often used as a synonym for people skills or interpersonal skills.
The term describes those personal attributes that indicate a high level of emotional intelligence. These skills can include empathy, analytical thinking and etiquette. Soft skills are attributes that are impossible to quantify but play an important factor in many business settings.
Unlike hard skills, which describe a person's technical skills and abilities to perform specifically defined tasks, soft skills are broadly applicable across job titles and industries. It's often said that hard skills will get you an interview, but you need soft skills to get -- and keep -- the job, as well as to successfully lead and influence others.
An employee with a high level of emotional intelligence has good communication skills and interpersonal skills. They can clearly articulate goals and can work in a team with a positive attitude.
Another important soft skill is adaptability. The ability to be diplomatic and respectful, even during disagreements, is a key soft skill. This skill requires the employee to maintain a professional tone and demeanor even when frustrated. In 2018, LinkedIn listed leadership, communication, collaboration and time management as the top four most in-demand soft skills.
Technology company iCIMS Inc., which develops recruiting and other employee management-related software, analyzed its proprietary data and found that problem-solving, adaptability and time management are the top three soft skills that recruiters seek in candidates.
They also seek candidates who are ambitious, confident, friendly, charismatic, articulate, enthusiastic, determined, easygoing, efficient and focused, according to findings publicized by iCIMS on its website in 2018.
Business executives and leaders are making soft skills more of a priority when hiring, as they are often essential for workers to succeed in modern organizations.
Business projects often require employees to work as a team, making employees' abilities to have positive interactions with others just as valuable as the technical tasks they're asked to accomplish. As a result, business leaders are seeking workers who possess team work, collaboration, communication, problem-solving skills, and other emotional and cognitive capabilities to work in multimember, multidisciplinary teams that are geographically and/or cultural dispersed.
For businesses that have a customer service/relations component, strong soft skills are a way to ensure a positive relationship between customer and company without providing extensive training.
Businesses and individuals can close the soft skills gap through training. Individuals should start by asking family and trusted colleagues for feedback, which can help individual employees to identify the soft skills which require improvement.
Individuals can also improve their soft skills through mentoring and classes, as well as by simply observing and emulating how others successfully interact with peers and handle difficult interpersonal situations.
Working with a professional coach and reading self-help books and articles can assist in this process, as well as self-assessment tools like the Myers-Briggs personality profile test.
Which employee soft skills have been most beneficial to your company?
useful informarion but needs further elaboration without using technical jargon..
It is already required by most of us.
Even apprentices need to start with some soft skills or they wouldn't be there at all. And without some soft skills (AKA passion, humanity) the office would be a far emptier place. After that, we all (hopefully) learn on the job.
I had very, very few soft skills required for the workplace (or life in general!). I was a very shy child and I've always been introverted. So, I'm always working on it and continuing to learn how to act and behave more socially. And it is acting - I'll always be an introverted person even if it is sometimes beneficial to act otherwise.
I tried to be practical in this aspect, by encouraging my co-worker soldering skill.
There's a recent Freakonomics podcast episode that I thought was very interesting. It was about how many people who played in rock bands for extended periods developed many skills that helped them immensely in different careers (I've been amazed at how many musicians I performed with over they years made a successful transition to technical careers). In many ways, the soft skills that are essential to surviving as a performing musician dovetail nicely into technical careers, including the ability to interact with others, to sync up in work situations, and perhaps most important, the development of a "thick skin".
This is a great article for not only the tech sector (although sorely needed in many cases), but for every sector. Ever wonder why the other person got promoted, there's a good chance that it might have been people skills. I am fortunate in that I am very outgoing and have always been identified as the person who can bridge gaps. I compliment abuell, most people do not try to work on their soft skills let alone recognize the fact that they may be lacking. Great article.
I started out with reliance on tech skills but over time my clients and teams expected the soft skills. I think I has to be become more aware and develop and continue to work on these soft skills as my career progressed.
Frankly, all the soft skills I needed in the workplace I learned in kindergarten - and throughout my childhood. My first job reinforced those behaviors that I already developed. Subsequently, I learned that not all work environments are the same nor do they require application of the same soft skills to be successful. The one skill that is critical is to adapt to the culture of the workplace.
No one is born good at "soft skills". Some were grown in the environment that stimulated the growth of these skills. Later in life, some people make a choice to work on the improvement of those skills. The organizations could do a better job helping people to develop these skills. On the other hand, a responsible adult should take charge of their own personal and professional development.
@bariyar, we expanded this definition. Take a look!
Since the term, 'skill' is contrasted with 'instinct' or the inborn ability, we concede that soft skill is not and inborn quality. It is acquired by exposure to various types of situations.
Soft skills are neither good nor bad in nature as most of the people think or define! Soft skills are simply a person's way or nature or ability of carrying out an action or event by words, behavior, acts or inaction by which the resulting consequence is favorable or unfavorable to him or her.
for example a liar can cheat a person using his soft skills of convincing the people to trust him. A person can compliment and elevate another person's spirits and bring cheerfulness in his life. A person can behave rudely and get rid of a nagging person or a beggar who begs every time he sees him during the day!
Soft skills simply means the way we present ourselves to others to make an impact on them so that we achieve what we desire to get.
In Personality Development and communication training people mainly speak about the constructive ways of soft skills to bring about positive results. but Beware there are millions of people who use their soft skills to betray you, to cheat you, to put you down, to defeat you, to disillusion you, to disappoint you, to give you false hope, to convince you for wrong things or even to put you suffering and death!
As good human beings in universal brotherhood we should always help each other to constructively develop our lives and personalities but should also learn and train one another to recognize the anti social elements who can use their soft skills falsely for their selfish gains!


Building a tequila company takes a village. One of our most recent partners to help Tanteo fans "spice up their life" is NightOwl, a new way to discover nightlife. NightOwl users can create, save and share lists of their favorite places, for any occasion to plan better nights. To celebrate this partnership, we've re-posted some of our favorite New York rooftop & outdoor spaces that serve Tanteo. Be sure to check out NightOwl for a list in your home city.
New York's largest outdoor rooftop is filled with greenery-lined walls overlooking midtown. It's a great spot to check out in the summer but It's also open year round, and equipped with blankets and space heaters in the colder months. 230 Fifth's signature margarita is the Tanteo Jalapeño Margarita, perfect with a burger or their Sunday brunch buffet.
This glamorous 30th-floor cocktail lounge has panoramic views of midtown, at the Skylark, drink the Jalapeñto Margarita (no typo), a great combination of sweet and spicy.
Originally built by John Jacob Astor IV, this New York landmark has recently been restored to its original glory. Over the years the Knickerbocker has attracted the likes of John D Rockefeller and F. Scott Fitzgerald. You can enjoy in similar luxury with Tanteo, overlooking Time Square, be sure to try "the Spicy Cadillac" when you visit.
This Midtown oasis with a great view of the Midtown West, The Attic serves Dusk Til Dawn with Tanteo, but if you get too hot in the summer, ask your bartender for a Tanteo Jalapeño Margarita Slushy for a refreshing treat.
This Thai gem hidden in Williamsburg serves a big menu of traditional and new Thai dishes. Sit on the sidewalk and try their "Spicy Ginger Margarita" with your curry.
Go to the playa without leaving midtown. Beach vibe, fish tacos, and attractive servers at this Penn Station hangout. Make sure to order The Naked Devil before you take the train out to the Hamptons.
A Spacious pier located on the Chelsea waterfront, nothing says summer in New York like a cocktail at the Frying Pan. Get here early to grab a seat at this busy pier, or stay late and go dancing in the big red boat's hull. Grab some grub and wash it down with a Spicy Watermelon Margarita before the season ends!
An East Village staple, Boulton's sidewalk seating is a great place to people watch during brunch and happy hour. Celebrate with their Mexican Revolver.
Located on the north end of Union Square Park, the aptly named restaurant lives in the beautifully renovated pavilion of this historic park. Try the Tropical Storm with Tanteo Tropical Tequila and sip the afternoon away.
A beach themed restaurant inside Riverside Park, this is a go to spot for a lazy summer day. The upper level is made of repurposed shipping containers, and the lower lounge area is adjacent to beach volleyball, soccer and softball fields. Be sure to get here early and stay through the sunset, with the beautiful views of the the Hudson River. Grab The Easy Rider cocktail, and take it easy at Ellingtons!


Alexy Prefontaine creates digital art, photography and graphic design under the moniker of Aeforia. His passion for visual arts began in mid-2014 when he realised that he could create artworks by using only iPhone apps. After a few months of experimenting, he moved on up to experimenting with Photoshop and photography. Prefontaine's work is inspired by nature, space and distorted perspectives and by focusing on different perceptions of the world that we live in, he hopes that the viewer can be pulled into the surreal scenes he envisions.


We know that we are often the primary, if not the only, point of access to higher education for people within our community. We know we must also remain on the cutting edge of filling the needs of our local businesses and industries who are increasingly seeking highly skilled, knowledgeable employees and leaders with higher degrees.
It is critical for colleges to connect students to higher education and career opportunities by meeting them where they are, providing access and equity for all to transform their lives through the power of higher education.
The college now offers six baccalaureate degree programs in the areas of aerospace sciences, criminal justice, early childhood education, elementary education, nursing and supervision and management. Each program was developed in close collaboration with Polk State's industry partners to address workforce needs specific to Polk County, allowing hundreds of students to achieve bachelor's degrees each academic year in areas actively seeking employees.
It's important to illustrate what Polk State's baccalaureate degree-seeking students look like. In 2017-2018, 73 percent attended part time, 67 percent were female, 41 percent were from ethnic minority groups, and 34 percent were older than 35. Our baccalaureate students are working adults who are balancing their studies with responsibilities including full-time jobs and raising families.
Additionally, only 18. 8 percent of individuals 25 and older in Polk County have bachelor's degrees or higher. Compared to Florida's 27. 3 percent and the nation's 29. 7 percent, the data make it clear that offering local, affordable access to baccalaureate degree programs is not only necessary to serve local businesses and working families, but also critical to promoting the economic success of Polk County.


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The Rabbi Is In
by Julie Kemp Pick • January 6, 2017
After working as a cantor for 36 years, Nancy Diamond Landsman recently was ordained as a rabbi. And in addition to being the spiritual leader of her congregation, she has found an important niche to fill: she makes house calls, even to people who don't belong to her – or any — synagogue.
"I realized that … people long for this rabbinic connection and I thought why don't I just come to them?" said Rabbi-Cantor Landsman, spiritual leader of Congregation Ahavat Olam. "As people are getting older and close to dying they want rabbis who will know them and officiate at their funeral."
Rabbi-Cantor Landsman explained that there are more people who choose not to belong to a congregation for various reasons, and with age it becomes even more difficult.
"There are so many lonely people – especially the elderly," she said. "They have no family in town or don't have much of a relationship with them and it breaks your heart."
Rabbi-Cantor Landsman volunteers for hospice care and is on call at two hospitals. One day she received a call from the hospital asking if she'd visit a patient who was having hospice care brought into his room. The patient requested a rabbi, because he wasn't affiliated with a synagogue.
Rabbi-Cantor Nancy Diamond Landsman meets with Bert Rose, 92, a musician who attended Am Shalom in Glencoe, where Landsman was a cantor before moving to Congregation Ahavet Olam. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER/JWC MEDIA
"That's when a light bulb went off, because the patient was able to share his whole life story with me and a week later he died," said Rabbi-Cantor Landsman. "Before he died he told his wife he was so glad to have the opportunity to share his story with me, and his wife and family were so comforted that he felt that way."
Though she's been doing a lot of the same work that she performed as a cantor, Rabbi-Cantor Landsman said many Jewish people think a rabbi can only do this type of work, so now she's even busier.
"I feel incredibly blessed that as a rabbi all of these opportunities and doors have opened up for me in a way that were not available as a cantor, so I'm going back to my original training in gerontology and social work, which I'm so passionate about," she said.
Rabbi-Cantor Landsman explained that patients understand the reason she's coming to meet with them is so they may share anything they want while they're still able to communicate, and if they like the rabbi, after their conversation they'll have peace of mind that she'll be able to officiate at the funeral.
One daughter told Rabbi-Cantor Landsman that her mother shared more with the rabbi than she ever did with her. The rabbi explained that her mom didn't want to be a burden because the daughter was so busy with her job and kids, but she was so proud of her. "I'm able to find that I can bring comfort to the children and that's a wonderful thing," she said.
Rabbi-Cantor Landsman began her rabbinic training at the Hebrew Seminary, a Rabbinical School for Deaf & Hearing in Skokie. "It's the only rabbinic program in the Chicago area to my knowledge for a reform Jewish woman, and then I learned about another program based in New York that's done through a webinar," she said. The ordination took place in January 2016 in Florida and she met classmates from all over the country. "It's been an amazing journey and I'm so blessed to do such meaningful work for individuals and families."
Before Rabbi-Cantor Landsman became the spiritual leader at Congregation Ahavat Olam in 2012, she was the cantor at Am Shalom in Glencoe for 23 years.
Congregation Ahavat Olam, located in Christ Methodist Church at 600 Deerfield Road in Deerfield, "is growing and I keep trying to expand awareness of our congregation, which is comprised of empty nesters with interfaith couples and families, divorcees and widowers," she said. "We have a nice, diverse community."
She finds it rewarding to officiate at memorable occasions beginning with baby namings through funerals. "I'm finding people want that spiritual and or rabbinic connection one way or another certainly at the end of their life or for any major life cycle occasion," she said.
In the meantime, Rabbi-Cantor Landsman is working on a brochure with the tagline: "Don't belong to a synagogue, but want a rabbinic connection? Rabbi Landsman comes to you."
For more information email Rabbi-Cantor Landsman at [email protected]
Rabbi-Cantor Nancy Diamond Landsman visits with Nancy Berg of Vernon Hills, and her father, Bert Rose, 92, who attended Am Shalom in Glencoe where Landsman previously was a cantor. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER/JWC MEDIA
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Remembering Nancy Hughes (1)
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Our music ministry at Our Lady of Visitation Parish comprises members of all ages offering different styles of music, from solo to choral and contemporary or folk to more traditional. Their gift of song brightens our Eucharistic celebrations. New members and new musicians are always most welcome!
The Children/Youth Choir provides music at the 9 am Mass on Sunday and holds weekly practices (now held Sunday before Mass) Children of all ages are welcome to join this choir, with an emphasis on learning and sharing God's Word through song. New members both singers and musicians are always most welcome throughout the year.
Adult choirs provide music at the 4:30 pm (Saturday) and 11:00 am (Sunday) weekend Masses.
In preparation for Christmas and Easter celebrations, usually, a larger adult choir is formed involving members from all choirs including other members who do not sing at the regular weekly Masses. This choir practices on a weeknight evening from mid-October to December to prepare for and sing at the Christmas Vigil and morning Masses and from Feb. to Mar./Apr. for the Easter Triduum services including the Easter Vigil.
We have fun as we work on learning new music and parts. If you have the gift of song or play a musical instrument, and feel you are being prompted, we would like you to consider joining us. Please contact the main office at 822-2197 for more information.
The Hospitality Ministry is comprised of individuals who provide the refreshments for the Social or Coffee-time on Sunday mornings after the Masses. Coffee-time is a way of gathering the community, helping us to get to know one another and strengthen the bonds of friendship.
The Sacristan Ministry under the direction of the resident Priest is a behind-the-scenes position. It is now considered a 'team' of volunteers. Some prepare the sacred vessels prior to the Masses from lights on to candles extinguished. Others are involved in decoration, changing the frontals, washing of linens, ordering supplies, coordinating between the various ministries to ensure a smooth running liturgy. We are respectful at all times while carrying out our duties and do not remain in the Sanctuary during the Mass. Training and guidelines are available to this voluntary position.
Extraordinary-Ministers of Holy Communion assist the priest at Mass by distributing Holy Communion to the congregation. These 'ministers" are commissioned to perform this exceptional duty. Training and guidelines are provided and individuals are then placed on a schedule.
Lectors proclaim the Word of God in the first and second readings of the Mass. Commentators welcome the congregation and read the introductory announcements before the liturgy begins and offer the Prayers of the Faithful.
We are always looking for more readers/lectors. If you are confident with reading in public and feel called to proclaim the Word of God, please consider giving your time and gifts to this ministry. Training is provided. Schedules are arranged to fit desired Mass.
Liturgy means "service", in the sense of serving God with public and communal worship. Special Liturgical celebrations, especially during the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter require the coordination of many parish ministries with pastor and deacon. These ministries include altar servers, lectors and commentators, eucharistic ministers, music, sacristans, décor, ushers and others who work together to plan details of the Mass. The work of planning for liturgies also includes planning the church environment for various seasons of the liturgical year.
According to tradition, the Church ordinarily permits the use of four (4) colours - in the Sacred Vestments and also in the Altar Linens. They are White, Red, Green and Purple or Violet. Gold may be used as a substitute for White.
White - Denotes purity, innocence or glory. Used on the Feast of our Lord and the Blessed Virgin, on the festivals of angels and of all saints who were not martyrs. White is the colour of the resurrection and so it is used in Masses for the dead.
Red - The colour of fire and of blood, it is used in Masses of the Holy Ghost, such as Pentecost, to remind us of the tongues of fire, and on the feasts of all saints who shed their blood for their faith. Red is also used on Good Friday and Palm Sunday.
Green - Used in Ordinary time, this colour denotes the growth and increase of our holy Church and is also symbolic of hope. It is used at various times of the year, on days that are not saints' days.
Purple or Violet - Expressive of penance. It is used during Lent and Advent (except on saints' days) and also on the sorrowful festival of the Holy Innocents.
Ushers and greeters provide the first welcome to parishioners and visitors to our church. They help people connect with the community and other individuals and families so that they feel they are part of our parish community. They assist people who have questions about the church, the liturgy, or practical matters (envelopes, parish registration form, etc.). They also direct movement; distribute bulletins and collect financial offerings and assist with the presentation of the bread, wine and collection.
The Intercessors are a group of parishioners who are consecrated to Jesus through Mary. They meet every second week (September to June) to intercede in support of the parish priest and parishioners using the Spirit led Rosary as a mean of intercessory prayer.
The members of the group are especially dedicated to a lifestyle of daily contemplative prayer and weekly prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. The group also serves to encourage the members to share their personal experiences of God in their daily life, to support and support each other in the spiritual journey.


text:
Le Hunting Act 2004 est une loi du parlement du Royaume-Uni votée en 2004. Cette loi a pour effet d'interdire les activités traditionnelles de chasse à courre en Angleterre et au pays de Galles dès le . Cette loi est votée deux ans après une loi similaire du parlement écossais.

Voir aussi

Article connexe
 Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002

Lien externe
 Hunting Act 2004, texte officiel.

Loi relative aux animaux
Loi britannique au XXIe siècle
Loi promulguée sous le gouvernement Tony Blair
2004 en droit
2004 au Royaume-Uni
Bien-être animal
Loi relative à la chasse
Protection animale

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This year we have introduced Spice Schools Time Credits to provide opportunities for both pupils and parents to earn rewards for giving above and beyond. These have been given to parents that have attended learning focussed events with their children and parents who have helped in Albany Parents together. The children in Foundation Phase went out litter picking in the local community to earn some and pupils from KS2 have earned them through participating in different events e.g. Albany Military Hospital exhibition and are coming up with new earn opportunities. Some year 6 pupils used their time credits to have a free trip to watch Cardiff City .v. Preston match last week. If you would like to find out more about time credits we are holding a meeting next Wednesday 15th February at 9am.


Cornwall Electrical Contractors offer businesses in Cornwall comprehensive electrical advice and solutions to ensure that you meet all electrical health and safety regulations as all work is carried out to British Standards. We are an approved NICEIC Contractor, which is the best scheme available, offering end customers the peace of mind that certified and competent electricians will be completing the work to the highest standards. We have a vast amount of experience having worked in a wide range of business premises including offices, shops, hotels and public areas. We have also worked in high voltage sub stations and compounds.
With Cornwall Electrical Contractors, it's business as usual. We can work outside of your office hours, eliminating downtime. Got an electrical emergency? Give us a call, we offer 24/7 callouts.
We offer periodic testing to ensure safety of your installation, complying to the latest wiring regulations and can issue an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) for peace of mind and insurance needs. If your premises are open to the public then you will more than likely require annual testing.
Electrical maintenance agreements offer you the peace of mind that all your regular testing and inspection is taken care of, plus you have a qualified electrician on hand for any emergencies! Our electrical maintenance contracts cover PAT testing, lighting repairs and fire alarm testing.
Your structured cabling system provides the critical foundation for your business. We can provide the installation of Cat 5/ Cat 6 data cabling. Whether this be for a small home office or larger businesses with multiple sites.
All businesses must carry out Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) to ensure that they meet the requirements of the health and safety at work act and electricity at work regulations. PAT testing should be carried out regularly to ensure that all electrical equipment is safe to use.
It's a legal requirement for commercial and public buildings to have adequate fire alarms installed and regularly maintained. We offer a full service in fire alarm repairs and installation. We also provide annual maintenance packages to ensure the ultimate protection and reliability of your system.


Lock in a great price for Pinnacle Resorts 220 - rated 9 by recent guests.
I loved the floor-to-ceiling windows. Corner unit with gorgeous views. The unit was exquisitely decorated with a hummingbird theme. It was just stunning. The bedding in the master was incredibly soft and comfortable. I loved having the stackable washer and dryer AND the large container of detergent. Great stay!! We definitely relaxed. Perfect location walking distance to our favorite spots and restaurants. I really appreciated the book with the list of recommended restaurants. This allowed us to try some new places. The pool and rooftop bar were gorgeous. Unfortunately, the bartending and serving staff on the rooftop were not very friendly or attentive. We enjoyed the staff when checking in and the bellhops were really sweet and helpful, too.
Love the location to everything in the Zona Romatica - best rooftop pool in PV - super clean and love this spot - would stay again!
At first they were going to give me a room with no view after talking to the person at the they agreed to give me a upgrade at no extra cost since they got rooms available only till the weekend. I enjoyed the room but last night they gave me the room with no view.I was very happy with my stay at this hotel.
El departamento superó mis expectativas!!!! Y la vista increíble.
The roof top has amazing views and a Great pool, rooms clean, the staff always had a smile that made you feel welcomed.
Very clean, comfortable bed and beautiful mountainside views. Safety was great, security always at the desk and bell staff was terrific.
accomodations were nice. roof top infinity pool was excellent.
Nos gusto mucho porque nos sentimos como en casa, ademas de ser un hotel pet friendly, lo cual nos ayuda mucho cuando viajamos, nos sorprendió cuando abrimos la puerta y vimos todo lo que había dentro.
Todo...!! El servicio, la atención de todo el personal es fabulosa.... además de que se permitan a mascotas dentro del hotel es un plus que en otros lugares no se tiene.. 100% satisfechos toda la familia.
One of our top picks in Puerto Vallarta.Set in Puerto Vallarta, 3.7 miles from Cruise Ship Pier, Pinnacle Resorts 220 features free WiFi access and free private parking.
Every room is fitted with a flat-screen TV. Certain rooms feature a seating area for your convenience. You will find a coffee machine in the room. Rooms are fitted with a private bathroom fitted with a shower, bathrobes and a hairdryer.
You will find a 24-hour front desk at the property as well as an outdoor pool and palapa. Enjoy sea views from the terrace.
The nearest airport is Lic. Gustavo Diaz Ordaz Airport, 5.6 miles from the property.
This is our guests' favourite part of Puerto Vallarta, according to independent reviews.
Couples particularly like the location — they rated it 9.2 for a two-person trip.
This property is also rated for the best value in Puerto Vallarta! Guests are getting more for their money when compared to other properties in this city.
Pinnacle Resorts 220 has been welcoming Booking.com guests since 2 Sept 2015.
Good for couples - they rate the facilities 9.4 for two-person stays.
When would you like to stay at Pinnacle Resorts 220?
This apartment features a washing machine, air conditioning and sofa.
This apartment features a sofa, microwave and tile/marble floor.
This apartment has a balcony, minibar and kitchenware.
This apartment features a bathrobe, private entrance and tile/marble floor.
This apartment features a microwave, bathrobe and dishwasher.
This apartment features a microwave, seating area and bathrobe.
This apartment features a kitchenware, stovetop and tile/marble floor.
This suite has air conditioning, tile/marble floor and microwave.
This apartment features a balcony, washing machine and kitchenware.


text:
Abortion providers shift practices as states enact bans
By Laura Benshoff
Published June 25, 2022 at 9:05 AM EDT
Updated June 25, 2022 at 11:43 AM ET
While the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade as of Friday, abortion providers in some states already had a preview of a post-Roe world.
When Texas' law restricting abortions took effect last year, the Trust Women clinic in Oklahoma City doubled the number of days a week it provided abortions, according to Dr. Maya Bass. Even so, many pregnant people had to wait, to save money for a longer trip or to get off the waitlist.
"So we're seeing people who are later in pregnancy. We're seeing people who are sicker," said Bass.
This May, Oklahoma banned almost all abortions.
The clinic shut down. Once again, providers shifted to expand appointments elsewhere — this time, in Kansas, where abortion remains legal.
Abortion funds and clinics also started doing more outreach and education. In some states, pills that induce an abortion are available by mail. Providers expanded efforts to counsel patients over the phone about where to get them and how to use them.
"In a lot of ways, this is going to look different than before Roe. But if people don't know about [medication abortion], they might try other less safe options," said Bass.
Laura Benshoff
Laura Benshoff is a reporter covering energy and climate on a temporary basis for NPR's National desk. Prior to this assignment, she spent eight years at WHYY, Philadelphia's NPR Member station. There, she most recently focused on the economy and immigration. She has reported on the causes of the Great Resignation, Afghans left behind after the U.S. troop withdrawal and how a government-backed rent-to-own housing program failed its tenants. Other highlights from her time at WHYY include exploring the dynamics of the 2020 presidential election cycle through changing communities in central Pennsylvania and covering comedian Bill Cosby's criminal trials.