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Biografia
Cresciuto nel Westoe, club della sua città natale (nella contea di Tyne and Wear), entrò a 18 anni nella principale squadra della sua contea, i Newcastle Falcons, con cui esordì in Premiership nel 2003; in 6 stagioni totalizzò 55 presenze in massima divisione, fino all'avvento del collega di ruolo neozelandese Carl Hayman; chiuso nel ruolo, decise a marzo 2009, in vista della scadenza del contratto, di accettare un ingaggio dal Bath, rimasto senza uomini di prima linea dopo alcune cessioni e la squalifica del pilone Matt Stevens, squalificato nel febbraio precedente per due anni dopo essere stato trovato positivo alla cocaina.

Il debutto in Nazionale inglese è del giugno di quello stesso anno, all'Old Trafford di Manchester contro l'.

Fin dall'esordio è stato impiegato in pianta stabile nel pacchetto di mischia inglese.

Note

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Pours dark garnet, borderline black. Opaque and thick. Nice off-white head sits nicely in a Teku glass. Strong smell of yeast.
Rich with hints of mocha, cherry, spice, and ginger, this is interesting to have in its aged form. The suggested "drink by" date is coming up: 9-13-2012; suffice to say that this might be a touch past its prime but, nonetheless, has a spicy, malty, almost sour presence to it that is really refined for $5 a bottle. Smooth. The booze is all but buried in the back, making this dangerous drinking. Cola-like in mouthfeel and actually has a "Cherry Coke" flavor to it. Medium to medium-heavy bodied but super easy on the palate.
If you have any of these lingering about in your stash, break them out ASAP. Bring out the cheese plate while you're at it.
Other comments: This is a great candidate for aging. Would be great to see how the spiciness changes as it is a bit raw at this point.
I just tried a bottle that I had been aging since its release in 2009.
Still a solid, tasty beer 2 years after bottling.
Bottle: Poured a dark brown color ale with a large light brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma consists of candi sugar and coriander with the typical Unibroue yeast profile. Taste is a very nice mix between some sweet Belgian malt with light notes of candi sugar and quite a bit of coriander. The Unibroue yeast strain profile can also be easily detected but I find the light fruity ester it provides very enjoyable. Body is full with good carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Well brewed with some complexity and easily drinkable characteristics.
Pretty light bodied, with only a touch of sweetness that is actually accentuated by the fruity and clove-like yeast character. The finish has a touch of dark grain as well as that earthy spiciness that leans towards coriander that reminds me of Unibroue. There is a touch of tartness in the finish that helps to mitigate the earthy spiciness that really lingers in the finish. The light tartness makes me think of plums and raisins. The malt character is more muted than the color would suggest; there is not much in the way of any roast character that the rich color would suggest; there is perhaps a touch of astringency to the finish. There is a soft woody herbal note here in the finish and there is a . While the texture can be a bit fizzy after a fresh pour (this bottle is clearly a bit over-carbonated), it has a nice light body for a beer of its strength.
Overall this beer has a pretty decent balance; the Unibroue yeast character is certainly expressive here, so if you don't like that then definitely avoid this one; luckily I don't mind it too much, though it can be a little bit much at times. Still this is definitely an enjoyable beer, that should age nicely for another year or so.
Pours a deep opaque brown, damn near black, with the signature Unibroue "voluminous head of froth". Lots of yeasty and dark fruity aromas. Raisins, black currant and a breadiness in the nose.
In the mouth, rich dark fruit, really big and deep, dark fruity flavors. So fruity and so luscious and vinous. Raspberry, black currant, ripe plum...bready too. Thick but smooth with just a hint of warming alcohol. Not too sticky in the finish though, the alcohol cleans the palate just enough to keep it from being overly cloying.
If this is not just a rebottled version of Unibroue's Trois Pistoles, it's a variation on the theme. And at $4.99 a bottle, that's a great value for a very cellarable beer. My other bottle joins my cellar collection today and I need to get out to TJ's to grab another couple bottles.
Huge head. Settles in a rocky fashion. Lots of chunky lace. Dark muddy brown color--some light passes through the edge of the glass.
Good Belgian yeast smell. There's also aromas I associate with spiced winter ales, like cinnamon, star anise and cardamom. Notable alcohol warmth.
Mild sweetness in the start. Good alcohol presence in the swallow. The spice shows up in mid-taste. Light hop bite in the aftertaste. Very complex. Overall, this is one of the better made American-Belgian beers.
As mentioned before - a great bargain from Unibroue for TJ's. $4.99 at my local Trader Joe's. Pour is deep, dark brown with a tan head - almost brown. While nose is not bad, a bit one dimensional to yeast. A bit of fruit.
Nice Unibroue flavors of dried figs, chocolate, anise. Some yeast flavors later.
A great bargain with a nice refined flavor profile, if not overly complex.
4/16/2013: A little overaged at this point. On the nose we have ginger, orange, and sweet tobacco. Touches of clove and cocoa. Palate is similar but muted. A little musty. Didn't age poorly for the years - just aged too long, as it's still got some good stuff going for it.
Corked and caged Unibroue bomber, $4.99 at Trader Joes in Columbus. This beer is dark, almost black colored and opaque, with about 1 finger of off-white head comprised of large celled foam. The aroma is spicy and estery, a little like an aged hefeweizen minus the bananas. The cloves stayed though. The beer starts with a strong dose of the spice and finishes with a bitter bite that, while objectionable to my tastes, is about right for a winter warmer. BA lists this beer as a dubbel, not sure I agree with that. More of a central European Christmas ale if such a thing exists.
bought 6 bottles, this is the first, pour into boston lager glass.
D: drinkable yes. more than a bottle per night, no.
the bottle is not a year old, poured and shared with friends into the best available pint glasses. served at about 50 degrees. the head popped up to about 3 to 4 fingers and only fell when the glass was finished. flavors had smoothed out nicely. clove and cinnamon smoothed out with the prune fruitiness. I am glad to have three bottles left. i will see if i can make on last till its best by date of 9/12/2012.
A: A loud, wet 'POP' as the cork releases. Looks like the deepest, darkest brown; hold it to light and the reward is a vibrant mahogany, crimson-tinted. A plethora of bubbles, angrily streaming upward. Khaki foam, dense and creamy. Lace is OK, blotchy and broken.
S: The plummy, musty odor of Unibroue's 'Belgian Dark' take. Murky scent of muddled dark fruit and peppery Belgian yeast spicing.
T: An apple/fig/banana/raisin-filled dessert beer if there ever was one. Nutty at times, more toffee at others. Loads of spice, honey, even some cracked pepper and ginger. It doesn't quite come together, but it really does showcase the complexity of the yeast quite well.
M: Carbonation roils in the mouth, then there's a refined mellowness. Crisp, with a decent bite then soft and lingering.
D: If you like the BSDA (I do) you'll like this treat. As I recall, this bottle runs around $5, which is flat-out ludicrous for an ale of this quality. Glad to have bought a few (been doing this for the last 3 years; this is the first one I've cracked); fine now, probably better later.
Wow. Waiting for Santa here on the Oregon coast. What a great ale. I'd forgotten how good the Belgian darks are. Can't wait to go up to TJ's in Eugene for a few more bottles. Too bad I didn't save any for Santa. He and the deer would have liked it.
A - Poured and a thick head with large carbonation bubbles immediately fizzed up and came back down again shortly leaving a thin, denser lace on top.
S - The smell was not pleasant... not if this was just a bad bottle, but the glass was clean! Faint notes of cinnamon and dried fruit. GF says "smells like Chinese medicine."
T - There's something funky in this bottle... not sure what it is, but there's nothing really going on here. There's a tiny bit of coffee and orange at the end, but it's surprisingly insipid. Kind of like a gym sock lambic.
M - This suffers from the same issue as other Unibroues IMO - the carbonation, and this contributes to the mouthfeel somehow. An authentic Belgian wouldn't drink like Pellegrino. After half a tulip glass I was ready for a glass of water.
D - Not as inspiring as Unibroue's other efforts, which one can find oneself at the bottom of a bottle with no trouble at all.
Overall - I'll finish this 750 (just don't like to waste even potentially bad beer) but I'll have to come back to it. I suspect something is wrong with it.... If it's really as good as others are saying then it may be worth another $5 to try it out, even if I can stick with something safer for a few more dollars.
Appearance: pours dark brown with light brown hues on the edges. Gigantic beautiful almond head, nice retention with moderate lacing.
Smell: bready yeast and christmas spices with a little bit of metallic notes gives way to dark fruits and molasses.
Taste: Hardy bready yeast with a little of the same metallic notes. Dark fruits in the back end and bitter coffee on the back of the tongue in the aftertaste. Good cold weather flavors.
Mouthfeel: Low viscosity with a pleasant, but sharp, carbonation.
Drinkability: It's not a gulper but it's probably a tad bit more drinkable than your average dubbel.
For $5, I can't think of a better cold night on the couch beer.
Served it a bit warmed up - poured a monster head with a mis of coarse and fine bubbles. Settled down moderately quick. Very dark ruby color, good clarity.
Smell is slightly sweet, but dominated by some spices (orange peel, a bit of pepper). Aroma isn't overwhelming - smells Belgian, though. No prominent alcohol on the nose.
Aroma spice notes come through in the taste, on top of a subtly malty front. Not overly sweet, but never bitter. Nice balance. Finishes with a gentle peppery spiciness.
MF shows medium body and carbonation. Fairly gentle on the tongue - no astringency and only a mild alcohol warming.
A bit bland, but highly drinkable for a 9% beer.
Pours a completely opaque black that forms a wispy, cotton-like 2 inch head. There is very little lacing, which hints towards high viscosity.
It smells sweet and spicy, with ripe cherries and raisins dominant. Some bread-like yeast with banana undertones, but this isn't the most 'Belgian' nose for the style.
The taste follows the smell but is much more interesting. The ripe cherries hit you first, which are slightly sour. Raisins and plums are also prevalent. Sweetbread and woody spice combine with the fruity profile, giving this a distinctive holiday feel. The alcohol is remarkably hidden - I've let this slowly warm to about 60 F and there is still very little alcohol bite. Finishes slightly sweet, but the earthy spice leaves a slight acerbic aftertaste.
Given the 9% ABV, the brew is actually light on the palate. It's oily and rich, but there was a surprisingly effervescent effect, reducing its stickiness. The overall experience wasn't as 'Belgian' as what I was expecting, especially for Unibroue, but it was still quite tasty, and the holiday vibe made up for whatever it lacked in traditional style.
Pours a dark brown cola like color with a huge off white head.
Aromas are creamy, nutty, and a bit mineral like.
Light roasted nut flavors up front, a definite crispness, and a malt creamy sweetness. There are some cocoa, cola, and light spice flavors as well. Finish is nice, with a tart cherry like bite.
Mouthfeel is good. Very smooth, soft feeling, and with enough body to not be overly heavy.
This is a very drinkable Dark Belgian Ale. Smooth with nice flavors, very approachable, and you gotta love the $4.99 price tag for a 750 ml bottle.
Pours a dark dark brown, with an impressive head like the dude from Kid N' Play.
Smells like a sour, a fruity almost lemony aroma.
Taste is all over the map. I almost feel like there is too much going on for a bottle that only cost $5. A slightly lemony sour twist, and the malty aftertaste has an almost ginger-like kick. A weird almost antiseptic like taste, but somehow, it is working for me.
Feels like a nice Belgian, with a good bit of carbonation, which I guess explains the awesome afro that sits atop this brew.
Drinkability is decent, though it is quite strong and bubbly. I think you can get through the bomber if you are determined.
This beer is legit, you just have to look past where you got it and what it says on the label. Don't judge this book by it's cover.
Aged in my cellar 1 year.
Pours a dark reddish brown, with an ample tan foamy head that dissipates to a fine ring, leaving trace amounts of lacing.
Aromas of sweet dark fruits, coriander, and clove.
Taste is roasted dark malt, mildly sweet with milk chocolate, dried cherries, raisins, and spice--I'd say clove and coriander. However, the taste borders the line of sweet and sour. Has a cola taste but is more complex.
Has a crisp carbonation level and a cola-like mouthfeel to go with the taste, but is creamier in texture.
This is a highly drinkable, and tasty ale, brewed by Unibroue. It is a bargain, and ages well.
Vintage Ale 2009 pours a dark, cola brown color. It's not opaque. Burgundy highlights are noted throughout with backlighting. A light tan head tops it off. It's substantial, standing over two and a half fingers tall. Retention was very good, and lacing was sticky and thick. Good stuff.
The nose is a little on the weak side, but isn't bad. It features a nice cocoa-like scent from the chocolate malt presence. Spices are rather light. I'm getting a little, but not enough to identify anything. Light citrus lemon is noted. One downside is the lack of Belgian yeast. I'm not getting any. That's a negative here. Its presence would really improve this overall. Alcohol is blended well and is barely noticeable. It's alright. Not great.
The flavor is alright, but falls a few steps shy of being good. It does have a nice chocolate malt base that imparts a cocoa-like flavor. Fruit flavors are more pronounced in flavor. Light lemon and berry flavors are noted. There's even a touch of raisin. Spices are also stronger. Pepper and ginger are present and accounted for. Again, I'm not getting much Belgian yeast. That's too bad. It's crying out for it. Alcohol is noted, but isn't strong. I wouldn't guess 9%. Overall, not bad, but could've been better.
Vintage Ale 2009 has a light-medium body that feels too thin. Carbonation is also active and a little buzzy. It's not quite smooth. Drinkability is above average. The flavor's okay, and I'm semi-enjoying it. It's deceptively strong. The 9% abv creeps up on you. Nonetheless, a 750 is more than enough.
Unibroue did a credible job with Trader Joe's Vintage Ale 2009. It's alright, but is a bit of a missed opportunity. The missing piece of the puzzle here is glaring...Belgian yeast. Where is it? A strong presence would substantially improve this beer. No question. It's alright as it is. Far from a bad beer. But, could've been appreciably better rather easily. It's definitely worth picking up, especially given the $4.99 price tag. What a value! But, it's not going to win any awards.


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Chloe's Blood Diamond
By keith harmon snow
Posted in: Africa | No comments
A huge flawless white diamond was sold on November 14 for nearly 18.2 million Swiss francs ($16.21 million) to Guess Jeans founder Georges Marciano, who named it the "Chloe Diamond" after his daughter, Sotheby's auctioneers said.
While the hot Chloe rock is certified "clean" a diamond, it was purchased from Angola's state mining company, Endiama, a company involved in blood diamonds. No rock of desire of this stature—84.37 carats—comes out of Africa without organized bloodshed and suffering behind it.
"For the past 20 years, bloodshed and diamond mining have been two sides of the same coin," said Rafael Marques, a human rights activist from Angola, "violence being explained either in the name of war or of combating illegal activities."
Marques gave a lecture titled "Rinsing the Blood from Angola's Diamonds" at Oxford University Africa Society in January 2007. "Today, I am here to share with you a reality of blood, and contempt for human rights, in the diamond fields [of Angola]."
Angola's state firm Endiama is tied to the Lazare Kaplan diamond company owned by the Israeli-American Tempelsman diamond cartel. Maurice Tempelsman's diamond interests were established in the Congo in the early 1960's with the help of the CIA.
Sotheby's luxury conglomerate identified the seller of the "Chloe" diamond as Ron Cohen, chief executive officer of Los Angeles-based company Clean Diamonds Inc. "The stone was from Angola. It has gone through the Kimberley Process and has all the certificates, it is a clean diamond," Cohen reportedly told Reuters.
Most media reports described Ron Cohen "as CEO of Clean Diamonds Inc. of Los Angeles," but Reuters identified Cohen as an Israeli diamond dealer. The company "Clean Diamonds Inc." is not found in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission database. It also lists New York and Belgium operations on its web site.
"The Kimberley Process is an organization set up by the diamond industry expressly to police trade in gems," reported Reuters, "to prevent so-called 'blood diamonds' used to finance rebel groups and civil wars from coming on the market."
However, Reuters is a mainstream international news service that supports the diamond industry by covering up crimes and structural violence that keeps Africa poor. Reuters de-links the suffering and bloodshed caused by diamond cartels in major diamond producing countries like Angola, Sierre Leone, Congo, Namibia, Botswana, Liberia, Central Africa Republic, and South Africa.
At the 2007 Oxford, Rafael Marques described the response of the diamond industry to accusations of atrocities. "There have been shifts by the central and local authorities to address the accusations, either for damage control or simply to make more sophisticated the methods of abuse by outsourcing violence to private security companies," he said.
The brilliant-cut "Chloe" diamond, which weighs 84.37 carats, is the second most expensive stone ever sold at auction. Sotheby's press releases describe how Cohen held the 385-carat rough stone in his hand two years ago, before it was cut, when he allegedly bought it from Endiama.
BLOOD DIAMOND CARTELS
Sotheby's is another company involved in blood diamonds. In 2005 Sotheby's partnered up with the Israeli-American Steinmetz Diamond Group to form Sotheby's Diamonds. Beny and Danny Steinmetz of the Steinmetz Group are partnered with Dan Gertler, a new White House insider considered the unofficial "Ambassador" to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the country in central Africa cursed by diamonds and other minerals, where at least seven million people have died since 1996.
Sotheby's sold 385 gems at the auction, for a total of 64 million Swiss francs, many being diamonds from blood diamond countries. With the "Chloe" diamond sale the 2007 total for "Magnificent Jewels sold at Sotheby's Switzerland" rose to $106,019,622. French billionaire Francois Pinault owns London-based Christie's and Sotheby's, which is incorporated in Delaware.
The Steinmetz/Gertler partnerships between them have controlling interests in Dan Gertler Industries, Steinmetz Global Resources, Nikanor and Global Enterprises Corporate (GEC), companies with massive diamond concessions in Kasai, and copper/cobalt concessions in Katanga, two provinces in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Israeli-American diamond cartels involved in Congo are seeking to displace the diamond interests in Angola run by Israel-American Lev Leviev and Maurice Tempelsman, top-level partners of the Angolan state diamond companies.
Belgian-born Maurice Tempelsman has a long and bloody history in Africa. When Congo's first Premier, Patrice Lumumba, pledged to return diamond wealth back to the newly independent Congo in the early 60's, Tempelsman, who began with De Beers in the 1950's, helped engineer the coup d'etat that consolidated the dictatorship of 29 year-old Colonel Mobutu, and the coup against Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah; diamonds were at stake in each.
"I believe this was the beginning of what we now know of as conflict diamonds in the Congo," says blood diamond expert and investigative journalist Janine Roberts, author of the book Glitter and Greed: The Secret World of the Diamond Cartel. "From then on diamonds would be extensively used to discreetly fund wars, coups, repression and dictatorships, in Africa."
Maurice Tempelsman is Chairman of the American Jewish Congress, a Zionist pressure group that claims it works closely with the Israeli military. SEC filings show that LKI directors are high-rolling Zionist lawyers and investment bankers: one director belongs to the law firm that once represented President Kennedy—another Tempelsman friend. LKI is also connected to the euphemistically named United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The Tempelsman empire remains rock solid behind Leon Tempelsman & Sons, De Beers, and Lazare Kaplan International—supplier of Tiffany's and Cartier's diamonds.
THE KIMBERLEY SCANDAL
In 2003 the "international community"—a conglomeration of Group of Eight (G-8) executives "partnered" with the diamond industry—established a formal mechanism ostensibly to control the flow of conflict diamonds. The United Nations mandated Kimberley Process is a voluntary self-regulation scheme where the industry crafts 'passport' documents certifying all stones as conflict free.
Also in 2003 the international World Diamond Council was created by the diamond industry and the U.S. Congress passed the "Clean Diamond Act." These three formal processes falsely assure consumers that more than 99% of rough stones today come from conflict-free sources.
Since at least 1996, the campaigns of Russ Feingold (D-WI), who co-sponsored the Senate version of the U.S. "Clean Diamond Act" passed in 2003 have been heavily funded by Leon Tempelsman & Son.
Late in 2006, as the Christmas diamond rush was approaching, the film Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio provoked the World Diamond Council to launch a blitzkreig advertising campaign—full-page ads in the New York Times, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, the International Herald Tribune—touting the self-policing successes of the Kimberley Process. The campaign was presumably coordinated to counter the supposed "negative publicity" of the Blood Diamond film.
The Kimberly Process was launched under the narrow definition that "conflict diamonds" only originate from conflicts between 'rebels' and 'governments': it refers to smuggling by militias antagonistic to 'legitimate' member governments.
After the film Blood Diamond opened in the U.S., diamond sales were never been better.
"I'm wearing diamond ear rings today because they are conflict free," actress Jennifer Connelly, who stars in Blood Diamond, reportedly said. "It would be fantastic if some of these natural resources benefited more people but until that can happen we can certainly make a stand and insist that the diamonds we wear are conflict free, which doesn't mean boycotting diamonds. It just means making sure we support a more accountable Kimberly Process."
ENDIAMA'S BLOOD DIAMONDS
Artisanal diamond miners in Angola called artisanos or garimpeiros are forced into 'illegal' mining because Angola's mining security companies push people off their own land. While agriculture and commerce in the region require the direct authorization of the Provincial Governor, not one artisano has been granted a license for diamond exploration or subsistence agriculture. The 'legitimate' government of Angola forces desperate people to resort to 'illegal' activities to survive but according to Rafael Marques, garimpeiros contribute more to the profits of some of the state diamond mining firms than big industrial operations.
Three private military companies (PMCs) have been targeting garimpeiros in Angola. The mercenary firms Alfa-5, Teleservices, and K&P Mineira defend Angola's big name diamond firms like Sociedade de Desenvolvimento Mineiro (Sodiam), Sociedade Mineira de Cuango, and Sociedade Mineira Luminas. Human rights researcher Rafael Marques has recently documented more than 50 cases of PMCs arresting, beating and torturing garimpeiros. They stop garimpeiros from fishing in their rivers, growing their own food, or living traditional lives; they have forced sexual relations on family members, including same-sex rape and sodomy.
The PMCs operate behind Angola's public diamond company, Endiama, and have exclusive rights to Angola's diamonds. Endiama owns 99% of shares in Sodiam, which has a joint venture with Lazare Kaplan International (LKI) of the Israeli-American Maurice Tempelsman family.
Sodiam works with the Russo-Israeli Lev Leviev Group. Endiama owns part of Alfa-5, one of the PMCs that exploit and torture garimpeiros. Alfa-5 and K&P Mineira provide security for ASCORP—the Angola Selling Corporation—another Angolan monopoly.
One of ASCORP's controlling investors, Lev Leviev, runs a global commercial empire that includes: Leviev Group of Companies; Lev Leviev Diamonds; Africa-Israel (commercial real estate in Prague and London); Gottex (swimwear) Company; 1,700 Fina gas stations in the Southwest U.S.; 173 7-Elevens in New Mexico and Texas; a 33% stake in Cross Israel Highway (Israel's first toll road); and more. Leviev partner Arcady Gaydamak, an arms dealer, also reportedly works with Danny Yatom, a former MOSSAD (Israeli secret service) chief and security advisor to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Leviev is connected to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and to Sandline International, a U.K./South African mercenary firm operating in the war-torn areas of Eastern Congo and Uganda.
While participants in the Kimberley Process complained of the criminality of UNITA, the infamous rebels once supported by the CIA, but they gave the "legitimate" Dos Santos government a sparkling bill of health. Angola exemplifies the process whereby an international certification scheme enforced by the United Nations rubber stamps boxes of rough stones according to their 'country of origin.' Stamped 'Angola' the public is assured that these diamonds are now 'conflict free,' because these nations are members of the Kimberley certification.
The Kimberley Process was partially instituted through the work of Robert Rotberg at Harvard University. Maurice Tempelsman chairs the International Advisory Council at the Harvard AIDS Institute (HAI) of the School of Public Health. Rotberg and Tempelsman shared a panel at the Council on Foreign Relations with people like Walter Kansteiner, National Security under Bill Clinton and current director of a gold company involved in Congo's bloody eastern zone.
Maurice Tempelsman was for decades the unofficial ambassador to Congo/Zaire; Dan Gertler has usurped that role. In 2000 Gertler was named Honorary Consul to the Congo. Beny Steinmetz may be the biggest De Beers "sightholder". Africa Confidential called President Kabila's 2003 visit to the Bush White House a "coup" for Gertler and Steinmetz. Gertler's best friend is Brooklyn-born Chaim Leibowitz, a personal friend of Condoleeza Rice.
BLOOD DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
Tempelsman and Steinmetz bought diamonds from both sides during Angola's thirty-year war. Israeli diamond tycoons Gertler and Leviev are reportedly jockeying for power with Isabel Dos Santos, the high-rolling diamond-studded daughter of the President of Angola.
The Israel Diamond Exchange in Tel Aviv, which today brings Israel $13 billion annually in commerce, and is the country's second-largest industry. Israel buys some 50% of the world's rough diamonds, and the U.S. buys two-thirds of these.
Diamonds are Israel's top export. In 2005 figures, exports to the EU totaled $10.7 billion in 2004, including $2.5 billion in diamonds (23.3%); exports to the US totaled $14.2 billion in 2004, including $7.3 billion in diamonds (51.4%); exports to Asia totaled $7.1 billion in 2004, including $3.2 billion in diamonds (45.0%); exports to the rest of the world totaled $6.6 billion in 2004, including $800 million in diamonds (12.1%).
Dan Gertler's grandfather, Moshe Schnitzer, is known in Israel as "Mr. Diamond," founder of the Israel Diamond Exchange in Tel Aviv. Moshe Schnitzer's son and Dan Gertler's uncle is Shmuel Schnitzer, Vice-Chairman of the Belgian-based World Diamond Council—the entity that promotes the false image of "clean" or "conflict-free" diamonds.
In June 2002, as the Kimberley Process was unfolding, Daniel Horowitz, CEO of IDH Diamonds, gave a speech at the 3rd World Diamond Conference titled "Rough Diamonds in a Brave New World." IDH works with Endiama, BHP-Billiton and De Beers, another of the big diamond cartels.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it would be irresponsible to circumvent the fact that it is highly problematic, if not unfeasible, to work out a system in order to control the flow of rough diamonds around the world," Horowitz said. "The reality is that once diamonds are mined there is almost nothing one can do in order to prevent them from reaching the market. No certification scheme can truly be reliable, not only because war-torn areas are by definition disorganized, but mainly because it is intrinsically impossible to distinguish between good and bad diamonds. Misguiding traders and consumers with untrustworthy guarantees would inevitably be demystified over time. As opposed to this, it is critical to publicize that the mainstream diamond trade is legitimate. It needs to be said again and again that conflict diamonds are an irrelevant portion of world production. And as far as humanitarian issues are concerned, the added value the industry generates worldwide particularly benefits the developing world."
Angola remains a war-torn country selling billions of dollars worth of diamonds annually. In the past four years the government of Angola has waged a permanent war against poor people, destroying thousands of homes and taking the land in mass forced evictions. People were beaten, tortured and arbitrarily arrested. At least 1000 people die in eastern Congo every day.
Millions of blood diamonds from past and current wars remain locked in the vaults of the Belgian, Russian, New York, London and Israeli diamond bourses to insure the artificially high, monopoly-fixed, prices of diamonds.
Rafael Marques outlined cases torture, brutalization and assassinations—cases of personal brutality he investigated—that characterize diamond mining by state firms in Angola today.
"Should one, after this brief explanation," Marques asked, "say that the extraction of diamonds in Angola is OK? What the Kimberley Process, which was designed to drive blood diamonds out of the market, is doing is to rinse the blood from the gems, extracted in [Angola] and certify them as clean."
keith harmon snow and Rick Hines: "Blood Diamond: Doublethink and Deception Over Those Worthless Little Rocks of Desire," Z Magazine, June and July 2007, and Blood Diamonds at <http://www.allthingspass.com/journalism.php?catid=48 >.
Rafael Marques, Rinsing the Blood from Angola's Diamonds, Oxford University Africa Society, January 26, 2007.
snow's:
Gertler's Bling Bang
Over 5 million dead in Congo, 1500 daily
Wasting America's Wetlands
Trafficking in Children in Chad?
Three Cheers For Eve Ensler?
Mining the Apocalypse
Blood Diamond: Double Think & Deception, Part 1

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Talent Development 27 December 2018
How are HR Leaders' Roles Evolving?
What will HR leaders' roles look like in the future? The ChapmanCG share their observations on how HR leaders roles are changing to meet new business needs.
Key Contributors:
Katherine Qu
Find Your Next HR Leader
Katherine Qu is a Managing Director with ChapmanCG, based in Singapore. She works with the global team to identify top HR talent across Greater China, Singapore and SEA.
Prior to joining ChapmanCG, Katherine started her own executive search business in Beijing, which focused on senior executive roles for leading Chinese companies in the consumer, healthcare and real estate industries. Subsequently, Katherine held positions with Hudson and Charterhouse Partnership, a boutique executive search firm based in Singapore. Katherine has also had extensive industry experience across different sectors with global leaders such as Pepsi, Pfizer, and Lenovo.
Katherine was born in China and was educated in both China and the United States, achieving her Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland. She has worked in China, Singapore and the United States, and speaks both Mandarin and English fluently.
Latest Articles by Katherine
人才培养 26 July 2021
重新审视变革时期人力资源优先事项
2016年,我们发布了备受关注的"今日人力资源领导者五大关注领域"。仅仅5年...
Diversity and Inclusion 2 June 2021
Revisiting HR Priorities in Times of Change
In 2016, we published the much-viewed Five Areas of Interest for Today's HR Leader. Only…
A look back at top articles from 2020
The Top 5 Trends in German HR in the 2020s The HR trends shaping work…
The Future Workforce
We recently brought together an expert group of Talent, Learning & OD Leaders for a…
Andrea Merrigan
What Are CHROs Looking For in Their Heads of Talent?
Chief HR Officers have seen their responsibilities evolve over the years and many are taking…
Well-being 7 October 2019
What Are the Trends for Workplace Mental Health?
Taking a more detailed look at the latest trends for workplace mental health, hear from…
Regional Managing Director - EMEA
Tim Spriggs is Regional Managing Director, EMEA with ChapmanCG based in the UK where, as part of the executive committee, he leads the EMEA business.
Tim and his team deliver senior retained executive searches for a range of clients from global multinationals to SMEs and has a background in global HR executive search. He is particularly passionate about finding unique and exceptional talent for his clients across the region.
Prior to returning to the UK in 2017, Tim spent five years in Singapore where he was instrumental in building the China business and covered international work out of Asia. Prior to ChapmanCG, Tim worked for JD Haspel, a boutique London-based executive search firm, where he specialised in EMEA HR search assignments across multiple sectors including technology, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, financial services and natural resources.
Before moving into executive search, Tim's passion for sport led him to his first career in sports marketing and sponsorship with Octagon. He has a BA (Hons) in American Studies from the University of Nottingham, and a CIM Diploma from the London School of Marketing.
In his spare time, Tim enjoys running and cycling in the Chilterns and is known to have the occasional swim in the Thames near his home in Henley.
Latest Articles by Tim
Culture & Business Transformation 3 May 2021
Engagement, Well-Being and Performance
The European Coffee Club Series – key takeaways
Talent Acquisition 4 September 2020
A Perspective on Global Talent Acquisition Priorities
From the outset of the global pandemic, Talent Acquisition functions in many organisations have been…
Abby Walters Vanessa Blackburn


For a smart homemaker, ensuring a thorough and efficient furnace repair in Fort McMurray, AB will normally come as one of the top priorities; the reason why you will want to call on our experts at Bulldog Heating & Cooling, and not anybody else. Before the cold season begins, you need professional technicians to check your home furnace to ensure it will be in good running condition and won't malfunction when you need it the most. Don't wait for it to break down first before dialing our number. The best way to have our technician look at your unit is during the summer season when you are not using it as much. Imagine your frustration when it is freezing outside and your furnace is not working. We have seen many homeowners endure the cold climate because their heating appliance was not performing at its peak. You do not have to suffer the same fate if you give us a call to look at your unit's performance. To check if there's really something wrong with your furnace, you may switch it off, then on again. If it does not start running, call us and ask for furnace service.
People will really appreciate the furnace when the temperature plummets during winter time. However, it could become a death trap if the malfunction produces a leak. Thousands of carbon monoxide cases are reported yearly, with a high mortality rate. Only when you feel dizzy or nauseous and cannot explain it that you will think about a possible leak, and by then the problem can be a lot bigger than you suppose. Hundreds of people in North America die every year from carbon monoxide poisoning. Call us at Bulldog Heating & Cooling in Fort McMurray, AB so we can immediately send over our team to inspect your unit and make the necessary repairs.
If replacing your furnace is imminent, then make sure you are getting the best deal, no less from the most reliable furnace company near year you, and while at it, ensure quality furnace installation all the way. Just because the unit you are trying to buy is the most modern or most expensive doesn't mean it's the perfect one for your home. We at Bulldog Heating & Cooling have mastered our craft, which means you can count on our word when it comes to repair, replacement, maintenance or furnace installation in your Fort McMurray, Alberta home. With our assistance, you will be able to enjoy the advantages of having a well-maintained and functioning furnace in your home. Our workforce is made up of skilled technicians who are always willing to provide the needed service with a smile.
Whatever your needs are—whether it's residential furnace repair, maintenance and installation—there's no other one to call but Bulldog Heating & Cooling. We understand that in an emergency, you need assistance right away. Our being in the furnace business in Fort McMurray, AB has given us the edge to conduct residential furnace repair, maintenance and installation, and we can guarantee that every service job is done with a smile. Bulldog Heating & Cooling is known for its reliability, quality of service, quick turnaround of repairs or maintenance and affordability. You will end up replacing the whole unit, which is going to be expensive when you factor in the purchase of the new model as well as the payment for both labor and residential furnace repair service of our technicians at Bulldog Heating & Cooling.
Proper home furnace maintenance will prevent those sudden breakdowns and malfunctions. Industry stats reveal that almost 8 in 10 calls for furnace maintenance are made during the winter (the busiest time of the year). You may experience lower fuel bills with an energy-efficient unit. Allowing us to service your furnace will also reduce your monthly energy bills and prevent furnace breakdowns in the middle of the night. What could have been a simple furnace service may have morphed into a very complicated job.
Choosing between furnace replacement and furnace repair in Fort McMurray may depend on just one factor – the age of the unit. The most common question asked of us is: can you still repair it? If the unit is still covered by warranty, and the repair job is much less than the cost of a unit, then by all means, choose to have your unit repaired. In general, furnaces that are less than 10 years old can be repaired at a cost much lower than the price of a furnace replacement. With regular cleaning and maintenance, you can save money you would otherwise spend for repairs and potential replacement. A home furnace usually lasts between 15 and 20 years. When it starts malfunctioning or failing more often even after it has already been repaired, furnace replacement may be your best option.


text:
BALTŲ IR KRIKŠČIONIŠKŲJŲ SIMBOLIŲ ESTETINĖ TRANSFORMACIJA PETRO DIRGĖLOS "KARALYSTĖJE"
THE AESTHETIC TRANSFORMATION OF THE BALTIC AND CHRISTIAN SYMBOLS IN PETRAS DIRGELA'S "THE KINGDOM"
Author(s): Vytautas Martinkus
Subject(s): Lithuanian Literature
Published by: Mykolas Romeris University
Keywords: aesthetics; symbol; Baltic religion; Christian values; epic;
Summary/Abstract: This article deals with the epic "The Kingdom" by Petras Dirgėla, a historical work of literature in 14 parts (books) as a subject of multivariable senses of faith (esteem). The significance of these symbols as religious aesthetic (literary) values is analysed. The aim of the article is to discuss the relationship between religious symbols from different epochs (pre-Christian and Christian) and their transformation into aesthetic values in the historical novel. The research seeks to examine the change in symbolic values of religion in the historical Lithuanian novel as a subject of different cultural symbols.The research seeks to address the questions: 1) Can symbols of a Baltic religion changed to Christian ones essentially affect the form of epic work? 2) Which symbols of the Baltic religion in the epic "The Kingdom" are most important to the narrator in establishing the kingdom's literary world? 3) How does the novel transform the religious symbols into aesthetic (literary) values? Answering the questions raised is an important aesthetic issue of Lithuanian philosopher Juozas Mureika (the theory of aesthesis). The article proposes the following conclusions. The Baltic and Christian symbols in the novel "The Kingdom" are equally important to its literary form. The structure of the work (form) and the traits of narrative poetics are determined by the fundamental value of any faith – the connection between the road of earthly human life and the kingdom of heaven (the spiritual). The historical interrelationships between the symbols of different religions increase the multiplicity of poetic means (such as symbols, metonymy and metaphors) and their aesthetic effect in literary works. One of the most important symbols that actively determines the structure of an epoch`s boundaries is water and a path. Their variables are sea and lake, road and passenger. The last most significant element in the novel is the symbol of the tree (or forest). From an aesthetic perspective, it is not only the significance of these (and all other) symbolic signs that is important, but also their "architectonics", through which the reader experiences the whole set of symbols of a work and establishes new archetypal meanings.
Journal: Socialinių mokslų studijos
Issue Year: 10/2018
Language: Lithuanian
Recezijos Reviews 2005 Lietuvių meno kontekstai ir intertekstai Antano Šileikos romane "Bronzinė moteris" Contexts and Intertexts of Lithuanian Art in the Novel "Woman in Bronze" by Antanas Šileika 2012


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Online Marketing Conference
"Thank you SkySprout for hosting such a great event"
VaynerX
"The Best Inaugural Event That I Have Ever Been To"
David Meltzer
About SkySprout Summit
Our founder and CEO, Nick Francis, got to thinking in early 2019 about the possibility of creating an event that would bring business owners, entrepreneurs, marketers, and like minded people together. At first, this idea started off as a small, intimate dinner. When that was successful, Nick knew he wanted to continue to host events that were equally, if not more, beneficial. He started putting together another dinner, which evolved into classes, which evolved into workshops. Eventually, Nick decided to combine his passion for marketing and experience with live events to throw the massive SkySprout Summit.
With the ultimate goal in mind to educate others and bring value to businesses, Nick set out to find people who could bring this to the table. He started local, connecting with business owners and marketers in the area who were familiar faces to many in the community. As they saw the conference gaining traction, Nick and the SkySprout team started reaching out to people on a larger scale, eventually landing Benton Crane (CEO of Harmon Brothers), David Meltzer (CEO of Sports 1 Marketing), Amy Landino (AmyTV), and more of the biggest names in the industry. Before he knew it, Nick was on stage having a fireside chat with Gary Vanyerchuk and hosting a VIP Empathy wine tasting.
During the summit, our guests got to enjoy a series of keynotes, panels, fireside chats, entertainment, and more. Instead of just listening to people talk at the audience all day, we provided the space to interact and ask questions. Not only did we learn from the experts on stage, but also from the experts in the crowd! Nick wanted everyone to get as much information as possible from this three day event while also genuinely having a fun time. Being someone who likes to play as hard as he works, Nick recruited Daymond John (Shark Tank) to host a networking party on the final night of the conference!
It was a whirlwind of six months from the time the idea was conceived until it was executed…and it was so worth it! The response from both attendees and speakers alike was incredible. People left feeling like they got something out of it, whether it was knowledge, connections, or even a new appreciation for the marketing industry. Our team is so excited as we work to put together the next one for you, and to see it come back bigger than ever each year!
SkySprout Summit
2605 Northland Plaza Dr.
© 2022 Sky Sprout LLC


text:
ISAO MIURA
The Narrow Road
Patrick Curry's wonderful and uplifting book Enchantment, about the experience of wonder in everyday life through art, religion and learning, love, food and drink and most significantly in our relationship with the natural world. And Isao's painting Visiting the bird is on the cover!
Click on the image to visit Floris Book's website.
Festival des Arts de Claviers, near Bargemon, France
New work in oils and wood. A joint exhibition with Nadia Schmidt in the Chapelle Saint-Sylvestre, Place du 8 Mai 1945, 83830 Claviers.
Private view: May 19th 6pm
Hours: May 20 – 26th 3 – 7pm
Thanks to Guy Chapman & Damian Cullen for organising this tremendous exhibition!
23 January 2019, 15:30 – 17:00: Putting on the Paper Coat: linguistic and artistic approaches to translating Basho in the 21st century, a presentation by ISAO MIURA & Chris Beckett as part of the SOAS Global Translation Lecture Series.
Free entry. All welcome. School of Oriental & African Studies, Russell Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1H 0XG, UK
TRAVELS IN A PAPER COAT
A collaborative exhibition with filmmaker Nikolai Azariah & poet Chris Beckett
APT Gallery, Creekside, Deptford from Thursday 28 June, 2018 to Sunday 15 July, 2018.
Open 12 - 5pm Thursday to Sunday.
Private View (with performance): 6 - 9 pm Thursday 28 June.
Exhibition supported by the Japan Society.
For pictures of this exhibition and of Isao's performance, please click on the photo.
For Nikolai's wonderful short film, please click here: vimeo.com/315541055
Events:
Conversation with Artists: 6 pm Friday 29 June
Sat 30 June, 12 noon: Uta Makura Walk
Sat 7 July, 12 noon: Creek Walk
Sat 14 July, 12 noon: Uta Makura Walk
Sun 15 July, 3-5pm: Closing Celebration
To reserve a place on the walks please visit Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/uta-makura-walk-tickets-46356559718
SKETCHES FROM THE POEM ROAD (AFTER MATSUO BASHO'S THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH)
A second and much expanded collaborative exhibition, with poet Chris Beckett, at the GLASS TANK GALLERY, OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY from 20 JUNE/ 15 JULY 2016
Isao and Chris will be available in the Glass Tank every Tuesday from 12noon to 2:00pm to introduce and discuss the exhibition with anyone who is interested.
Calendar of free events:
Tues 21 June, 6-8pm: Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, London
"Artist Talk" with Prof Nathalie Aubert and Isao Miura discussing the exhibition and the influence of Japanese calligraphy in modern art.
Sunday 3 July, 2-5pm: A Walk on the Poem Road
A chance to emulate Basho's type of literary pilgrimage and write your own haiku and haibun along the way
Wednesday 6 July, 10am: Basho at the Ashmolean
A special visit to the private room in the Ashmolean Museum to view Basho and Narrow Road related articles, led by Isao Miura.
Tuesday 12 July, 6-8pm: Bronze and the Art of Translation
A stimulating evening of talks and discussion on the subject of artistic and literary translation, with John Nicoll (director Chelsea Foundry), Prof Nathalie Aubert, David Constantine & Sasha Dugdale (former and current editor of Modern poetry in Translation) and Thomas McAuley, chaired by Niall Munro, director of Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre.
Friday 15 July, 6-8pm: Gala Haibun Evening at the Glass Tank
With readings by Jane Draycott, Robert Seatter and the Poem Road group, introduced by Isao Miura and Chris Beckett.
Collaborative exhibition with poet Chris Beckett at the Poetry Society, Betterton Street, Covent garden, London WC2H 9BX
from 2 March/25 April 2015
FELLOWSHIP AT CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ART
Isao has been awarded a 6 month Fellowship in the Foundry at Chelsea College of Art and Design in London, starting in October 2014. He will be working on his project to re-interpret Matsuo Basho's poem and prose travelogue, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, which was written in 1689 and is a seminal and much-loved masterpiece of Japanese literature, .
CROSSING THE WATER
Isao's painting Crossing the Water is the cover of Chris Beckett's book Ethiopia Boy, published by Carcanet/Oxford Poets on 29th February 2013. To see the book, please visit www.carcanet.co.uk or www.chrisbeckettpoems.com
PALM BEACH ART FAIR 2013
Isao is exhibiting with Christopher Walker Art at ArtPalmBeach in Florida, USA, from 25-28 January 2013.
Details are on the fair's website: www.artpalmbeach.com
Isao will be exhibiting with Christopher Walker Art at ArtPalmBeach in Florida, USA, from 19-23 January 2012.
MIZU – KI – ISHI (Water, Wood and Stone) (a JAPAN-UK 150 Event)
Isao Miura, Lisa Kirton, Kyoko Sugai: three exciting Japanese visual artists explore the depth and beauty of natural materials in the unusual context of a timber merchant's yard in Hammersmith.
Venue : The Gallery at Moss & Co, Dimes Place, 104 King Street, Hammersmith, London W6 OQW
Date and Time : 1st to 28th September 2009
Monday to Friday 8-12 a.m. and 1-5 p.m., Saturdays 8-11.30 a.m.


text:
Laurac-Bat fue un periódico editado en Bilbao en 1880, durante apenas mes y medio.

Descripción
Sucesor de Lau-Carú, apareció el 10 de abril y cesó el 30 de mayo de ese mismo año, habiendo publicado apenas treinta y seis números. Su director era Faustino Díez Gaviño, que tenía a Estanislao Jaime de Labayru entre sus colaboradores. Se vería sucedido por Beti-Bat.

Notas

Referencias

Bibliografía

Periódicos carlistas
Publicaciones fundadas en 1880
Publicaciones desaparecidas en 1880
Publicaciones editadas en Bilbao


Vintage West German glass spacers that are quite unique and in excellent shape - they're a lovely 'cranberry' red with a matte finish and a somewhat primitive look to them as you can see in the photos.
I used these red glass beads in numerous earrings I designed for the Smithsonian in the 1980's paired with vintage Japanese red millefiori glass teardrop beads also listed in my shop.
Price is for 10 of these vintage glass spacers which we 100% guarantee to be vintage West German glass from the 1950's. They measure approximately 6.5mm x3.5mm.
I sold many of these unusual vintage West German glass beads through the Smithsonian Institution's museum shop and mail order catalog during the 1980's and they were also featured in trunk shows at Bloomingdales and Saks Fifth Avenue during this same time period.


Buying a brand new vehicle is not for everyone. And our dealership caters to that idea. We know Volvo is growing in popularity and that is why we offer not only new Volvo inventory but also a wide selection of Certified Pre- Owned suv's and sedans from years past. Volvo has been manufacturing vehicles with the utmost quality for years, and for this reason we feel confident that a few miles on the odometer will not affect the longevity of the vehicle.
Our Certified Pre- Owned inventory undergoes a rigorous 130-point test. Part of the test includes checking the mileage and vehicles history. All vehicles must have less than 80,000 miles and if any vehicle component needs to be replaced our service team updates the item. As a reliable pre-owned dealer serving St. Charles, MO we offer vehicle history reports as well. Our Certified Pre- owned program is ranked number one amongst the premium segment for the last 8 years. This is because as a Volvo dealer we honor the strict criteria to designate a vehicle Certified. And we are so confident once we do, we offer warranties to re-emphasize the type of quality each used Volvo still instills. One warranty in particular is the 7 year, 100,000 mile warranty. This will replace any component when needed under the warranty term. Our Certified Volvo vehicles also offer free roadside assistance.
Visit your number one Volvo dealer in Missouri and check out the affordable used cars we offer, our extensive selection of Certified Pre- Owned Volvos offer comparable quality to a brand new vehicle at a much lower price. We encourage you to browse our online selection of Certified Pre-owned vehicles as they change often and drop by the dealership to test drive one. We look forward to your visit.


The overseas convention on strength, setting and fabrics technology (EEMS2015) was held in Guangzhou, China, from August 25 - 26, 2015. EEMS2015 provided a platform for academic scientists, researchers and students to switch and percentage their stories and learn effects in the fields of energy technological know-how, strength know-how, environmental technological know-how, environmental engineering, motivation, automation and electric engineering, fabric technological know-how and engineering, the invention or improvement of strength, and environment and fabrics technological know-how.
Over the last decade, large learn has been performed near to coal as one of many world's best power resources. the present and destiny prestige of this source is a subject of substantial curiosity to the most important international economies, together with the USA, Japan, China and Europe. Advances within the technology of Victorian Brown Coal offers severe reports of the data and study released over this time, giving the reader an authoritative assessment of the technology surrounding this crucial subject.
Even though fossil fuels stay the first worldwide power resource, constructing and increasing economies are growing an ever-widening hole among offer and insist. effective power administration bargains an economical chance for either industrialized and constructing countries to restrict the large monetary and environmental charges linked to burning fossil fuels.
Nuclear know-how in all international locations of the realm is topic to controls from the overseas Atomic power corporation (IAEA) to avoid its misuse for army reasons. lately those controls (or "safeguards") have come lower than feedback for loss of effectiveness, and the IAEA has now elaborated a reinforced safeguards process achieving deep into the domain names of nationwide sovereignty.
With center East blow-ups, pipeline politics, wind farm controversies, sunlight scandals, and disputes over fracking, it really is normal to imagine that the strength coverage debate is at its so much extreme ever. yet it is easy to disregard that strength concerns ruled the nation's politics within the Nineteen Seventies besides.


FlyHoch Approaches the Clients With their Needs to be Full-filled and to have a long Term Relationship. Our Buying house sources compliant garment manufacturers.We Source Products or Factories after Lot of Cross-Checks and Specifications to meet up the Clients Requirements.
Our merchandising team is always on the lookout for new fabrics, designs by attending fairs and by visits to mills, processing houses to update our customers design department with latest inputs well in advance to help them make an attractive range.
FlyHoch as a socially responsible company, we believe in protecting nature and as an initiative towards this objective, we are promoting usage of recyclable and natural fibres like Organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, recycled fleece etc… we also support usage of Fair trade cotton.


text:
OpenHazards.com
Earthquake Forecasting and Hazard Analysis
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Submitted by jill on Sun, 11/01/2009 - 23:00
Measuring the size of an earthquake is a complicated process, which is the main reason most of us have trouble understanding just how much power is released by an earthquake of a certain "magnitude". I searched around for the simplest explanation possible. If you understand a little more about the potential power that can be unleashed during an earthquake, then you might also appreciate how important it is to be prepared.
The most common way scientists use to communicate the size of an earthquake is to convert the total energy released into a range of "magnitude" numbers. In general, if you can feel the ground move during an earthquake, the magnitude assigned to it will be greater than 2.5 or 3, which is considered "minor". Minor earthquakes are measured by sensitive instruments (called seismometers), but generally not "felt". Almost a million minor earthquakes a year are recorded by seismometers.
"Light" to "moderate" earthquakes may cause slight damage to buildings, dams, reservoirs, and other manmade structures. These would be earthquakes that are between magnitude 4 to 5.9, and about 30,000 of these events occur each year worldwide. A "strong" earthquake of between magnitude 6 to 6.9 happens about 100 times a year somewhere in the world, and these can cause a lot of damage in urban areas. "Major" earthquakes, usually measured between magnitude 7 to 7.9, will cause serious damage in populous regions. About 20 of these occur worldwide per year. A "great" earthquake can completely destroy whole communities. Great earthquakes are anything measured above magnitude 8, and only occur once every few years.
One way to understand how much energy is released by earthquakes is to compare them with other ways we produce energy. For example, a magnitude 1 seismic wave releases as much energy as blowing up 6 ounces of TNT. A magnitude 7 earthquake releases as much energy as 8 million gallons of gasoline or enough energy to heat 20,000 single family homes per year in the U.S. A magnitude 8 earthquake releases as much energy as detonating over 8 million tons of TNT. For comparison, the two atom bombs dropped on Japan to end World War II had TNT equivalents of 13,000 tons on Hiroshima and 21,000 tons on Nagasaki.
If you feel an earthquake, or if you hear about one that happens anywhere in the world, you can go online and either report what you felt, or you can see what others have reported in an area that recently shook. A website called "Did You Feel It?" is managed by the U.S. Geological Service (USGS), and features lots of other great information on earthquakes as well.
Now you know a little more about why it's important to figure out what the earthquake potential is in your own community. If you live in an area that could experience anything above a magnitude 5, you should make sure you have taken steps to prepare in order to protect your home and your loved ones. Use OpenHazards tools such as the "Hazard Viewer" and "Home Response" to determine your risk today!
jill's blog
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Permalink Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/03/2018 - 23:09
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text:
IGS Opens Compressed Natural Gas Station at Rumpke
August 25, 2017 || Read Time: 3 minutes
IGS CNG Services and Rumpke Waste & Recycling partnered to build a new compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station at Rumpke's Columbus location on Fields Avenue.
IGS CNG Services Opens CNG Fueling Station in Partnership with Montgomery County in Moraine, Ohio
June 29, 2016 || Read Time: 3 minutes
IGS CNG Services announced the opening of its compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station in partnership with Montgomery County in Moraine, Ohio, just outside of Dayton.
IGS CNG Services Partners with Montgomery County to Open CNG Fueling Station in Moraine, Ohio
May 3, 2016 || Read Time: 3 minutes
IGS CNG Services recently announced its plans to operate and maintain a compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station in Moraine, just outside of Dayton.
IGS CNG Services Opens Compressed Natural Gas Fueling Station in South Bend, Indiana
IGS CNG Services and Speedway LLC (Speedway) announced the opening of their Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling station in South Bend, IN.
Renergy and IGS CNG Services Opening CNG Fueling Station In Marengo, Ohio
Renergy and IGS CNG Services partnered to construct a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling station at the intersection of Interstate 71 and Ohio State Route 61. The station broke ground in May 2015 and is now open to anyone driving CNG fueled vehicles.


text: Q: Excel modeless userform focus issue I have an Excel file in Excel 2013 with three userforms that are the front end to a Access backend. Upon launching a form and attempting to go back and forth between the form and another Excel workbook that has data to cut and paste in to the userform I am finding Excel will not allow me to click on any cell in the second workbook with the data despite being active. In fact when I try to click on cells in that workbook it appears to click on cells in the other workbook I have the userforms housed in. The only way it seems to want to let me click on the other work book with the data is if I click on the title bar of the workbook with the userforms then I can click on the workbook with the data and select the cell I want to copy data from. I have the form set to modeless but I am unable to find a solution to get around this minor inconvenience. There is nothing in my code that changes any Excel settings, interacts with the workbook that the forms are housed in or does any sort of focus changing. Essentially I am just clicking on a control like a combobox or textbox and then attempting to click on the secondary workbook at which point I can't. I'm thinking this is probably just a bug with Excel but am hoping someone has found a workaround.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


This podcast is the narrated version of my article 3 Hypnotherapy Techniques That Help Your Clients Let Go of the Past.
Amnesia is a natural process, we forget things all the time and never recall them again. But when a memory gets 'stuck' and doesn't age, a client may need a little help allowing it to fade into the background. Hypnotic amnesia is a simple process of using the natural forgetting process to give a client more distance on a memory.
Why completely changing the subject induces amnesia.


text:
About a Poet: Peggy Freydberg
Nancy Aronie
Something that had always been in her, and now has seen the light of day. Read Margaret Howe Freydberg's poems here:
I met Margaret Howe Freydberg 17 years ago when we were both speakers at the first Chilmark Women's Symposium. She read her poem, "A Letter to My Family Explaining How I Feel About My Cats." I loved it and I loved her. Instantly. I knew we would be friends.
But then life got in the way, and I did nothing about making our paths cross again. When she turned 100, I went to her reading at the Chilmark library, and this time I was determined to make this friendship happen. But then my son Dan got sick, and my path took a sharp left turn.
This year three people' faces flashed before me, clear as if they were right in the room talking to me: My 42-year-old friend Doug, my dear friend and gynecologist Stanley, and my sister-in-law Linda. In each isolated case, I said to myself, Ooh, I have to call Doug; Oh, I must check in with Stanley; Gosh, I wonder how Linda is doing. Apparently they were talking to me, because that week all three of them died. And I hadn't called any of them. It shook me up so much so that I made a deal with myself: The next person who makes an appearance in my brain gets a phone call.
And the next person was Peggy Freydberg.
I started visiting her weekly. One day, early on, I asked her how many kids she had, and just as she was about to answer she said, "Oh, today is my son's birthday." And I said, How old is he? And she said 80. I almost fell off the couch laughing. I said, Who has a kid who's 80! She laughed too.
I started bringing friends over to meet her. One day I asked her if she would read some of her work to my poet friend Gerry. She said "I can't; I have macular degeneration and I can't see." So we read about four of her poems to her. I couldn't stop gushing. I said, "Peggy, why aren't you famous?" She was quiet for a while, and then she said, "I don't know. I would've liked that."
On my way home I thought, That's it, I'm gonna do something. Even if it's a small something, she's gonna get some of the recognition she deserves!
I invited a bunch of friends to come to my studio and hear her gorgeous poetry. I rented 40 chairs and made 80 brownies (straight from the box). One by one, folks got up and read. If you had been in that room, you would've seen the rapt attention, the tears rolling down cheeks, the nods of absolute understanding.
Peggy got a standing ovation. After most of the guests had left, she said to me, "I've wondered why I've lived this long, and after today, I know." My friend Laurie David overheard her. We looked at each other and shared the power of what Peggy had just said.
Margaret Howe Freydberg had written her memoir, Growing Up in Old Age, at 80! She said she wrote it to tackle the subject of fear. There was so much wisdom in that book that I underlined half the book. She wrote, "I tell myself that I must see something in the mirror besides my wrinkled veneer if I am to have any calm, but I will have to make peace with the loss of smooth skin and find satisfaction in the gaining of something to take its place — something that has always been in me but has never seen the light of day."
Peggy didn't start writing poetry till she was 90! She said she still needed to express her feelings, but the novel and the personal narrative became too much for her.
She was joyous. I had so much fun with her. I asked her every question you would ask a new girlfriend (What did your parents think of your marrying a Jewish guy? Did you read your stuff to your husbands, and what did they say? Was that first novel totally autobiographical?), and she never balked or withheld or flinched.
Peggy was madly in love with her late husband Nick, and loved men — period. The woman, I swear, was still sexy. She was physically beautiful in all stages of her life.
Everyone who was lucky enough to know her and everyone who reads Poems from the Pond will know that that that "something" she referred to was her gift of language, her genuine humility, and her deep, deep wisdom.
Knowing Peggy has been one of the biggest blessings of my life.
tagged in friendship, Peggy Freydberg, poet


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Among the winners of the Ig Nobel prize is the person who invented karaoke, scientists that say love is OCD, and a man who dressed rats in tiny pants to study their behavior. The Ig Nobel prize celebrates the bizarre, the weird – and most importantly – funniest achievements and discoveries of human kind. But does it does serve a greater purpose than just making people laugh? And what drives scientists to study things others would consider bizarre? We ask the founder of the Ig Nobel Prize, editor of the Annals of Improbable Research magazine, Marc Abrahams.
Sophie Shevardnadze: The founder of the Ig Nobel Prize, editor of the Annals of Improbable Research magazine, Marc Abrahams. Marc, it's great to have you with us, welcome to the show. Now, tell me something: is getting an Ig Nobel prize belittling or actually ignoble for scientists - or is it an honor?
Marc Abrahams: Of course, I cannot speak for what's in somebody's mind. It's more an honor then not. When we give a prize, almost always, we first get in touch with the person, very quietly, and we offer them the prize, we give them the chance to decline, to turn down this great honor if they want to. So, if somebody says "no" - they don't get the prize. So, everybody who's getting the prize, has , pretty much, agreed to do it, and then they come here to the U.S. at their own expense to be a part of the Ig Nobel prize ceremony.
SS:But you feel like it's an honor, right?
MA: Oh yeah. It means you've done something that makes people laugh and then think - and that's kind of wonderful in its way. There are, what, seven billion people on the planet, more or less, and that's a lot of people, and for most people, including especially scientists, no matter what you do during your lifetime, almost nobody ever notices. If you are awarded an Ig Nobel prize, you're going to get some attention from the world. So, for a lot of winners it's an opportunity to have people pay attention.
SS:That's for sure, but I know, for instance, the chemistry Ig Nobel prize went to Volkswagen this year for coming up with innovative ways to hide emissions from state regulators - now that's obviously jeering at their attempt to cheat, that's not very honorable, is it?
MA: You can think of it as an appreciation. For Volkswagen, we tried to get in touch with them, it's a big corporation, so we were never able to find the right person. You know, all these prizes have nothing to do with good or bad. So, in a way, I wasn't giving you a good answer and actual answer before, as to whether this is an honor: it's hard to say. Every other prize in the world is for the best of things, you know, the Olympics, for the best athletes - or the worst of things, the "worst-dressed" awards, for worst-dressed people, but the Ig Nobel, it has nothing to do with good or bad. It has only to do with whether you've done something that makes people laugh and then think.
SS: Ignobels are a spoof prize, a sarcastic award, but you've said most people who receive it never refuse - why is that, are your laureates not afraid of being laughed at? I mean, if I were to be awarded "worst-dressed" of the year, I'll be horrified, I wouldn't go outside of my apartment.
MA: Yeah, that's the "Worst Dressed" award, but as I said, it has nothing to do with good or bad, a lot of these things that win prizes are wonderful and some of them are the opposite of wonderful, but there are lot of things in the world that are funny, they happen to be funny in addition to whatever else they are: they are important and they're funny, they're worthless and they're funny. So, this is for a combination of things and it's a very unusual thing, something that forces you to laugh and then to think about it.
SS:But the thing about laughing also has two sides to it: do you feel that laughing at someone's research ends up belittling it? I mean, maybe the scientific community doesn't mean it this way, but the scientists are mocked for doing seemingly useless or 'funny' research, like you put it -- that could be offensive to someone?
MA: We're not mocking them. This is why we give people the opportunity to say "No" - but in most cases, in these things, they themselves realize that it's funny, and that's the whole thing about science - when there's a true scientific discovery, that's unexpected, it's so unexpected that it's funny. That's almost the only reaction that a person could have: "I never expected that the world, that the universe works like this". The discovery, a couple or so centuries ago, that there are these little tiny bugs, everywhere, that we can't see, that have an effect on us - that seemed crazy, that seemed insane, that seemed funny. It also happens to be true.
SS:So you don't feel like the Ig Nobel prize does a disservice to science by making it a laughing stock?
MA: No... no. It's not why we are doing this. We are trying to do things that are so unusual, that they're pleasing, they make you laugh, in most cases, because it's the good kind of laughter, it's "I never dreamed that things could be like this" kind of laughter.
SS:Okay. So, like you've said, almost everyone accepts it, but there are some people, I assume, who decline, since you give them a chance, privately, to decline this honor - what happens in these cases? Is the award given to the next candidate in line?
MA: Yeah, it's kind of rare that somebody says "No", but if somebody says "No", then that's the end of the conversation. We don't tell anybody and we give the prize to somebody else.
SS:Oh my God, I was just going to ask you about him.
MA: Pardon me for bringing it up, why don't you ask me a question?
SS: Same thing, 10 years after receiving the Ig Nobel prize, Andre Geim has been awarded the real Nobel prize in physics for discovering graphene, which is a material that's set to transform the electronics industry. He got the Ig Nobel prize for using magnets to levitate a frog. How does one go from flying frogs to serious inventions?
MA: I see you're laughing here. This is something about magnetism that a few scientists knew about, but almost no scientist remembered, and when Andre Geim and his colleague re-discovered this, they thought: "None of our colleagues are going to believe us, so we better do something that seems so completely crazy that they'll pay attention" - and that's why they chose to levitate a frog, and people did pay attention. Ten years later, Andre got the Nobel Prize for something else, but the details of that also are kind of goofy - you know, they were playing around with some pencil, with scotch tape and paper then they discovered the way to get this substance, this graphene, this two-dimensional form of carbon, that scientists knew - in theory - existed, but they've never been able to get enough of it before to do experiments. So that experiment was also kind of goofy and funny looking, although people now just remember that it's important, but it was also goofy.
SS:Does a true scientist need to have a sense of humour?
MA: Well, does a true human being need a sense of humor? I think it's the real question. If you're doing science, it helps, scientists are trying to figure out things that nobody else was able to figure out, ever, and that means that most of the time, they are going to fail. Most of their job is to try something, try something, have it fail, try something, have it fail, try something, have it fail... Once in awhile, they get lucky and they discover something. If you know that most of your job is going to be failure, it really helps to have a sense of humor, to help you get through life and stay cheerful and keep working.
SS:So what does the Ig Nobel prize look like? Can you tell us what it is this year?
MA: Every year, the prize is different. It's handmade, from cheap, inexpensive, materials. Here's the prize this year. Our theme this year was "Time" - we have a theme for this ceremony. As you can see, it's a round clock, but it's an unusual clock: each of the hands is a little hourglass, filled with sand, and as the hands of the clock move around, the sand is shifting. There's another unusual thing about it, too: this year, 2016 is the year that's going to have one extra second - a leap second, added at the end of the year, and our clock has an extra second - it has got 61 seconds. The other thing I'll mention, as you've noticed, there are letters here, and they spell out the word: "Ig Nobel Prize", as you go clockwise around the clock.
SS:That's a pretty impressive invention. When you decide who to give the award to, what's more important - it being funny or having merit?
SS:You've given out a mathematics prize to the head of Zimbabwe's central bank for printing 100 trillion dollar bills - how does that make one think?
MA: I hope it makes you think! In Zimbabwe, a few years ago, they had a little problem with inflation of their money, and they started printing bills in larger and larger amounts, and they started printing million dollar bills, billion dollar bills, ten billion dollar bills... they got up as high as one hundred trillion dollar bill; and at the same time as the government was printing bills that said "100 trillion dollars", the head of the national bank also had them print a bill that said: "One Cent". So think about that. The government's printing bills in 100 trillion dollar amounts and one cent. This is unusual.
SS: What's there to think about? Their economy is messed up and there's default on the country, happens all the time.
MA: Well, there was thinking. Gideon Gono- the name of the man who was the head of the country's national prize, and he won an Ig Nobel Prize for mathematics for doing this - he wrote an entire book to explain to people of Zimbabwe and the whole world why he was doing this and why he thinks this was important, and he said: "Look, when you have to spend large amounts of money, like 100 trillion dollars, when you spend it, you still have to make change, and that's why you need these 1 cent coins" - if you think about that, that's rather unusual! Deserves some kind of prize, does it not?
SS:When you put it that way, it certainly does.
How do you even find all these studies? Do you go through every single publication in every single journal to find something eccentric?
MA: Everything is eccentric if you'll look at it the right way. We're always looking for things, and "we" is about a hundred people, the Ig Nobel board of governors spread around the world, but more than that, we've been doing this for 26 years, and it's got to be fairly well-known - every day, every single day, I get a flood of nominations from around the world. Anybody can send in a nomination, so if somebody listening today knows about a person who deserves an Ig Nobel Prize - tell us. We get, in a typical year, about nine thousand or so of new nominations, and anything that we don't give a prize to this year, we look at again next year. So, there's a lot of stuff out there. I should mention - it's not just science. We give prizes in other fields - for example, we gave a prize, one year, to the man who invented karaoke. He's Japanese, as you've might expect, and we gave him Ig Nobel Peace Prize - pretty much every year we have a Peace Prize. We gave the inventor of karaoke the Peace prize rather than some other category, because by inventing karaoke, he invented an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other.
MA: ...Not everybody learns when given the opportunity.
SS: So you've mentioned your team - who are they? Who does the choosing? You have your own Ig Nobel Prize committee?
MA: Oh yeah, it's about hundred people, it's the editors of my magazine, the Annals of Improbable Research, a few people who've won Ig Nobel Prizes, a few people who have won Nobel Prizes, some journalists, some teachers and some people who have no connection to anything - we tried for a real mix of people; people who are filled with curiosity.
SS: Who does the funding for all those improbable researches? Are those universities - or private investors?
SS: You have a minute.
MA: Now I feel nervous. Every case is different. Some of these things are funded with government money, and whatever country it is, some of them are funded by corporate money, private money. A lot of these are just not funded at all, it's something that some scientist or somebody just did on their own. A lot of these are very small experiments. And with science, even more than with most things, something can look completely insane on the outside, and when you hear details you see - "Well, these people had a pretty good reason for doing this", but sometimes it takes more than 20 seconds to explain that. There's a lot of stuff in the world, and maybe if you think about what you do every day when you come to work, what do you do every day from ten o'clock in the morning till 10:15 - if you write down in great detail what you do, that might look insane, and the fact that you're being paid to do it might look kind of crazy, but the fact is - you are being paid to do it and probably there's a reasonably good reason for you doing things. So, it's a nice question and it has a long answer.
MA: Oh yes, that's why we choose them.
SS:Another attached prosthetic limbs to himself and lived like a goat in the Swiss alps - do they realise how bizarre and wacky their experiments appear to the outside world?
MA: Sometimes yes, sometimes no. There have been a few cases when we telephoned them and offered them the prize, that was the first moment that they realized that what they've done seemed funny. The one that sticks in my mind is there's a prize that we gave about 10 years ago to a team of scientists in Australia. They had spent a year doing experiments and they published a scientific paper with the title: "An Analysis of the Forces Required to Drag Sheep Across Various Surfaces" - they have been doing some work, they live in Australia, and in part of Australia where sheep is the big industry, and the people who run some of the big industries, they have asked them: "Come in, spend some times, tell us what we're doing not efficiently and improve it" - and so they did. One of the things they discovered is that the sheep that are brought in every now and then to be sheared, to have their wool cut off, and they are brought into these huge buildings, there's thousands of sheep, big electric cutters... It's very dangerous, a lot of sheep are injured, a lot of people are injured. And any efficiency could add up to a lot of money, because it's a lot of sheep passing through here. One thing they discovered - it's that easy - that it was easier to drag a sheep down hill.
SS:Right. Ten years of research.
MA: Yeah. But the fact was - a lot of these buildings where they do things things, they were dragging the sheep uphill rather than down. So, it's a simple thing, but it took them a year to realize that - and it ended up making a huge amount of money for that industry. It's kind of funny, I think.
MA: Have you tried that yourself?
MA: Why don't you try it right now?
SS:I can't, because I'm tied down with some wires, but I have, right before this show.
MA: You're tied down with wires?
SS: Yeah, I have to hear you and I have to talk into microphone. But I have tried it right before the show, and it's really funny, and I got, like, the energy boost, because blood went to my brain - but I still don't see the relevance to the real world, what's the usefulness of this knowledge?
MA: Well, now you're wondering about it, you're thinking about it, so our goal is met, we've succeeded, you've laughed at it and now you're thinking about it. If you look into details of it, you'll find out that there were a lot of questions about how the eyes and the brain connect and how images are interpreted in my minds. It turned out that a lot of these questions get focused very directly when you ask this very odd question of how's the world is seeming to be different when you're looking upside down. So, I urge you here, got look at the scientist's paper and it will open new worlds to you.
MA: I'd further urge you to stand on your head while you read it, but it's not necessary.
SS:That should be the next step, I should take it little by little. It may be a little too much altogether.
MA: Yeah, after they remove the wires.
SS: Otherwise they will be your next Ig Nobel Prize if they did that, I suppose, right?
MA: I'll keep that in mind, thank you!
SS:So tell me about all these scientists that you meet, you know them personally, I assume - how does one, for instance, decide to dedicate months or even years of life to study homosexual necrophilia among ducks, is it just curiosity?
MA: One species of duck! But it's only because he noticed something this one thing, and he spent the next hour looking and taking notice.
SS: Would you say it's just curiosity to drive someone to dedicate all this time to a topic like that?
MA: Oh yeah, scientists are people who are filled with curiosity of various kinds, that's why they're scientists. Most scientists spend a long time looking at first one thing and then another trying to figure out... They're not just sitting there stupidly, staring at the thing all day long - they're poking and prodding it and trying to come up with ideas and test them, and try to be really,really diligent about coming up with what's true answer here rather than just 'my guess' - and almost anything they're looking at is going to seem kind of strange to somebody who doesn't spend all that time. Fortunately, there are people who are going to spend their lives doing this stuff, because some of them discover things that make the rest of our lives a little bit better. Some of them discover things that make it a little worse, but eh.
SS:Who is your favorite Ig Nobel laureate?
MA: Oh, there have been quite a few. The disoverer of homoxecual necrophilia among mallard ducks has become a good friend and does all sorts of unusual things, but oh there's so many more. There's one scientist who did some calculations about the old question of "If you take a piece of toast" - you know, put butter on toast and then you drop it - there's this old belief that if you drop a piece butter toast, it will always land on buttered said. Was that true? It turns out the physics of it says yeah, that is true - more often than not, it will fall on butter side.
SS: How many pieces of toast did he test it on?
MA: He had schoolchildren in England, I think there were about 10,000 schoolchildren, all simultaneously drop pieces of toast - so first he did the calculations and then he had all these schoolchildren do it, and it turned out that the calculations were correct.
MA: Good luck with those wires and things!
SS: Thanks, we're going to get to it once we're done here. Thanks for your really funny insight, we were talking to Marc Abrahams, the founder of the Ig Nobel Prize and the editor of the Annals of Improbable Research magazine, exploring the weird side of science and why silly research is important. That's it for this edition of SophieCo, I will see you next time.