Ideally located in the heart of the French Riviera, between the villages of St Paul de Vence and Valbonne at 24 km from Cannes, only 15 minutes drive from the beaches and the international Nice airport, the new real estate program of the Domaine du Colombier involves 12 well appointed and high standard 2 and 3 rooms apartmentS. Spread in two typical niçois' style buildings located in a 2500 m2 provencal park with a large swimming pool in a peaceful setting, this is a very attractive program for both principal and secondary homes.
Each apartment has a private entrance, large terrace from 19 to 42 m2, opened kitchen, large dining room, well appointed bathroom. Five apartments enjoy private gardens and all have view on the garden, Bastidons Valley, in a natural charming atmosphere, some of them with sea view.
Apartment B03 is located at the garden level in a small building on 3 levels with 8 apartments only. It contains an entrance with cupboard, a living room with an open kitchen to be equipped, 1 bed room with cupboard (10,950m2), 1 shower room with WC, a cellar. The apartment has a very nice covered terrace of approx 20m2 and a private garden of 65m2.
Two parking places (some with pergola) are attributed by apartment (20.000 euro for both). ********** Please contact us for further information or a visit. Reduced notary fees.
Doppelverglasung, Carport, Außenbeleuchtung, Gegensprechanlage, Schwimmbad, Klimaanlage, Gemeinsame Waschküche, Elektrotor.
Bus, Läden, Grundschule, Strand, Stadtzentrum, Supermarkt, Golf, Kino, Mittelschule, Flughafen, Meer.


VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The 74th Annual Barnes County Tournament began on Tuesday with four games at the W.E. Osmun Fieldhouse on the campus of Valley City State University.
In game one, Enderlin downed Griggs County Central 62-14. Milnor/North Sargent defeated Barnes County North 55-37.
The Eagles held the Cougars to three points in the second half and no field goals over the final 9:14 as the picked up the win.
Katelyn Tingley led the Eagles with 25 points, 15 coming after halftime. She added three steals defensively. Kaylie Schlecht was also in double figures with 15 points and three steals. Brooke Christensen chipped in six points, a team high six rebounds and a game high three assists.
Jenna Larson led the Cougars with six points. Kennedy Hanneson had a team high six rebounds.
Enderlin is now 2-1 on the season. Griggs County Central falls to 0-1.
The Bulldogs outscored Barnes County North 27-9 over the second and third quarters which turned out to be the difference inthe game.
Dylan Frederick scored 20 points to lead the way for the Bulldogs. Christina Mathias and Annika Nelson had eight points and five rebounds each. Victoria Sandness had a team high six defensive rebounds and four steals to lead the defense.
Clara Wieland led the Bison with nine points, Bailey Soupir added seven points. Hallie Anderson had six points and Ashley McFadgen had six points, six rebounds and five steals.
The three-time defending champs of the Barnes County Tournament had a convincing win over the Raiders in the third game of the day jumping out to an early 12-2 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. Junior and three year starter, Ellie Holen had 16 points and nine steals, and Senior Olivia Bliss had 16 as well for the 2-0 Loboes. The Raiders were led by Sophomore Courtney Hovelson with 10 points. Maple Valley shot only 18% from the field and committed 28 turnovers and drop to 0-3 overall.
In the only upset of the day, the No. 6 ranked Cadets defeat the No. 3 ranked Spartans by two points in the fourth and final game of the tourney. The game featured 10 lead changes and five ties, FSHP led by 11 at halftime. But the Cadets outscored the Spartans 32-21 in the second half to secure the victory and move into the semifinal round Thursday night against LLM. Both teams combined for 10 3-pointers, six by SC. Leading the way for the now 2-2 Cadets was Junior Allison Peterson with 22 points, including five 3-pointers and the go-ahead trey with under a minute left in the game, Junior Brynn Peterson added 21 points. For the now 1-2 Spartans, Junior Josie Flaten had a double-double, 20 points and 10 rebounds. Rian Richards and Darby Breckheimer had 10 points each.
All games will be broadcast on Q101 and newsdakota.com, starting about 2:45pm pregame.


Kate's style is fab, and I love that she wears British designers all the time - but - her styling needs some work. Yawn. Tribal for African themes, Maple Leaf for Canada, green for Paddy's Day, Cowboy Hat for The Wild West... the list goes on. Sorry to moan (I do still remain jealous of here hair, teeth and legs) but I think she could really be pushing the boundaries a bit more... Modern Royal and all... What do you think?
She looks great ! Love her dress so much !


One Acre Fund is a non-profit social enterprise that supplies financing and training to help smallholders grow their way out of hunger and build lasting pathways to prosperity. When farmers improve their harvests, they pull themselves out of poverty. They also start producing surplus food for their neighbors. When farmers prosper, they eradicate poverty and hunger in their communities.
One Acre Fund is growing quickly and we are proud to soon represent Africa's largest network of smallholder farmers. By 2020, we will serve at least 1 million farm families - with more than 5 million people living in those families. And the farmers we serve will produce enough surplus food to feed another 5 million of their neighbors.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. When millions of farmers speak with one voice, we can more effectively pursue collaboration together with government and the private sector to broaden our reach.
We are growing quickly. In ten years, the Kenya program has grown to serve over 360,000+ farm families with more than 3,000+ full-time field staff. Our approach has won widespread validation, winning grants from The MasterCard Foundation and Gates Foundation.
Our work centers in the western region of Kenya and we have a pilot in Nyeri, Kenya. Our Kenya country office is located in Kakamega, Kenya.


Warm summer breezes, beautiful blue lakes, dry sunny conditions and truly phenomenal golf. If that describes your perfect golf vacation then look no further than Kamloops. From traditionalist gems like Rivershore or Kamloops G&CC to faves like Talking Rock and modern masterpieces like the multi-award-winning Tobiano, Kamloops has arguably the best variety of courses in the province. It is truly Canada's hidden golf-gem.
Prices are based on playing Tobiano M-Th. Please add $20 if playing Tobiano F-Su.
Prices are based on playing Kamloops GC and Talking Rock after 12:00 PM. Please add $35 if golfing before 12:00 PM.
Prices are per person, based on double occupancy and subject to applicable taxes.


I did get a response from them and they confirmed it works with two in parallel split phase. I asked them to send me a manual.
Yes, curious about this too. According to the spec sheet, 24V can't do split phase, but the 48V can (if I read the specs correctly).
@AZ_Tekkie: so did you end up going with the 48V inverter? Definitely looking forward to the manual, too. Maybe it won't be a "generic" one that is for all models.
Oh i'm on the mpp solar 24v inverter. I'm just looking to see what's out there for an upgrade. Also from what i've found it's only the 24v that does the split phase. Haven't seen one of the 48v models that does it. Still waiting for them to send the manual.
Here's the manual for the hybrid 24v that does split phase with two in parallel and appears to support up to 9 inverters if i'm reading right.
application, please choose "2PX" to defineeach inverter.
inverters to support two-phase equipment.
Please refer to 5-2 for detailed information.
I got the 48v of course. That was the whole point as I couldn't find a 120v/60Hz (American) version that did 48v batteries from MPP.
Also, not that you asked, but both WatchPower and SolarPatrol seem to work fine with this inverter (all the brands are voltronic hardware right so why wouldn't it). I'm still trying to figure out how to get a Rasp Pi to pull telemetry data from it so I can put in InfluxDB/Grafana. I saw this thread (https://secondlifestorage.com/t-Esperyd%...PI-project) but still not sure how to pull raw data from USB in Linux (my unit only has a USB port not an RS232 port). I think it has something to do with hidraw or pymodbus or something. Still learning all this IoT stuff.
I'm guessing there's no way around a dedicated 24/7 computer connected to the USB port to ensure I'm not missing any data right? Or does the device have it's own ability to store historical data for you to retrieve when you reconnect?
Well don't take what I said as an endorsement yet. I said it's working for me "so far"... less than a week is hardly proof of quality.
But it seems to me that if I were to have issues it would be pretty immediately, so it's probably going to be fine.
BTW... does anyone know if/how I can put more charge controllers onto this inverter (in case I do want more panels)? Is that even how it works? Or do I just connect charge controllers to the battery bank and the inverter also connects to the battery bank and just draws from batt and doesn't care what the external controller does?
I ask because I never actually bought a charge controller, this inverter comes with one builtin.
Looks like Mppsolar updated their website with the offering.


"In the midst of Winter, when the flowers of spring still lie hidden in the earth, when leaves are off the trees, and the world can seem bleak ... remind us that Easter is but a short time away."
-- Cal Wick, "In the Midst of Winter"
Feb. 20 -- Each night of the winter season, a coalition of 20 Rockland houses of worship makes sure that one of its churches, synagogues, or mosques is open to receive the homeless. This group is called Helping Hands Safe Haven, and St. Ann's Church has been involved with the program since its inception 12 years ago. Nine times this winter, parish volunteers provided a good, hot meal and overnight shelter for over 30+ guests. It takes a team of about 40 to make this happen for each block of days St. Ann's hosts the homeless. Parishioners serve as bus drivers, cooks, servers, and overnighters.
This photo was taken the weekend of Feb. 17-19. More photos here.
Feb. 5 -- Members of Martha's Hands, a new parish service group, were welcomed at the Feb. 5 meeting of the St. Ann's Rosary Altar Society by president Maria Eskinazi (front row, second from right). Denise Oswald of Martha's Hands (back row, second from left) spoke of the group's work, making prayer shawls, hats, and lap blankets for the sick. Martha's Hands meets the second Sunday of each month from 9:30 to 11:15 am at St. Ann's School. All skill levels are welcome.
Feb. 22 -- On Wednesday evening, Feb. 15, a Mass for the Brokenhearted was celebrated at St Francis of Assisi Church in West Nyack. This event was offered through the efforts of the cluster bereavement support team.
The mass was open to all those suffering heartache in their lives, whether from loss of a loved one, loss of relationship, joblessness, disease, mental illness, addiction, loneliness, etc. The celebrant was Fr. Robert McKeon, pastor of St Francis.
In the first reading from Isaiah 41:8-10, 13-14, we hear the Lord has chosen us and will not cast us off … He tells us not to be dismayed. He will strengthen us and heal us. 'For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, "Fear not, I will help you." We are reminded God grabs us by our right hand and will not let go.
The second reading was from the Gospel of Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus gave us the Beatitudes, speaking of the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are hungry, the persecuted.
The beautiful music liturgy included The Lord Hears the Cry of the Poor, You are Mine, and On Eagles' Wings.
We each have our own story -- the Lord reminds us how near He is to us, He consoles us and will never abandon us. God knows our pain and anguish. In our suffering we become united to the sufferings of Christ. We come to Mass to unite our burdens with the sacrifice on the altar and to become what we receive. We become the body of Christ and strive to be the Body of Christ for others. Jesus feeds us with his body and our souls are healed. At Mass we come to say our Amen.
We closed with a final reflection on the difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is natural (internal) -- we can do something about happiness in our lives. The life events that cause heartbreak often are not under our control, unbidden. Joy is supernatural (external) -- we have no control over joy. In times of great sadness and difficulty, it is helpful to pray for joy -- a supernatural gift that comes from God.
St. Ann's at Christmas -- Thank You to All!
Jan. 16 -- As our parish family moves forward into ordinary time, we carry the joy of the Christmas celebration. Our hearts continue to shine over the abundant gifts of God, His stunning generosity, and the exquisite love of the Incarnation!
Special thanks to our priests, deacons and parishioners who served us throughout the season; our altar servers, Vinny Green and the choir, ushers, all who participated in the liturgies, Janet Fenton and team for the Christmas pageant, Knights of Columbus for the Nativity scene in front of the Church, Ed Tangredi for coordinating the Giving Tree, Ed Tangredi and Jay Conklin and team for the interior Nativity scene, hanging the garland, wreaths, and decorating the two large Christmas trees donated by Keith Taylor, Bill Cassidy for his heroic work arranging the poinsettias on the altar, Chrissy Lundgren for making the flyer and donor list, the volunteers who watered the plants and all who donated so generously for the Christmas flowers.
Church decoratoring volunteers also included: Marie Lorenzini, John Barch, Joni and Gianna Tangredi, Jay and Mary Conklin, Lony Leonard, Michele Green, Julie LePore, and LuAnn Kelley.
Dec. 18 -- A snowstorm the day before the Christmas Pageant closed the school and cancelled the costume distribution and rehearsal scheduled for that morning. But in the best "the show must go on" tradition, director Janet Fenton, her staff, stage crew, children's choir, and wonderful cast of narrators, angels, shepherds, Holy Family, and Kings managed to nail down all the details the next day in a dress rehearsal between the 8:45 mass and 11:30 mass performance.
For more photos of the cast getting ready, please click here. Then click on a photo to enlarge it, and scroll through the slide show.
Dec. 18 -- More than any holiday, Christmas is a time for stories. That's not too surprising, for the memory of what happened on that Holy Night lives in our hearts as a story we've been passing on for more than 2,000 years now.
The children of St. Paul and St. Ann's retold that story again as a Christmas pageant -- the coming of the Angel Gabriel to Mary with the news that she was to be the Mother of God, the journey to Bethlehem, the birth of the Child Jesus in the stable, the coming of angels and shepherds, and the Three Kings.
And like the generations before us, we listened in wonder to the re-enactment in songs and story of how Love was born on that night so long ago with the coming of the Child whom prophets called Emmanuel, "God With Us."
The pageant was directed by Janet Fenton and performed at the 11:30 Children's Mass at St. Ann's Church.
More photos, click here. Click on a photo to enlarge it, and then scroll through the slide show.
Dec. 18 -- Saint Nicholas, himself (the fourth century Bishop of Myra, that is) made a visit to the Children's Mass at St. Ann's Church. Some said the saint looked remarkably like Deacon Luke Conroy, but the children were delighted and swarmed about him at the reception in the school cafeteria following the mass.
More photos here. Click on a photo to enlarge it, and then scroll through the slide show.
Nov. 17, 2016 -- Two days before the annual Thanksgiving distribution of food for the needy at St. Paul's on Saturday, Nov. 19, Don Paoli, Kim Cardazzi and their crew of adults and students were busy preparing the bags of foodstuffs for the over 500 people who were anticipated.
In a room in the building behind the main school, St. Paul's Food Cupboard volunteers had organized an efficient assembly line, along which each student moved a shopping bag down the length of a 20-foot line of tables, collecting canned vegetables, stuffing mix, applesauce, and other fixings for a full, traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
The students, from Nyack and Clarkstown schools, were earning community service hours, but their laughter and comaraderie showed that they were enjoying their opportunity to do some very important work for others. There was no fooling around -- and soon the loaded bags of food were filling the floor space along the far wall.
Still to come later were the turkeys, provided by the Hudson Valley Food Bank, the Pearl River Elks, and through a grant from the Cornell Co-operative Extension. Besides their Saturday food distributions, the St. Paul's Food Pantry prepares special holiday bags for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. About 500 bags are prepared -- and a couple extra, so no one will go away empty-handed. For more photos, click here. Click on a photo to enlarge it, and then scroll through the resulting slide show.


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Valkyrie (Dir: Bryan Singer)
After a repeatedly delayed release, problems with casting, and eventually, a whole host of well-known names led by that most famous and ridiculed of all, Tom Cruise, Valkyrie seemed a project that would not make it past the reviews. Set in July of 1944, the story is that of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise), a German army officer who becomes disillusioned by Hitler's Nazi regime. Seeing how it has destroyed his country, he joins a band of resistance fighters of both senior officers and politicians who plan to kill Hitler.
Aside from an opening air attack sequence, during which von Stauffenberg loses an eye, fingers and hand, Valkyrie is ultimately a film about the plotting and behind-the-scenes events leading up to the assassination attempt. There are no big action scenes; rather, Christopher McQuarrie's script provides an atmospheric tension that pervades throughout the film. With a palate of mainly grey to work with, the despair of the conspirators and '40s Germany is beautifully captured.
Unsurprisingly, Tom Cruise's performance is the film's biggest problem. It is impossible to fully see him as von Stauffenberg — just Tom Cruise, in yet another crusading character role, and it feels as though his main purpose is to bring in box office receipts.
Although his ego gets in the way at times, it is still mercifully unable to detract from the other performances, from heavyweights like Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branagh and Terence Stamp, each of whom make up for Cruise's show-boating. As co-conspirators, the ensemble provides fascinating insight into the lives of the men in situations where cunning and deceit meant the difference between life and death, and their failure, rather than seeming boringly inevitable, raises the interesting question of what would have happened had the plan succeeded.
The end of the line for hand-drawn animation
Interview with CEO of Glasgow Film

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Popular Deep-Dish Pizza Chain to Open Kosher Branch
by Dovid Zaklikowski - Chicago, IL
Gino's East, a Chicago-based restaurant chain famous for its deep-dish pizza will soon have a kosher branch in The Living Room, a space under construction in the Bucktown Chabad Jewish Center. The restaurant, known for welcoming guests to write on their walls, will be a welcome addition to the center catering to young Jewish professionals.
More than two years in the making, the new eatery will be a part of a 25,000 square foot building. A synagogue, art space, a coffee shop and lounge are also in the plans. "The goal is to really make this a space where Jews will feel comfortable coming to hang out and partake in their Jewish heritage," says Rabbi Yosef Moscowitz, Chabad representatives to the area with his wife Sarah.
At UIC, Chabad Restores Jewish Pride to Chicago's Maxwell St.
Passover Parade In Chicago
An Anchor for Jewish Life: Downtown Chicago
The downtown Chicago area is a mix of the artsy, upper class and hipster community, and having a space where Jews could meet, have an authentic kosher deep-dish pizza, is a great way to draw local Jews, says Matt Wetstein, a physicist at the University of Chicago and post doctoral scholar at Argonne National Laboratory.
"It is a diverse community, in an area that is not known to have any Jewish institutions. Chabad has built a very large contingent of young adults and professionals because of their relentless approach to reaching Jewish people here," he observes.
The Living Room, currently located in the future building as the renovations wait for final permits, is abuzz with spiritual and social activities designed to foster a strong identity for the city's young Jewish professionals. Several thousand young adults participate at many of the social, study and volunteer opportunities hosted there. For those new to the Jewish experience, observes Westin, "Kosher Ginos in an amazing introduction."
That the renovated, enlarged space will be situated across an upscale hotel still in the plans, has not gone unnoticed. Visitors to Chicago venturing out into the city's culinary scene may thus make "Kosher Gino's East a first stop, proving that you could enjoy the finer Chicago food while keeping kosher when traveling," the rabbi said.


A COLD GLASS OF HILLS?
Local craft beer made with Bavarian technology.
Created for the people who appreciate the quality things.
Hills Beer is the product of a small boutique brewery, situated in Perushtica, a small town near Plovdiv, the European Capital of culture 2019. Our brewery is the place where the famous Bavarian tradition of brewing meets the cult of quality.
And what better prize than a well-chilled and delicious beer? A beer that will help you release the pressure and make you feel refreshed, recharged and ready to handle the challenges and the deadlines of the next business day.
We wanted our beer to be like us, to suit our taste. Real Beer, Beer that does not require expensive advertising campaigns, Beer with flavour and quality that are good enough to speak for themselves, uncompromising Beer created with the same passion and dedication that we put in to our work.
Complexed, mainly malt with a touch of coffee, baked malt and a little bit aroma of green apple.
Well balanced, with good structure, light hoppy bitterness.
Bright gold in color with thick creamy foam.
Exceptional purity and freshness with a bunch of fruit nuances.
Light hoppy bitterness, slightly bubbled and very good structure.
(with a frothy bright white head).
and a touch of clove.
airy notes of noble hops.
Dark, high in alcohol, very good thickness and structure.
Intensive, rich malty aroma with honey and caramel nuances.
Thick and soft, very-well balanced with pleasant hoppy bitterness.
How HILLS BEER is done?
The technological process takes AT LEAST 21 DAYS, depending on the type of beer.
The purpose of grinding malts is to create favorable conditions for the process of mashing and obtaining the maximum amount of extract.
At this step the milled malt is mixed with water. The mixture is gradually heated to a certain temperature for which it is at a certain time.
The malt bran of the wort is removed from the filtrate of the porridge.
Wine is boiled - usually lasts for 1 hour. This is the process by which hops are added.
Hops residues and some unnecessary precipitated substances from the wort are separated.
The hot wort is cooled to the required fermentation temperature depending on the type of beer produced, while aerating.
Yeast is added and the fermentation process begins.
Upon completion of the fermentation, wait for a certain time for the beer to be harmonized.
Hills Beer is ready. Cheers!
Once the beer is cooled to 5 °, the pouring is carried out under 45 deg. With 5 cm of foam.
Born in Bavaria, our master brewer has 25 years of experience in the industry. Wolfgang creates our recipes, selects ingredients and tracks the high quality of Hills beer.


Hi, my name is Rudy Braquehais. I am a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science at the University of York, UK under the supervision of Colin Runciman. My research is on tools to facilitate the testing of functional programs, such as: LeanCheck, Extrapolate, Speculate and FitSpec. I have presented a paper at the first day of the Haskell Symposium 2017.
"Compiling to Categories" by Conal Eliott (concat library).
"QuickSpec: A Lightweight Theory Exploration Tool for Programmers" by Maximilian Algehed (QuickSpec tool).
As you can see by the above links, authors generally provide their libraries in a public repository for use for free. So, other researchers can easily replicate results that are described in each paper.
Recordings of most of those talks will be available on YouTube on a near future. I'll update this post with links then.


Can you add a new TRAIL running type to the activity and possibly adjust the calculation of some other parameters?
You could add a activity type to your "running" sport.
possibly adjust the calculation of some other parameters?
Thanks for the tip about adding custom activity type in my "running" sport. I did not know that it was possible to adjust it, or did not find a way. VO2max calculation in trail results with extremely low values. Can this calculation be somehow adapted?
Well you should exclude vo2max calculation from trail running in the moment. In the moment we don't have any adjustments planned for running types like trail running.


Tps:The hustle and bustle with the sext halloween costumes for men season can make you really feel tired, stressed and run-down. Your immune method can get depressed, and you could end up sick in the event you do not take the time to care for yourself.
Right here comes the Christmas preparations, organization, lunch or dinner, the menu, the grandmother, but what can we do to Decorate the table devoid of overdoing it? If we follow the philosophy of sustainability Of recycling of components, Of environmental effect, We can do good things working with seasonal fruit including apples, oranges, mandarins or clementines and adding only a couple of tape red or gold or silver for your taste, a plate red or silver or even gold. Maybe you nonetheless possess a light diffuser final year and would like to reuse it. Thats it?
Yes, it is actually enough, nonetheless, realize that all decorations are appropriate for a table on average simple not one of those crystal and silverware, a thing additional inexpensive. You only ought to adjust the color with the plate or tape or when the chosen color is purple, the red plate a little out of location, whether or not it is actually gold, or perhaps retain precisely the same color red is fine there. Searching for a uniformity tend not to mix also a lot of colors like dishes, glasses, for those who have complications to match your favored colors distinctive, no fantasies of tablecloth or napkins even much less on glasses. Or you use the white to match all colors. Lets see now some effortless instance, perhaps it can also be exciting to involve young children, grandchildren, brothers, youngsters who will have entertaining and study that the fruit too as being good to eat is excellent, also.
Employing only six apples of distinct colors, the light diffuser with a candle, a plate (red within this situation) and significant gold ornamentation is what you get, alternate colored apples, the speaker in the center of light along with the scattered snowflakes gold.
This centerpiece can then be eaten in the finish of lunch. Use 3 oranges, mandarins or clementines a dozen, a plate and tape off the edges of these with semi-rigid and can be modeled. Spot pyramid citrus fruits, oranges and above under the mandarins or clementines to form a pyramid. Now take the tape and wrap as if it were a gift pack. I didn't do it the staple, but in the event you discover that you can feel good a great bow on top rated.
Yet another straightforward composition, you need to pick your favorite fruit is very important to have the stem or branch to which to tie the tape, simply tie together having a fruit loop , option, then you are able to basically supported in the center of the table as well as your guests can then choose what to consume. Heres an instance. Of course the tape should be low. These are just some suggestions, believe also about other combinations, and of course with seasonal fruit, cherries and peaches within the summer time lets leave.
Antique reproduction halloween decorations test our patience in several approaches: waiting like a taxi for the family to climb in to the car or truck as you head towards the airport, or later as you round up all your young children to eat a fancy meal at a stuffy restaurant. What could go wrong? Every thing, and also you don't want to stress out.


The COP21 finished last week with a 1.5°C target – this places renewed pressure on the EU to deliver quicker and bigger – beyond zero – emission reductions.
Following the climate agreement in Paris last week, it's not enough to talk of zero emissions. The climate agreement demands policies that can hold Europe to 1.5°C. This requires negative emissions on a large and rapid scale.
Bellona therefore calls on the Commission for the immediate establishment of a new advisory body on negative emissions in order to attain deep decarbonisation – Bellona President Frederic Hauge.
I will ask for a meeting with Commissioner Arias Cañete to discuss Bellona's ideas to push this forward. The EU needs a new space to deliver the right solutions after the historical Paris agreement – Bellona President Frederic Hauge.
Commissioner Arias Cañete recognised the need for such work in his call for full decarbonisation, accelerated strategies and pathways during a Brussels press conference following the Paris climate deal.
Bellona has worked on carbon negative solutions since 2008 and calls on more actors to join this work. Delivering sustainable negative emission remains the greatest unanswered questions of the climate change challenge and one which we cannot afford to leave unanswered.


I started reading … uh oh.
So the books got a much closer look than I intended, and I'm glad I made the effort. This exercise got me thinking about two editing questions related to previously published books.
After a while, most authors develop an inner "knowing" as to when their story is done, and it's usually based on the writer's current level of skill. It's as good as they can write it at the time.
Thus, our first books are often, not always, a little beastly. And this speaks to why editorial feedback is so vital, particularly early in one's career. I know this from experience; my first book was a warty little troll before an editor got her eager hands on it for a makeover.
Fortunately, like most skills we tackle, we make gigantic leaps forward in the beginning and then start to level off when we near our peaks. For this reason, revisiting previously published books makes the most sense after we are a few years into our writing careers. By then, we have pages of experience crammed in our back pockets.
Another time to revisit a previously published book is when it has few or mostly negative reviews. Early works may need anything from a major developmental edit of plot and structure to a simple scrubbing for grammar and flow. If a book didn't run through an editor's gauntlet the first time, it's not too late.
As authors, we might weigh the impact of leaving older books out there if they're not reflective of our current skill. The last thing we want is for a reader, once snagged, to walk away and miss the awesome talent infusing our later works. It's a confidence boost to polish up the weakest links in our backlist chains.
Some writers never publish because they never stop editing. The editing loop can roll on forever and ever … even after publishing. Knowing when to stop isn't always easy, but it's important.
1. There is no such thing as a perfectly written book. And even if there was, someone would hate it. 90% Perfect and shared with the world is better than 100 percent perfect and wallowing in your head.
2. Endless revisions take time away from writing something new!
3. Over-editing can dull your pov characters' distinct voices. This is especially dangerous when you're editing in bits and pieces and lose the narrative flow.
4. You've done your major developmental edits, content edits, stylistic edits and proofing, and now you are increasing rather than reducing the word count.
5. Instead of improving your book you are only making it different. And maybe making it worse.
6. You haven't taken a break from your book in a year. Time to let the beast sit for a month or so. You're way too up-close and personal with your novel and both of you need some space to relax and think rationally.
7. You started the book when your kids were in diapers and they just graduated college.
8. You hate looking at your book and the thought of rehashing it one more time makes you want to barf. Time to shut it down.
Have you written a book? Are you writing a book? How do you decide when it's ready to fly?


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Абдулла́х-хан (ок. 1340—1370, Абдулла хан, Абд-улла, Абдаллабек, Абдул, ) — хан Улуса Джучи (Золотой Орды) в 1367—1368 и 1369—1370 годах, младший из девятерых сыновей (по другим сведениям, внук) Узбек-хана.

Биография
Беклярбек Мамай спас одного из сыновей Узбек-хана, Абдуллаха, и отправил его в Крым и оттуда в Византию. После убийства хана Тимур-Ходжи при поддержке Мамая в 1361 году Абдуллах был провозглашён ханом западной части Ак Орды в Крыму. В его правление в 1363—1368 годах чеканилась монета.

В 1367 году Мамай захватил золотоордынскую столицу Сарай аль-Джадид, и Абдуллах был провозглашён ханом Золотой Орды. Правил номинально, от его имени управлял государством Мамай.

В 1368 году, Мамай, покинув хана Абдуллаха в Сарае, отправился в Крым для подавления направленного против него выступления. Тем временем, Абдуллах-хан не смог удержать столицу и сдал её Улджай-Тимуру. Но вскоре последнего в свою очередь в том же году выбил из Сарая шибанид Хасан, племянник Мир-Пулада. Правление Хасан-хана длилось недолго — уже в 1369 году он был изгнан Мамаем из Сарая, и на ханский престол был возвращен Абдуллах-хан.

Абдуллах-хан умер в 1370 году, и Мамай провозгласил ханом Золотой Орды 10-летнего сына Абдуллаха Булака при регентстве своей жены Тулунбек-ханум, дочери Бердибека.

Примечания

Литература

 Татарский энциклопедический словарь — Казань, 1999.

Ханы Золотой Орды
Джучиды
Родившиеся в XIV веке
Умершие в XIV веке

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
package com.cocosw.framework.app;

import android.app.Application;
import android.content.Context;
import android.os.StatFs;

import com.cocosw.accessory.connectivity.NetworkConnectivity;
import com.squareup.okhttp.Cache;
import com.squareup.okhttp.OkHttpClient;

import java.io.File;

import javax.inject.Singleton;

import dagger.Module;
import dagger.Provides;

@Module(
        complete = false,
        library = true
)

public class SystemModule {

    private static final String HTTP_CACHE = "coco-http";
    private static final int MIN_DISK_CACHE_SIZE = 5 * 1024 * 1024; // 5MB
    private static final int MAX_DISK_CACHE_SIZE = 50 * 1024 * 1024; // 50MB
    private final Application app;

    public SystemModule(CocoApp app) {
        this.app = app;
    }

    @Provides
    @Singleton
    Application provideApplication() {
        return app;
    }

    @Provides
    @Singleton
    Context provideContext() {
        return app;
    }

    @Provides
    @Singleton
    OkHttpClient provideOkHttpClient(Application app, Cache cache) {
        OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient();
        client.setCache(cache);
        return client;
    }

    @Provides
    @Singleton
    Cache provideCache(Application app) {
        return new Cache(createDefaultCacheDir(app), calculateDiskCacheSize(createDefaultCacheDir(app)));
    }

    private File createDefaultCacheDir(Context context) {
        File cache = new File(context.getApplicationContext().getCacheDir(), HTTP_CACHE);
        if (!cache.exists()) {
            cache.mkdirs();
        }
        return cache;
    }

    private int calculateDiskCacheSize(File dir) {
        StatFs statFs = new StatFs(dir.getAbsolutePath());
        int available = statFs.getBlockCount() * statFs.getBlockSize();
        int size = available / 50;
        return Math.max(Math.min(size, MAX_DISK_CACHE_SIZE), MIN_DISK_CACHE_SIZE);
    }

    @Provides
    NetworkConnectivity provideNetworkConnectivity(Application app) {
        return NetworkConnectivity.getInstance(app);
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
L1, 53 Burswood Road, Burswood, Perth, WA, 6100POA
This convenient location is at the centre of everything! The CBD is 5 minutes by car or bus, Perth International & Domestic Airport is 9km away and is serviced by a shuttle bus every 30 minutes. Optus Stadium and the Crown Resort & Casino complex are only 5 minutes away and access to Canning Highway provides a direct route to Fremantle and the Freeway. The ground floor lobby and first floor facility were refurbished in July 2018 and the space comprises a number of private offices, open plan co-working cubicles, a generous break-out and collaborative space and 3 purpose built meeting rooms.
Burswood Road occupies a prominent position on the corner of Burswood Road and Craig Street which is less than 400 metres from the intersection of Canning Highway, The Causeway, Albany Highway and Shepperton Road. It is a short walk to Victoria Park bus station which provides easy access to Perth CBD.
Burswood (0.8 mi)
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5 mins drive
Perth Stadium Stn (1.7 mi)
L1, 53 Burswood Road, Bursw...
Pricing from $0
L13 & 14, 37 St Georges Ter...
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text:
We're an independent power, we are not a client state, we are not a supplicant. As two equal societies, we [India and the US] should explore together where there is convergence of interests and work together. – Manmohan Singh, July 17, 2005.
Far from asserting itself as a new great power, India is being subjected to crude dictation. It finds itself unable to determine its own foreign policy; unable to defend its sovereignty; unable to defend its immediate economic interests; unable even to defend itself against public threats and humiliation. In the following we attempt to convey, through a series of glimpses, the real political equation that exists between the US and India.
Indian public in the dark
Important matters of policy are decided in consultation with the US, but are shrouded from the Indian public, who instead are fed deliberately misleading statements.
As regards the 'New Framework': Before departing for Washington to meet his counterpart Rumsfeld in June 2005, defence minister Pranab Mukherjee declared that his trip was purely "exploratory": "I am not going with a shopping list. This is a visit by an Indian defence minister to the US after a long time."
On June 28, during this "exploratory" visit, he signed the "New Framework for the US-India Defence Relationship". It is a document of sweeping significance, which begins thus:
The United States and India have entered a new era.... Today, we agree on a new Framework that... charts a course for the US-India defense relationship for the next ten years.
Mukherjee returned to claim to Parliament on July 11: "There has been no defence agreement or pact with the United States of America."
As regards the nuclear deal: On July 16, 2005, the prime minister responded sharply to the CPI(M) general secretary's warning that he not enter into agreements with the US against the framework of the common minimum programme of the UPA: "India is not for sale", he declared; he would safeguard India's non-alignment till the end of his life. "The purpose of my visit" to the US, he explained to the press, "is to brief the US administration on India's domestic and international concerns and enlist its cooperation to accelerate economic and social development."
By contrast, a relatively junior US official, Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, informed the press that it would be "one of the most consequential US-India summits in the history of our relationship."
Within two days, Burns was proved to be telling the truth, as the July 18 Bush-Manmohan joint statement on nuclear issues was released. Burns now said, "what we've done is to develop with the Indian government and this administration a broad, global partnership of the likes we've not seen with India since India's founding in 1947."
The immediate implications were as follows: India would identify and separate civilian and military nuclear facilities; file a declaration on its civilian facilities with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); 'voluntarily' place its civilian nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards; continue its unilateral moratorium on (in other words, indefinitely cease) testing nuclear weapons; "work with the US" on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (which has not yet come into existence); and adhere to the guidelines of the Missile Technology Control Regime and the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
It has emerged since then that the list of facilities to be declared 'civilian' and placed under IAEA safeguards is being dictated, directly or indirectly, by the US. The Indian government has repeatedly affirmed that the agreement is to be implemented in step with complementary measures to be undertaken by the US and other nuclear states. However, it has emerged that in fact India is expected to take all these steps on faith, and hope that the corresponding measures to provide it nuclear fuel will be implemented by the other side to the deal. Notably, while the US's commitments to India are bilateral ones, which may be revoked, India's commitment to the IAEA via the deal is to a multilateral body, and will survive whether or not the US fulfills its part of the deal.
The significance of this agreement is manifold; but the most important implication is that it increases the scope for imperialist intervention and control in India. Not only does India's entire nuclear energy programme come under IAEA scrutiny; a means has been created thereby for the imperialist blackmail of India at any time in the future. We know how Iraq was subjected to endless intrusive inspections supposedly to locate its 'weapons of mass destruction'; while no WMDs have been found to date, those heading the inspections have revealed that US intelligence agents were placed in the inspection teams in order to gather information useful for an invasion of the country. Similarly, the IAEA board of governors now has threatened to refer Iran's nuclear programme to the United Nations Security Council for possible action – not on the basis of any evidence, but on the basis of an "absence of confidence that Iran's nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes" (emphasis added). The only reason Iraq and Iran have been treated thus is that they did not surrender to US domination. By 'voluntarily' identifying certain facilities as civilian and submitting them to IAEA inspection, India has provided an instrument to be persecuted in the same manner as Iraq and Iran in case it ever defies the US.
As regards the Iran vote: On September 16, 2005, Manmohan Singh indicated that India had not yet made up its mind on how to vote at the IAEA board of governors regarding Iran's case. India had repeatedly expressed its preference for allowing 'diplomacy' to produce a 'consensus'. However, Burns informed the press the same day that the Indian prime minister had conveyed to Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, that India didn't want Iran to become a nuclear state (as India itself had become). Burns said: "We are gratified by what we've heard."
No public discussion took place in India in which the Government aired its views on the issue. It did not even privately consult or inform any other parliamentary parties. Indeed, the matter was not discussed even in the Cabinet until after the vote.
On September 24 India voted at the IAEA with the US and European countries, and against Iran. India's vote was not crucial to obtaining a majority against Iran (the vote was 22 to 1 in favour of the resolution, with 12 abstentions), but it was politically of great importance. Venezuela had supported Iran; South Africa, Malaysia, China, Russia and even Pakistan had abstained. Burns remarked approvingly: "That (India's vote) was a blow to Iran's attempt to turn this into a developed world versus a developing world debate. We are grateful for India's support."1
Thus on all three major foreign policy developments during 2005 India's stand was secret from the Indian people, but known to the US. US Congressman Tom Lantos, member of the House International Relations Committee, made clear that he and other US Congressmen were informed in advance of India's nuclear agreement with the US and its impending vote against Iran. Specifically, they were informed that the nuclear deal with India was contingent on India's supporting the US-sponsored resolution in the IAEA regarding Iran. Questioning Burns at a hearing on September 8, Lantos warned:
There is a degree of reciprocity we expect of India, which has not been forthcoming... we agree to undertake a tremendous range of path-breaking measures to accommodate India, while India blithely pursues what it sees should be its goal and policy vis-a-vis Iran. There is a quid pro quo in international relations. And if our Indian friends are interested in receiving all of the benefits of US support.... we have every right to expect that India will reciprocate in taking into account our concerns... and without reciprocity, India will get very little help from the Congress... India cannot pursue a policy vis-a-vis Iran which takes no account of US foreign policy objectives.
It was also not clear whether and to what extent India will support U.S. policies worldwide and, especially, in international organizations and elsewhere. I am particularly concerned over the recent remarks of the Indian foreign minister [Natwar Singh] that India will not support the US drive to refer Iran's nuclear weapons effort to the UN Security Council. This position is contrary to what we understood the administration was trying to achieve in forging this arrangement.
I want the Administration to hear this clearly from this Committee: New Delhi must understand how important their cooperation and support is to U.S. initiatives to counter the nuclear threat from Iran. That includes supporting our efforts to refer Iran's 18 years of violations of the NPT to the UN Security Council. Anything less than full support will imperil the expansion of U.S. nuclear and security cooperation with New Delhi. (emphases added)
In his reply, Burns confirmed Lantos's linkage of the nuclear deal and the Iran vote:
We negotiated for the four days prior to the Prime Minister's arrival with the expectation that the barriers between us for an eventual agreement were too high... We actually reached this agreement largely through discussions that Secretary Rice had [with Natwar Singh] the day prior to the visit and the morning of the visit. And the last piece of this was the reciprocal piece that Congressman Lantos mentioned in his remarks, and that is that we are not willing to enter into an agreement unless we had a visible and verifiable set of commitments that the Indian government was willing to take. And we achieved those just a few hours before the President sat down with the Prime Minister. (emphases added)
As one commentator remarks, "The above suggests that Mr Lantos was privy to the US administration's behind-the-scenes efforts at securing India's support on the Iran question as one of the key reciprocal measures to the nuclear deal. This seems to have been the 'last piece' that Mr Burns referred to in his statement."2 Thus Lantos and Burns have refuted what Manmohan Singh told Parliament on August 3, 2005, namely, that there was no secret agreement with the US, and that all that had been agreed to was contained in the joint statement of July 18.
The proof of a secret condition to the nuclear deal is that, at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting on September 24, India in fact voted as Lantos demanded. Indeed, after India's vote, Lantos stated that "I am pleased that New Delhi clearly heard the message that I and other members have been emphatically trying to convey." India, he said, had learnt an "abject lesson" (sic):
... last Saturday, India voted with us in Vienna because it decided that it is more important to maintain its relationship with us than accommodate the Ayatollahs in Tehran. This is an abject lesson. And I think it's important for all of our friends and other countries abroad to understand that there will be a growing emphasis on quid pro quo in US foreign policy.3
Silent reversals and contradictions
On a number of issues, the Indian government has been forced to silently reverse its earlier stated position, or surreptitiously act contrary to its stated position, without providing any explanation.
i) Iran-India gas pipeline
In the first half of 2005, India, Iran and Pakistan made rapid progress in negotiating a 2,600-kilometre gas pipeline to carry gas from Iran to India via Pakistan. This is one of three major energy deals under discussion between India and Iran (another important one is for the import of five million tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year for the next 25 years). Several meetings have taken place of the special Indo-Iran joint working group to work out the details of the pipeline project. India and Iran also discussed the possibility of extending the pipeline from India to China, which would reduce the financial burden and provide India an indirect guarantee against Pakistan's cutting off supplies at any time in the future. Moreover, the Iran deals may lead in the future to a pan-Asian energy grid (including hydro-electric energy) linking energy-surplus Central Asia and Iran with energy-deficit China and India.4 In brief, the Iran-India pipeline and related matters involve crucial economic and strategic interests of India's over decades.
On her March 2005 visit to India Condoleezza Rice announced US opposition to the Iran pipeline deal. The US ambassador said that "We have in a very friendly way notified and reminded the Indian government that the legislation is there – the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA)". That Act allows the US to levy sanctions on countries who trade with Iran or Libya; this "friendly" reminder was in fact a threat.
At first, India's external affairs minister Natwar Singh contradicted Rice: talks with Iran were progressing well, he said, and "We have traditionally good relations with Iran and we expect Iran to fulfil all obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty(NPT)." The petroleum minister categorically affirmed over and over that the "Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline is indispensable for India's energy security and its economic growth".
However, in an interview with the Washington Post in July 2005 Manmohan Singh himself cast doubts on whether the project could succeed:
But I am realistic enough to realise that there are many risks, because considering all the uncertainties of the situation there in Iran, I don't know if any international consortium of bankers would probably underwrite this.
With the Indian prime minister himself campaigning against the Iran pipeline, it stands little chance of survival.
Indeed, Under-Secretary Burns stated on December 1 that Indian officials had told him that not only the Iran-India pipeline, but all energy deals with Iran (presumably even the deal for the 25-year supply of LNG, which was widely considered finalised) were "hypothetical and years away": "The Indians have assured us there is no plan on the table that is ready for decision by the Iranian and Indian governments, that any plans, any discussions, have been hypothetical and are years away."5 Whether or not he was actually given any such assurance, the very fact that he could assert itreveals that the US is confident of preventing any of the deals from coming to fruition. Burns made clear the US's preference: "We would hope that those [Iran-India] relationships would not be consummated."
ii) Arms to Royal Nepal Army
On February 1, 2005, the King of Nepal dismissed the Deuba government and declared a state of emergency. India criticised the decision and suspended military assistance to the Royal Nepal Army (RNA). The US, however, refused to join India in suspending military assistance. And so, with no material change in the King's stand, the Indian government reversed its stand on April 23 and resumed supplies. India's changed stand was revealed not by any Indian official but by the King of Nepal, in an interview to an Indian television channel. In that week he also carried out fresh arrests of opposition figures and intellectuals.
It is worth recalling that India and the US are closely coordinating their responses to the insurgency in Nepal. By 2004, India had supplied the RNA Rs 2.76 billion worth of equipment, and trained the RNA for counter-insurgency operations. The US has both directly and indirectly supplied weapons to the RNA, and under 'Exercise Balance Nail', the US army has been sending teams to Nepal to take part in operations and to train the RNA.
iii) Posting Indian officers at US commands
On April 15, 2005 the commander of the US Pacific Command, Admiral William Fallon, said the US planned to have an Indian Navy officer on the staff of the US Pacific Command (PACOM), which stretches from Hawaii to the Indian Ocean. This would be the first time in post-1947 India that an Indian defence officer would work in another country's defence force. "The presence of an Indian liaison officer round the clock will help us better understand the intricacies in the Indian Ocean and the problems of the region", said Fallon.6
On July 6, the Indian defence minister said that he had turned down this suggestion. "There is no question of posting officers at (US) military commands. We have a defence attache in Washington", he said.
Nevertheless, the Hindu of November 17, 2005, reports that
Despite reservations expressed by defence minister Pranab Mukherjee, the Navy is discussing the posting of officers at two US global military commands. "That was at another point in time", said a naval officer when asked about Mr Mukherjee's observation....
iv) Missile defence
After coming to office in May 2004 the United Progressive Alliance government made no open commitment to joining the US's missile defence system. Indeed, at least one senior Indian official, Deputy to the National Security Advisor, opposed the very concept in August 2004. He warned that it was part of a dangerous US drive to make possible the use of nuclear weapons. The UPA government took no official stand on missile defence.
However, in October 2004, US ambassador Mulford told Force magazine that the decision had already been taken, and the US and India were now only discussing specifics: "There has already been a discussion about technology and systems.... The only problem that I see is that it is a technically complicated subject and there are different generations of systems available. So the issue is to figure out which system is needed where. This is a complicated process."7
Accordingly, the 'New Framework' of June 28, 2004 states that the US and Indian defence establishments "shall... expand collaboration relating to missile defence".
v) Endorsing the US occupation regime in Iraq
The tortures of Iraqi prisoners by US forces at Abu Ghraib prison came to light in May 2004, shortly before India's general elections. The Congress party not only condemned the treatment of Iraqi prisoners, but attacked the NDA government for not condemning it. Congress spokesperson on international affairs Natwar Singh denounced the "gross violations of international law, the U.N. Charter, by the US, UK, and Australia; he described the NDA's proposal to send troops to Iraq as "kowtowing to the US"; and he poured scorn on "toadyism of a particularly repulsive kind... masquerading as pro-Americanism".
On May 16, 2004, moments after the Congress party's victory, Natwar Singh declared: "We are for the closest relations with the US. It is our interest and it is in their interest (to move in this direction)." (emphasis added) On June 11, 2004, as external affairs minister, he declared India would take a "new look" at sending troops to Iraq; however, his statement provoked popular protest, and the government dropped the proposal.
In December 2004 Iraq interim foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari visited New Delhi, signifying a resumption of formal contacts with Iraq. On June 22, 2005 Natwar Singh said: "We condemn the actions of disruptive forces in Iraq and the activities of terrorist elements. Once the security situation improves, Iraq will quickly march on the road to prosperity". India was also prepared to provide assistance to the present regime in Iraq in "capacity building" for "security management", Mr Singh said, without giving details. The holding of elections was "a noteworthy and encouraging development" in the context of restoration of sovereignty, and India "has welcomed the formation of the Transitional Government in Iraq...."
vi) Supplying cheap labour to the US occupation
Short of sending troops, the Indian government has colluded in the supply of crucial manpower to the US occupation forces in Iraq. Whereas the US military had initially estimated that a force of 500,000 would be required for the occupation of Iraq, the US leadership has attempted to carry it out with less than 150,000, supplemented by highly paid mercenaries from Western countries.
By May 2004 the NDA government had already allowed the despatch of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Indian ex-soldiers to Iraq. Former servicemen, including retired officers upto the rank of divisional commanders, were recruited by private security agencies in order to guard key installations – oil wells, refineries, and supply depots. The NDA defence minister, George Fernandes, claimed that there was nothing his government could do to prevent ex-servicemen from going to Iraq. Indeed, a large (and highly disreputable) Mumbai-based firm providing contract security workers, TRIG Guard Force, claimed that it had obtained government clearance to send security guards to Iraq. (Two such workers were reported killed in May 2004.)
Apart from such military/semi-military personnel, a large number of support staff are required for an occupation – truck drivers, cooks, barbers, butchers, washermen, cleaners, construction workers, engineers, electricians, and so on. (Non-Iraqis are required because Iraqis are a security risk for the occupation.) While the NDA government's minister of state for labour and employment claimed in May 2004 that 5,042 Indians had entered Iraq, the source of his figure is a mystery. The overwhelming bulk of Indians working in Iraq had not entered legally; they had visas to work in Kuwait, Jordan, or other nearby countries, from where they were smuggled into Iraq with the collusion of the US army (some of the hapless Indian workers did not even know they were to be working in Iraq, and others did not know of the conditions there).
For example, the Washington Post (1/7/04) reported the case of D.Ajayakumar, a Keralite worker employed by an Indian firm; five levels of such subcontractors intervened between him and his real employer, the US firm Kellogg, Brown and Root (a subsidiary of Halliburton, earlier headed by US vice-president Dick Cheney). He and his fellow Indian workers had paid Rs 80,000 each to the Indian agency in order to obtain what they thought were jobs in Kuwait. Once in Kuwait they were smuggled first to Baghdad, and then to a US military base in Mosul (in north Iraq). The base faced a daily barrage of attacks from the Iraqi resistance fighters. The workers were held by the US military against their will. They were inadequately fed, and subjected to occasional beatings. Desperate, 16 of them daringly escaped from the camp, and made it to Jordan.8
On July 20, 2004, three Indian truck drivers in Iraq were taken hostage (along with other non-Iraqis) by an Iraqi resistance group. (Reportedly, most of the vehicles carrying supplies for the US military, which are routinely targeted by the Iraqi resistance, are driven by Indian and Pakistani drivers.) The Indian government – now the UPA – then entered into prolonged negotiations for their release, which only took place 42 days later. However, the UPA government, like the earlier NDA government, refused to place a ban on service in Iraq. On July 29, 2004, it issued the following strange statement: "In view of the seriousness of the current security situation in Iraq, the Government of India advises its citizens to defer visits to that country for the time being." However, Natwar Singh clarified on August 3, 2004 that the Government had made no request to Indian citizens to leave Iraq – despite the death of at least 13 during the previous year.
Finally, in August 2004, the Government placed a ban on recruiting manpower for Iraq. This ban was never implemented. Since then the flow of Indian workers to US-occupied Iraq appears to have increased. For example, large numbers of agricultural labourers from several of Andhra Pradesh's drought-hit districts are travelling to Iraq. Officials are quoted as saying that just Karimnagar district sends 500 workers to the Gulf every month, of which a large proportion go to Iraq. A single village, Chelgal, with a population of 5,000, has reportedly exported several hundred workers to Iraq. "Most of them have no idea of the dangers. They have not heard about the Indian labourers who were kidnapped and held for ransom by resistance fighters." At any rate, they are unable to find jobs in their villages. The Rs 150,000 they pay the employment agency is borrowed from village moneylenders. One worker recounted to a reporter his harrowing experience at a US base, where he worked along with others from Gujarat, Kerala, and various districts of Andhra Pradesh. He and two other workers were finally driven to escape after a Pakistani colleague accompanying US troops was hit by a bullet.9
Nevertheless, the director-general of police for Andhra Pradesh, Swaranjit Sen, declared that the rate of migration to Iraq is "not an alarming rate, otherwise it would have caught our attention."10
The Economic Times (18/7/05) estimates that during the previous year, when recruitment for Iraq was supposedly banned, around one hundred thousand Indians have been exported to Iraq. Recruiters include construction companies, catering companies, and suppliers to the US military. Recruitment is carried out in a dozen Indian cities, and the jobs include cooks, kitchen assistants, supervisors, accountants, financial supervisors, bus drivers, and carpenters. (The whole operation is quite open: Even now, the Indian internet firm Naukri.com carries advertises jobs in Iraq at Rs 60,000 per month.) Sources in recruitment agencies estimate that 5,000 to 8,000 Indians are sent to Iraq each month.
It should be clear from the above account that the entire operation cannot be carried out without the knowledge and blessing of the Indian government.
Open-door policy for US intelligence
India is unable to defend its sovereignty in the most routine ways before the world's imperialist powers, particularly the US. The behaviour of the authorities in the case of Rabinder Singh is instructive.
Singh was an officer of rank of joint secretary at India's external intelligence service, the 'Research and Analysis Wing' (RAW). He was in charge of Southeast Asia analysis. In 1992-93 he was reportedly in dire financial need; he later mysteriously acquired an expensive lifestyle. His wife spent half the year abroad, they entertained lavishly and stayed in a luxurious house. Singh's wife and children eventually moved to the US, where his brother, sister and other relations already stayed. Meanwhile he acquired over 15 pieces of real estate in India (with a total value of well over Rs 70 million), eight of which he held in his own name.11 "Repeated adverse comments by Mr Singh's superiors neither halted his promotion through RAW's ranks nor denied him sought-after overseas postings".12
Eventually, however, he came under suspicion. Video and telephone surveillance evidence indicated he was working for the US Central Intelligence Agency. RAW chief C. D. Sahay sent a report on Singh to the Prime Minister's Office and the National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra in April 2004. Yet Singh was not arrested. (Remarkably, he applied for, and received, permission to move over 120 files from his office in the weeks before his departure.) RAW submitted further reports to the PMO and Mishra regarding Singh's activities.13
At last, on May 14, 2004, the RAW chief's request for action against Singh was approved. By uncanny coincidence, Singh and his wife took a taxi to Kathmandu the same day. There they reportedly stayed for a week while US passports (in false names) were prepared for them by the US embassy, after which they flew to the US. Even at this stage the NDA government decided to reveal nothing of the matter, let alone issue a warrant for Singh's arrest.
The new Congress-led government assumed office in May 2004. Strangely, it refused to make political capital of the NDA government's record regarding Singh. The new Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on Security, M.K. Narayanan, said the matter was "unfortunate": "Passing judgement on how it happened is not important. What is important is that he managed to escape and there is as yet no confirmation about his whereabouts."14National Security Advisor J.N. Dixit said that the government had a "general idea" of where the missing officer was residing. "We are in constant touch with our counterparts in the US over this issue and inquiries are on to get to know his whereabouts."15
Almost a year after the escape of Rabinder Singh, the Government had not yet filed a case against him under the Official Secrets Act or any other law, but was still consulting its legal officers.16
The Rabinder Singh case attracted attention because he was a senior officer, but defections of Indian intelligence personnel to the US are routine. Dixit admitted that a preliminary report to the Cabinet Secretariat contained a list of 20-odd officers of RAW who "could not be traced". He was unperturbed: "Defections and cross-overs are a problem faced by intelligence agencies all over the world. These many officers crossing over in 40 years is nothing to get worried about."17
In fact, more than 36 Indian Foreign Service officers have disappeared in the past few years while posted in North American countries. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) was compelled to write to Indian ambassadors in March 2005 regarding the "growing incidents of unauthorised absence and desertion of officials, especially in North America."18 Further, there has been a steep increase in desertions by members of the MEA's Bureau of Security: More than 90 per cent reportedly do not return from their postings, with more than a dozen cases reported in 2004 alone. It appears that cases are not filed against the offenders: the MEA, "unable to check the trend, is ensuring that some of the absconding officials, especially from the IFS, seek voluntary retirement to avoid embarrassment."19
Indeed opportunities are officially provided for the US to recruit Indian agents as part of improving relations with the US:
Under the NDA, the RAW, Intelligence Bureau and Defence Intelligence Agency were all authorised to make contact with their counterparts overseas, often with little monitoring. As a consequence, hundreds of Indian agents have been exposed, the term professionals use to describe individuals whose real jobs are known to foreign intelligence organisations. "As things stand", says a senior RAW officer, "we have hardly anyone left who can serve in a genuine covert role."... In 2002 alone, the last year for which figures are available, the US hosted 80 courses for officers from India, along with 17 other countries in Asia and Africa.20
Open-door practices appear to be common in the Army as well:
Army officers admitted that Washington was using the same tested technique with the Indian military that it used successfully with Pakistani. Until the withdrawal of the Soviet Union from Afghanistan in 1989, Washington augmented its influence in Islamabad by regularly dispatching Pakistani service officers and their children to the US on courses and scholarships and even assuring many of them jobs in the US after retirement. This symbiotic relationship was severed after the US pulled out from the region in the early 1990s, and proved problematic when it returned after 9/11 as a new crop of officers was in charge. "A similar co-opting of India's military has begun," an officer who recently went on a six-week long trip to the U.S. said.21
In this light, it is amusing that the June 28, 2005 "New Framework for US-India Defence Relationship" says that the two sides shall "increase exchanges of intelligence".
Using the platform of 'joint action against terrorism', India's internal security agencies too have been integrated step by step with US agencies. In 2000, the two countries set up a US-India Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, and a Cyber Security Forum on cyber-terrorism was set up in 2001-02. In the same year the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US's domestic law enforcement agency, met the heads of Indian internal and external intelligence agencies, home ministry officials, and the national security advisor Brajesh Mishra. The FBI was allowed to set up an office in New Delhi. The purpose of this office was not revealed.
However, it appears that FBI agents do operate in India. In October 2004, US ambassador David Mulford made the startling offer of FBI help in investigating the bomb blasts in the Northeast. Mulford wrote directly to Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi: "Should you find it helpful the FBI should be pleased to provide technical support for investigation. I have also made this offer to home minister Shivraj Patil. I hope you will be free to contact me if there is any other way that we can be helpful."22 This offer exceeded the limits of Mulford's diplomatic function. Rather than rebuke Mulford, however, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil merely referred to it as a "gesture of help", and Gogoi welcomed it.
US personnel may also be stationed in India in defence of US 'national security'. In February 2005, the Cabinet cleared a proposal for India to join the US-led Container Security Initiative, which would involve the stationing of US Customs and Border Patrol personnel to screen containers before they leave Indian ports. The scheme will start at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust outside Mumbai, where sophisticated equipment is being installed for the purpose. The US has also proposed stationing agents of its Department of Homeland Security to screen passengers at airports across the world, including in India. The US Coast Guard has recently invited the Indian Coast Guard to use US-supplied remote controlled spy planes for surveillance of the Indian coast; the intelligence would be simultaneously shared with the US Coast Guard.23
Viceregal direction
Not only is Indian foreign policy moulded like putty according to the needs of US imperialism; sundry US officials swagger here like imperial viceroys. We have already cited US ambassador David Mulford's remarks on missile defence and providing FBI assistance. There are any number of similar instances in the sphere of economic policy. Speaking at a conference organised by India's insurance regulatory authority and USAID, Mulford announced recently that India had committed "a breach of faith" with foreign investors by failing to increase the limit on foreign investment in insurance to 49 per cent. He said: "I have come here to say that this promise needs to be delivered, not five years from now, but soon, if India wishes to regain its credibility in the eyes of foreign investors." He proceeded to chalk out the future course as well: "I believe the cap should be raised to above 50 per cent within a short period so that foreign investors would have management control commensurate with their investment and the flow of FDI to the sector will increase." He criticised the stipulation of a minimum paid-up capital of Rs one billion for setting up a company offering health insurance. He proceeded to direct even the regulatory authority: "Investment guidelines for insurance companies prescribed by the regulator must be changed to allow and promote access to insurance funds by the corporate sector and infrastructure projects."24
The Indian authorities did not deem it necessary to point out that the US ambassador has no right to dictate economic policy to them.
Tributary status
Indeed, as the US 'makes' India a 'great power', it actually treats India more and more like a vassal or tributary state. India's political leadership either swallows this treatment silently or issues mild refutations.
Take the extraordinary remarks of Representative Lantos on September 8, 2005 in the US House International Relations Committee, some of which we have already quoted above. Lantos crudely attacked Natwar Singh's recent visit to Iran, during which Singh was reported to have referred to "injustice in international relations" and stated that "India's relations[hip] with Iran is not predicated on positions and views attributed to some government." Lantos said: "this is sickening, literally sickening. This is Stalinist rhetoric, which we don't accept from the Indian Foreign Minister." Further, "Only an imbecile would believe that they are developing a nuclear program for peaceful purposes only." He warned undersecretary Burns:
they have to be told this in plain English, that this great new opening — which I support, I think we all support — is predicated on reciprocity.... If they persist in this, this great dream of a new relationship will go down the tubes. Because if India at that point will tell us, "Go fly a kite," the goodwill will dissipate, and they will pay a very heavy price for their total disregard of U.S. concerns vis-à-vis Iran. It just will not fly in this body. And they need to be told that in plain English — in plain English, not in diplomatic English. And I know they have people in this room who will carry this message.
Interestingly, the response of the Indian ambassador to the US was not to condemn or protest the remarks, but to phone Natwar Singh, who denied have made the statements Lantos attributed to him.25 Neither the ambassador nor Natwar Singh thought it necessary to question the presumptions behind Lantos's remarks.
Lantos linked the US-India nuclear deal, and India's emergence as a 'great power', even more explicitly to India's submission to the requirements of US foreign policy:
It is reportedly the intent of the Administration to assist India in becoming a great power. But with great power comes great responsibility. India must decide where it will stand - with the Ayatollahs of Terror in Tehran or with the United States. It is also important if India is to truly assume the status of a great power that it move beyond the confines of South Asia and support efforts to establish stability and democracy elsewhere, for example in Iraq.
1. The purpose of the IAEA vote was not actually to refer Iran's case to the Security Council, for as yet any action against Iran is likely to be vetoed there by China and Russia. Rather, the purpose was to manufacture an atmosphere of public condemnation and isolation of Iran, so as to justify any unilateral action against it in the future. Thus the US and EU themselves decided not to bring about a second vote to refer Iran to the IAEA. The Indian government made out nevertheless that this decision was the result of its lobbying efforts; the CPI and CPI(M) expressed their satisfaction at this stand, and implied that the Indian government's 'stand' was the result of their pressure. (back)
2. "Was anti-Iran commitment given in July?", R. Ramachandran, Hindu, 30/9/05. (back)
3. "An abject lesson for India, says Lantos", Hindu, 4/10/05. (back)
4. "Power grids and the new Silk Road", Siddharth Varadarajan, Hindu, 11/7/05; "A farewell to the gas pipeline?", Siddharth Varadarajan, Hindu, 22/7/05. (back)
5. "National interest or American interest?", Amit Baruah, Hindu, 6/12/05. (back)
6. "Closer Indo-US naval ties mooted", Business Standard, 16-4-05. (back)
7. "US, India have gone beyond talking about ballistic missile defences", Hindu, 9/10/04; emphasis added. (back)
8. "Middlemen behind woes of Indian workers", Atul Aneja, Hindu,24/7/04. Another account of three Keralite workers who similarly escaped from Iraq confirms that such conditions were general. The workers were kept in dingy cubicles, and paid (after deductions for food and accommodation) $165 a month, for 12 hours' work a day. – Indian Express, 26/6/04 Indian firms also recruit large numbers of Nepali workers for Iraq. – "Indian agencies send Nepalis to Iraq", Asian Age, 7/9/04. (back)
9. "Andhra poor brave Iraq death trap", P. Sridhar and U. Sudhakar Reddy, Asian Age, 2/3/05. (back)
10. Ibid. It is relevant to note that Sen's wife is charged with running an illegal business exporting babies for adoption abroad. (back)
11. "Spy on the run is property king", P.D. Samanta, Indian Express, 12/12/04. (back)
12. Praveen Swami, Hindu, 15/6/04. (back)
13. "Action delayed, RAW man slipped out", Indian Express, 26/7/04. (back)
14. Ibid. (back)
15. "RAW working will be reviewed: Dixit", Indian Express, 20/6/04. (back)
16. "On RAW evidence in spy case, Solicitor General says: You've a case but be sure", Ritu Sarin, Indian Express, 25/4/05. (back)
17. "RAW working will be reviewed: Dixit". (back)
18. "Missing in action", Saurabh Shukla, India Today, 11/4/05. (back)
20. "Open doors for mole recruitment", Praveen Swami, Hindu, 14/6/04. (back)
21. "A spreading menace", Rahul Bedi, Frontline, 20/7/02. (back)
22. "US ambassador offered FBI help in probing NE bomb blasts", Business Standard, 6/10/04. (back)
23. "US Coast Guard invites India to share intelligence", Indian Express, 3/2/05. (back)
24. "India betrayed us on insurance – US envoy", Times of India, 7/10/05; emphasis added. The following month the US treasury secretary, on a visit to India, similarly demanded: "India must allow foreign firms greater participation in its financial sector. India had been reluctant to lift the limits that it maintained on foreign participation. It needs to allow foreign firms greater participation in insurance and banking, and really across the board". – "Open up banking, insurance: Snow", Business Standard, 8/11/05. (back)
25. "Lantos hails India's vote on Iran", Aziz Haniffa, in.rediff.com/news/2005/sep/26aziz.htm. (back)
NEXT: App. I: Indo-US Joint Military Exercises after 2002 -- A Partial List


Juan Antonio Bayona's The Impossible has been receiving high levels of praise from around the world since its late 2012 release. The Spanish production, starring Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor, is the true story of a family vacationing in Thailand at the time of the Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26th, 2004. With a mix of practical, miniature and digital effects, the filmmakers strove to accurately depict the harrowing events of that day.
Watch the first wave sequence.
The first visual effects challenge was to re-create the initial wave of destruction as it hits the resort the family are relaxing in. "The key idea always was to be realistic, to be very close to the 2004 tsunami in Thailand," says visual effects supervisor Felix Berges. "We had a lot visual references of the particular area of the real story and these were our references all the time."
Surrounding the area are pools, bungalows, palm trees, umbrellas and all sorts of other objects. To show the tsunami wreaking havoc on all of these structures, a combination of full scale, miniature and scaled water effects were employed.
The bungalows and surrounding buildings were crafted at 1:3 scale by Magicon GmbH in Munich under supervision by Henrik Scheib. Only three and a half bungalows were built and then duplicated in compositing. The large scale miniatures were shot on an open air 80x100 meter water tank in Ciudad de la Luz, Alicante, Spain.
The model bungalows at 1:3 scale.
Resort setting at 1:3 scale.
Before shooting in the Alicante tank, several tests were undertaken to design the look of the wave impact. This was done firstly in 1:50 scale in a setup created by Edinburgh Designs Limited. Then part of the 1:3 scale was built to see what the water's behavior would look like.
The 1:50 test setup by Edinburgh Designs Limited.
Testing part of the 1:3 scale model.
Ultimately, the final tank constructed was 25x12x4 meters and held more than a million liters of water. It consisted of a fast opening doors system that could generate a 1.5m high wave (4.5m in real scale). To surround the tank, Berges elected not to use a traditional greenscreen backing. "We wanted to have trees so greenscreen was not possible and we did not have enough budget to buy and light an additional bluesecreen. So I used a solution a little bit tricky, very cheap but very useful - we painted a metal structure that held the green fabric with sky blue. It was not a good bluescreen, we had to do more roto, but the composition was very easy and the integration was good."
The final resort inundation shots, featuring close and aerial views, were a combination of the 1:3 model, extra 1:3 water for extension work, a plate shot in Thailand and CG elements such as the trees and umbrellas. CG splashes created in RealFlow helped combine the plates. To give the water a specific dirt look, the filmmakers "used an ecological and safe tint and a lot of color grading, digital and shot debris," says Berges.
Extra water plate to extend water.
Subsequent scenes of the characters caught in the water surge also relied on a heavy practical approach to depict a kilometer long journey along the torrent. For this, a 15x60 meter channel complete with 35 water pumps was constructed. The pumps were able to move water around at the rate of 350 liters per second. "One important thing was always safety," notes Berges. "The actors were guided in a kind of 'pot' that was controlled to always be the correct speed - the speed of water plus a little bit more or less depending of the shot."
Extra plates of water were filmed in a clean channel with the appropriate light and correct perspective for each shot. Separate passes of debris deemed too dangerous to place near actors were also captured, and then the shots composited along with digital trees, water splashes and other set dressing elements.
The main company involved in the digital work was El Ranchito in Madrid, which Berges is part of. "We did all the wave, flood and devastation scenes," he says. "Fassman, a Barcelona-based company, was in charge mainly of the underwater nightmare and a lot of devastation shots, as well as removals." Click here for Fassman's VFX breakdown reel.
Water plate for aerial shot of resort.
Actress Naomi Watts in the channel tank - original plate.
Watch b-roll of the miniature tank shoots.
The power of practical effects!
Miniatures were supplied and by MAGICON GmbH, a modelmaking firm located Munich Germany. See also http://www.magicon.de . Miniature Supervision by Henrik Scheib.
Great article, thanks. LOVE the b-roll footage. And I am a fan of using practical elements where possible. When I watched the movie, I found the combination of some practical scale elements, CG and full scale practical was very convincing.


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Firefly Best Lines (cont'd)
storiesbywilliams	in Movies, News, Sci-Fi	 February 7, 2013 February 10, 2013 276 Words
Terminator 5 News!
It's official! Terminator 5 have been announced and some rather interesting news items have been released this month as to who will be attached to it. For starters, the production team of Megan and David Ellison, who brought us such movies as Zero Dark Thirty, Killing them Softly and True Grit will be spearheading it.
In terms of writers, there's Laeta Kalogridis, a frequent collaborator with James Cameron who helped produce Avatar and also co-wrote the Fantastic Voyage and Battle Angel films and was a writer on Shutter Island, Alexander, Night Watch and the Bionic Woman pilot. She will be paired with Patrick Lussier, the writer/director of Drive Angry and Dracula 2000 and an editor with many films under his belt.
But the biggest of all is that Mr. Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has apparently announced that he will be in the next Terminator movie as well. No telling exactly what role he will be filling, whether it will be an aging T-800 or as a regular human being. Then again, they makers might use his presence to do a little background on who the man was that inspired the original cyborg look.
Who knows? Point is, Arny made the announcement late last month, where he confirmed participation in not only this project, but also a new Conan movie. Wow, two relaunches at the same time. Who does he think he is? Sylvester Stallone? And in the end, it seems clear at least that in this particular cameo, he will not be appearing as a CG cyborg. Though to be honest, that was one of the least lame points of that movie…
Source: IO9.com, Screenrant.com
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mr. terminator
Terminator franchise
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6 thoughts on "Terminator 5 News!"
Well, as long as they do a good job with T5 like they did with T4, I'll be happy. Besides, I hated T3.
Wait, you enjoyed T4?
Yeah, Christian Bale rocks. Plus the story was like something I might write, and they didn't use a flabby Ahnold for the T-800. Plus the actors fit the role, which is more than I can say for T3.
Ripley Connor says:
You know how I feel! I just hope they can show the human side of us terminators.
Bo Mandoe says:
I agree with your assessment: T4 was good as a stand-alone movie, but the plot holes were too much to overlook.
Some years ago I started writing a post-apocalyptic story in which the main character comes across the Terminator movies. Here's his synopsis:
T1: [Cyborg from the future chases woman around Los Angeles to kill her unborn son before he kills them.]
T2: [Improved Cyborg from the future chases kid around Los Angeles to kill him before he kills them. Old Cyborg from the future defends kid.]
T3: [Much improved Cyborg from the future chases guy and girl around Los Angeles to kill them before they kill her. Old outdated Cyborg wrestles with loyalty issues.]
T4: [T-800 Cyborg in the future chased around Los Angeles by machines, thinks he's human; Men and Cyborg try to kill machines before they get killed. Old revered Cyborg appears in cameo thanks to digital video photography]
Then there's his supposition about T5: [New Super Improved Cyborg chases man woman and baby around Los Angeles… while old outdated Cyborg 101 questions his sexual identity.]
Let's hope Kalogridis and Lussier come up with something better!
I also meant to mention – maybe T4 will turn out to be a dream sequence, like Aliens 3. And while they're at it, could we please resurrect Michael Biehn? 😉


Dr. H. Bruce Rinker, BRI's director of scientific advancement and development, will speak at the 4th international EcoSummit in Columbus, Ohio (September 30 to October 5, 2012) on forest systems and Gaia theory.
The theme of the EcoSummit will be "Restoring the Planet's Ecosystem Services." Plenary speakers will include E.O. Wilson and Jared Diamond. Details may be found at http://www.ecosummit2012.org/.
During the week-long gathering, Dr. Rinker will also meet with participating colleagues from México's National Institute of Ecology (INE). INE and BRI are completing details on a memorandum of understanding that will allow BRI researchers to establish long-term scientific studies throughout México related to various conservation issues.


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* To read one of our road tests, simply select from the menu on the left.
* Please remember too, that prices quoted are those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.
We spend quality time with the Kia Cerato Koup (coupé)
(also known as Kia Forte and Kia Shuma in certain markets)
Pics by author
Competent, enjoyable and economical
Published in Weekend Witness Motoring on Saturday March 27, 2010
"Looks like a hairdresser's car," scoffed this very rude person of my acquaintance. I gather he dismisses all coupés with this particular insult, because it's certainly not as pretty or as cute as one might expect a stylist's car to be. It's very angular, wedge-shaped almost, while the frontal styling incorporates a "Schreyer Line" grille that apparently symbolises the face of a roaring tiger. Don't know about wild animals, but it's undeniably bold.
The second generation Cerato is the first to appear in SA, having been released here last September. There are four sedans with 1,6 and 2,0 litre engines and a choice of 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmissions. The Koup (I guess the odd spelling is an attempt to emulate American mispronunciation of "coupé") comes only as a 2,0 litre with manual transmission.
The 1 998 cc DOHC 16-valve CVVT four-cylinder puts out 115 kW at 6 200 rpm and 194 Nm of torque at 4 300 rpm. While not a shredder of pavement, it's a competent daily driver, getting up to 100 km/h in a bit over nine seconds and topping out at 200 km/h.
Your money gets you a good package of standard equipment including automatic single channel air conditioning, 17" alloy wheels with a full-sized alloy spare, front and rear fog lamps, heated outside mirrors, audio controls on the steering wheel, a comprehensive trip computer, auto locking, electric windows, height adjustment on the driver's seat, height and reach adjustable steering, keyless entry, a six-speaker sound system with iPod, Auxiliary and USB connectors, cruise control, leather seats, automatic headlights and rear park assist.
Safety kit includes ABS, EBD, ESC, six airbags, active head restraints and doors that unlock automatically on impact. A tow bar, headlamp shields and satnav are listed as optional extras.
The week during which I lived with the Koup was an unusually busy one for me, with two trips to Durban and back, a family journey to the outer reaches of the Northern Drakensberg and an unplanned tour of some midlands forestry roads – just over 900 km in all. The Koup took the dirt roads in its stride, by the way.
I found the car an easy drive around town; steering and parking easily while shrugging off speed bumps with the contempt they deserve. You may have gathered by now that I am against these things; all they do is crucify the owners of little cars while the speed merchants they are supposed to control simply ignore them. In my youth, the city fathers used a far more effective deterrent; traffic cops actively patrolling on motorbikes. If you as much as thought about doing anything bad, Officer Aggro was there, filling your rear view mirror and simply daring you to try.
On freeways and provincial roads, the car accelerates nicely then cruises comfortably in fifth. Gearing of about 40 km/h per 1 000 rpm in top gives flexible performance while returning surprisingly good fuel economy for a 2,0 litre. This worked out to about 8,5 l/100 km over a fairly even mix of town and freeway driving and 7,1 overall, as this particular week's travelling was biased towards the open road.
Perhaps unusually, the coupé is a bit smaller that its sedan counterpart, being 50 mm shorter, 10 mm narrower and a full 60 mm lower. This probably accounts for some difficulty getting my 1,85 metre frame into and out of the back seat, especially as the front seats aren't equipped with the tilt-and-slide facility one expects nowadays. The backs tilt, but it's necessary to slide the seats forward the old fashioned way.
Once in there, headroom is severely limited although knee space is plentiful. Best leave rear seat access to little people and on an occasional basis, then. The rear seat backs do fold flat onto their cushions, but again unusually, one cannot do this from within the passenger compartment. The release catches are in the boot.
Logic tells us that the reason one needs the seat backs folded is in order to load longer items in from the boot, so that's where the catches should be. All quite reasonable, I suppose. It's just that old habits are hard to break.
My rude friend may dismiss the Kia Cerato Koup as being unsuited to the macho, but if your transport needs do not include regular ferrying of rear seat passengers, ignoring it could deprive you of a well-equipped and enjoyable daily driver that's economical as well.
Price: R209 995
Engine: 1998 cc DOHC 16 valve CVVT four-cylinder
Power: 115 kW at 6 200 rpm
Torque: 194 Nm at 4 300 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 9,3 seconds
Maximum speed: 200 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: about 8,5 l/100 km
Warranty: 5 years/100 000 km
Service plan: 4 years/90 000 km
To see our review of the turbocharged 2014 model click here