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Modern INKers
Solarian Lore Guide Primer
Thread starter Grey Star
By popular demand, I put this here. I think I got everything. This is not how Solarians work in every RP, but the base of which I use for modifying them appropriately.
Spoiler: Origin Myth
In ancient Mesopotamia, the origin of civilization, there was an unimportant individual. He was a nameless king. Born into power, and a decent ruler, but not respected enough to be encoded into memory, and after his death his name was lost. However, the king's soul was powerful, and after his death it became infused with the power of the stars themselves, the burning plasma that makes up the core of every star. The soul broke apart, splitting into eight different parts. Infusing itself into floating rocks in space, suddenly eight metal beings awoke in the empty blackness of space. The investigated their steel skin, glowing eyes signalling to the others where they were. The beings knew that being made of the forge wasn't right, yet this is how they were born, so how could it have been anything different. They cast their gaze upon a barren, rocky planet, and began to fall into the sky, far, far away from Earth.
A galaxy so distant from Earth was remarkably devoid of life. Interstellar travel was possible, but species were unique mostly to their planet. The galactic community was made up of few species, and a remarkably small number of individuals. The systems of the stars however, were populated, but filled with strife. Successful management of multiple planets required often brutal strategies, creating a place of alien life where it was frequent for refugees of one warzone travel led to another star, to another war. Technology was primitive, magic was in its barbaric infancy. Wars consumed the stars, and with the consumption of the stars, the galactic community was barely more than a few individuals at a time of any species, either refugees, explorers, outcasts, or insane attempted conquerors.
However, out of this time of strife, a mortal rose. What his species was is lost to time, and as a result he is mostly depicted as a human figure of indeterminate features, a blank slate. He only had three things to his name. A red scarf that was worn across his neck, and stretched behind him into a flowing cape. A sword forged of simple metals and intense effort. Lastly, a powerful, well earned command over the strongest magic of all. Star Magic, the lifeblood that gives the stars their lifespan and glow, magic that flows through the blood of the Stars themselves, the gods of the galaxy. This mortal had no last name, no history, no family, no connections to any past, present, or future. He was a nomad, making due with ugly things, and setting right the wrongs of the galaxy he was born into. He only answered to one name, and refused many of the titles and curses given unto him. His name was Destiny, and he was a hero. He moved from star system to star system, using his powerful magic to not make himself the rightful ruler by force, but instead to inspire the downtrodden, the oppressed, and the consumed to rise up and cast off the chains of their situation, and by empowering the individuals to resist their governments, corporations, and rulers, he systematically ended the wars consuming the galaxy, the environmental and economic collapses, and ensured a better life for those he came across. He tore apart everything that had hurt someone to end the pain, that seemingly his only reason for his actions. When he had put an end to the strife, stopped the pain, and finished stabilizing the galaxy, and ventured into a system that none had been able to locate before. He found a place long though mythical, a land of dreams and fairy tales, a holy shrine reserved only for the righteous dead. Destiny had come to Bastion, the home of the Stars.
The Stars, eight metal beings, were holy figures that were worshiped across the galaxy. Before each species' inevitable descent into strife, the Stars would suddenly appear on the planet, seemingly without space travel. The eight would preform good works across the planets the species were located on, each preforming miracles that were associated with a specific one of the eight, using the powerful Star Magic that had given them life and coursed in the blood inside their metallic bodies. After improving the lives of the societies they visited, invariable their gifts would be turned against the purpose of improving life, and instead used to worsen it for various petty justifications. The Stars would leave after realizing the situation was untenable, and seeing species after species making the same mistakes the same way, again and again and again. Every species in the galaxy had received a visit from them, every species would use the gifts of the Stars against themselves, and every species would descent into their own separate ages of strife. Through the galactic community, stories of the Stars' visits caused them to ascend from legendary aliens into god status, even as strife consumed the star systems. It was these stories of these gods that gave Destiny the influence he needed to inspire the individual, taking command of the primary galactic religion to put an end to the ages of strife, and caused Destiny's stories to join the myth of the Stars.
Landing on Bastion, Destiny left behind his spacecraft, and explored the small world of brown grasses and twilight sunsets. He found many small rivers of water, flowing at an easy pace across the land. He found many open fields of grass without a tree in site. He found an empty sky that frequently rained and stormed, but would always empty out again. He did not find choirs of the dead, singing the praises of the Stars. He did not find magical creatures and devices. He did not find cabals of extremely powerful magic wielders, the evil demons who inhabited the planet of the Stars. Instead, he found an empty and plain planet, almost as if a well tended graveyard than a place of worship and magic. After days of exploring, he found the legendary, mythical stone temple that the Stars called home. It was as plain, even if massive, as the rest of the planet. He ventured inside, looking to at long last meet those who he shared magic with, some of the few people he could call kin, the gods he prayed to. He found a lived in home, a place where eight gods would spend their infinite lives working on the various domains they were responsible for. A section of the temple each dedicated to each Star's personal Activities. He almost thought the place abandoned, the gods having deserted their sacred land, when he walked into the center of the temple, a meeting table between the eight, all waiting for him. The defacto leader greeted Destiny first. The Stars explained that they had parted away the cosmic shroud that kept their world hidden for Destiny, and Destiny alone. They admitted they were surprised that a mortal ended the ages of strife in the entire galaxy, even more so at the idea a mortal could utilize Star Magic solely through effort and need. Two things that the Stars, the gods, themselves could not, yet a mortal could. They explained they could offer Destiny anything. Immortality, riches, an endless harem, power beyond his imagination, even the whole galaxy to rule over. Yet they knew that Destiny only cared for one thing, and that was the value of work, rather than any other reward.
The Stars brought Destiny to a laboratory, a place that was the focal point of their combined work. They explained to the mortal that the gods had an ulterior motive for all their work across every species. Every time they appeared, they would attempt to uplift a species, to save them from environmental collapse destroying their planet's ability to support life. Every time, the Stars gifts would be turned against its purpose, used to wage war. The reason why every single species that Destiny had found knew Star Magic and believed in the myth of the Stars was because the species that did not receive the Gift of the Stars wiped itself out, unable to look inwards long enough to reflect on what it was doing, and causing some great environmental collapse or war that drove the species numbers to a dwindling amount, followed by extinction, and the irreversible damage to the planet preventing a new formation of life. After countless experiments and acts, the Stars always providing the tools but never taking control of the species, they came to the conclusion that life was inherently unable to survive attempts to expand beyond a single star system, and that due to evolution, the Stars themselves would always be alone in the galaxy, life continually growing and dying, unable to solve the same problems over and over again. Refusing to be alone for their infinite lifespans, they created a plan. Sampling more species of both sentient and non-sapient than can be counted, they had a genetic database that effectively allowed for the creation of any life they could develop. Though they were able to solve some of the same problems that always lead to extinction of any sentient species, they were unable to solve the others, including ensured, eventual self destruction without outside help. They believed that Destiny would be able to provide a change in the equation of life. A mortal who accomplished what the gods could not deny an infinite number of attempts, each following the same rules, including the all important refusal to control another species. So the Stars offered Destiny the only reward they could, a chance to create a species capable of surviving throughout the galaxy without self destruction, something that might outlive all other species, something to ensure the galaxy would be lived in and purposed.
Destiny was used as the missing part of the Star's grand creation, a child species to fill the galaxy with life. His body was used for genetic material with their already existing candidate to create hundreds of unique, "original generation" batch grown lifeforms. The Stars examined his mind, taking his morals and beliefs, putting them into the subconscious of the new species as an ingrained, guiding morality. They examined his soul, and used it as a template for the formation of the new life forms' souls. At last they examined the magic that flowed through Destiny's blood, and imparted samples of Destiny's blood into every "original generation" life form. It was this way that Destiny's blood would carry through the new species, giving them an innate ability to perform magic, and the chance, though not guarantee, to rise above the limitations of the body and access the power of the stars themselves, Star Magic.
The Stars created one thousand and one genetically unique life forms, belonging to an artificially created rather than naturally arising species, designed to overcome the obstacles present in the survival of life itself, a combination of a designed life form with the final components being provided by Destiny, the father to this new species. This new species would be called the Solarians, for they would have the fire of the sun as a core part of their physiology. The first was named for the star that Bastion orbited, Sola. Sola was the first, and unique, compared to the rest of the "original generation" batch, for she received none of the material the Stars had taken from Destiny and given unto the others. Destiny left Bastion, his life extended to fulfill his final role for the galaxy, the Stars raised Sola on Bastion, into her own person, to ensure that her role as the origin and mother of the Solarians would succeed. When she came of age, and told her parent Star that she felt a need to love someone, and to reproduce, they merely chuckled and suggested she court her friend Destiny who had recently arrived on Bastion from a long trip seeking a legendary, rare space faring creature. One date lead to another, and Sola proposed to Destiny. The two were married by the Stars. Because of the fact that Destiny and Sola were of two species, they were unable to conceive. The Stars provided them with children, the "original generation" batch of Solarians, and the first was named Luna. Through an eternity, Sola and Destiny raised a thousand children, creating a stable population on an ideal planet in the same system as Bastion.
The mother was Sola. The father was Destiny. The first child was Luna. These three that were the first of the Solarian race. The sun that provides the Solarian people the fire in their veins was named for their mother, Sola. The planet that revolves around the star Sola was named Syn, a more lovely name than Destiny but inspired by the father. And the moon that hosts the government capital of the Solarians was named Luna, for it requires both the mother and the father to exist.
Spoiler: Biology
Solarian biology is unorthodox due to their origin as a created species. Despite their extreme similarities to humans as detailed further on, several parts of their biology is adapted from other species to fulfill different needs. The most radical difference is that solarians have a similarity to plants in the form their skin is capable of adsorbing a nigh-infinite amount of sunlight, heat, and all solar radiation. The adsorbed radiation travels through the skin into the blood stream, particularly the veins, and sent into the heart. The circulatory system of the solarians is unique in the form of the tissue used for tubing being capable of holding radiation internally. This radiation is stored in the blood stream, filtering through the body again and again until used up. The radiation is used for several functions, including being used to generate energy for the body in a specialized part of the stomach which converts light into food, acting as a source of heat that is necessary for solarian bio-chemistry, and also to illuminate the solarian on the inside through their arteries and veins that acts as social signal. Solarian body temperatures require being at 110* Fahrenheit to function properly, which is generally achieved through adsorbing solar radiation. Falling below this body temperature can cause a solarian's body to begin to shut down to conserve heat, a condition nicknamed "freezing." Above this temperature solarians will feel slightly uncomfortable, but have no noticeable effects until 212* degrees, when the water inside their bodies boils which causes extreme damage, pain, and highly lethal by dehydration. In cases where the outside temperature exceeds the necessary temperature requirement, or if there is a build-up in excess solar radiation inside a body, a solarian will undergo a biological function nicknamed "glowing" where the tubing of their arteries and veins will switch from a passive light emitting process to a forceful light emitting process, removing the excess radiation via expelling it as light energy. On the inverse, if a solarian does not acquire enough solar radiation through a given time span but are in an external temperature that is necessary for them to stay alive, they will feel extreme discomfort from being cold on the inside, and will require food to eat more readily than in other situations, but altogether will be fine. A notable feature about this tubing is a rare genetic disease that causes the tubing to not properly bind to flesh, causing it to slowly disconnect from the body starting a few years into childhood, and causing death by a lack of blood circulation. Genetic therapy and healing magic are the primary treatments, but being it affects the entire circulatory system, the solarian's growth is heavily stunted.
Another trait co-opted from other species is that solarian flesh and bone are highly adaptive to atmospheric and gravitational changes in short time spans. The concentration of their bone and muscle mass changes in response to being a different gravity force over the course of a week, allowing them to quickly "slim down" or "build up" depending on whether the solarian is in space or goes to another planet, maintaining an ideal fitness for the area. However, this process takes time and going from a space adjusted body to a planetary adjusted one leaves a solarian extremely weakened for as long as it takes to adapt. In addition, rapidly and continually changing gravity multiple times causes the adaptation mechanism of the body to become confused, leaving the solarian is either a possibly impossibly dense and heavy body, or an impossibly tall and weak body, for two weeks or a month required to acclimatize to the currently gravitational forces. This notably affects solarian commercial sailors who in the course of a week will make five or more different stops on a shipping trip, necessitating medication to keep their bodies at a current adaptation or else become unable to work. This adaption feature also allows solarians to survive and operate in the vacuum of space for periods of time, as long as they receive enough solar radiation. In addition, the adaptation feature also changes Solarian skin tones in response tosolar radiation, increasing or decreasing pigmentation to moderate amount of sunlight adsorbed while on a planet. Notably, solarian armors are enchanted to disengage the adaption mechanism for one reason or another, to maintain a particular level of muscle mass for combat purposes.
Solarian bodies carry an unmistakable resemblance to humanity, even if the chemical processes that dictate their life functions are highly different. The Stars were once a single, unified human, and as such their thought processes till operate on the same basic framework as a human's mind, though heavily expanded to account for the major differences. As a result, their created species was made to fulfill human ideas on space flight, and human ideas of what they wanted their child species to look like. On the outside solarians resemble humans to an extreme degree. Solarian body appearance, proportions, skin tones, and faces all resemble any member of humanity. What humans call beautiful humans will be beautiful to solarians, and vice versa, creating the possibility of inter-species romance. Strangely, thanks to a quirk added into solarian genetics, it is possible for humans and solarians to produce viable off-spring that will be further expanded upon
Solarian biology as it's relationship to humans
Solarian biology as its relation to magic
Magic: All magic flows through blood, magic strength based on physical fitness, hard magic
Star Magic: The lifeblood of stars, the manipulation of plasma, soft magic
Clothing: Suits like the Vodanyia, with capes
Technology: Crystal and metal devices combined with magic
The Stars:
Government:
Solar System:
Withereds:
Spoiler: Old, No Longer Accurate Lore
History: Long ago, a king ruled Mespotamia, doing some heroics, before dying of old age. A few thousand years later, drifting in space, eight metal figures awoke. These beings were the splintered soul of that King, imbuded with phenomal cosmic power. Though questioning their origin, they declared themselves what they had always hoped to obtain, the Stars, and began a long crusade against evil in their galaxy, destroying the wrong while championing the right. In time, they found themselves desiring something to create, rather then destroy and replace, so they found an empty sector of the galaxy, mostly empty anyway, and set up a planetary libray, and fortress, calling it Bastion. Here they tinkered with their powers, trying to figure out what should they create. They stopped for hundreds of years.
Due to the lack of heroes in the galaxy thanks to the Stars' vacation, a mortal rose up to fill the place left by the Stars, and all the immortal gods before them. Armed only with a sword and a cape, a young male called Destiny wandered, vanquishing evil for no thanks, merely because it brought him personal gratification. For he had a very rare talent, the ability to manipulate solar radation and energies as a means of attack and shielding. Though he cared not for the fame, it grew increasingly, until even the Stars in their dead space heard of him. Realizing the potential, a being that not only manipulated the same energies that gave the Stars life, but was a hero through and through, he would be the perfect father for their creation. In a short manner, Destiny walked through the stone halls of Bastion, and met the eight Stars themselves, and was offered a chance he had to take. Become the bridegroom and father of the Solarians, a species of heroes in his image, and be the husband of their progentier, a woman named Sola.
The Solarians grew quickly, under the guidance of the Stars, achieving society levels and space flight, even a space navy in short order, while also mastering their incredible magic abilities under the same teachings. They created a large empire composed mostly of shipping lanes and farming worlds, taking care to ensure every world was utilized but not ravaged, and making friends, and enemies, with many planetary governments. Included in these were their first allies, the Vampires of Tenebrea, who livied in the same system as the Solarians originated as, and the Infinites, crystaline beings who were thought to use a similair magic to the Stars, but died out while the Solarians were in their infancy.
Abilities: Solarians are in general, tan skinned tall humans with strange colored hair and eyes, with veins that glow a variety of colors based on genetics but that can be altered with synthetic drug use, or magic. They live for a minimium of three thousand years, but an upper limit is not entirely defined.
They have innate abilities to determine the rough emotions of a person, such as angry or sad, without looking or hearing, just by being near, and are capable of opening telepathic channels that allows two willing partipants of any organic, sentient brains to communicate by willing thoughts to each other. They can sense energies around them, including general lifespans (ability to read full lifepsans require training), solar or heat energy, and decay. In their cells are special organelles that allow for the collection of ambient energy in a room, when full on energy they swell up and increase in bulk, but when low turn skinnier. When deprived of solar radation long enough, they are less healthy, but can pass themselves off as humans. Their magic consumes the energy stored in their organelles, and is in fact, reality warping, rewriting matter and energy to a new form while also expelling their former energy, and as such continually break the law of thermodynamics. Though they can use any form of magic they want, some of their major schools include illusion, classical four elements, time, and darkness. Lastly they possess a natural healing factor, allowing them to regenate any destroyed flesh if they have the energy to do so, but an instant kill bypasses this, as they cannot react to it and thus cannot use their magic to save them.
Society: They worship celestial bodies, and consider every sun, large moon, and planet to be something sacred and should be protected against from desecration. In addition they worship their creators, the Stars, as gods, and continually pray to them and seek audiances for their wisdom. They also worship power and Destiny, seeking to be on the side of good. As such the most powerful Solarians form the Solarian Order, a group of mages whose seats are based in duels, with the strongest being named the Solarian Grand Master. And the Solarian who has the strongest genetic link to Destiny is either the King or Queen of the Solarians. For the government to function, the Order, the Grand Master, and the Dynatsy must all agree. The Solarian Knight Academy is an insitution that trains Solarian students for a few decades, getting them to master most forms of magic and weapon combat, before sending them out as wandering heroes to do good in the veins of their father, Destiny. It's the second most popular job, following being a trader that flies goods between planets.
Technology: They use crystals and metals imbuded with spells to automize varies tasks for them, such as refining metals or mass producing neckalces or feeding an energy crystal into a tube to create a blast large enough to vaporize a skyscraper.


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Home News Energy
Why refrigerants are a hot climate issue
The synthetic chemicals flowing unseen through air conditioners and refrigerators could be a major climate change risk, say industry experts.
Synthetic refrigerants such as hydrofluorocarbons can trap up to 3,900 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide can. Image: Shutterstock
By Vaidehi Shah
Australian companies can save billions on energy bills and cut cooling-related emissions by half if they switch away from synthetic hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants to natural ones such as carbon dioxide and ammonia, said industry leaders on Tuesday.
Refrigerants are fluids that absorb and release heat in heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) systems used in homes, commercial buildings and industrial facilities across the world.
Speaking at the Australian Refrigeration Association's (ARA) HVACR Energy Efficiency Seminar at the Australian Technology Park in Sydney, ARA president Tim Edwards told the 40-strong audience that "natural (refrigerants) are better in every way and yet, synthetics continue to dominate the industry".
The most recent study on this by the Australian Department of the Environment in 2012 shows that about 43,500 tonnes of synthetic refrigerants such as HFCs or hydroflurochlorocarbons, or HCFCs, are stored in refrigeration and air conditioning equipment in the country. This volume of stored gas is known as a gas bank.
In comparison, the gas bank for natural refrigerants such as carbon dioxide, ammonia, and hydrocarbons was 4,800 tonnes at the end of 2012.
Synthetic refrigerants such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and HCFCs were developed about 80 years ago as a safer alternative to existing natural solutions, which at the time were highly flammable. However, as scientists realised that these chemicals deplete the ozone layer, the international community agreed to phase out their use.
The Montreal Protocol, an international treaty, was signed by 197 countries in 1987 to achieve this and required the global phase-out of CFC-based refrigerants by 2010. Developing countries have till 2030 to phase out HCFC use. Developed countries have till 2020 to do this.
However, the Protocol does not currently address HFCs, which are synthetic refrigerants developed to replace CFCs and HCFCs.
While HFCs have no effect on the ozone layer, they still have a high global warming potential, also known as 'GWP' in the industry, which is a measure of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere compared to carbon dioxide.
Last November, the 197 countries which signed onto the Montreal Protocol agreed to add an amendment to the document aimed at reducing the production and consumption of HFCs.
But getting the industry to reduce its HFC use may be difficult because, according to an ARA report, companies which make HFCs "have enormous investments in the production of patented synthetic refrigerants and therefore have a great deal to lose" if their products are replaced by more sustainable natural refrigerants.
Therefore, even though the initial concerns surrounding the safety of natural refrigerants have largely been addressed by better technology, synthetic refrigerant makers continue to say these alternatives are risky, saids ARA.
While natural refrigerants are not widely used in HVACR currently, they absorb and release heat more efficiently than synthetics, and can deliver between 10 and 40 per cent more energy efficiency than HFC or HCFC alternatives, said Edwards.
In addition to indirect emissions from energy use, refrigerants also cause pollution when they leak out of HVACR equipment. This is an inevitable eventuality, said Edwards, because HVACR systems are frequently under intense mechanical stress. When leakages happen, synthetic refrigerants cause much more global warming than natural ones, he added.
For example, the government's 2012 study estimates that the GWP of various HFC refrigerants over a 100 year period ranges from 794 to 3,922.
In contrast, carbon dioxide has a GWP of one, and ammonia causes no global warming at all. Some natural hydrocarbon refrigerants have a maximum GWP of three.
Natural (refrigerants) are better in every way and yet, synthetics continue to dominate the industry.
Tim Edwards, president, Australian Refrigeration Association
Changes ahead
If Australia shifts to using natural refrigerants and invests in other energy efficiency improvements, it can cut its HVACR-related energy costs by 60 per cent, said Edwards. This will help the country save A$8 billion annually.
The industry will also be able to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by half, which in turn will drive a 7 per cent reduction in national greenhouse gas emissions, he added.
However, these changes will require investments in new equipment or system retrofits to accommodate the new natural refrigerants. But as a Greenpeace report suggested, the pay-back period on these investments is low due to significant energy savings, and maintenance costs are also lower.
Greenpeace also noted that "many natural refrigerants are inexpensive, some less expensive than HFCs". According to an Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration industry publication for example, notes that carbon dioxide - a byproduct of many industries - can be purchased as a refrigerant for about US$1 per pound (450 grammes).
Companies and the government will also have to train engineers and technicians to manage natural refrigerants safely, noted Edwards.
While the Montreal Protocol amendment on reducing HFCs is still pending, some governments have independently committed to phasing out the use of these synthetic refrigerants, noted Edwards. The European Union, for example, is cutting the availability of HFCs by 79 per cent between 2015 and 2030.
The countries which make up the G20 bloc of countries - including Australia - have also issued a statement agreeing to work together to phase down HFCs under the Montreal protocol. But Edwards said that Australia has been slow to translate this verbal commitment to action.
Other countries in Asia Pacific, like Singapore, have also not made much progress on shifting their HVACR sector away from HFCs, he added.
But Ignacio Gavilan, sustainability director of industry group Consumer Goods Forum, said that the private sector is already taking the lead on this.
Reducing HFC use among companies in its network is a key priority for the association, and many Forum members have implemented projects which prove that it is possible and profitable to switch to natural refrigeration, he added.
Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever, for example, has been replacing its HFC-based point-of-sale ice cream freezer cabinets across the world with ones that use hydrocarbon refrigerants since 2004.
Hydrocarbon-refrigerant freezers are 10 per cent more energy efficient than older models. The company estimates that the energy efficiency of freezers bought in 2013 avoided about 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions compared to machines bought in 2008.
Another case study by Coca-Cola shows that it has invested more than US$100 million over the past decade in more sustainable coolers, and has more than 1.7 million units of HCF-free equipment worldwide. This will prevent the emission of about 9 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide over 10 years, according the company/
More companies should start piloting natural refrigerant solutions, measuring the energy and emissions savings that result from this, and share best practices with others in the industry, Gavilan urged.
"For retailers and manufacturers, there is no real excuse not to adopt HFC-free technologies," said Gavilan. "We have the most cost-effective climate mitigation strategy, and it is available today".
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György Kurtág (; born 19 February 1926) is a Hungarian composer of contemporary classical music and pianist. According to Grove Music Online, with a style that draws on "Bartók, Webern and, to a lesser extent, Stravinsky, his work is characterized by compression in scale and forces, and by a particular immediacy of expression".

He was an academic teacher of piano at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music from 1967, later also of chamber music, and taught until 1993.

Life and career
György Kurtág was born on 19 February 1926 in Lugoj, Romania, which was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Born to Hungarian parents, he moved to Budapest in 1946 and became a Hungarian citizen in 1948. There, he began his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where he met his wife, Márta Kinsker, as well as composer György Ligeti, who became a close friend. His piano teacher at the academy was Pál Kadosa. He studied composition with Sándor Veress and Ferenc Farkas, chamber music with Leó Weiner, and theory with Lajos Bárdos, and graduated in piano and chamber music in 1951 before receiving his degree in composition in 1955. He married Márta in 1947 and their son György was born in 1954.

Following the Hungarian uprising in 1956, Kurtág's time in Paris between 1957 and 1958 was of critical importance for him. There, he studied with Max Deutsch, Olivier Messiaen, and Darius Milhaud. During this time, however, Kurtág was suffering from severe depression. He has said, "I realized to the point of despair that nothing I had believed to constitute the world was true". Kurtág received therapy from art psychologist Marianne Stein, who encouraged him to work from the simplest musical elements, an encounter that revivified him and strongly stimulated his artistic development. During this time, he also discovered the works of Anton Webern and the plays of Samuel Beckett. The string quartet he composed in 1959 after his return to Budapest marks this crucial turning point; he refers to this piece as his Opus 1. He dedicated it to Stein.

Kurtág worked as a répétiteur at the Bartók Music School (1958–63) and at the National Philharmonia in Budapest (1960–68). In 1967, he was appointed professor of piano and later also of chamber music at the Franz Liszt Academy, where he taught until 1993. During this time his students included Zoltán Kocsis and András Schiff.

Kurtág's first international opportunity came in 1968 when his largest work to date, The Sayings of Peter Bornemisza, was performed by Erika Sziklay and Lóránt Szűcs at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music. The critical response was not positive, and his international recognition began to grow only later with Messages of the Late Miss R.V. Troussova for soprano and chamber ensemble, which had its premiere in Paris in 1981.

Since the early 1990s, he has worked abroad with increasing frequency: he was composer in residence at the Berlin Philharmonic (1993–95) and the Vienna Konzerthaus Society (1995). He then lived in the Netherlands (1996–98), again in Berlin (1998–99) and upon invitation by Ensemble InterContemporain, Cité de la Musique, and Festival d'Automne, in Paris (1999–2001). Kurtág and his wife lived near Bordeaux from 2002 to 2015, when they moved back to Budapest. The couple remained married until Márta's death in October 2019.

Music

According to scholar Rachel Beckles Willson, "Kurtág composes painstakingly and haltingly: in 1985, when he was 59, his output had reached only Op. 23, and several works remained unfinished or had been withdrawn for revision."

Kurtág's compositions are often made up of many very brief movements. Kafka-Fragments, for instance, is an approximately 55-minute song cycle for soprano and solo violin made up of 40 short movements, setting extracts from Franz Kafka's writings, diaries, and letters. Music journalist Tom Service wrote that Kurtág's music "involved reducing music to the level of the fragment, the moment, with individual pieces or movements lasting mere seconds, or a minute, perhaps two." Most extreme of all, his piano piece "Flowers We Are, Mere Flowers", from the eighth volume of Játékok ("Games"), consists of just seven notes. Because of this interest in miniatures, Kurtág's music is often compared to Webern's.

Prior to Stele, Op. 33 (written for the Berlin Philharmonic and Claudio Abbado), Kurtág's compositions were mainly vocal solo and choral music and instrumental music ranging from solo pieces to works for chamber ensembles of increasing size. Since Stele, a number of large-scale compositions have been premiered, such as Messages Op. 34 and New Messages Op. 34a for orchestra and the double concerto …concertante… Op. 42. Kurtág's first opera, Fin de partie, based on Samuel Beckett's Endgame, was premiered at La Scala on 15 November 2018, eight years after the original commission.

Beginning in the late 1980s, Kurtág wrote several works in which the spatial distribution of instruments plays an important role. His composition, … quasi una fantasia… for piano and ensemble, premiered in 1988, is the first piece in which he explores the idea of music that spatially embraces the audience.

Kurtág often held master classes in chamber music, and appeared in concerts together with his wife. The couple played an always-renewing selection of pieces for two- and four-hand piano from Kurtág's ten-volume collection Játékok as well as transcriptions.

Most of Kurtág's music is published by Editio Musica Budapest, some by Universal Edition, Vienna, and some by Boosey & Hawkes, London.

Recognition

Kurtág has received numerous awards, including Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1985, the Kossuth Award of the Hungarian government for his life achievement in 1973, the Austrian Ehrenzeichen in 1996, and the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 1998. He is also a member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, and of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin (both since 1987), and was named an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2001. In 2006, he received the Grawemeyer Award for his composition …concertante… Op. 42, for violin, viola and orchestra.

Kurtág received the 2014 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the category of Contemporary Music for, in the view of the jury, its "rare expressive intensity". "The novel dimension of his music", the citation continues, "lies not in the material he uses but in its spirit, the authenticity of its language, and the way it crosses borders between spontaneity and reflection, between formalism and expression."

Invited by Walter Fink, Kurtág was the 14th composer featured in the annual Komponistenporträt of the Rheingau Musik Festival in 2004. The Ensemble Modern and soloists performed his works Opp. 19, 31b and 17. On the occasion of his 80th birthday in February 2006, the Budapest Music Centre honoured him with a festival in his hometown. The same year's editions of Musikfest Berlin, Vienna modern, Holland Festival and Festival d'Automne in Paris dedicated special programmes to Kurtág.

Awards
Erkel Prize in 1955 and 1969
Kossuth Prize (1973)
UNESCO's International Rostrum of Composers (1983)
Music Prize of the Prince Pierre of Monaco Foundation (1993)
International Antonio Feltrinelli Prize (1993)
Composers Award of the State of Austria (1994)
Denis de Rougemot Prize of the European Festivals Association (1994)
Kossuth Prize for Lifetime Achievement (1996)
Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (1997)
Composers Award "Promotion of the European economy" (1998)
Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (1998)
Honorary Prize for Art and Science of the Institute for Advanced Study Berlin (1999)
Pour le Mérite for Science and Art (1999)
Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award (2000)
Commander with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (2001)
John Cage Award (2003)
Sonning Award (2003; Denmark)
Grand Cross of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (2006)
University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition (2006; U.S.)
Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale for lifetime achievement (53rd International Festival of Contemporary Music; 2009)
Zürich Festival Prize (2010)
Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal (2013)
BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Contemporary Music (2014)
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2015)
 Rolf Schock Prize (2020)

References

Citations

Sources

Further reading

 Halász, Péter. 1998. György Kurtág. Magyar zeneszerzok 3. Budapest: Mágus Kiadó. .

 György Kurtág: Great Hungarian Jewish Composer, No Monk article by Benjamin Ivry in "The Forward", including a picture of Márta and György Kurtág at the piano, 6 February 2009
 Varga, Bálint András. 2009. György Kurtág: Three Interviews and Ligeti Homages. Eastman studies in Music. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press. .
 Willson, Rachel Beckles. 1998a. "The Fruitful Tension between Inspiration and Design in Kurtág's The Sayings of Péter Bornemisza op.7". Mitteilungen der Paul Sacher Stiftung 11:36–41.
 Willson, Rachel Beckles. 1998b. "Kurtág's Instrumental Music, 1988–98". Tempo, new series, no. 207:15–21.
 Willson. Rachel Beckles. 2004. György Kurtág, The Sayings of Peter Bornemisza, op. 7: A "Concerto" for Soprano and Piano. Landmarks in Music Since 1950. Aldershot, Hants, England; Burlington, VT: Ashgate.

External links
 Profile for György Kurtág on the Boosey & Hawkes website
 Profile for György Kurtág on the Universal Edition website

1926 births
Living people
People from Lugoj
20th-century classical composers
21st-century classical composers
Hungarian classical composers
Hungarian male classical composers
Hungarian Jews
Romanian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
Jewish classical composers
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art
Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil)
Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medallists
Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni
Academic staff of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music
Hungarian classical pianists
Male classical pianists
Composers for piano
Composers for violin
Pupils of Darius Milhaud
Recipients of the Léonie Sonning Music Prize
International Rostrum of Composers prize-winners
Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin
Jewish classical pianists
Herder Prize recipients
Ernst von Siemens Music Prize winners
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Members of the Széchenyi Academy of Literature and Arts

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


NHAI recruitment through GATE 2018 notification out! National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) invites online applications for the recruitment of Deputy Manager (Technical Post) through direct recruitment on a basis of GATE scores.
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Cascadia Art Museum > Exhibitions > Woodland Reverie: The Art of Helen Loggie
Woodland Reverie: The Art of Helen Loggie
Cascadia Art Museum is pleased to present the work of Helen Loggie (1895-1976), a Bellingham resident who became nationally known for her etchings of the Northwest landscape, particularly the highly detailed studies of trees within the natural environment of Washington State. Our exhibition brings together a wide variety of works in various mediums from public and private collections with many being seen for the first time. The art dates from the early to mid-twentieth century.
Part of our exhibition features two of Loggie's contemporaries who were also active in Bellingham including her early instructor Elizabeth Colborne (1885-1948) and her contemporary, Z. Vanessa Helder (1904-1968).
The exhibition also features a selection of large scale contemporary tree drawings by award-winning Edmonds resident, Donna Leavitt.
Loggie attended Smith College and the Art Students League in New York, studying with George Bellows, George Luks and Mahonri Young.
One of her strongest influences came from her studies with the prominent etcher, John Taylor Arms whom she met in 1929 . It was Arms who encouraged Loggie to seriously pursue etching and they remained lifelong friends and colleagues with Arms proofing many of her etching plates throughout her career. Following the example of Arms and other prominent American graphic artists, Loggie travelled to Europe and made numerous studies of architectural details and city streets.
In 1930, she built a house on Orcas Island, Wa. and divided her time between there and Bellingham, Wa. for the remainder of her life.
Her exhibition history includes numerous solo exhibitions including Seattle Art Museum in 1939 and Smithsonian Institute in 1944. She also participated in several prominent group exhibitions in Paris, London as well as the prestigious Venice Biennale.
Helen Loggie (1895-1976), Unk & Es. Etching.
Elizabeth Colborne (1885-1948), Red Cedars – Old and New – Washington, circa 1940's. Woodblock print.
Donna Leavitt, Thrust, 2012. Graphite.
Register for Exhibition: Woodland Reverie: The Art of Helen Loggie
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Your ticket for the: Woodland Reverie: The Art of Helen Loggie


Originally Published: August 18, 2013 6 a.m.
Larence (Larry) C. Mills, 78, passed away peacefully at the VA Hospital in Prescott, Ariz., on the Hospice Ward on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013.
Larry was born in Magna, Utah, and moved to California at the age of 6, and resided there until he joined the U.S. Army. He served as a corpsman and played football for the Army, stationed at Fort Sam Houston.
He is survived by his wife Carolyn Gilland Mills; two sons, Troy of St. Joseph, Mo., and Mark of St. George, Utah; a daughter, Lora Mills Higgins of Prescott, Ariz.; 12 grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; brother Wally Mills of Salt Lake City, Utah; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father Anglo, mother Faye and sisters Ethel and Joanie.
A memorial service will be later in September 2013 at the LDS Church in Spring Valley, Ariz.


Magician Allan Zola Kronzek presents over 100 easy tricks to amuse the grandkids. Book signing and brief magic show. Just in time for the holidays! Learn to hypnotize a napkin, make a dinner roll bounce, and much more.


Sally Field has been playing backseat lately in a lot of her movies. Even in 2012's "Lincoln", for which she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards, we found her serving as the emotionally-ill wife of Abraham Lincoln. Still she has always been a fighter, ever since she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her 1979 film "Norma Rae" in which she led a labor union against compromising health issues in a textile factory.
Dang, Schmidty treasures all women doesn't he? As long as he doesn't make an "Elephant in the room" joke, he won't break focus with Field.
However, Miss Field is dropping the political movements to show her pure acting skills with "Hello, My Name is Doris" about a woman in her sixties who has a romantic relationship with a younger co-worker. Sally Field stars as the title character Doris Miller and actor Max Greenfield, who is currently known for his Emmy-nominated role of Schmidt on the American sitcom television series "New Girl" (2011-Present), plays her young love interest John Fremont. Check the trailer out below!


I felt disappointed. What a boring name. Of all the titles they could come up with for a movie about such a beloved and fascinating character, they chose…his name. That's it. I was still excited for the movie, but man, I hated that title.
Jump forward around 7 months and I had just seen Solo at a midnight screening. I loved the film, and still do. I began my usual process of starting to break down the storytelling and the themes, and as I ran through some of the scenes and moments in my head, some pieces began to fall into place. And that title that I'd hated so much, I suddenly loved.
There's a scene early on in the film where Han is trying to escape his home planet with Qi'ra, the woman he loves. They are separated, and in an attempt to escape his pursuers he ducks into an Imperial recruitment office to sign up, in the hope of finding some protection from those hunting him. Then a huge moment happens. The Imperial officer behind the desk asks him his last name….and he has no answer. He doesn't have a last name. The officer keeps pressing him for an answer and asks "Who are your people?" And Han pauses, and the shot holds on him. And in his face you see his loneliness, his isolation. Then he says "I don't have people. I'm alone." The officer, who is just trying to get the form filled out, decides on the spot that he'll give him the last name "Solo." And there we have it, that's how Han became Han Solo.
In most screenings I was in, that scene always got a laugh from the audience. And it is a funny little moment. But there was also a heap of backlash to that scene, people who HATED it. Who thought it just a little too "cutesy" and "clever." Like an unnecessary piece of fan service. But I noticed in almost every reaction to that scene everyone missed the moment before the joke. The moment where Han pauses. And the camera lingers on him. The shot holds and we see the lost empty look in his eyes. And you see the weight of this moment for him. Because that moment is the moment where it hits home for Han how alone he is, that he has no people. And that is the heart of the entire film.
Now you might think that's a stretch to pull that from such a small moment, but as I dug further into the film itself, and interviews with the writers and filmmakers, I came across a ton of evidence throughout the film that this idea of being alone, of searching for family, is central to the heart of this film. But before we start digging into some of the other characters and scenes, let's take a moment to hear from legendary screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, who along with co-writing Solo with his son, also wrote the screenplays for a few small films such as Empire Strikes Back, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Return Of The Jedi and the recent The Force Awakens. A somewhat impressive resume.
He said the idea for that scene, was the whole reason he came on board with idea of doing a Han Solo film. That was the moment where he felt like he had a story to tell. So when the screenwriter of the film says that's the heart of the film, then you should find this theme repeated throughout.
So if we can express the theme of the film as "the lonely searching for family" then how else do we see this communicated in the film? The most consistent form is in the characters, and for time's sake we'll only address a few.
Qi'ra is an orphan just like Han, we hear nothing of her family or if she has any. We know only that she is completely alone without Han, and in need of safety. They express very early on that the galaxy is not a safe place for a couple of orphans. So in the absence of genuine family, and with the need for the safety of one, she falls into the dysfunctional family of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate. She follows a pattern she has learnt growing up as an orphan, that if you prove yourself useful, you will be safe. And this rings so heartbreakingly true. There are so many people who in the absence of a safe loving family, find themselves falling into harmful and dangerous associations purely for safety, purely for a sense of belonging. She lost the closest thing she had to a family in Han, so for safety finds a twisted version of it again in Crimson Dawn and Dryden Vos. And upon Han's return she has to decide which she will choose. Will she stay with the world she now knows so well, the simplicity of "if you're useful, you're safe." Or does she take the risk of someone accepting her for simply who she is, not based on usefulness. And her wrestle all film is that she doesn't think she is acceptable, she believes she's done too many bad things. That she isn't worth of love just for who she is anymore. So in terms of theme, yep she's dead on. She's alone and searching for family, but is scared of trusting the real thing when it suddenly returns.
There's two characters who extremely overtly convey this idea, so we'll easily fit both into one quick paragraph. Chewbacca: he literally says he's alone and searching for his tribe/family. Done. And Rio Durant, who has all the bravado and bluster of saying he can't be tied down etc, but as he dies says to Han "It's not good to die alone." Sometimes theme is not communicated subtly at all, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Lando Calrissian is not a man with friends. He has associates. He has people he stands to gain from. And he has enemies. He's portrayed as a man who sees people as opportunities for his own advancement, and tellingly the closest thing he has to a friend, is a droid. He is very alone, wrapped up in his own ego and image. And when we see his heart break over the loss of his droid L3 it's clear to see he's looking for the same thing everyone else in this film is looking for, a family. Somewhere to belong. No matter his bravado and the show he puts on, when he loses L3 it hurts him deeply, because he lost his only friend. It's hard to find a family and a home when you're only allegiance is to yourself.
And this is where we see the markers that tell us Han isn't the scoundrel, that he really is the good guy. Try as he likes to project that he's dangerous and an outlaw, he isn't that guy. He isn't selfish. He looks out for others, not for his own gain, but because it's the right thing to do. He lets Chewbacca go in the mines of Kessell when he sees some other Wookies needing help, even though it puts their entire plan and his own life at risk. He gives Enfys Nest the coaxium, sacrificing a huge fortune. And it's these moments that tell us that Han will be okay, that he will find family one day. Because that's what it means to be in a family. It means not looking out for yourself anymore. It means you've found other people who mean more to you than anything else, and you will sacrifice for them. And in one of the closing scenes of the film, he has that very thing offered to him.
Early on in the film, when Han relays to Beckett and Val that Chewbacca is looking for his tribe or family, Beckett's response is "What's the difference?" Because true family has less to do with blood, and more to do with loyalty and sacrifice. So at the end of the film when Enfys Nest asks him to join her, she's asking him to join a family. A group of lost souls who've found a bond that's bigger than themselves, the beginnings of the Rebellion. Han refuses to join, and this is where once again this film rings so true in it's portrayal of humanity. Because it takes more than a few days to heal from a lifetime of danger and not having a family. Of not having someone you can trust, and never feeling safe or that you belong. It can take years of loyalty and love from someone before we can truly learn to give ourselves over to others. Of slowly learning that you can let yourself go and someone will catch you. It takes someone just like a certain "giant walking carpet", who'll spend years loyal and by your side before you start to learn what it means to not be alone anymore. And maybe, somewhere in the future, you might be ready to trust your future into the hands of others. To give yourself over to something bigger than yourself.
And finally find a family.
So when I see the title of the film now, I don't see just his last name. I see a word that is filled with meaning that cuts to the heart of who this character is, and I see the center around which everything in this film is circling. He is Solo, but he's looking for more. And so is everyone else in the film. And that kind of thematic clarity seems so rare in screenwriting these days. That kind of connectedness where everything is filled with not just meaning, but a singular idea that resonates through the entire film. That's the kind of writing that thrills me, to discover that beneath the surface of a fun ride there is a careful design that is full of heart and humanity, and ideas that are at the core of who we are and what we're looking for as human beings.
We are Solo. But hopefully we won't stay that way.


Dimplex introduces the Acton media console. The quality crafted walnut on white birch finish, adjustable shelves, tempered glass top, large storage capacity and elegant curved body of this piece surround a beautiful fireplace and patented flame technology you will only find with Dimplex.
TV Size: Up to 60". TV not included.


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PCMag India Computers & Electronics Gaming Gaming Systems Sony PlayStation 4 (PS4)
Seagate Launches Official 2TB Game Drive for PS4
It's as fast as using an internal drive, but without the hassle of having to install one and it allows you to have around 50 games ready to play. Playing at a friend's house? Take it with you!
By Matthew Humphries
Jan. 30, 2019, 10:03 p.m.
External storage for the PS4 has been an option for a while now, and a much quicker solution than installing a larger hard drive or SSD inside the PS4. Most USB 3.0 drives will work, but today PS4 owners got a new, official option courtesy of Seagate.
Seagate has been offering its Game Drive external hard drives aimed at console games for years now, with 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities already available for the PS4. But the new Game Drive launched today is different because it's an officially licensed product. That means it will match the look of your PS4 right down to the PlayStation logo on the casing.
In return for $89.99, Seagate is offering a 2TB drive which holds approximately 50 games. That's based on each game requiring 39GB of storage space, so you could get a lot more on there depending on the types of game you choose to play.
Setting up the drive is as easy as plugging it in via the supplied USB cable, which also doubles as a power cable for the unit. As long as your PS4 is running system software 4.50 or greater, setup will happen automatically and takes about three minutes to complete. Seagate claims this Game Drive is as fast as the internal drive, so there's no disadvantage in that regard. If you regularly visit a friend's house to play games, you can take the Game Drive with you. As long as you sign into your friend's console using your account, the games stored on the drive will be accessible.
2TB external drives cost around $60-$65, so you are paying a premium price for this official version of the Game Drive. However, Seagate already has an unofficial version of the 2TB Game Drive available to purchase and that costs $79.99. It seems likely the official model will enjoy the same price drop once retailers get their hands on it.
Sony Made Hacking the PlayStation Classic Easy
Sony discounts select PS4 games and hardware in time for Diwali
Nintendo's Wii Gets a New Game
Sony Quietly Rolls Out New PS4 Model
Publishers Wisely Tap eSports for E3 Hype
About Matthew Humphries
Matthew is PCMag's UK-based editor and news reporter. Prior to joining the team, he spent 14 years writing and editing content on our sister site Geek.com and has covered most areas of technology, but is especially passionate about games tech. Alongside PCMag, he's a freelance video game designer. Matthew holds a BSc degree in Computer Science from Birmingham University and a Masters in Computer Games Development from Abertay University.
More From Matthew Humphries
Sony Xperia 1 and Xperia 5 Owners Get Android 11 Upgrade Early
Intel Discontinues Optane-Only SSDs for Consumers
Amazon Hit With Class-Action, EBooks Price-Fixing Lawsuit


These forms are processed at run-time to produce dynamically-generated user interfaces. In order to generate a form at run-time, a resource file containing a UI file is needed. Applications that use the form handling classes need to be configured to be built against the QtUiTools module. This is done by including the following declaration in a qmake project file to ensure that the application is compiled and linked appropriately.
Note: These classes are part of the Open Source Versions of Qt and Qt Full Framework Edition for commercial users.


As a full-service escrow company in Oklahoma, Titan Title & Closing of Oklahoma LLC merges experience, a dedicated team,and innovative technology solutions to offer you peace of mind. You can rest assured your escrow transaction will be completed fast and accurate.
Titan Title's escrow settlement agents get the job done with efficiency and accuracy. Our agents possess a wealth of technical experience and knowledge of how to assure a smooth closing each and every time.
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When you choose Titan Title, you know your escrow is in capable hands.
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You've probably heard about how not enough millennials nowadays are buying homes like the previous generations. "Millennials don't buy homes", everyone says. They're either renting homes, jumping from city to city, or just not prioritizing owning a home at this stage of their lives. Marketing a home isn't as easy as it used to be, especially when it comes to millennials. From busy lives to spending time on social media to settling down at a later age, millennials are motivated by different things. Despite that, millennials are a great audience to market your home to, especially because of their large spending power and presence in society – but only if you truly understand them and know what peaks their attention.
Problems with title can limit your use and enjoyment of real estate, as well as bring financial loss. Title trouble also can threaten the security interest your mortgage lender holds in the property.
2018—a new year and the perfect opportunity for a fresh start. If selling your home was put on the backburner with the hassle of the holidays, the New Year provides a great opportunity for taking that next step and selling your home. Before you gather up all of your New Year's motivation and undertake the endeavor of selling your home, it is important you are prepared and informed. Whether you are selling your family home, a vacation rental, or anything in between, you want to put your house on the market in a timely manner and for the right price. There are a few simple, yet critical tips to ensure the that selling your home goes as smoothly as possible.
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20/05/2012 · You should be able to get full 5.1 audio out from your onboard. You need to first update the drivers for the onboard sound, otherwise it can only do 2.1 output.
Testing consisted of full battery discharge during local video playback. All settings were default except: Wi-Fi was associated with a network and Auto-Brightness disabled. Battery life varies significantly with settings, usage, and other factors.


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LeBron James' Sons Have The Best Reaction To Their Dad Making NBA History
The Blogmedia
Think Again: Remember Bush's Vacation
With the coming 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we are about to be treated to a great many attempts by conservatives, aided by a remarkably ahistorical mainstream media, to rewrite the history of those events.
Eric Alterman, Contributor
Nation columnist, CUNY Distinguished Professor, Senior Fellow, CAP
Aug 19, 2011, 01:01 PM EDT | Updated Oct 19, 2011
President Obama is under fire for any number of things, but the one that appears to excite reporters the most is his decision to take a few days' vacation. According to Politico:
"Images of Obama fundraising, golfing and on vacation -- especially in such a well-heeled location -- undercut his message that the economy is his 'singular focus,'" said Doug Heye, a Republican strategist.
Last week, a few hours after the White House announced the president would head to Martha's Vineyard Thursday for a 10-day vacation, the Republican National Committee sent out a press release querying, "And this is the same White House that says they are focused on the economy?"
Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich told Fox News host Sean Hannity that Obama "ought to cancel his vacation -- period." And before Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the presidential race, he also urged Obama to skip his trip, "call the Congress back into session and get to work."
Even The Washington Post's liberal opinion writer Colbert I. King opined last weekend that "this is no time for a president to dwell in splendid seclusion among the rich and famous."
"No, Mr. President, Martha's Vineyard is the last place in the world you should visit next week," King wrote.
All this criticism reminds me of funny moment I experienced 10 years ago this August in East Hampton, New York. I was driving home from the beach and listening to the amazingly great radio station they have out there (92.9 and 96.9)--a throwback to my blissful youth listening to WNEW-FM--and the DJ was going on and on about how he could not believe that George W. Bush, then president, was going to get an entire month off at his mini-ranch, no doubt "clearing brush," whatever that means, when there was so much work to be done.
I don't remember the guy's name, but I remember he went on for 10 or 15 minutes about how difficult it was for most Americans to make do with just two weeks vacation while the average in Western Europe is six weeks. By the end of that August, though Bush had only been in office since January 20, he had already managed 96 days of vacation time, or nearly 14 times as much as most Americans enjoyed during that period. As it happens, Bush ended up setting a presidential record for vacation days taken, more than 500 days over the course of his two administrations or an unbelievable 33.4 percent of his presidency.
We all know what happened at the end of Bush's 2001 vacation, and that, dear reader, is the real reason for this column. With the coming 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we are about to be treated to a great many attempts by conservatives, aided by a remarkably ahistorical mainstream media, to rewrite the history of those events. As with almost every significant aspect of the Bush presidency, its handling of 9/11 was a catastrophe from start to finish. To illustrate this one could pick almost any aspect of the Bush administration's handling of those attacks--both in preparation in protecting the nation or its disastrous response that brought the world's hatred upon our heads and involved us in an unnecessary and counterproductive war in Iraq and failed to do the necessary job in Afghanistan--as well as compromised civil liberties in the United States, among many other unhappy consequences.
Borrowing from a section of my 2004 tome, The Book on Bush, I've chosen below to focus on just a tiny portion of the Bush administration's shocking combination of arrogance, ignorance, and incompetence in refusing to take seriously the very idea of an attack before it took place. My hope is to not only to help remind readers of the actual facts of this unhappy episode but also to stimulate discussion about the costs of allowing America's security to be entrusted to people who cannot be bothered to take responsibilities of governance seriously.
As a candidate, George W. Bush complained that the Clinton administration had invited a challenge by failing to respond to previous terrorist attacks. For instance, one day after the October 12, 2000, attack on the USS Cole, candidate Bush proclaimed, "There must be a consequence." Yet an FBI document dated January 26, 2001--six days after Bush took office--demonstrates that even though U.S. authorities discovered what they deemed to be clear evidence tying the Cole bombers to al Qaeda, Bush did nothing.
To continue reading, please go here.
This post has been modified since its original publication.
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Judgment Categories Emotional Abuse
1: Watson & Burton [2015] FamCA 549 | July 16, 2015
Catchwords: Allegations of Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Equal Shared Parental Responsibility, False Allegations of Child Abuse, Parental Disorders, Risk of Psychological Harm, Sole Parental Responsibility, Unacceptable Risk, Unsubstantiated Allegations
Judges: Tree J
Background: The mother of children aged 10 and 7 years was in her third long term relationship. The first relationship commenced when she was aged 18 years and produced 3 children. The second relationship commenced when the mother was aged 25 years and lasted for 12 years, producing 3 children. The mother alleged that the father had sexually abused one child and the child protection department removed two children from the mother's care and stopped contact with the father for a period, deeming that the father presented an unacceptable risk of harm to the children. This assessment was later reviewed and reversed when it was found that the mother had made false allegations of sexual abuse by the father. The children were then placed in the care of the father. The mother commenced supervised co
[Legal Issue]The family consultant opined that an allocation of equal shared parental responsibility and equal division of time between the parents might overcome the reluctance of the father to facilitate a meaningful relationship between the mother and the children, as it would effect a balance in power between the parents. The judge described this view as hope triumphing over experience. The judge found that the consultant had not considered the effect of the mother's allegations on the father. The judge noted that the family consultant had not spoken to the mother's therapist whom the mother had seen monthly for 8 years. The judge ordered that the children live with the father and spend time with the mother, and that the father have sole parental responsibility. [Court Orders]The children B born ... 2004 and C born ... 2008 ("the children") shall live with the father. The father shall have sole parental responsibility for all decisions concerning the long-term care and welfare and development of the children, but otherwise each parent shall have the sole responsibility for all decisions concerning day-to-day care, welfare and development of the children for the time that they are in that parent's care. The father is to notify the mother in writing of all
2: Huffman & Gorman [2015] FamCA 317 | April 29, 2015
Catchwords: Allegations of Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Entrenched Parental Conflict, False Allegations of Child Abuse, Meaningful Relationship, Parental Disorders, Property, Psychological Disorders, Recorded conversations, Risk of Psychological Harm, Unacceptable Risk, Unsubstantiated Allegations, With whom a child lives with
Judges: Hannam J
Background: The mother is 42 and the father is 43 years old. The parties commenced a relationship in 1999 when they were in their late twenties. The case involves competing claims of domestic violence and property dispute. In relation to parenting matters there are three significant factual disputes. First, the father contends that he was the victim of serious systematic violence perpetrated by the mother for most the relationship. The mother contends that it was the father who was violent towards her and that if she also engaged in violence, it was in response to the father's antagonism. Second, the mother contends that the father and his (second) wife Mrs H abused the children after separation, which is denied by the father. Finally, it is central to the father and the ICL's ca
[Legal Issue]No doubt in the majority of cases there will be a positive benefit to a child of having a significant relationship with both parents, but there will also be some cases where there will be no positive benefit to be derived by a child by a court attempting to craft orders to foster a relationship with one parent if this would not be in the child's best interests. The ICL's proposal is based to a large extent upon the recommendations of Dr K. In his report Dr K was of the view that the children should live with their father and he should have sole parental responsibility for them. He then said: After a significant period of time to allow the children to develop security and connection in their father's home, it would be ideal for the children to maintain some time spent with the m [Court Orders]The children shall live with their father, Mr Huffman ("the father" or "the husband"). The father shall have sole parental responsibility for the children. The children shall spend no time with their mother, Ms Gorman ("the mother" or "the wife"), for a period of 12 months from the date of these orders. Thereafter, the children shall spend supervised time with their mother each second month, at a supervised contact centre. The father shall do all acts and things neces
3: Helbig & Rowe [2015] FamCA 146 | March 9, 2015
Catchwords: Allegations of Child Abuse, Child Abuse, Complaint against ICL, Emotional Abuse, False Allegations of Child Abuse, Falsified Documents, Risk of Psychological Harm, Sole Parental Responsibility, Unacceptable Risk, Unsubstantiated Allegations
Judges: Rees J
Background: The parents separated in January 2009 when the children were three and eight weeks old, respectively. The mother moved away from the matrimonial home with the children, who lived with her. This case has a signification history of litigation since then, culminating into these proceedings. In this case, the mother has made serious allegations of child sexual abuse by the father against a child of the marriage. As a result she has requested that the children live with her and that any time that the children spend with the father be supervised. After investigation, the allegations were deemed to be 'false'. The family report went so far as to recommend that the children be 'immediately' removed from the mother's care because of her unrepentant beliefs that the father was a paedophile
[Legal Issue]This case hinged on whether the allegations made by the mother that the father had sexually abused the child or children of the marriage were reliable and plausible to the extent that they would raise the issue of "unacceptable risk". The family courts responsibility is not to determine whether child sexual abuse did or did not occur, unlike the criminal courts. However when faced with an allegation of child sexual abuse, it refers to the standard of proof of "unacceptable risk". [Court Orders]-That X ("X") born ... 2005 and Y ("Y") born ... 2008 ("the children") live with their father, Mr Rowe ("the father"). -That the father have sole parental responsibility for the children. -That the father inform Ms Helbig ("the mother") in writing (including by email or text message) as soon as practical of any specialist medical appointments for either of the children with any medical consultant. -That the father do all acts and things to ensure that the mother is provide
4: Ridgely & Stiller [2014] FCCA 2668 | November 19, 2014
Court or Tribunal: Federal Circuit Court of Australia
Catchwords: Emotional Abuse, Equal Shared Parental Responsibility, Meaningful Relationship, Obstruction of Contact with Child, Parental Alienation, Parenting Orders, Risk of Psychological Harm, Sole Parental Responsibility, Substantial and Significant Time, Unacceptable Risk, With whom a child spends time with
Judges: Bender J
Background: The parents separated in 2007 after five years together. The child had lived with the mother since her parents separated when she was 13 months old. Since the separation, the mother engaged in an unrelenting campaign to undermine the child's relationship with her father, causing the child significant distress. The mother interfered with her daughter's court-ordered parenting time with her father, often resulting in the child not seeing her father for months at a time.
[Legal Issue]These proceedings primarily hinged on Section 60CC (2)(a), where the court is required to consider the benefit to the child of having a meaningful relationship with both of the child's parents. This section was particularly relevant given that the mother prevented and was likely to continue preventing the child to have a meaningful relation with her father. [Court Orders]The child, who had lived with her mother since her parents separated when she was 13 months old, shall live with father and spend time with the mother. The father shall have sole parental responsibility in relation to health and education, and otherwise the parties to have equal shared parental responsibility.
5: Mitchell & Mitchell [2014] FCCA 2526 | November 14, 2014
Catchwords: Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse, failure to call witness and Jones & Dunkel inference, Hostile Parental Behaviour, Interim Parenting Orders, Jones & Dunkel inference, Meaningful Relationship, Obstruction of Contact with Child, Parental Alienation, Risk of Psychological Harm, Sole Parental Responsibility, Supervised contact with Child, Unacceptable Risk, With whom a child lives with, With whom a child spends time with
Judges: Harman JHenderson J
Background: Since separation, the three children lived primarily with their father [Mr Mitchell]. In these proceedings, Mr Mitchell has conceded that he has denied the children their right to a meaningful relationship with their mother, accepted by Mr Mitchell to be a caring and loving relationship, as well as exposing the children to his significant rage and repeated derogatory comments towards his ex-wife and her lesbian partner, while also exposing the children to discussions of adult issues, (such as the mother's sexuality), which for children of these ages is entirely unnecessary and inappropriate.
[Legal Issue]These proceedings primarily hinged on the definition of "abuse" and "family violence", and whether the exposure of the children to the father's rage towards his ex-wife, and specifically the repeated derogatory comments towards his ex-wife and her lesbian partner, constitutes child abuse and/or family violence. The evidentiary standard of "Unacceptable Risk" was used to determine whether the risk of future abuse was significant enough to warrant measures. [Court Orders]The children's mother [Ms Mitchell] shall have sole parental responsibility of the three children. The three children shall live with their mother. The children's father [Mr Mitchell] shall spend time with the children from 11am Saturday until 5pm Sunday each alternate weekend.
6: Huffman & Gorman (No. 2) [2014] FamCA 1077 | October 13, 2014
Catchwords: Allegations of Child Abuse, Discretion to Admit Evidence, Emotional Abuse, Recorded conversations
Background: The mother is 42 years old and the father is 43 years old. The parties commenced a relationship in 1999 when they were in their late twenties. The case involves competing claims of domestic violence and alleged child abuse. To support his case, the father has submitted transcripts of recorded conversations between himself and the mother. These recordings were made covertly, without the knowledge of the mother.
[Legal Issue]At issue is the admissibility of transcripts of covertly recorded conversations made by the father, alleged to have captured various unguarded conversations between the mother and the father. The mother objected to the admission of the transcripts of audio recordings on the basis that the evidence was unlawfully obtained and was inadmissible. Both the father and the Independent Children's Lawyer sought to have the evidence admitted and argued that even if it were prima facie inadmissible the court should exercise its discretion to admit it. [Court Orders]The evidence, which refers to transcripts of recorded conversations in the father's affidavit in paragraphs 25, 128 to 150 and 235 filed on 23 September 2014, is admissible.
7: Garzelli & Lewis (No. 3) [2014] FamCA 742 | September 9, 2014
Catchwords: Emotional Abuse, False Allegations of Child Abuse, Parental Alienation, Parental Disorders, Psychological Disorders, Risk of Psychological Harm, Unsubstantiated Allegations
Judges: Cronin J
Background: Mr Garzelli ("the husband") married Ms Lewis ("the wife") in January 2007 after they had met in 2005 through the internet. The husband is a 61 year old company director who was born in Australia. The wife is a 48 year old woman who was born in Country I. The husband and wife have one child N ("the child") who was born in 2009 in Country I. This case focussed primarily on the credibility of the wife, and on the expectation that she would work with the father in a co-operative, shared parenting arrangement.
[Legal Issue]The Court, with the assistance of the psychiatric and psychological experts, determined that the mother went to significant efforts to manipulate circumstance to reflect poorly on the husband. It was suggested that a diagnoses of Borderline or Schizoid personality style or Asperger's Spectrum Disorder was very likely, exposing the child to likely Parentified Child behaviours, which would force the child to align with the mother and abandon her relationship with her father, so as to meet the mother's increasingly demanding emotional needs and desires. The diagnoses would render the chances of a co-operative parenting arrangement very unlikely. [Court Orders]That the husband have sole parental responsibility for the child born ... 2009 but for that purpose, the husband ensure the wife is kept abreast of all major issues about the child and in particular: (a)	advise the wife of any medical treatment for the child; (b)	authorise and direct the school at which the child attends to provide all school reports, newsletters, photographs and invitations usually directed to parents to be provided to the wife. The parents to otherwise have shared parenti
9: Wylie & Wylie [2013] FamCA 426 | June 7, 2013
Catchwords: Allegations of Child Abuse, Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse, False Allegations of Child Abuse, Parental Disorders, Psychological Disorders, Unacceptable Risk, Unsubstantiated Allegations
Background: Mr & Ms Wylie met and married in 2000, bought and renovated and sold houses in the property boom, travelled and worked through Europe. Their twin girls were born through IVF in 2007, when Mr Wylie was establishing his own small business. They experienced increasing conflicts within their relationship, until Mr Wylie eventually suggested that they should separate. One day soon after, Mr Wylie received a text message from Ms Wylie: "You need to talk to the Department of Child Safety, they've got some concerns." However an assessment determined that there was no evidence of sexual abuse, but there was evidence of emotional abuse, stemming from fabricated allegations by the mother. Ms Wylie also advised that she too was sexually abused as a child.
[Legal Issue]Previous consent orders. Urgent application following almost immediate failure to comply with orders. Allegations of sexual abuse and violence against the father. Allegations of manipulative and alienating behaviours against the mother. Consideration of argument as to admissibility of statements attributable to the mother being made to Department of Communities officers and communicated to police officers – finding of admissibility – consideration of the objects of the Act and principles and application of relevant considerations – consideration of whether the behaviour of one or other of the parties constitutes an "unacceptable risk" to the children – determination on an interim basis that a risk of psychological harm of an unacceptable nature does arise – orders a [Court Orders]Family Court judge Justice Peter Tree, "after eight days of trial before me of fiercely contested competing parenting applications relating to the parties' six-year-old twin girls", ordered that Mr Wylie have sole parental responsibility for the major long-term care of his children and that Ms Wylie ask her GP for referral to a psychiatrist. "I am satisfied, on the material before me, that the concerns which inevitably would otherwise have flowed from the mother's notice of abuse, have
10: Carpenter & Carpenter (No. 2) [2012] FamCA 1005 | November 29, 2012
Catchwords: Allegations of Child Abuse, Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse, False Allegations of Child Abuse, Risk of Psychological Harm, Unacceptable Risk, Unsubstantiated Allegations
Judges: Murphy J
Background: The mother has asserted that the child has been the subject of sexually improper behaviour by the father. This has included claims that the father had inserted items such as a fish hook, pizza and an electric cord into his anus, while in the presence of the child. After investigating the allegations, the police, the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services ("the Department"), as well as the Independent Children's Lawyer have each determined that the child had not been the subject of sexual misconduct by the father.


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GRAID announces latest 110GBps PCIe 4.0 SSD
Something to look forward to: While gamers have been impressed by the improvements a mainstream 2.5GB/s or 5GB/s NVMe SSD can bring to a PC or game console, RAID SSDs are on a whole different level. GRAID claims its latest model continues to push the bleeding edge in PCIe 4.0 speeds.This week, GRAID announced the SupremeRAID SR-1010 RAID data center storage card, upgrading to PCIe 4.0 mere months after its PCIe 3.0 predecessor. Like the SR-1000 which launched last October, the new model has a blistering max sequential read speed of 110GB/s, but has doubled its max write speed from 11GB/s to 22GB/s.
Those speeds are for Linux users, however. While both SR cards are slower on Windows, the performance they do achieve on Microsoft's OS is still amazing, and the SR-1010 makes big gains there in its read speed. Where the SR-1000 topped out at 65 GB/s on Windows, its successor reaches 74GB/s. By comparison, Other World Computing's OWC Accelsior 8MW, released last November, has a max speed of 26GB/s.
The performance of GRAID's SSDs comes in large part from their unique hardware design. If the picture above looks like a GPU, that's because it is. The SR-1010 is based on Nvidia's RTX A2000 workstation graphics card. In addition to granting GRAID's SSDs more muscle, using GPU technology to power storage lets them process the I/O themselves, bypassing the CPU.
The SR-1010 supports RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10. It's compatible with Windows Server 2019 and 2022 as well as several Linux distros. GRAID's authorized resellers and OEMs plan to start offering it on May 1.


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HRW Qatar report highlights ongoing wage theft and lack of protections, despite promises
In a comprehensive report on wage theft in Qatar, Human Rights Watch highlights the scale of violations and the ineffectiveness of the Wage Protection System (WPS) and justice mechanisms in holding employers responsible.
The report, How Can We Work Without Wages?': Salary Abuses Facing Migrant Workers Ahead of Qatar's FIFA World Cup 2022, in which 93 workers were interviewed said:
Qatar continues to deny evidence of wage theft
In its response to HRW report, Qatar's Government Communications Office (GCO) accused to the organisation of misleading readers.
The GCO also said: "The current report contains repeated inaccuracies around policies and does not reflect the current situation in Qatar. Nearly all individuals who come to Qatar for employment never experience any form of wage abuse. There are a few, isolated, instances where workers experience this issue. These cases have declined as laws and regulations have driven fundamental and lasting change."
These claims are inaccurate and far from the truth of the experiences of workers. Migrant-Rights.org's ongoing reporting and assistance to workers in Qatar attests to the reality that wage theft is rampant in the country and that there are many barriers to access to justice that make it impossible for workers to receive any meaningful resolution.
The GCO also said: "We never heard about these issues in real time or in any of our engagement with them. If notice had taken place earlier, the government would have worked to address the issues raised by the workers interviewed in the report. A backward-looking annual report does little to address the specific challenges raised by the workers."
This statement admits – perhaps unintentionally – that the country is unable to provide effective mechanisms for workers to raise their complaints, and that the WPS and labour inspection failed to identify these violations. That these issues must be brought to the attention of authorities on the ground in 'real-time' by organisations outside of the country reflects the ineffectiveness of local processes.
Fifty-nine workers said their wages had been delayed, withheld, or not paid; 9 workers said they had not been paid because employers said they didn't have enough clients; 55 said they weren't paid for overtime even though they worked more than 10 hours a day; and 13 said their employers had replaced their original employment contract with one favoring employers. Twenty said they didn't receive mandatory end-of-service benefits; and 12 said employers made arbitrary deductions from their salaries.
HRW also underscores the progressive delays in salaries, which invariably results in total non-payment, as an indicator of how businesses manoeuver the WPS to their advantage.
The report mentions that "Wage abuses are also driven by deceptive recruitment practices both in Qatar and in the workers' home countries that require them to pay between about US$700 and $2,600 to secure jobs in Qatar. By the time workers arrive in Qatar, they are already indebted and trapped in jobs that often pay less than promised. Human Rights Watch found that 72 of the workers interviewed had taken loans to pay recruitment fees. Business practices, including the so-called "pay when paid" clause, worsen the wage abuse. These practices allow subcontractors that have not been paid to delay payments to workers."
Worker testimonies demonstrate the difficulties they face in accessing justice in Qatar.
"Since August 2019, I have been waiting for money," said a 34-year-old engineer who went to labor court over 7 months of unpaid wages and who has been borrowing money from friends in Qatar to send to his family in Nepal. He first went to court a year ago and is still waiting for his payments: "I am starving since I don't even have money for food. How will I pay back my loans if I don't get my salary [through the legal process]? Sometimes I think suicide is my only option."
The report also carries the first-person account of a Kenyan worker struggling to recoup his wages, which can be read here.
"My workmates encourage me when I am at my lowest points. We understand the systematic challenges workers experience daily. The government talks about reforming labor laws but most of it feels like it is only on paper. People on the ground are really suffering and rogue employers are getting away with gross injustices. The class division is stark in Qatar. The country is one of the richest in the world, but it was built and continues to run on the fuel of its migrants. The exploitation and oppression have taken a mental and physical toll on us, but the resolve to improve our lives keeps us going."
Some of the recommendations put forward include:
Amend the labour law to guarantee workers' right to strike, free association and collective bargaining, including for migrant workers and domestic workers.
Amend the labor law to include domestic workers [and ensure they] receive the same protections as other workers.
Amend article 8 of Law no. 21 of 2015 regulating the entry and exit of expatriates and their residence to ensure that the employee is not entirely dependent on the recruiter for a residency permit; and remove the language in article 8 providing the exception of in cases where the worker requests in writing that the employer keep their passport, thus ensuring that workers do not have to hand over their passports to employers in any case whatsoever.
Decriminalize the act of "absconding" by amending article 11 of Law No. 4 of 2009. The employer should no longer be allowed or required to file a case of "absconding" when a migrant worker chooses to leave their employment. Employers who have placed false "absconding" charges should be denied from sponsoring visas for more migrant workers. Repeal provisions from the Sponsorship Law that penalize those who shelter "absconding" workers.
Introduce and pass prompt payment legislation requiring all public-sector clients to pay the principal contractor within 30 days of the valuation date. Include a requirement that interest is made compulsory and automatic on late payment.
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