U.S. Marine Corps Special Operations Adds Glock 19!
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The U.S. Marines pride themselves in being "The Few, The Proud".
The United States Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) has officially added the Glock 19 to the approved list of sidearms for Special Operations Marines according to the Marine Corps Times. This announcement comes on the heels of the U.S. Navy SEAL Teams switching to the Glock 19 as their official sidearm, after years of using the Sig Sauer Mk25 P226. The Marines Special Operations moving towards the Glock 19 makes perfect tactical sense. The Marine Corps is a part of the Department of the Navy, and now special operators from the Navy and Marine Corps will have weapon interchangeability.
When we wrote about the Navy SEAL change it generated a lot of interest, and comment. Though Sig Sauer makes outstanding firearms, and the Mk25 P226 has more than proven its worth, the Sig pistol weighs nearly double the Glock 19. The Sig Mk25 P226 is also a DA/SA hammer fired pistol that is larger than the Glock 19 striker fired pistol. The Glock has a consistent 5.5 lb. trigger pull while the Sig Sauer went from a 10.0 lb. DA trigger to a 4.4 lb. SA trigger. Glock's are easier to maintain, and have proven themselves with militaries and police forces worldwide.
The United States Marine Corps is 240 years old.
The Marines have been some of America's toughest fighters for 240 years, and Special Operations Marines are some of the best in the Corps. Since the mid 1980's the Marine Corps, like the other service branches, issued the Beretta M9 pistol in 9mm to its Marines. The few hundred Special Operations Marines were allowed to carry 1911's in .45 ACP. Those 1911's were hand-built from old 1911's by the Precision Weapons Section at Quantico.
A U.S. Marine Beretta M9 pistol (photo by U.S. Marines).
When the Marines officially created the MARSOC units in 2006 the need for 1911's jumped from around 400 to over 4000. The Precision Weapons Section could not practically keep up producing 1911's from old parts. Just a few years ago, in 2012, the Marines spend roughly $22.5 million on the project to develop the MARSOC 1911, according to Military.com.
At the time there were many in the military that expressed concern over the aging Beretta M9, and in 9mm ammunition in general. The Model 1911 has been a proven battle pistol for over 100 years, and there was a significant push to go back to the iconic pistol in the larger .45 ACP. Through an extensive testing process the Marines chose the MARSOC 1911, which earned a designation of M45A1 Close Quarter Battle Pistol. When the MARSOC 1911 finally came to fruition there were many who believed the modernized 1911 was the answer the Marines had been looking for.
Here a Marine Corps Special Operations Marine training with the MARSOC 1911 (photo by U.S. Marines).
The new pistol had to perform at demanding levels, being capable of putting five-shot groups on target that "didn't exceed four inches by four inches at 25 yards" from an unsupported firing position. However, fairly early on some military pistol experts found the 1911 design, while extremely accurate, requires more training and care than other modern tactical pistols.
The same Military.com article reports a former Marine weapons instructor who trained MARSOC Marines found younger operators had trouble activating the 1911's beavertail grip safety. Many of the Marines wearing gloves tended to grip the 1911 too high, which is actually a great training principle for recoil management, but when doing so they were not properly disengaging the beavertail grip safety, preventing the pistol from firing.
The Glock 19 is considered a Compact pistol, being slightly smaller than the full-size Glock 17. However, it still maintains a 15+1 capacity.
Unlike the MARSOC 1911, the Glock 19 has no external safeties other than the trigger safety bar. With a polymer frame, the Glock 19 is much lighter than the MARSOC 1911 (much like being lighter than the Sig Sauer Mk25 P226). The Glock polymer frame has proven to be incredibly durable to harsh conditions and exposure to chemicals. The polymer frame is also corrosion resistant, meeting the needs of maritime forces working around salt water.
Sgt. Devin Hughes of the Marine Shooting Team firing a Glock 19 (photo by Marine Cpl. Cameron Storm).
It is unclear why the pistols were only now approved for MARSOC, however it has been reported that some Marine Special Operations forces were already carrying Glock 19's. Marine operators have sometimes carried the Beretta M9 or M9A1 pistols that general Marines carry, but more often carried the Corps' M45A1 Close Quarter Battle Pistol in .45 ACP.
Here Marine Spec Ops forces train with the MARSOC 1911.
Army Special Forces units often use Glock pistols while training foreign police and military personnel. For example, the Iraqi government purchased more than 100,000 G19s to issue to their security forces. It was considered best practice for U.S. instructors to use the same firearm as their students, so Army Special Forces trained and carried the Glock 19.
MARSOC has not yet determined which holster it will use with the G19. The Corps currently issues the SERPA Level 2 Tactical Holster for use with Beretta M9s, and that holster is available on the civilian market for the Glock 19 as well. It would make perfect sense to select that holster for the new Glock 19's as the Marines would already be familiar with the locking mechanisms and releases.
The Blackhawk Serpa 2 Tactical Holster (photo by Blackhawk).
Though the Blackhawk SERPA holster has received some criticism, there have been many testimonies by soldiers in the field touting the holsters durability and function in harsh conditions. There are also many law enforcement agencies that use SERPA holsters, and have found them to be durable and very good at weapon retention. At the same time officers have been able to draw their sidearm much quicker than with other retention holsters such as the venerable Safariland SSIII.
The Glock pistols are proven performers. They have been in the hands of militaries, law enforcement, and civilians across the globe, and continue to have a high level of popularity. The Glock success can be found in a firearm that is remarkably simple to work on and maintain, is much lighter than comparative all-metal pistols, and just keeps on shooting. Their durability and accuracy are well documented.
When the Marine Corps chose to develop the MARSOC 1911 there was a lot of history and bullet performance behind the move. Military shooters are still limited to ball, or FMJ bullets due to Hague Convention restrictions. This does present a significant concern that 9mm might not be enough to do the job. Though the 9mm cartridge has made remarkable gains in performance in the last decade, those improvements have by far been realized on the self-defense ammunition side. The .45 ACP has a proven track record and provides a larger mass to strike and hopefully incapacitate an enemy.
However, when the MARSOC 1911 was issued, it was found that the newer Marine Special Operators were just not keen to the system. The 1911 has half the capacity of the Glock 19, weighs more, and has external safeties that apparently were problematic for these newer Marine shooters. The simplistic Glock design is a point-and-shoot model that has been proven to be dependable. We think this move is a good move for the Marine Corps, especially since their Navy brethren have already switched to the Glock 19.
Two things about this bother me.
One, they will be using ball ammunition, there has been no performance improvement in ball ammo in over 100 years. A 0.45″ hole is still larger than a 0.355″ hole, and will allow more blood to flow out.
Two, "when the MARSOC 1911 was issued, it was found that the newer Marine Special Operators were just not keen to the system." Train to the standard, don't lower the standard to accommodate the troops.
I agree with you David on the caliber issue, but I do see a benefit of the Glock over the 1911. In a high stress situation Glock is a true "point and shoot" firearm, with nearly twice the capacity of the 1911.
Now, as far as the ball ammunition … I have seen some U.S. Military documents involving the testing of hollow-point ammunition. I know Geneva Convention restrictions are still in place, but I'm beginning to wonder if the military is going to start viewing actions against terrorists as separate from military vs. military actions covered under Geneva.
We'll see. If that is the case the advances in ammunition designs could make the 9mm more viable for Marine Special Operations.
I've heard similar rumors regarding the possible use of hollow points in the war on terror. I'm interested to see how that goes.
True the Glock has a larger capacity for ammo and it is basically point and shoot. I believe that the 1911 is also a point and shoot weapon with proper training. My drawstroke includes sweeping off the thumb safety and my thumb rests on it. However as I learned in the Army the military likes to skimp on training.
I personally like the 1911, and have enjoyed shooting one when I've had the chance. However, the Glock adds capacity, reduces overall weight, and like you said is very much a point and shoot handgun.
Though releasing the safety lever can be trained, like you said – the military often skimps on training until we're knee deep in it. Stress in combat, and leftover peacetime protocols could result in disaster during close combat situations. The Glock allows a draw, point, shoot without a fine motor skill (safety lever release) in between.
Good stuff, and thanks for reading David!
One its not the Geneva Convention that bans the use of hollow point ammo. It's the Hague Convention the "Dum Dum" Clause to be exact.
Two the USA never ratified the Hague Treaty the Military chose to abide by the treaty but reserved the right to disregard is as they saw fit some SOF units use JHP for certain applications.
Three even is the USA ratified the treaty it only applies to wars between signatories of the treaty. Its one of the biggest misconceptions going around now even within the military.
Right you are Tony, thanks for the catch! It's been corrected. And great information on the other misperceptions, thanks for your input.


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Students pair up with designer Daniel Eatock for One + One exhibition
Posted Friday 2 March 2012
Basketball. Check. Goldfish bowl. Check. Swimming cap. Check. Wheelbarrow. Check. Cocktail glass. Check. Students at London's Kingston University have been working with a leading designer, drawing up a shopping list with a difference.
Daniel Eatock's new exhibition, One + One, which is showing at Kingston University's Stanley Picker Gallery, pairs up sets of objects that might not normally be seen together, including a watermelon wearing a swimming cap, an umbrella balancing in a cocktail glass and a basketball sitting in a fishbowl.
"The idea stemmed from a project I'm working on for the BBC," Eatock, who is best-known for designing different versions of the giant Big Brother eye for Channel 4, explained. "We're rebranding BBC 2 - giving it a new look that doesn't include the digit two. But the idea's grown from there - none of the works you see in the Stanley Picker Gallery are likely to end up appearing on television.
"We had to be very precise about the objects we used," he added. "We couldn't use any old watermelon, for example. If we were going to put a swimming cap on it, we had to find one that was roughly the same size as a human head. I went round so many different fruit and veg stores looking for one - and finally found it in a shop miles away from my flat and had to carry it home."
One of the students was assigned the role of tracking down some of the objects needed for the exhibition. "We compiled a list of everything we needed and their specifics," Nicola Brown explained. "Daniel used this as a shopping list, while I tried to contact anyone who could help us hire the more expensive items."
Eatock has been working on One + One while holding a design fellowship at the gallery, next to the University's Knights Park campus in south west London. "The students played a big role in this exhibition," he said. "We had a meeting every fortnight and, really, everything was up for discussion - from what objects we'd use and how they'd be displayed to how many items would be in the gallery at any one time. They really were equal protagonists in the whole process."
One + One runs until the end of March at the Stanley Picker Gallery, which is off Portland Road in Kingston upon Thames. The content of the exhibition will continually change as different objects are incorporated and re-used during the run.
"It's been a great opportunity to work with an established artist and get an insight into the process of setting up an exhibition from day one," 23-year-old Helen McCathie said. "It'll be useful experience when considering applying for internships or postgraduate study in the future."
Nicola Brown said working on the project helped with her dissertation which is looking at what objects mean or represent. "I will always make sure to follow his work from now on," she said. "It involves such a playful, childlike, innocent way of thinking which I think everyone needs to hold on to."
Find out more about exhibitions at the Stanley Picker Gallery or studying fine art at Kingston University

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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HRNK in the Media
China's Repatriation of North Korean Refugees
Posted by Committee for Human Rights in North Korea on January 24, 2013 with No comments
Roberta Cohen, Co-Chair, HRNK
Statement of Roberta Cohen, Co-Chair, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, and Non-Resident Senior Fellow, the Brookings Institution, on China's Repatriation of North Korean Refugees, at the Hearing of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, March 5, 2012
On behalf of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, I would like to express great appreciation to Congressman Christopher Smith and Senator Sherrod Brown for holding this hearing today to highlight the case of an estimated 30 to 40 North Koreans who fled into China and now risk being forcibly returned to North Korea where they will most assuredly be severely punished. We consider it essential to defend the fundamental rights of North Koreans to leave their country and seek asylum abroad and to call upon China to stop its forcible repatriation of North Koreans and provide them with the needed human rights and humanitarian protection to which they are entitled. The right to leave a country, to seek asylum abroad and not to be forcibly returned to conditions of danger are internationally recognized rights which North Korea and China, like all other countries, are obliged to respect.
This particular case of North Koreans has captured regional and international attention. South Korean President Lee Myung Bak has spoken out publicly against the return of the North Koreans and National Assembly woman Park Sun Young has undertaken a hunger strike in front of the Chinese Embassy in Seoul. The Parliamentary Forum for Democracy encompassing 18 countries has urged its members to raise the matter with their governments.
The case, however, is situated at the tip of the iceberg. According to the State Department's Human Rights Report (2010), there may be thousands or tens of thousands of North Koreans hiding in China. Although China does allow large numbers of North Koreans to reside illegally in its country, they have no rights and China has forcibly returned tens of thousands over the past two decades. Most if not all have been punished in North Korea and according to the testimonies and reports received by the Committee for Human Rights, the punishment has included beatings, torture, detention, forced labor, sexual violence, and in the case of women suspected of become pregnant in China, forced abortions or infanticide.
Stringent punishment in particular has been meted out to North Koreans who have associated abroad with foreigners (i.e., missionaries, aid workers or journalists) or have sought political asylum or tried to obtain entry into South Korea. The North Koreans currently arrested and threatened with return are therefore likely to suffer severe punishment should they be repatriated. Some might even face execution; the North Korean Ministry of Public Security issued a decree in 2010 making the crime of defection a "crime of treachery against the nation."
The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, a Washington DC-based non-governmental organization, established in 2001, has published three in-depth reports on the precarious plight of North Koreans in China and the cruel and inhuman practice of forcibly sending them back to one of the world's most oppressive regimes. The first, The North Korean Refugee Crisis: Human Rights and International Response (2006), edited by Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland, establishes that most if not all North Koreans in China merit a prima facie claim to refugee or refugee sur place status. The second, Lives for Sale: Personal Accounts of Women Fleeing North Korea to China (2010) calls upon China to set up a screening process with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to determine the status of North Koreans and ensure they are not forcibly returned. The third, to be published in April, Hidden Gulag second edition, by David Hawk, presents the harrowing testimony of scores of North Koreans severely punished after being returned to North Korea.
Reasons North Koreans in China should be considered refugees
Although China claims that North Koreans in its country are economic migrants subject to deportation, we submit that North Koreans in China should merit international refugee protection for the following reasons:
First, a definite number of those who cross the border can be expected to do so out of a well founded fear of persecution on political, social or religious grounds. It is well known that in their own country North Koreans suffer persecution if they express or even appear to hold political views unacceptable to the authorities, listen to foreign broadcasts, watch South Korean DVDs, practice their own religious beliefs, or try to leave the country. Some 200,000 are incarcerated in labor camps and other penal facilities on political grounds. Moreover, North Koreans imprisoned for having gone to China for food or employment often try, once released, to leave again. Some conclude they will always be under suspicion, surveillance and persecution in North Korea and therefore cross the border once again, this time seeking political refuge, ultimately in South Korea.
Because China has no refugee adjudication process to determine who is a refugee and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has no access to North Koreans at the border, it has not been possible to ascertain how many North Koreans are seeking asylum because of a well-founded fear of political or other persecution. But those who cross the border because of political, religious or social persecution will no doubt fit the definition of refugee under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.
Second, those who cross the border into China for reasons of economic deprivation, probably the majority, may also qualify as refugees if they have been compelled to leave North Korea because of government economic policies that could be shown to be tantamount to political persecution. These North Koreans are not part of the privileged political elite and therefore have insufficient access to food and material supplies. In times of economic hardship in particular, food is distributed by the government first to the army and Party based on political loyalty whereas many of the North Koreans crossing into China during periods of famine are from the "impure," "wavering" or "hostile" classes, which are the poor, deprived lower classes, designated as such under North Korea's songbun caste system. Their quest for economic survival could therefore be based on political discrimination and persecution. Examining such cases in a refugee determination process might establish that certain numbers of North Koreans crossing into China for economic survival merit refugee status under the 1951 Convention.
Third, and by far the most compelling argument why North Koreans should not be forcibly returned is that most if not all fit the category of refugees sur place. As defined by UNHCR, refugees sur place are persons who might not have been refugees when they left their country but who become refugees "at a later date" because they have a valid fear of persecution upon return. North Koreans who leave their country because of economic reasons have valid reasons for fearing persecution and punishment upon return. Their government after all deems it a criminal offense to leave the country without permission and punishes persons who are returned, or even who return voluntarily. North Koreans in China therefore could qualify as refugees sur place.
The High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres in 2006 while on a visit to China raised the concept of refugees sur place with Chinese officials. He told them that forcibly repatriating North Koreans without any determination process and where they could be persecuted on return stands in violation of the Refugee Convention. To UNHCR since 2004, North Koreans in China without permission are deemed "persons of concern," meriting humanitarian protection. It has proposed to China a special humanitarian status for North Koreans, which would enable them to obtain temporary documentation, access to services, and protection from forced return. To date, China has failed to agree to this temporary protected status.
While China has cooperated with UNHCR in making arrangements for Vietnamese and other refugees to integrate in China or resettle elsewhere, it has refused to cooperate when it comes to North Koreans. Only in cases where North Koreans have made their way to foreign embassies or consulates or the UNHCR compound in Beijing has China felt impelled to cooperate with governments or the UNHCR in facilitating their departure to South Korea or other countries. In the vast majority of cases, China considers itself bound to an agreement it made with North Korea in 1986 (the "Mutual Cooperation Protocol for the Work of Maintaining National Security and Social Order and the Border Areas"). This agreement obliges China and North Korea to prevent "illegal border crossings of residents." Chinese police as a result collaborate with North Korean police in tracking down North Koreans and forcibly returning them to North Korea without any reference to their rights under refugee or human rights law or the obligations of China under the agreements it has ratified. Implementation of this agreement sounds remarkably like the efforts made by the former Soviet Union to support the German Democratic Republic's actions to punish East Germans for trying to leave their country. It is an agreement that undermines and stands in violation of China's obligations under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (which it signed in 1982), its membership in UNHCR's Executive Committee (EXCOM), which seeks to promote refugee protection, and the human rights agreements to which China has chosen to adhere. So too do China's domestic laws contradict its international refugee and human rights commitments. A local law in Jilin province (1993) requires the return of North Koreans who enter the province illegally.
China is bound not only by the Refugee Convention that prohibits non-refoulement but the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
which China ratified in 1988. It prohibits the return of persons to states "where there are substantial grounds for believing" that they would be "subjected to torture." Indeed, the Committee against Torture (CAT), the expert body monitoring the convention's implementation, has called upon China to establish a screening process to examine whether North Koreans will face the risk of torture on return, to provide UNHCR access to all North Korean persons of concern, and to adopt legislation incorporating China's obligations under the convention, in particular with regard to deportations.
Another UN expert body, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors compliance by China and other states with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, similarly has called on China to ensure that no unaccompanied child from North Korea is returned to a country "where there are substantial grounds for believing that there is a real risk of irreparable harm to the child."
China of course has legitimate interests in wanting to control its borders. It is concerned about potential large scale outflows from North Korea and the impact of such flows on North Korea's stability. It also is said to be concerned about potential Korean nationalism in its border areas where there are historic Korean claims. But China should not become complicit in the serious human rights violations perpetrated by North Korea against its own citizens. The reports of the United Nations Secretary-General and of the Special Rapporteur on human rights in North Korea as well as the resolutions of the General Assembly, adopted by more than 100 states, have strongly criticized North Korea for its practices and called upon North Korea's "neighboring states" to cease the deportation of North Koreans because of the terrible mistreatment they are known to endure upon return.
To encourage China to fulfill its international obligations in this matter, the following recommendations are offered:
First, additional hearings should be held by the United States Congress on the plight of North Koreans who cross into China. A spotlight must be kept on the issue to seek to avert China's forced repatriation of North Koreans to situations where their lives are at risk.
Second, members of Congress should lend support to the efforts of the Parliamentary Forum for Democracy, established in 2010, so that joint inter-parliamentary efforts can be mobilized in a number of countries around the world on behalf of the North Koreans in danger in China. Such joint efforts can also offer solidarity to South Korean colleagues protesting the forced return of North Koreans.
Third, the United States should encourage UNHCR to raise its profile on this issue. It further should lend its full support to UNHCR's appeals and proposals to China and mobilize other governments to do likewise in order to make sure that the non-refoulement provision of the 1951 Refugee Convention is upheld and the work of this important UN agency enhanced. China's practices at present threaten to undermine the principles of the international refugee protection regime.
Fourth, together with other concerned governments, the United States should give priority to raising the forced repatriation of North Koreans with Chinese officials but in the absence of response, should bring the issue before international refugee and human rights fora. UNHCR's Executive Committee as well as the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly of the United Nations should all be expected to call on China by name to carry out its obligations under refugee and human rights law and enact legislation to codify these obligations so that North Koreans will not be expelled if their lives or freedom are in danger. Specifically, China should be called upon to adopt legislation incorporating its obligations under the Refugee Convention and international human rights agreements and to bring its existing laws into line with internationally agreed upon principles. It should be expected to call a moratorium on deportations of North Koreans until its laws and practices are brought into line with international standards and can ensure that North Koreans will not be returned to conditions of danger.
Fifth, the United States should promote a multilateral approach to the problem of North Koreans leaving their country. Their exodus affects more than China. It concerns South Korea most notably, which already houses more than 23,000 North Korean 'defectors' and whose Constitution offers citizenship to North Koreans. Countries in East and Southeast Asia, East and West Europe as well as Mongolia and the United States are also affected as they too have admitted North Korean refugees and asylum seekers. Together with UNHCR, a multilateral approach should be designed that finds solutions for North Koreans based on principles of non-refoulement and human rights and humanitarian protection. International burden sharing has been introduced for other refugee populations and should be developed here.
Sixth, the United States should make known its readiness to increase the number of North Korean refugees and asylum seekers admitted to this country. Other countries should be encouraged as well to step forward and take in more North Korean refugees and asylum seekers until such time as they no longer face persecution and punishment in their country.
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Minutes of the Meeting of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association February 4, 2020
The Committee convened in a closed session at the Department of the Treasury at 8:00 a.m. All members were present. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets Kipp Kranbuhl, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Federal Finance Brian Smith, Director of the Office of Debt Management Fred Pietrangeli, and Deputy Director of the Office of Debt Management Nick Steele welcomed the Committee, including the newest members to the Committee, Scott Freidenrich and Bob Miller. Other members of Treasury staff present were Ayeh Bandeh-Ahmadi, Chris Cameron, Dave Chung, Tom Katzenbach, Tim Khang, Peter Phelan, Brett Solimine, Renee Tang, Brandon Taylor, Drew Teitelbaum, Tom Vannoy, and Paul Wolfteich. Federal Reserve Bank of New York staff members Susan McLaughlin, Kathryn Chen, Rania Perry, and Kyle Lee were also present. The meeting began with a review of Committee guidelines by Treasury counsel.
Director Pietrangeli provided brief highlights of Q1 FY2020 changes in receipts and outlays. Pietrangeli showed that Q1 FY2020 net receipts rose by $48 billion (6%) year-over-year, driven by increases in individual withheld and corporate taxes. These gains were partially offset by an $11 billion decline in excise taxes, reflecting the effect of a moratorium on the Health Insurance Provider fee collection in CY 2019. Q1 FY2020 outlays were up $72 billion (7%) year-over-year, mainly due to increased Medicare and Medicaid expenditures, higher defense spending, and larger Treasury and Social Security outlays.
Pietrangeli next noted that a surge in State and Local Government Series (SLGS) issuance reduced net marketable borrowing needs by $23.5 billion in Q1 FY2020, which was the largest quarterly net increase in SLGS issuance since 2007.
Pietrangeli then highlighted that marketable borrowing estimates from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and the primary dealers ranged around $1.0 to $1.1 trillion for the next three fiscal years. Pietrangeli explained that Q1 FY2020 actuals and estimates for Q2 and Q3 FY2020 suggest near-term borrowing needs might be lower than generally expected, though there is still significant uncertainty because of the upcoming tax season.
Pietrangeli noted estimates for Q2 FY2020 suggest that total bills outstanding will increase from the end of December 2019 to the end of March 2020 by $131 billion, assuming an end of March cash balance of $400 billion. However, total bills outstanding, which are currently around $2.4 trillion outstanding, are likely to fall below these levels following the April tax period, when Treasury seasonally reduces bill issuance. The Federal Reserve's reserve management purchases, which primary dealers expect to continue at least through June 2020, combined with the seasonal contraction in bill issuance, could result in meaningful reductions to privately-held bill supply in Q3 FY2020 based on Treasury's current cash balance policy.
A Committee member asked whether Treasury was considering a higher cash balance and Deputy Assistant Secretary Smith confirmed that it was under consideration, reiterating Secretary Mnuchin's recent public statements on the topic. Pietrangeli added that Treasury's standard approach for addressing short-term or unexpected changes in financing needs is to use bills as a "shock absorber," which supports Treasury's long-standing "regular and predictable" issuance paradigm. Finally, Pietrangeli explained that while Federal Reserve actions modestly help to close the financing gap over time, the gap beginning in FY2021 nevertheless remains sizable.
Deputy Director Steele then reviewed responses from the primary dealers about the new 20-year bond, noting that there was a broad consensus that there would be strong demand for regular and predictable issuance in benchmark size, with new issues in quarterly refunding months followed by two re-openings in subsequent months. Dealers suggested that Treasury's current financing schedule provides flexibility to launch the security later in the first half of CY2020 with issuance sizes on the smaller end of the expected range, and then gradually increase these sizes as future financing needs and market demand dictates. However, it was broadly noted that Treasury should be mindful that an adequate initial offering size would support benchmark liquidity in the new product. Based on the dealers' responses, the interquartile range of minimum initial auction sizes for the 20-year to ensure benchmark liquidity was $10-13 billion for the new issue and $8-11 billion for each of the two re-openings, equivalent to $26-35 billion per CUSIP or $104-140 billion in annual issuance. Accordingly, most primary dealers did not expect Treasury to cut other coupon issuance sizes when introducing the 20-year bond.
There was broad consensus among dealers that the 20-year bond auction schedule should be similar to that of TIPS, where the auction occurs in the third week of the month, settles at the end of the month, and is dated and matures mid-month. This view is consistent with the prior Committee recommendation. This structure would maintain STRIPS fungibility with the 10- and 30-year nominal coupon securities, while more evenly spreading the supply of duration throughout each month. Although some noted the longer when-issued (WI) period resulting from this schedule, dealers agreed that TIPS have worked well under this structure and that the benefits outweigh any perceived risks related to an extended WI period. The Committee briefly discussed these results and suggested introducing the 20-year in May with an auction schedule similar to the current TIPS and initial auction sizes at the low end of the dealer ranges.
Next, Debt Manager Katzenbach provided the Committee with an overview of the current state of the Treasury bill market. Katzenbach began by summarizing the recent purchases of bills by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, noting that purchases have skewed toward longer-dated bills with maturities of more than 3-months. Since reserve management purchases were announced, the spread between bills and matched-maturity overnight indexed swaps has narrowed, representing a richening of bills, though the spread remains within the one-year range. In addition, trading volumes from the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (provided to Treasury by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) suggest that liquidity in bills has remained robust. Average daily trading volumes of $86 billion since mid-October 2019 are comparable to the prior 1-year average. Furthermore, Katzenbach noted that most primary dealers agree there has been no material change to market liquidity since the introduction of reserve management purchases.
Looking ahead, the pace of Federal Reserve bill purchases expected by dealers through June 2020 could result in the supply of privately-held bills declining to the mid-$1.8 trillion range, which would be the lowest absolute level since October 2017. Katzenbach noted that this level is within the range of estimates for the minimum privately-held supply that would be necessary to maintain benchmark liquidity as implied from primary dealer feedback, but below some dealers' estimates. The Committee briefly discussed the bills market and agreed that Treasury should continue to monitor the implications of reserve management purchases on liquidity conditions and the level of privately-held bills outstanding.
Following the discussion, the Committee turned to its overall financing recommendation for the upcoming quarter. The Committee agreed that Treasury is well suited to meet its financing needs in FY2020 given its current financing schedule and the expected rollover of Treasury securities held in the Federal Reserve System Open Market Account (SOMA). The Committee briefly discussed whether introducing the 20-year bond would necessitate reducing issuance in other coupon securities, but decided that cutting coupon securities sizes this year only to expand them in subsequent years was not practical or desirable given Treasury's regular and predictable approach and the projected financing gaps in FY2021 and FY2022. The Committee also agreed that, all else equal, the 20-year bond is expected to marginally increase the weighted-average maturity (WAM) of the debt outstanding but does not represent a significant change to the Committee's prior recommendations.
The Committee then reviewed a presentation on the potential long-run composition of the SOMA portfolio and its implications for Treasury's financing strategy. For the purposes of this discussion, a stylized balance sheet was presented to illustrate that the interest paid by Treasury on securities held by the SOMA portfolio is remitted to the Treasury net of Federal Reserve liability costs. This can effectively be thought of as converting fixed-rate Treasury securities to lower duration floating rate notes, the effects of which can be evaluated using the Committee's debt issuance optimization model. The model shows that SOMA purchases of Treasury securities generally reduce both Treasury's interest costs and the variability of its interest costs. In addition, overall duration of the stylized balance sheet is reduced.
The presenting member then discussed a potential scenario where the maturity structure of the SOMA portfolio is shortened, noting that Treasury should be indifferent to SOMA's maturity structure because each tenor in the stylized framework is similar to a floating rate note and has the same duration. Moreover, the presenting member suggested that Treasury should adjust issuance in light of the shift in the SOMA maturity structure with a goal of maintaining an optimal maturity structure of the privately-held outstanding. However, Treasury should closely monitor the potential run-off of SOMA holdings if the maturity structure is shortened. The presenting member remarked that recent redemptions from the SOMA portfolio were conducted in a manner that reduced risks for Treasury, including advance notice of changes and capping redemptions each month. The presenting member recommended that Treasury should not attempt to mitigate run-off risks of shorter duration SOMA holdings by increasing longer-duration private issuance because such a strategy would not meaningfully reduce risks but would add additional costs to Treasury.
Turning to changes in the maturity structure of the SOMA portfolio induced by potential future quantitative easing (QE), the presenting member concluded that Treasury should not attempt to offset QE because (1) allowing maturity structure changes to outstanding debt does not appear to increase Treasury's interest costs or the variability of the deficit, and (2) doing so could dampen the intended economic benefits of QE. However, it was noted that in a future QE scenario, Treasury would have to carefully consider the circumstances and debt management needs when making issuance decisions.
The Committee adjourned at 11:15 a.m.
The Committee reconvened at the Department of the Treasury at 4:30 p.m. All Committee members except Christine Hurtsellers were present. The Chair summarized key elements of the Committee report for Secretary Mnuchin, and followed with a brief discussion of recent market developments.
The Committee adjourned at 5:15 p.m.
Brian Smith
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Federal Finance
United States Department of the Treasury
Elizabeth Hammack, Chair
Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee
Of The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association
Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee Quarterly Meeting
Committee Charge – February 4, 2020
Fiscal Outlook
Taking into consideration Treasury's short, intermediate, and long-term financing requirements, as well as the variability in financing needs from quarter to quarter, what changes to Treasury's coupon auctions do you recommend at this time, if any? Please also provide feedback on market expectations for Treasury issuance, the effects of current SOMA reinvestment policy, the evolution of Treasury holdings by investor class, as well as auction calendar construction.
Long-run Composition of Treasury Securities in the Federal Reserve SOMA Portfolio
At its May 2019 meeting, the FOMC discussed two potential options for the long-run composition of Treasury securities in the Federal Reserve's SOMA portfolio: (1) a portfolio roughly proportional to Treasury securities outstanding, and (2) a portfolio focused on shorter maturity securities, such as Treasury bills and other securities with less than 3 years to maturity. Recognizing that the FOMC has not yet made a decision on this subject, Treasury would like the TBAC to begin thinking about how, if at all, these potential paths for the SOMA portfolio should affect Treasury's long-term issuance strategy.
Financing this Quarter
We would like the Committee's advice on the following:
• The composition of Treasury notes and bonds to refund approximately $70.5 billion of privately-held notes maturing on February 15, 2020.
• The composition of Treasury marketable financing for the remainder of the January-March 2020 quarter, including cash management bills.
• The composition of Treasury marketable financing for the April-June 2020 quarter, including cash management bills.


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Hillary – The Hillary Clinton Emails
The new book by American poet, writer and artist Kenneth Goldsmith takes its clue form the case which, exactly ten years ago, changed irrevocably the notions of privacy and transparency, propaganda and democracy in Western politics. It was in 2009 when the first doubts arose regarding a private server that Hillary Clinton was using for sending e-mails during her term as Secretary of State. Although the American senator has never been incriminated or convicted for any crime, the episode certainly contributed to her defeat—and the consequent victory of Donald Trump—during the 2016 Presidential Elections.
The book, curated by Francesco Urbano Ragazzi, and with texts by Kenneth Goldsmith, Francesco Urbano Ragazzi and the philosopher Emanuele Coccia, is a reflection on the intermingling between the private and public spaces in the age of mass digitalization. Using techniques of appropriation and collage, Goldsmith makes public, for the first time in printed format, the e-mails which, according to WikiLeaks, were sent from the domain clintonemail.com between 2009 and 2013.
Pages: 400 + 12
Hillary - The Hillary Clinton Emails quantity


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Q: drupal views dynamic filter I have a Drupal website where I post tournament results.
I have created a content-type where i write the result for 1 person in the tournament. So the fields are like: Date of tournament, player name, final position.
If 10 people played in the tournament, I create this content for each player.
Now, I would like to create a table with views, to list all the players in the tournament, and the various info, like player name/final position. I can do that pretty easy by adding the fields and sorting criteria in views. But my problem is, what I should do next time we have a tournament. I would like to just use the same view settings, but without having to clone the previous view, just to change the date filter-criteria.
So, I need the user to be able to view tournament page, and then see the results for that specific tournament. Then if the user go to see a different page from another tournament, then only those results will show up.
And I wish to do it in a clean way, where I don't have to clone the view and just change date.

A: You can achieve this by making a view with a contextual filter. The contextual filter will handle a taxonomy or node reference so that you can use only 1 dynamic view. But in order to make this work, you might want to adjust your content type a little so that it's easier for your view to filter them:
Your current content type has all the information of a contestant/player (Date of tournament, player name, final position), so it would be better to name that content type Contestant.
Then create a new taxonomy or content type: Tournament which will handle the information of a Tournament. Keeping these separated is a better approach.
So let's say you have a taxonomy: Tournament taxonomy with all your tournaments set up. Then you can add this as a term reference field in your content type: Contestant.
(Add a new term reference field: "Tournament" with widget: select list.)

Create your view:

*

*Filter criteria -> Content:Type (=Contestant)

*Page settings -> Path: /tournaments/%

*Contextual filter -> Content: Has taxonomy term ID

*Override title -> %1

For each taxonomy term (Tournament) you have this view now has a page. So when for example you go to http://yourdrupal/tournaments/1 it will filter your view only for that tournament.
I attached an image so that you can see how I configurated my view

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Gamebanshee is hosting an exclusive teaser trailer for Basilisk Games' upcoming RPG, Eschalon: Book 1. The trailer showcases the first ever gameplay footage from the game in a 43 second clip that provides glimpses of indoor and outdoor areas, combat sequences, and the user interface.
The first in a planned trilogy, Eschalon: Book 1 is an RPG designed in the turn-based tradition of classics of the genre such as the Ultima, Might & Magic, and Wizardry series. E:B1 will send players into massive outdoor environments and plunge them into dozens of sprawling dungeons as they quest to uncover the mystery of their character's origins.
Click over to Gamebanshee's site at the link below to check out the trailer.
The latest update for Planewalker Games' upcoming RPG, The Broken Hourglass, focuses once again on topics for modders and gearheads. This time the article examines the concept of "skipping" events, or scripting the engine so that when the player expects one result the game can substitute something entirely different.
But what do you do if an event is about to take place-but you want to stop it from occurring? What if the party is trying to rest somewhere resting is not allowed? What if we want to block someone from opening a door? What if Blue Valkyrie is about to die, but we want to delay that death?
That's where the "skip" concept comes in. Some of the hookable events in the game occur just before the event would happen, and the scripter may tell the game to skip that event, and optionally to take different action instead. This might include displaying a string telling the player why the event was skipped ("You can't open the door until you put on the funny hat") or taking some different action instead (such as thwarting the party's use of an area transition and teleporting them somewhere they didn't intend to go).
To read the rest of the article follow the link below.
DC Comics, the world's largest English language comic book publisher and home to Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman announced plans recently to publish a new comic book series based on World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment's popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Preview art from the series will debut at Comic-Con International, held in San Diego, CA from July 26–29. The World of Warcraft comic book will be published through DC's WildStorm imprint and debut this fall.
The first storyline of the new ongoing series begins when a human is found unconscious on the shores of Kalimdor, with no memory of who he is or how he arrived there. Enslaved by an orc shaman, the man must fight for survival against members of both the Alliance and the Horde. He strikes uneasy relationships with other races in his quest to find the secrets of his past.
For more information about World of Warcraft follow the links below.
The seventh round of answers to fan questions about the upcoming StarCraft II recently appeared on the Blizzard StarCraft forums. The sequel to the still popular original StarCraft, SC II will introduce new multiplayer action and pick up the Zerg, Terran, and Protoss storylines where they left off after the BroodWar expansion.
3) Will we get to hear the return of some of the original melodic themes from SC1 (like the Terran themes), or will the music for StarCraft II be completely new?
5) When will you release a StarCraft II Fan Site kit?
Check out the links below to read more and submit your own questions.
An update on the status of the upcoming patch for Heroes of Might and Magic V was recently posted to the Freeverse forums. The patch is mostly complete and is currently awaiting approval from Ubisoft. If all goes well the patch might be available by mid August.
Passed TransGaming QA. And from our end, it looks solid.
We need to evaluate the best way to distribute the patch itself. We'll be looking at this next week. Ideally, this would put the release at next week. BUT, Ubi needs to approve it.
Due to the approval, I'm hesitant to give a date. Guessing, based on the fact that this is a patch and previous approvals we've had to get, I'd say around mid-August for release.
BUT I MAY BE WRONG, and Ubi could have it approved by August 1st.
So, just know that the patch *itself* is pretty much done. Huzzah.


hi friends, it is Teresa....good morning and welcome to Day 2 of this month's Terrific Trio Diva Dare. YEP, you guessed it, you need to use three of something of your creation.
I used this weeks Mojo Monday sketch, see sketch below. My terrific trio is three sentiments, Julee has the best sentiments and I wanted to show off how you can use more than one on the front of your card! What fun! You can mix and match Verve's sentiments to make separate statements or a sweetly paired sentence. I have used sentiments from the same Verve set, Small Packages. I cannot wait to see what you create...sparkle & shine!


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Back to School Bash by a local NFL star was a huge success
August 12, 2016 Delray Beach, Education, Events, newsfeed, offtheclockpbc, Palm Beach County, Sports.
Imagine what a smile sounds like. Come on… You hear it all the time, over the phone, and oddly enough, it sounds the same on all of us.
NFL star and Delray Beach native, Brandon Flowers was smiling from ear to ear when he called at 7:47 p.m. Wednesday night, just 18 minutes after his inaugural "Back to School Bash" at Atlantic High School.
"We had kids ready to get back to school and make good grades," he said. "And that's all I care about."
(Photo by Kim Miller/ EAG Sports Management)
Kids were everywhere, nearly 250 of them. Hits 97.3 kept the auditorium lively, and spinning "Watch Me" really got them moving. And Flowers, he was there with a message, one well-received, he said.
"I'm not the guy who was a 4.0 student. I had to work my way up. I had to stay after school, I had to go to summer school. I was one of those kids who didn't wake up until the end of my high school term to realize how key education was and how instrumental going to college would be for my life. And not just for my football career, it helped me to grow as a man," he explained.
"It would be no good for me to know what it takes to make it if I don't share it with anyone else. So I try to share everything."
The San Diego Charger was pumped. He was in the place he comes to every year after the season ends — home — and he was using his path in life to give back to his community, especially the youth.
His advice for them? Well, it starts with a story:
"You know, when I was 8-years-old in church, in my Bible I wrote that I would be a professional athlete," he reminisced, laughing. "My dad still has that Bible to this day, and I knew I would do whatever it takes to get there."
You have to write your own book, he said, a phrase easier expressed than practiced. And yet, here he is, a Pro Bowl cornerback as a living testament.
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Oh, and for you Chargers fans out there wondering about his knee? Don't.
"I'm definitely at 100%," he said without hesitation. He's currently working with athletic trainer extraordinaire, David Alexander in Miami, and that's got him feeling so good that he's even looking forward to training camp. Crazy, right?
He's also looking forward to getting back to the young guys on the team. At the youthful age of 30, he's a "granddad" to them, but naturally, refers to himself as the OG, who "just loves when young guys are able to make plays and earn big contracts to take care of their family the way I'm taking care of mine."
That's "a beautiful thing," he said. "And I wish it for everybody."
(Naked) magic shows are still a thing, trust us.
Your last chance to check out the Boca Black Film Festival is tonight.


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#standwithme The Documentary. A story worth sharing.
Our first feature film, 64 minutes in length – how do you possibly make 96,120 frames all say the same thing?
Every story you tell will come with a million decisions.
We can turn our backs, hide under the covers, or close our eyes. None of that will make them go away.
Think about something fairly straightforward like an interview. You've got your aperture, iso, shutter speed, camera height, focal length, white balance, picture profiles, lighting ratio, location, eyeline…okay, you get the point.
When I started filmmaking, I'd make every single one of those decisions with the same thing in mind 'just make it look good'. But what is 'looking good'? And it's probably safe to say that not every story should look that way.
It's tough business. A million decisions, all hitting you at once, while you've got to stay on schedule, get the shots, and find time in all of that to eat and breathe.
So we get overwhelmed and It's easy to miss or dismiss so many of the decisions. For so long I didn't know how camera height affected story, that shooting down on somebody could diminish them, or shooting up could give them power and authority.
But guess what? Every time I setup my camera, I was still saying something with my camera height, whether I knew it or not.
Our challenge then, as filmmakers, is to take those million decisions and make them with intention – harness their power to drive your story.
We need a rhythm, a resonance, a way to have them all point in the same direction.
Realistically, it's impossible. Let's just get that out of the way. No amount of pre-production will let you make every single decision with intention when met with the realities of bringing the story to life.
Our goal as storytellers shouldn't be to chase the perfect story. Just take one more step forward. Listen more deeply this time.
We do this by creating keywords; 5 words that will be a filter for all of our decisions.
We come to these 5 words by listening. By immersing ourselves in the story. It's why we believe that the best storytellers are the best listeners.
These 5 words represent what this story really is, what it means, and what we want it's impact on people to be.
Ever heard the parable of the sculptor that when asked how he came to his masterpiece said that he listened to the marble? As opposed to showing up with your hammer and diving right into the rock with mighty force, we listen, let the story be heard, and then allow it to come through us.
But once we're moved, it's on.
We'll use these 5 words to guide all of our decisions. We'll use these 5 words to try and get all 92,160 frames to same the same thing.
And when somebody watches these 92,160 frames, it's these 5 words, their essence, that they will be left with.
For #standwithme, these were our five keywords; One, Light, Subjective, Community, Impact.
So today, as we release #standwithme to the world, it's these five words that we are truly sharing with you.
One – One person is enough to make a difference. You share the film, you facilitate a conversation, you make a difference in the lives of the people around you. Vivienne is one 9-year-old who showed us that a bunch of small steps can lead to a much bigger difference.
Light – Slavery is not easy to talk about. It was so important that this film be a beacon of hope, inspiration, and empowerment rather than something that knocks the wind out of you, and leaves you with little to do. By staying in the light, this issue and what each of us can do, becomes much more accessible.
Subjective – We each have a perspective to share. Slavery is built on objectification, turning a child into a tool for economic gain. We chose to fight that by bringing each person in this story to life, letting you get to know them. When we truly see each other as beings with value, dreams, and desires, how can we not share their story?
Community – Hey it's all about community. Our connection to one another is based on the discussion we have and the stories we share. When you share #standwithme you are creating a community of people who can connect and support each other in their endeavors to create their own movement.
Impact – Making an impact on your own community, no matter how slight, is actually a really underrated experience. Think about the last time you left an impact on another person. Now think about the last time something left an impact on you. You have an amazing ability to touch the people around you, offer them support, and move them in a really positive way. Best. Feeling. Ever.
And when you choose to share this film with friends, it's these same five things you will be sharing with them.
This is our first feature-length film. We've got a ton to learn. I mean, so much that sometimes it feels really, really overwhelming.
But for all we have still to learn, we know this – the most important step you'll take, is always going to be your next one.
We dove into our first feature length film. We funded most of it ourselves. We made mistakes. Lots of them. But we are better storytellers, and better people, for the time we shared with this story.
As we bring #standwithme to the world, know that every rental means the world to us.
It's you believing in our dream that a group of wedding filmmakers can take on stories much bigger, deeper, and more complex than we'd ever imagined. The belief that a well told story can really make a difference.
And when you share #standwithme you're helping bring that dream to life, as well as 5 powerful words.
One. Light. Subjective. Community. Impact.
Thank you friends for sharing your time with us.
For letting us dream out loud.
For being so supportive of every step of our journey.
Only a 9-year-old would dream a lemonade stand could free 500 enslaved children. After seeing a photo of two enslaved boys in Nepal, Vivienne Harr is moved to help in the only way she knows how: by setting up her lemonade stand. With the goal of freeing 500 children from slavery, she sets up her stand every day, rain or shine. In telling Vivienne's story, #standwithme examines the realities of modern-day slavery, the role we play in it as consumers, and the importance of knowing the story behind what we buy.
Congratulations you guys! I'm so excited that #standwithme is finally ready to be released into the world. I know when I watched it, I was deeply moved by the power of one. If an inspired 9 year old girl can free 500 children who've been forced into slavery, just by selling lemonade, then what can I do? And even more importantly, what WILL I do?
Each of us has the power to change the world, and given that most of us reading this blog have been born into some of the wealthiest and most privileged countries in the world,we are in a better position than most to take a stand for something we believe in. We've got the world at our finger tips, so what will we do with it?
Since #standwithme, I've become so much more interested in the products I buy. Everything I purchase has a story, even if it's not evident on the packaging. I'm buying more local, more organic, and more fairtrade. Throwing in a couple of extra dollars to make sure what I buy has a 'no slave' guarantee, yeah, I can definitely do that. I LOVED the story of the woman who became part of a co-op, and finally had enough money to educate her kids because she was getting a fair price for her crops.
Every time I watch this film, I am reminded of the importance that storytellers have in fostering the culture we live and participate in. As a small crew of dedicated filmmakers, your ability to reframe each of our personal contributions to the global community continues to blow me away. Not only does this film challenge me to look at the products I consume with greater awareness of the people who are affected by my decisions, your work invites me re-evaluate how I interact with and listen to the stories around me. This film reflects a way of being that I strive to bring more into my life– reminding us how deeply connected our stories really are, and the power of a lens to bring an eye from one end of the earth to another. Thank you for your vision, your heart, and the incredible hard work you put into gathering and sharing this story with the world.
It's incredible what we can do when we realize we have the power to make a difference. Thank you for all that you're doing in helping the young ladies of this world and in inspiring others to stand for something they believe in.
And yes, I attempted to read this comment in your awesome Australian accent. It was a total fail 🙂 Hope all is well!
Not only was it beautifully executed but the story was SO inspiring and left me the desire to do more! It's projects like this that made me get into film in the first place.
I admire all the work your team creates and have learned so much through the Storytelling with Heart workshop… Thank you for all you do!
I've been following Stillmotion's blog for a long time and have been so excited to see the entire team grow in numbers as well as in their craft. They've taught me how video is so much more than just getting a point across. It's so clearly, as seen in #standwithme, the finest form of motivational speaking.
What an incredibly rich story of many layers. I commend your editors, Quenna and Ryland for weaving these stories together the way they did. I was also taken in by the beautiful cinematography of each location. One can truly feel the emotion from those being interviewed but equally and amazingly so, I believe I felt the love from each and every person that was behind the scenes on this film. Stillmotion was meant to tell these stories. Thank you, Vivienne for being the driving force behind all of it.
I am sorry I did not stumble upon Stillmotion while they were on the road but I look forward to hearing Heidi speak at Wistiafest.
I loved the film. I have been moved to do something I just don't know what. I recently started buying the bottled lemonade. I tell everyone I can the story. In fact I was in the store yesterday standing in front of the bottles of #standwithme Lemonade and saw this women grab a bottle. I told her she made a great choice and then proceded to relate the story of Vivienne and her lemonade stand. She grabbed another bottle and said thanks. I want to do more though. So I think I am going to figure out everything I eat and try to make my fridge a fair trade only fridge. Wish me luck.


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New Generation Gallery
Art Comment
<Exercise of Authority: Surveyor Thomas Owen and the Paving, Cleansing and Lighting of Georgian Dublin
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Books, Summer 2016
The 1916 Irish Rebellion
July 11, 2016 /Comments closed
BRIONA NIC DHIARMADA
FOREWORD BY MARY MCALEESE
Cork University Press, 2016
pp 216 200 col & b/w ills h/b
€29.95 ISBN: 9781782051916
The 1916 Irish Rebellion includes a historical narrative; a spread of contemporary images and photographs; and a selection of quotations from contemporary documents, prisoners' statements, and other eyewitness accounts to capture the experiences of nationalists and Unionists, Irish rebels and British soldiers, and Irish Americans during the turbulent events of Easter Week, 1916. In the first part of the book, Nic Dhiarmada surveys Ireland's place as part of the British Empire in the decades leading up to 1916, with special emphasis on earlier Irish movements to achieve independence or at least some measure of self-governance. Following this Nic Dhiarmada outlines the events leading to the Easter Rebellion of 1916, including the crucial events of Thursday through to Saturday prior to Easter. The second part details the events of the Easter Rising and the week of violent fighting, ending in the failure of the armed insurrection in Dublin. The third and final section discusses the fate of the leaders of the Rising, many of whom were immediately court-marshaled and executed. Nic Dhiarmada suggests the Irish Rising, its ideals, and the subsequent election of members of the national movement to prominent government offices were instrumental to the later creation of the sovereign republic of Ireland, as well as an inspiration to anit-colonialist insurrections elsewhere in the world.
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A lot of historians like to do their research in libraries, but I've never been a fan of that approach. If it's books I need to look at, I would far rather do it in the comfort of my own office and furthermore, I like to be able to scribble all over them, underlining key sentences or passages and jotting down notes in the margin. And there's another advantage to owning them oneself – I've then got them forever, which is useful because I never quite know when I might need them again.
One of the problem of building up one's own library is that the vast majority of books that I need to look at are a long time out of print, but this is where the internet comes in so handy. I do very little actual research on the internet, but I do order a large number of out of print books, and for this, www.abebooks.com is absolutely invaluable. I find I can generally get most books I'm after. For those who don't know the site, it is a brilliant second hand book search engine. Booksellers around the world list their stock on the site and then prospective buyers simply look up a particular title and a list appears with every bookseller affiliated to them who has a copy. I usually opt for the cheapest.
Official histories are an essential tool, and although it is usually possible to get original editions, they can be very expensive. Fortunately, the Naval & Military Press have started producing facsimile copies of many of them, so their site is also always worth looking at. They have a mass of other titles as well.
Both Amazon and Alibris also have an out of print book service, but I tend to only look at them if I can't find what I'm after on Abebooks.
Completely agree. I have built quite a library of books purchased via Abebooks, mostly WW2 fighter pilot memoirs. Its a great site & basically you can get anything you want, att at your fingertips. I find you usually have to pay more for the postage of the book than of the actual book itself!. The author of the brillian book Wartime:Britain 1939-1945 Juliet Gardiner also gives a nod to Abebooks at the end of her book as a great research tool.
Yes, I got Denis Barnham's book through them. What a book! I tried to find out more about Denis Barnham but there's very little. I thought there might be something on Epsom College website but nope!
Ross – I can give you more information about Denis Barnham, so do get in touch if you wish. His widow lives in Lymington and one of his sons, Oliver, is in Somerset.
Thanks James, I'll take you up on that. I don't want to be a nuisance to you or the family. I was just interested in simple things like what he looked like as he grew older or where his wartime and postwar art could be seen.
Just come across the interview with Diana Barnham. Sorry! 🙂 Bit slow off the mark.
I was taught by Denis Barnham at Epsom.
He was a most low key guy who loved painting, specifically Paul Nash and linear perspective.
Not many of us knew of his background as he seemed rather overweight and boozy; far from a dashing fighter pilot.
Just shows how naive we were.
Funnily I went to Cranwell and ended up doing a similar job as his.
Charming , laid back and most pleasant.
I too remember Denis Barnham and the art room at Epsom. If I remember rightly, the illustrations in One Man's Window were his own scraperboard drawings. I'd love to get hold of a copy of his book, not least because I have cousins in Malta whose parents endured those war years.
I was in the art room (it must have been about 1955 or 1956) when Denis Barnham announced that his book "One Man's Window" had been published. He told us that the illustration on the cover had been printed upside down! Whether this was later corrected I do not know as I have yet to find a copy of his book. He infected us all with his cheerful nature and artistic enthusiasm.


Missouri offers a variety of opportunities for addicts dealing with alcoholism and drug abuse to seek treatment. There were 257 rehab facilities reported to the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment in 2006. At these treatment facilities, located in St. Louis, Kansas City, and throughout Missouri, it is estimated that over 20,000 addicts were receiving help at any one time. With so many treatment programs available in Missouri, anyone seeking assistance with drug abuse and alcoholism there can find a rehab center to fit their needs.
Care should be taken in finding the correct addiction treatment program to suit an individual's situation and history of substance abuse. Experts recommend that anyone who has a long history of addiction should seek residential treatment for the best results. Without a residential treatment center, the chances of relapsing after a short period of time increase dramatically.
In these residential rehab facilities, the patient lives at the treatment center for a period of time. They are monitored to keep them from using or drinking, though increasing freedom can be earned over time. The new environment helps to reduce the temptations of alcoholism and drug abuse. Long-term inpatient addiction recovery generally lasts at least two months, though it can take much longer depending on an individual's needs. Short-term inpatient rehab programs are typically about one month.
Studies have shown that the vast majority of addicts, around 90%, choose an outpatient rehabilitation program rather than a residential rehab center. In an outpatient treatment program, they can keep living at home and go to a treatment facility at appointed times. Unfortunately, the chances of this type of addiction treatment working are much lower. Addicts tend to want to choose the fasted and easiest method of rehabilitation. However, addiction recovery is not an easy process. Due to the long-term changes that alcoholism and drug abuse create in an addict's brain, plus the vast amount of lifestyle changes they need to make to avoid relapse, residential addiction treatment is generally the best option.
Drug rehabilitation and alcohol rehabilitation programs may use any of a variety of methods to help the addict overcome the situation. It may be necessary to begin with an intervention to get them into addiction treatment. Detox is the process of ridding the harmful and addictive chemicals from alcoholism and drug abuse from an addict's body, as well as teaching them how to life a new lifestyle not dependent on addictive substances.
After the initial period of withdrawal from the substances of alcoholism and drug abuse, much more needs to be done to help an addict in recovery. Psychological counseling, support groups, crisis intervention, alternative medicine, yoga, addiction education, life skills, twelve-step programs, non-twelve-step programs, behavior counseling, and spiritual or faith-based counseling are just a few of the services that might be available at a rehab facility. Treatment programs that offer aftercare will follow up with the patient after they have left the treatment center. This is a very beneficial addiction recovery service.


In October, I spent several days in Memphis. On one trip, you may remember I got stuck in the mud on a turnrow in a cotton field and I became one of the problems cotton farmers can have when it rains at harvest time! A couple of weeks later, I returned to Memphis and with really nice weather, I decided it was a weekend for me to get back out on a farm. My buddy Bob who had shown one of my city kid niece's around and he was up to the challenge of taking on another when until he had problems with a picker. So I called Allen's farm and asked if I could come their way, they were gracious enough to point me to a field where a picker would be rolling.
This October, it was a teenage niece. One who had only a little experience on a cotton farm and it was five years ago!! For those of you who have read my blog since the start (if anyone has stuck with me PLEASE let me know! It feels like it has been forever!) And comparing the photo we took as we headed out, I think you'll agree that a lot has changed since the two of us went to a cotton field together.
Oh…. and yes, I think it is clear… my niece shares a passion for cotton and agriculture! Granted, she is probably a bit more reserved with her enthusiasm these days, but I loved seeing the excitement of discovery!
Oh, I'm looking forward to it, Janice! I can't wait to compare y'all's visit to the cotton gin to the memories I have from when I was a child!
It was quite ironic when I read your post about the effects rain had on cotton's harvest because I had just spent that afternoon tying about 25-30 Walmart bags around my cotton stems that had some open bolls, but I wasn't ready to cut them because there were a few left that hadn't opened yet. It was a sight to be seen! I know my parents and grandparents (in Heaven) got a big laugh out of that! I'm the one who planted some seeds in my flower beds and along my fence. I must tell you, this experience has been the highlight of my year! I ended up having plenty to use to make the cotton wreath I've been wanting to make for years, and also enough to use in my fall arrangements and share with friends. I will definitely plant more come Spring.
I have stuck with you ! You inspire me Janice!


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Home Magazine Articles Training Top 10 Hall of Fame Outstanding Training Initiatives (Nov.-Dec. 2020)
Training Top 10 Hall of Fame Outstanding Training Initiatives (Nov.-Dec. 2020)
Each year Training magazine requires all Training Top 10 Hall of Famers to submit an Outstanding Training Initiative that we share with our readers. Here are the details of how KLA Corporation drove growth and engagement through a company rebrand, Keller Williams Realty's Command Training, and SCC Soft Computer's CPP and SST (Start-Stop Timer) Training and Competency Assessment.
Lorri Freifeld
KLA CORPORATION: DRIVING GROWTH AND ENGAGEMENT THROUGH A COMPANY REBRAND
Two years ago, KLA-Tencor was in the process of being purchased. When that purchase fell through, KLA-Tencor chose to pivot and re-establish its business strategies and rebrand the company as "KLA." This rebrand was designed to re-engage current and future employees in the company's growth strategies, which include reaching $7 billion in revenue by 2023.
In May 2018, KLA senior leadership transferred the Employee Communications function into the Corporate Learning Center (CLC), at the request of the Learning team. None of the CLC members had experience in managing Employee Communications, so the entire team had to learn on the fly. The surprise global rebrand was set to launch on January 9, 2019. Every single element had the same delivery date and prioritization. All this work had to be conducted by a small team of 10 to ensure a surprise at the unveiling.
There were three components to the rebrand:
1. The Rebrand Itself: The global launch included a surprise party for 2,500 people at Santa Clara Convention Center, similar surprise events at KLA locations around the world; videos that communicate and reinforce the brand ("CEO Message," "We Are Optimists," and "Optimistic People"); a global poster campaign; new global digital signage; intranet, Internet, and e-mail changes; swag for 10,000 employees; and more. While KLA's external partner, Salt, did the design work for this rebrand, the Corporate Learning Center's media team produced all the digital content (videos, photos, etc.).
2. Enterprise Leadership Program: To educate leaders on the growth strategy, the rebrand, and the "KLA Operating System," the CLC worked with senior leaders to design and deliver an all-new "Enterprise Leadership Program" (ELP) based on KLA's Enterprise Leadership Model (ELM). This is designed as a two-year program. Year one consists of modules on Enterprise Leadership, the KLA Operation System, Product Leadership, and Operations Leadership. Year two consists of Service Leadership, Customer Leadership, and Values in Action. The program ran in July and August 2019. Each of the five sessions lasted a week and consisted of 25 participants, for a total of 125 leaders. This year, there are concurrent sessions as the 125 participants from last year's program return for year two, while KLA invites another 125 participants to begin their year one program. All content was created in-house with case studies, videos, and facilitated activities. KLA's CEO and Chief Talent Officer hosted each session. Other senior leaders acted as guest speakers for each cohort and were filmed for distribution.
3. Ongoing Employee Communications: What made all of this possible and sustainable was the move to integrate Employee Communications with the Learning organization. The CLC reformatted KLA's global all-hands meeting, rebooted its intent and use of digital signage, and has begun to treat every e-mail or blog as a training "event."
Continuous messaging occurs through all-hands sessions, brown bag lunches with the CEO, e-mail and blog campaigns, and use of digital signage. All ELP sessions were filmed and distributed via KLA's corporate media platform.
Outcomes were measured in three ways:
1. Engagement Survey: In September 2019, KLA conducted its bi-annual Engagement Survey. More than 84 percent of employees responded (a record for KLA), and all scores were equal to or higher than in the previous survey.
Three areas were of particular importance:
"Alignment," which indicates whether employees are aligned with the business strategies of the company, scored at 83 percent. This is up 4 percentage points from 2017, and is 12 percentage points higher than the "Global High-Performing Company Benchmark" provided by KLA's survey vendor.
"Engagement" scored at 78 percent positive (11 points higher than the "Global High-Performing Company Benchmark").
"Business Agility" scored at 76 percent (14 points higher than the "Global High-Performing Company Benchmark").
2. Revenue Growth: KLA revenue for the 12 months ending September 30, 2019, increased 17.51 percent year-over-year.
3. Feedback from the Enterprise Leadership Program: At the end of the ELP training, KLA surveyed all 125 attendees. For every survey statement, 100 percent of attendees responded with "Agree" or "Strongly Agree." Statements included:
"I am better prepared to be an enterprise leader."
"I established/enhanced important relationships."
KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY: COMMAND TRAINING
In February 2019, at Keller Williams Realty's annual Family Reunion event, CEO Gary Keller and President Josh Team announced the companywide introduction of Command, a smart customer relationship management (CRM)-plus suite of apps hosted within a proprietary, artificial intelligence-fueled real estate cloud for Keller Williams agents. This was a major milestone in the company's quest to build the real estate industry's first end-to-end platform, provided at no additional cost to all KW agents.
From initial launch to the present day, Keller Williams University (KWU) has developed Command training to support the product's evolution from a tool with limited functionality to one that is now a full-fledged technology solution, integrated into the operations of KW franchise offices and agent businesses.
Command training is available companywide to all Keller Williams agents and franchise operators (more than 160,000) in North America. From the very beginning, KWU had to take into account the fact that agents run their business in their own unique way, whether they are new solo agents or high-producing mega agents with their own multiperson sales team. KWU also had to design training that is opt-in, not compulsory, and delivered outside of a centralized learning management system (LMS).
Since January 2019, the Training team has developed a sizeable body of just-in-time content to support associate engagement with Command, accommodating the fact that Command has been in a formative stage in its development since first launched, with associates in KW LABS groups (where the brand partners with agents in the development of core technology) continually testing it, breaking it, and providing feedback to drive new product iterations. To stay agile, the team has remained in regular communication and collaboration with executive leadership and interdepartmental stakeholders throughout the company. This has helped KWU deliver up-to-the-minute content that is aligned with a product that is updating weekly.
To address the stated challenges and establish an educational foundation with its associates in the field, KW started by rolling out a series of technology "Road Show" trainings throughout all 31 KW regions in North America. These instructor-led training (ILT) sessions, led by Command LABS leaders, helped to build momentum for the product through trainings and user LABS sessions. Additionally, KWU developed:
Thirty-eight new one-hour ILT courses to train on Command's ever-growing list of features and functions, which are regularly adapted to keep Command content up-to-date for more than 200 individual live sessions on Connect Live, KW's dual virtual instructor-led training (VILT) and livestream video platform. These daily interactive sessions are delivered by some of KW's top agents and executive leaders live and made available to associates on-demand.
Twenty-five interactive, downloadable Command guides and job aids on everything from preparing an agent's database for import into Command to walking them through the steps needed to run compliance processes.
More than 220 help articles and 120 how-to videos directly integrated into Command's help function for just-in-time product support.
50-plus hours of Command-related breakout content at annual KW events such as Family Reunion and MegaCamp.
More than 40 hours of live Webinar sessions, also available on-demand, to educate tech trainers and leaders in franchise offices on product updates and developments.
As of November 2019, KW had seen an increase in active users of at least 5 percent each month since Command's introduction. Overall, Command training has supported more than half of the company in getting onboarded and trained. As of third-quarter 2019, Command had roughly 99,875 active users, almost 40,000 more users than from the end of the previous quarter. The adoption rate companywide stands at 61.5 percent.
SCC SOFT COMPUTER: CPP and SST (START-STOP TIMER) TRAINING AND COMPETENCY ASSESSMENT
In 2019, SCC Soft Computer formulated a global directive to automate its Accounting billing processes and procedures. The 11-phase project focuses on adding valuable time-saving reporting tools and mapping out the quotient differences between the five SCC internal systems utilized by accounting, support, software development, quotes, and contract personnel.
The first two phases of the project were completed last year. The keystone of those first two phases was a review of the iTMS, a task management system that is utilized to track and update purchase orders, business travel arrangements, client support tasks, client project management, product development work completed, and other relevant tasks.
For 26-plus years, daily time sheets were required of all SCC employees. Tasks were created for every aspect of an employee's workday. Once the tasks were created by the employee, manager, or third party, the employee manually entered them into iTMS.
SCC developed a new micro-process to govern time sheets called CPP (Client, Product, and Project—the three classifications of tasks that need to be tracked via time sheets for billing and cost accounting purposes). To correct the problem of missing time sheets or erroneously entered tasks, Information Systems developed an automated Start-Stop Timer (SST) application.
SCC CEO Gilbert Hakim directed HR and Educational Services to be added to the project team. He requested key subject matter experts be tapped from each department to train employees on the SST application with a goal of rolling the application out within one month of the app's availability. The success of the entire cost accounting directive was dependent on this first successful automation rollout.
Phase I of the training focused on training the SMEs, while Phase II was the planned sessions in which SMEs trained their own department members on the use of the SST primarily through a PowerPoint presentation.
Phase III involved rapidly developing online learning and quizzes via iSpring for the CPP process and the SST.
Phase IV required everyone who would touch the SST to take the online training courses. Managers had to take both the CPP and the SST training. Employees who felt they were ready were allowed to move right to the quiz.
Phase V and VI included the evaluation of the pass/fail data and the next steps. Approximately one-third of the employees failed on the first attempt, which told SCC that the SME training wasn't as thorough as it needed to be. The Professional Development specialist identified areas where the SMEs needed to retrain on the SST. Microlearning was developed and rolled out to help with some of the attitude changes that needed to occur and identify meeting and conference call best practices to help employees manage their client and time more effectively.
Managers are required to audit the SST and CPP process on a weekly basis. Managers must approve the time sheets and must immediately counsel employees who are not following the process. Failure to follow the CPP process can include repercussions for both the employee and the manager. Information is being fed back to Information Systems in real time, which is how they decide what enhancements need to be made to the system. These enhancements are communicated by e-mail to all SCC and overseas vendors who utilize the SST.
Some 1,841 employees have completed Timer Training, and 1,868 have completed CPP Process Training. To date, the CPP/ SST has saved employees 1,500 hours of time per month. Reporting accuracy has improved by 75 percent.
Accounting has already seen an improvement in the accuracy in the time spent (for billing purposes) by the client, product, and project cost centers, so SCC feels confident its goal of a 50 percent reduction in billing time will be achieved—if not exceeded—by the time the rest of the systems are automated in 2021.
http://www.trainingmag.com
Lorri Freifeld is the editor/publisher of Training magazine. She writes on a number of topics, including talent management, training technology, and leadership development. She spearheads two awards programs: the Training Top 100 and Emerging Training Leaders.
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