text:
Syria declares victory over Islamic State after years of torturous reign
Angus McDowall and Sarah Dadouch
Nov 9th 2017 10:56AM
BEIRUT, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Syria's army declared victory over Islamic State on Thursday, saying its capture of the jihadists' last town in the country marked the collapse of their three-year, hardline reign in the in the region.
The army and its allies are still fighting Islamic State in desert areas near Albu Kamal, the last town the militant group had held in Syria, near the border with Iraq, the army said.
But the capture of the town ends Islamic State's era of territorial rule over the so-called caliphate that it proclaimed in 2014 across Iraq and Syria and in which millions suffered under its hardline, repressive strictures.
Yet after ferocious defensive battles in its most important cities this year, where its fighters bled for every house and street, its final collapse has come with lightning speed.
RELATED: A timeline of the battle in Mosul
A timeline of the battle for Mosul
A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter looks over as he stands on the top of a humvee in front of an Islamic State militants' position outside the town of Naweran near Mosul, Iraq October 20, 2016. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Newly displaced people wait to receive food supplies at a processing center for displaced people In Qayyara, south of Mosul, Iraq October 21, 2016. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Smoke rises at Islamic State militants' positions in the town of Naweran, near Mosul, Iraq, October 23, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
An Iraqi soldier stands next to a detained man accused of being an Islamic State fighter at a check point in Qayyara, south of Mosul, Iraq October 30, 2016. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
An Iraqi father (L) mourns the death of his son, who was killed during clashes in the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, in al-Samah neighborhood, Iraq December 1, 2016. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
People run in panic after a coalition airstrike hit Islamic State fighters positions in Mosul, Iraq, November 17, 2016. Goran Tomasevic: 'I had been to the Tahrir district of eastern Mosul several times while covering the campaign by Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led air strikes to retake the city from Islamic State militants. Covering battles is tough and in this case, it was difficult to get to the frontline at times, but on this day we managed. When we arrived it seemed calm and quiet. Soon after a car blew up in a suicide bombing in an Islamic State counter-attack to the forces' push into Mosul. There were casualties, children screaming, and several nearby houses were destroyed. There were also clashes. I have covered many conflicts in my career, but what has struck me in Mosul is the number of car bombings. The fighting comes in waves and when things eventually quietened down, I saw a group of civilians making the most of a break in gunfire to come out onto the streets. They were both young and elderly, and felt safe enough to leave their homes with few belongings, walking carefully but calmly towards where I was standing capturing the scenes around me. Suddenly an air strike targeted Islamic State positions a few hundred metres away behind them. It was close and total panic ensued. People were screaming, ducking and running away as the plumes of smoke rose nearby. They quickly ran for whatever shelter they could find. I heard the plane just before the airstrike, and from experience knew I had little time. These things happen fast and you have to act quickly. First you have to make sure you are safe, then stay focused so you can get the shot. You get your lens ready and stay calm. It was one airstrike and residents waited it out before finding other shelter. I eventually moved to another location to continue covering the fighting.' REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY SEARCH "2016 PIX" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "THE WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
A member of Iraqi rapid response forces holds a flower during battle with Islamic State militants in the Mithaq district of eastern Mosul, Iraq, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Displaced people, who fled Islamic State militants, cross the bridge in Al-Muthanna neighborhood of Mosul, Iraq, January 15, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
American army personnel gather at the University of Mosul during a battle with Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq, January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
A displaced Iraqi boy holds a white flag as his family flees during the battle between Iraqi rapid response forces and Islamic State militants at Tigris river frontline between east and west of Mosul , Iraq, January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
An Iraqi Special Forces soldier moves through a hole as he searches for Islamic State fighters in Mosul, Iraq February 27, 2017 REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
People who are trying to escape from Mosul walk in front of an Islamic State fighter, Iraq February 28, 2017. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic
A woman gestures as she approaches Iraqi special forces soldiers during a battle in Mosul, Iraq March 1, 2017 REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
An Iraqi special forces soldier fires at a drone operated by Islamic State militants Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq, March 4, 2017. Picture taken March 4, 2017. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Islamic State slogans painted along the walls of the tunnel was used by Islamic State militants as an underground training camp in the hillside overlooking Mosul, Iraq, March 4, 2017. Picture taken March 4, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani
A man cries as he carries his daughter while walking from an Islamic State-controlled part of Mosul towards Iraqi special forces soldiers during a battle in Mosul, Iraq March 4, 2017. Reuters Photographer Goran Tomasevic: "Both screaming in terror, a father and the young daughter he cradled in his arm fled through the rubble-strewn streets of Wadi Hajar, transformed in a flash into a battleground between Islamic State fighters and Iraqi special forces. They and their neighbours - some wearing rubber sandals, some barefoot - were running from an IS counter-attack in this part of Mosul, dodging gunfire as the militants closed in. When they reached the special forces lines, males were ordered to lift their shirts to prove they weren't suicide bombers. Some had to take off their clothes or show their belts, though not those carrying children. The father was so beside himself, so panicked. It was obvious because he had a short shirt on and was carrying a child that he wasn?t Islamic State. I believe they will both be taken to a refugee camp." REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic SEARCH "TOMASEVIC FATHER" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
A displaced Iraqi woman reacts as she waits in a street for a truck to carry her to a safe place, as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State militants, in western Mosul, Iraq March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
A displaced Iraqi girl cries before entering Hamam al-Alil camp, as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State militants, south of Mosul, Iraq March 10, 2017. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Iraqi rapid response members fire a missile against Islamic State militants during a battle with the militants in Mosul, Iraq, March 11, 2017. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Smoke rises from clashes near Mosul's Al-Habda minaret at the Grand Mosque, where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared his caliphate back in 2014, as Iraqi forces battle to drive out Islamic state militants from the western part of Mosul, Iraq, March 17, 2017. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
People walk in front of the remains of the University of Mosul, which was burned and destroyed during a battle with Islamic State militants, in Mosul, Iraq, April 10, 2017. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
Ameen Mukdad, a violinist from Mosul who lived under ISIS's rule for two and a half years where they destroyed his musical instruments, performs at Nabi Yunus shrine in eastern Mosul, Iraq, April 19, 2017. REUTERS/ Muhammad Hamed
A destroyed room inside an abandoned building is seen in western Mosul, Iraq, April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares SEARCH "EMPTY CASARES" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY.
Cartoon characters defaced by Islamic State militants are seen at a children's hospital, in eastern Mosul, Iraq April 26, 2017. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui
A members of the Iraqi Federal Police throws a hand grenade during clashes with the Islamic State fighters in western Mosul, Iraq, April 29, 2017. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Displaced Iraqis from Mosul wait to cross the Tigris by boat after the bridge has been temporarily closed, at the village of Thibaniya, south of Mosul, Iraq May 3, 2017. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Members of Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) forces look at the positions of Islamic State militants during clashes in western Mosul, Iraq, May 15, 2017. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui
A view of a part of western Mosul, Iraq May 29, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
The shadow of a member of the Iraqi Army's 9th Armoured Division is seen as he opens a steel gate to a room used as a cell for men, inside a compound used as a prison by Islamic State militants in July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq, June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY.
Debris fly as smoke rises after an artillery attack on the Islamic State militants' positions by the Iraqi Army in the Shifa neighbourhood during clashes in western Mosul, Iraq June 15, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Members of the Iraqi army drop leaflets over the old city of Mosul, Iraq, June 18, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
An Iraqi soldier from the 9th Armoured Division gives drops of water to a dehydrated child rescued earlier by soldiers at the frontline, during the ongoing fighting between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants near the Old City in western Mosul, Iraq, June 13, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro SEARCH "DE CASTRO DEHYDRATED" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY.
A destroyed al-Hadba minaret at Grand al-Nuri Mosque (L) is pictured through a hole at the Iraqi-held position at the Old City in Mosul, Iraq June 27, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro
Instead of a battle to the death as they mounted a last stand in the Euphrates valley towns and villages near the border between Iraq and Syria, many fighters surrendered or fled.
"There's some fighters left but they're few. Small numbers is all I can say," said a Syrian army commander of the remaining militants near Albu Kamal. "Some were killed and some ran away. They went towards eastern or northern villages."
In Albu Kamal, the jihadists had fought fiercely, said a commander in the pro-Syrian government military alliance. But it was captured the same day the assault began.
This sealed "the fall of the terrorist Daesh organization's project in the region," an army statement said, using an Arabic term for Islamic State.
The fate of its last commanders is still unknown -- killed by bombardment or in battle, taken prisoner but unidentified, or hunkered into long-prepared hideouts to plot a new insurgency.
The last appearance of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who declared himself caliph and heir to Islam's historic leaders from the great medieval mosque in Iraq's Mosul, was made in an audio recording in September.
"Oh Soldiers of Islam in every location, increase blow after blow, and make the media centers of the infidels, from where they wage their intellectual wars, among the targets," he said.
Mosul fell to Iraqi forces in July after a nine-month battle. Islamic State's Syrian capital of Raqqa fell in October to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, after four months of fighting.
But all the forces fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq expect a new phase of guerrilla warfare, a tactic the militants have already shown themselves capable of with armed operations in both countries.
Western security chiefs have also said its loss of territory does not mean an end to the "lone-wolf" attacks with guns, knives or trucks plowing into civilians that its supporters have mounted around the world.
RELATED: ISIS jails hidden in Mosul
ISIS jails hidden in plain sight in Mosul
Members of the Iraqi Army's 9th Armoured Division stand outside a compound used as a prison by Islamic State militants in the July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq, June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
A member of the Iraqi Army's 9th Armoured Division stands inside a compound used as a prison by Islamic State militants in the July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq, June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
A coffee mug is seen on a table at a compound used as a prison by Islamic State militants in the July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq, June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
A steel gate leads to a section of a compound used as prison for men inside a building abandoned by Islamic State militants in July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
A member of the Iraqi Army's 9th Armoured Division searches through a desk inside a compound used as a prison by Islamic State militants in the July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq, June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
Clothing left behind by Islamic State militants is seen on the floor in a compound used as a prison by Islamic State militants in the July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq, June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
Rotten food is seen on a kitchen table inside a compound used as a prison by Islamic State militants in the July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq, June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
The photo of an unidentified girl is seen on a desk inside a compound used as prison by Islamic State militants in the July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq, June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
Mattresses of prisoners are seen inside a compound used as a prison by Islamic State militants in the July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq, June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
Documents and envelopes are scattered inside an office, at a compound used as a prison by Islamic State militants in the July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq, June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
Damaged surveillance monitors are seen in the control room in a compound used as a prison by Islamic State militants in the July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq, June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
Materials for making self-made bombs are seen on the floor inside a compound used as a prison by Islamic State militants in the July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq, June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
The shadow of a member of the Iraqi Army's 9th Armoured Division is seen in a room used as a cell for men, inside a compound used as a prison by Islamic State militants in the July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
A member of the Iraqi Army's 9th Armoured Division holds a self-made bomb found inside a compound used as a prison by Islamic State militants in the July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq, June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
Members of the Iraqi Army's 9th Armoured Division inspect the cables of the surveillance system inside a compound used as a prison by Islamic State militants in the July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq, June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
A member of the Iraqi Army's 9th Armoured Division inspects a room used as a cell for women inside a compound used as a prison by Islamic State militants in the July 17 district, in western Mosul, Iraq, June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "KONSTANTINIDIS PRISON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
MIDDLE EAST CHAOS
As it did after previous setbacks, Islamic State's leadership may now stay underground and wait for a new opportunity to take advantage of the chaos in the Middle East.
It might not have long to wait. In Iraq, a referendum on independence in the northern Kurdish region has already prompted a major confrontation between its autonomous government and Baghdad, backed by neighboring Iran and Turkey.
In Syria, two rival campaigns raced across the country's east this year driving back Islamic State -- the Syrian army backed by Russia, Iran and Shi'ite militias, and an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias backed by the United States.
Syrian officials and a senior advisor to Iran have indicated the Syrian army will now stake its claim to Kurdish-held territory. Washington has not yet said how it would respond to a protracted military campaign against its allies.
Aggravating tensions -- and raising the possibility of turmoil from which Islamic State could benefit -- is a contest for power between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
It has developed a religious edge, pitting Shi'ite groups supported by Iran against Sunni ones backed by Saudi Arabia, infusing the region's wars with sectarian hatred.
A senior Iranian official this week spoke from Syria's Aleppo of a "line of resistance" running from Tehran to Beirut, an implicit boast of its region-wide influence.
In recent days the rivalry has again escalated as Riyadh accused Lebanese Hezbollah of firing a missile from the territory in Yemen of another Iranian ally, the Houthi movement.
Hezbollah is a critical part of the Tehran-backed alliance helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Hezbollah fighters played the key role in ousting Islamic State from Albu Kamal, a commander in that alliance told Reuters.
ISLAMIC STATE'S FALLEN 'STATE'
Baghdadi's declaration of a caliphate in 2014 launched a new era in jihadist ambition. Instead of al Qaeda's strategy of using militant attacks against the West to spur an Islamist revolution, the new movement decided to simply establish a new state.
It led to a surge in recruitment to the jihadist cause, attracting thousands of young Muslims to "immigrate" to a militant utopia slickly realized in propaganda films.
Islamic State's leadership ranks included former Iraqi officials who well understood the running of a state. They issued identity documents, minted coins and established a morality police force.
Unlike previous jihadist movements that relied on donations from sympathizers, Islamic State's territorial grip gave it command of a real economy. It exported oil and agricultural produce, levied taxes and traded in stolen antiquities.
RELATED: Inside an Islamic State bunker
Inside an Islamic State bunker
A fighter of the Syrian Democratic Forces inspects a bunker of the Islamic State militants under the stadium in Raqqa, Syria October 18, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro
A view of a jail cell of the Islamic State militants under the stadium in Raqqa, Syria October 18, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro
Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces inspect a bunker of the Islamic State militants under the stadium in Raqqa, Syria October 18, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro
A fighter of Syrian Democratic Forces inspect a jail cell of the Islamic State militants under the stadium in Raqqa, Syria October 18, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro
A view of a bunker of Islamic State militants under the stadium in Raqqa, Syria October 18, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro
A view of a bunker of the Islamic State militants under the stadium in Raqqa, Syria October 18, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro
Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces take a selfie at the stadium after it was retaken from the Islamic State militants, in Raqqa, Syria October 17, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces walk at the stadium in Raqqa, Syria October 18, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro
On the battlefield, it adapted its tactics, using heavy weaponry captured from its enemies during its first flush of military success, adding tanks and artillery to its suicide bombers and guerrilla fighters.
It imprisoned and tortured foreigners, demanding ransoms for their release and killing those whose countries would not pay in grotesque films posted online.
The number of those treated in this way was as nothing to the multitude of Syrians and Iraqis Islamic State killed for their behavior, words, sexuality, religion, ethnicity or tribe. Some were burned alive, others beheaded and some dropped from the roofs of tall buildings.
Captured women were sold as brides at slave auctions. But as Islamic State was pushed from territory in recent months, there were pictures of women pulling off face veils and smoking previously banned cigarettes.
(Reporting By Angus McDowall, Sarah Dadouch and Lisa Barrington; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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Biennale Warszawa
The Atlas of Planetary Violence
It is difficult to objectively measure the scale or intensity of violence. It would seem, however, that nowadays, in the world of intense planetary flows of people, commodities, capital, ideas and media, violence neither lost its significance, nor did it become less cruel, barbaric or severe.
Nevertheless, a reorientation of violence has occurred. Globalisation manufactures both new forms of violence and new tools of its distribution. What for some means new opportunities for profit and investment, for others becomes the source of suffering, necessity to migrate, escape or exile, dispossession, being robbed of their land or modern forms of slavery. What constitutes a release from confines of various barriers and borders, what can offer pleasure connected with direct access to places, people, phenomena, images and objects located far from our local environment, becomes at the same time the source of inequality. Deregulated, liquid capital zips around global markets at great speed, wreaking havoc in the lives of many societies, leading to unforeseen and unexpected price changes of goods and raw materials, causing anxiety and instability of those for whom goods and raw materials are not objects of speculation but resources necessary for dignified life.
While borders are completely permeable for liquid capital and usually they don't resist transportation of commodities, for many human bodies they become obstacles extremely difficult to overcome. However, their objective is not completely blocking the flows, but regulating them, slowing them down, directing them in accordance with logic and interest of the capital. Porous borders of planetary jigsaw puzzle pieces are to an increasing large extent completed with new infrastructure of violence. All over the world, new walls are being build – to mention just the most spectacular one on the American-Mexican border – that in a physical way supplement the digital system of control.
Violence also becomes the response to the existence of unforeseeable shifts, unexpected events and uncertain tomorrow in the world. The right wing knows to play this fear, reinforce it, stir it up, and direct at the most vulnerable and susceptible social groups, such as the refugees. Real anger related to socio-economic inequalities, dispossession, gentrification, employment precarity as well as social and economic degradation of the working and middle class become channelled at those who were forced to leave their homes and travel in order to maintain any decent life conditions for themselves and their families. Hence the increasing importance of understanding the archaeology of the right-wing turn and right-wing populism. It is not enough to keep repeating statements about the repeating history and recalling patterns of operation of the fascist and nationalist right from the early 20th century; the right of today only remixes old languages and strategies, creating, in fact, a complex, visionary project, which is a response to the current situation of global capitalism, determined by financialization, ultra-rapid liquid capital, and various forms of neo-colonial exploitation. It's an entirely different response and a different situation than that which was given by the right after the October revolution. This subject is tacked and analysed by Paweł Wodziński in the play Global Civil War.
Furthermore, violence affects the largest number of immigrants in history (250 million) and over 40 million of modern slaves, majority of whom are people who don't receive any payment for forced labour. Both phenomena are closely related – migrants and refugees are the ones most susceptible to slave exploitation. Both are a part of the process of accumulating primary capital, returning in periods of capitalist crises and economic downturn. Looting, dispossession, neo-colonialism, slavery and migrations occur when the return on investment turns out to be insufficient and the growth curve plunges or becomes flat. But this is not an abstract, delocalised process. According to the Global Slavery Index, over 181,000 modern slaves lived in 2016 in Poland alone. Why is this phenomenon invisible, absent from the public debate? Why this incredible data is not widely known? Where are slaves in Poland and what situations are we talking about? Bartosz Frąckowiak and Natalia Sielewicz embarked on an investigative documentary path in the play Modern Slavery, to talk about local expressions of this planetary phenomenon.
In the enormous catalogue of new forms of structural violence related to globalisation, the real and physical kind, and the no less real symbolic one, we decided to concentrate on several cases and analyse them. These include the right-wing turn, modern slavery and new forms of flexible work. We arranged these phenomena to form an atlas. The atlas is neither complete nor finished. It rather constitutes a starting point, a departure to a multi-thread, multi-stage analysis of the phenomenon of planetary violence. The atlas formula enables to discern several particular examples in the dense chaos of the contemporary world and then compile them into new configurations. It allows to slow down the flow, stop and consolidate the situation, even at the price of simplification and all the sins of classification. Capturing the moment of the state of the world gives a chance for building other relationships and reflection, for an anatomic vivisection of the studied phenomena. It also enables extending and prolonging time and space, and in consequence, making present – even through representation – of what was absent and remote in relationships based on mediation and distance.Life in the world of intense transnational relations and global interrelationships does not necessarily mean that these relations and interrelationships are noticed. Nor does it mean that they are always visible. Many of them are deliberately blurred, faded or concealed. The objective of our critical and political activity is to reveal them, and then put them in our atlas. In new configurations, allowing to explore them better. Closing violence in the atlas is not supposed to serve only the exploration of violence, but also quite literal locking it down, to open the space for new opportunities: alternative projects, hopes, radical utopias and change.
Paweł Wodziński and Bartosz Frąckowiak
Department of Presence
MUSEUM on Pańska Street
Pańska 3 , WarsawSee on the map
THE ATLAS OF PLANETARY VIOLENCE. INAUGURATION
INAUGURATION MON, Apr 9, 2018, 6:00 PM
ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE: WORKSHOP PERFORMANCE LINA MAJDALANIE
PLAYING - REPLAYING FRI, Apr 27, 2018, 7:00 PM
WORKSHOP PERFORMANCE
DRAMATURGIES OF THE OTHER: SELF-MAKING & SENSE-MAKING IN CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTARY THEATRE MARTHA BOUZIOURI TUE, Apr 17, 2018, 7:00 PM
PLAYING—REPLAYING
Workshop With Lina Majdalanie Apr 23–27, 2018
COUNTER-LABOUR 2
MIGRANT, INDIGENOUS WORKERS AND NEW SOLIDARITIES: THE CASE OF BRITAIN WED, May 9, 2018, 7:00 PM
Premiere THU, May 17, 2018, 7:00 PM
Play by Biennale Warszawa TUE, Jun 19, 2018, 8:00 PM
Global Civil War
DIRECTED BY PAWEŁ WODZIŃSKI THU, Apr 12, 2018, 7:00 PM
RAGE REVIEW
JILL GODMILOW FRI, May 25, 2018, 12:00 PM
Archival Events from that cycle:
11.04-17.04.2018 Workshops DRAMATURGIES OF THE OTHER: SELF-MAKING & SENSE-MAKING IN CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTARY THEATREWORKSHOP WITH MARTHA BOUZIOURI
In cycle "Biennale Warszawa" MUSEUM on Pańska Street
Pańska 3 , Warsaw
13.04.2018 19:00 Play Global Civil WarPlay by Biennale Warszawa
14.04.2018 17:00 Debate NEW FORMS OF GLOBAL VIOLENCE CREATED BY CAPITALISMDEBATE
15.04.2018 19:00 Play Global Civil War Play by Biennale Warszawa
25.04.2018 19:00 Lecture COUNTER-LABOUR 1WILL WE BE FREED BY MACHINES?
26.04.2018 10:00 Seminar COUNTER-LABOUR 1WILL WE BE FREED BY MACHINES? - SEMINAR
10.05.2018 10:00 Seminar SEMINAR - COUNTER-LABOUR 2MIGRATION AS A FORM OF RESISTANCE
13.05.2018 19:00 Debate DEBATE: MODERN SLAVERY, FORCED LABOR, OR OCCASIONAL MISTREATMENT: HOW EMPLOYERS TREAT MIGRANT WORKERSUNIVERSITY OF WARSAW CENTER FOR MIGRATION RESEARCH
18.05.2018 19:00 Play MODERN SLAVERYPlay by Biennale Warszawa
23.05.2018 19:00 Lecture COUNTER-LABOUR 3RUPTURING THE DIALECTIC. THE STRUGGLE AGAINST WORK IN THE ERA OF FINANCIALIZATION
24.05.2018 10:00 Seminar COUNTER-LABOUR 3RUPTURING THE DIALECTIC. THE STRUGGLE AGAINST WORK IN THE ERA OF FINANCIALIZATION
26.05.2018 12:00 Film screening RAGE REVIEWJILL GODMILOW

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Morning Meetings
Jaime Hepp
LIFE (Leadership - Integrity - Faith - Excellence)
George St. Pierre
Georges St-Pierre took up martial arts because he was bullied
Hepp on Fisher:
He was the spiritual leader of the Lakers. Kobe and Shaq were the powerhouses that received most of the love and attention during some great championship years. But Derek was the guy that focused on the bigger picture - keeping everyone grateful and hopeful that the players could be positively influential on and off the court. And of course, Fish was clutch when the Lakers needed a big bucket.
"Success isn't owned. Its leased; and rent is due everyday".
Hepp on Barkley:
If you don't agree with Barkley's commentary, it's because you're wrong. He is on point in his analysis of players in basketball and other sports. Aside from his brilliant insight on the psychology of sports, he is very entertaining and funny. It's easy to see why the greats like MJ, Magic, Bird, etc love this guy.
His Rivalry With Magic Johnson Was Made Into A Documentary And A Broadway Play
Hepp on Jones:
I am lucky enough to know Datone personally. He was playing at UCLA when I met him. He's a real genuine guy that hasn't allowed fame and fortune taint him. Great young man.
"Look out for those who look out for you. Loyalty is everything".
Tom was the youngest player to win a Super Bowl (now the 2nd youngest).
"I don't just want to go out there and do my job - I want to excel at it. I hold myself to a high standard. I expect to make plays that alter the game, and if I don't, I hold myself accountable".
Місhаеl Јоrdаn has won 6 ΝВА Championships. He is the most decorated player in NBA.
Hepp on Crosby:
What Canadian doesn't love Sid the Kid? I was in Vancouver for the Olympics when Sid scored the game winner against USA in OT to win the gold medal. The city was insane. He's tough. He's a winner. He's humble. He's relentless. He's just an awesome dude.
"I'll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it's sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot".
COACHING. COMMUNITY. CHARACTER.
Jaime Hepp is a Husband, Father, Business Owner, Consultant based in Southern California.
Contact Jaime
"Well done is better than well said." - Benjamin Franklin
"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength." - Greg Laurie
"When your windows become mirrors, you'll become successful." - Eddie Cacho https://t.co/6tyffb9WUJ
"Comparison is the thief of joy." - Andrea Atkinson


text:
Alex Scandurra
Sep 23, 2022 | Australian Startup History, Interviews
Alex Scandurra discusses the Australian startup ecosystem's exceptional growth
Alex Scandurra is the founding CEO of Stone & Chalk, a not-for-profit organisation which aims to support Australian startups, scaleups, corporations and governments at every stage of their innovation journey. Alex is also Co-Founder and Director of Spark Festival, a two week program of events covering all things startup, innovation and entrepreneurship. In his conversation with guest host Will Tjo, Alex discusses the aspects of Australia's start ecosystem growth that have exceeded his expectations, as well as some of the areas he thinks we could be improving.
Stone & Chalk: https://www.stoneandchalk.com.au/
Spark Festival: https://sparkfestival.co/
Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-scandurra-b52a4b/
Adam Spencer: Hi, I'm Adam Spencer and welcome to Day One, the podcast that spotlights Australian startups, founders, and the organizations that empower Australian entrepreneurship. We go back to the beginning to tell a story of Australia's most inspiring founders and how they built their companies. You're listening to a special interview series as part of a documentary W2D1 is producing about the history of the Australian startup ecosystem. This episode was conducted by guest host, Will Tjo.
Will Tjo: Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the Australian Startup Series interviews. Our guest today is Alex Scandurra. So good to have you on, Alex.
Alex Scandurra: Thanks, Will. It's great to be here.
Will Tjo: So could you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about what you're working on now?
Alex Scandurra: Yeah, sure. So my name is Alex Scandurra, and I'm the founding CEO of Stone & Chalk and the co-founder of Spark Festival, both of which are non-for-profits. The concept of Stone & Chalk was born on the back of a report, which was actually commissioned by the Committee for Sydney to understand what would be needed to help build a leading FinTech ecosystem here in Australia. KPMG led the research and compiled the report with key input from Reinventure and HD Ventures in particular.
Alex Scandurra: And so what was founded in FinTech in 2015 as this humble little FinTech hub has grown and evolved to bring together founders, investors, mentors, as well as industry and government stakeholders into one powerful emerging technology impact workers as we refer to it. And it's all focused on obviously driving growth, advocacy for the sector, and commercialization as well.
Alex Scandurra: Also, founded in 2015 was Spark. I returned to Sydney from overseas. One of the things that we, and I say we, very quickly met up with a few great people at Meridein at the time, and we were really seeing the lack of density and flow of startups that were entering the startup ecosystem. And so we wanted to create something that would help bring greater awareness, careers, and opportunities in startups. And so that's what Spark was all about. And it has one large culminating festival every October.
Will Tjo: I'd love to dig into these later on in our conversation. Although to start us off, Alex, these are some of the most iconic names in the Sydney startup ecosystem. I want to take us back even towards your university days. Would you say that you've always been an entrepreneur?
Alex Scandurra: It's interesting. Before I really understood entrepreneurship and before it became a thing, I certainly didn't identify as an entrepreneur. To be honest, when we were at uni, we really didn't know anything about Silicon Valley. We didn't really know anything about tech startups. Technology was something that was done in the engineering department and we were all civil engineers. And so we at the time thought that life looked like X in terms of going out and working for large organizations and building a really big infrastructure. And so it was only really something that I got involved in kind of by accident or serendipity as we would have it in our community.
Will Tjo: What year would you say this was?
Alex Scandurra: It would've been 2013 over in London.
Will Tjo: So when you first got into the ecosystem around 2013, what was your first impression? Did it seem like what you expected it to be or completely different?
Alex Scandurra: I didn't quite understand what I was to expect, but instantly I fell in love with it. I've never really enjoyed bureaucracy. I've always had the reputation for finding faster ways to do things, find things that fundamentally needed fixing to improve the way we actually executed, and ultimately the outcomes we were able to generate. And so without realizing it, I was kind of like a closet entrepreneur or serial intrepreneur, if you will. I went from the military to construction with Lendlease for five years. Then I spent seven years with Nokia, both in Australia and the Middle East, which eventually took me to London for three years.
Alex Scandurra: And we were there post GFC. And we were charged with helping to reinvent banking. We were one of the first people to be hired by the bank to really create a whole new function and team that would sit across its 50,000 employees globally. We were trying to develop digital product. We came out with Pingit, which is very similar to Ka-Ching here in Australia. And as a newcomer to banking and what is a very conservative risk averse sector, we were literally banging our heads against the wall trying to figure out why we couldn't get product out the door quickly. And that is what led me to startups and that is what led me to entrepreneurship.
Alex Scandurra: And so what ensued from that is flipping the model and rather than trying to do everything from the inside of an organization out, we went, well what if we could collaborate with startups and scale ups and innovate from the outside in? And that's what really led to launching and creating Barclay's Rise in the UK, which in many respects of the precursor to Stone and Chalk as well as the accelerator programs with Text Us. And that was really my first introduction with entrepreneurship and the startup ecosystem.
Will Tjo: Yeah, I know what you mean when you said that it was by serendipity or accident because you worked in these large corporations, became frustrated at ice bureaucracy, maybe the speed of which things changed and then decided to go out there and capitalize on opportunity that you saw.
Alex Scandurra: Oh, absolutely. And frankly, I've never looked back. The speed at which we're able to accomplish things, the impact we're able to make from relatively minute levels of inputs and resources is just incomparable and I found it to be just so satisfying as well as working with founders. That's one of the greatest pleasures I've had in just helping these guys succeed and really achieve their dreams.
Will Tjo: What brought you back to Australia?
Alex Scandurra: We'd been overseas as a family for about seven years and my oldest son was in year eight. And at the time we were thinking, Gee, we're almost at that point where if he continues in high school, you'd have to see it through. The grandparents are getting older. And at the time I'd also met some of the people from KPMG and Reinventure that had come to London to check out what had led to the FinTech boom, what were some of the key things and key learnings that they could then bring back to Sydney as they contemplated creating what was then to become Stone and Chalk. And so it was from those conversations actually that really got things started and we crystallized their decision to come home. And it was just fantastic timing that they were then looking to take Stone and Chalk from an idea to something that could then become at a reality in the immediate future. And one thing led to another and they kicked off the process in January of 2015, in terms of opening up for the candidates and I ended up being the lucky guy.
Will Tjo: Yeah, that's awesome. Coming back to Australia after being involved in the startup ecosystem in London must have been a huge difference, wasn't it?
Alex Scandurra: Oh look, it was massive. And in many respects it was similar because in the UK it was on the back of the GFC, imagine thousands of jobs in London were completely displaced, literally what felt like overnight. So you had experts and big guns and people from every level of experience literally losing their jobs overnight. And you've got a country again in particular with London that has a lot of inherited wealth. And so in many respects, they had almost like this Tinder box that was ready to ignite in terms of what then became the FinTech boom. You had the talent that was available and in some ways desperate to do something. You had access to money and you had problems, real problems to solve. And Europe was in a really bad way still post GFC with huge numbers of unemployment and recessions across the board.
Alex Scandurra: And so coming back to Australia, it was kind of almost same saying yet different. I found that there was still a lot of complacency here, and in many respects, certainly at least until COVID, there still was and has been. And what I mean by that is in the UK, two of the big banks collapsed and became state owned, whereas Australia relatively sailed through it. And so there didn't seem to be anywhere near the kind of burning platform for change. But what was really similar was that from an ecosystem perspective, we really started to see what I thought were the kind of embers of growth and embers of potential where we'd already seen the air taskers emerge. Atlassian was a giant Freelancer had listed, you had Canva that was starting to become a bit of a name. And we'd only really had Afterpay, SocietyOne and companies like Rate Setter for example, that had really just launched and Airwallex around the similar timeframes.
Alex Scandurra: So we already started to have a little bit of momentum, but in terms of what was FinTech and what was startups and their relevance to productivity, GDP growth, and no one really understood its relevance and no one therefore really understood well why they should care or pay to pay any attention.
Will Tjo: Yeah, it's interesting that you compare the London ecosystem after a great reset to Australia's because I suppose during that great reset, which happened post GFC in London, it became sort of like a new ecosystem in a sense. There was a burning platform, there was a need to change and Australia was similar to that, but we didn't have such a great impetus like the GFCs impact, but it was nevertheless the birth of a new ecosystem back then.
Alex Scandurra: Yeah, that's right. And even just from a FinTech context for example, cause we had the data available, KPMG had produced a report that looked to survey how many FinTechs do we have across Australia? And at the time we launched there was only about a hundred and it would've been a hundred at best. And several years later, I think it was at the end of 2018 or 2019, there were well over 800 FinTechs in Australia. And we're not talking about startups only, we're talking about significant scale up. And some of those had listed and had various successful exits. And so in that period of time, we've seen a huge amount of growth.
Alex Scandurra: And like London, one of the things that I saw that FinTech could bring to any economy or jurisdiction, it acts as both a vertical and a horizontal. And what I observed over there is as FinTech grew, it pulled up other adjacencies like digital marketing, all aspects of computer science, data science, branding. And I think we've seen to a large extent those types of spillovers and benefits happen here in Australia as well. And we've got a fairly robust and diverse ecosystem that's taking place now, which is super exciting.
Will Tjo: Has the growth been what you expected it to be over all those years since coming back to Australia?
Alex Scandurra: Look, to be honest, I think it's exceeded my expectations. Coming back really early '15, we really just had what I considered to be some very large and already mature successful startups that had become listed organizations or soon to be, and this huge gap of gazelles, companies that were mature scale ups. And so there seemed to be almost like this canyon in between a whole bunch of accelerators that were looking to pump out very early stage startups. And a lot of the conversations we were having across the ecosystem was, how can we help generate more gazelles, how do we take these graduates from accelerated programs and help them continue to mature and scale and grow so that we've developing this healthy pipeline of companies that would potentially become unicorns.
Alex Scandurra: And I remember sitting there together going, Man, I don't know how we're going to do this. We're trying to convince governments that this is important, we're trying to get regulations changed, legislations changed, incentive schemes adopted. And I'd have to say, looking back on just these last six years, it's incredible what Australia's achieving. And yeah, I'm amazed how it feels sometimes on a weekly basis. There's like another news article coming out on a company that's just become another unicorn or a company that's now worth in excess of a hundred million with investment that's also coming from overseas. I mean series B or series C for example, and it just makes you pumped.
Will Tjo: Yeah. What are some of the catalysts that are driving that growth?
Alex Scandurra: Look, I think one of the key things that I've seen, and this is just one of I'm sure many, is that we are becoming much more inherently global in our thinking. Initially I think we were really struggling to teach and expound to founders that Australian market is small and it's just an initial stepping stone to achieving greater success, greater relevance for your business. And that thinking and designing and architecting for that type of globe mindset is for fundamental from day one.
Alex Scandurra: And so I think the first wave or the first several waves of startups that we were seeing were still narrowly focusing on the Australian market and thinking about an exit strategy along those lines. Whereas I think increasingly, certainly from across the country, more and more we're seeing founders that are looking to build global businesses as well as investors that are taking that perspective as well. And I think becoming a little more patient in the way they're deploying their capital. And the combination of those two with access to overseas investors, I think is really helping to provide a pathway for Australian startups and scale ups to enter new markets with a soft landing, which wasn't available before.
Will Tjo: Yeah. Is there any particular reason we suddenly shifted that perspective wanting to be more global?
Alex Scandurra: Look, I think it's just belief, right? I think it just takes one. And then others that start to be successful, remember seeing Airwallex have early successes with investors overseas and the way that they were building channels internationally. Afterpay has been a regular news asset and many have seen just how much over the last several years their focus has grown and their success has grown in the US, and I think last time I had a look at least 50 if not more, percent of their revenues were now coming from the US market, and that was before they had announced their M&A deal. And so I think that starts to build in everyone's minds that actually it's possible.
Alex Scandurra: I think that coupled with back in 2015, if you had have asked a US investor or even a UK investor about investing in Australia, I think they would've had a very different perspective on that versus what they're seeing now in terms of the amount of activity, how hot our market is in terms of the amount of talent that's here, the ingenuity that's here, and also the applicability of what's being built here for the US market. And yeah, I think it's just this awesome hot pot of all these key ingredients.
Will Tjo: Yeah, absolutely. I like how you mentioned how key drivers was, in essence, our unicorn examples, how we look towards them and see that they've done it and our founders are getting more confident thinking that they could do it also.
Alex Scandurra: Yeah, absolutely. And it goes across everything, employees in big corporates and governments going, and maybe I can have a crack at working in a startup. And then you see students doing the same, seeing these successful names going, Oh, maybe I can be a founder. Or rather than being a graduate in a corporate, being a graduate in a startup or a scale up. And I say, I think this starts to build momentum and becomes a really positive vicious circle.
Will Tjo: I'd like to shift gears a little bit to discussing what we could still be doing as an ecosystem. What could we still be doing better?
Alex Scandurra: Yeah, look, it's a really good question and we can always be doing stuff better. One of the things that comes to mind, and this applies absolutely to me as well, is I think we could be collaborating a lot more. One of the observations I've had, and we all talk about other ecosystems and stuff like this, but I don't think it really requires any comparison any longer. I think as a national startup community now, we're sufficiently connected and we're sufficiently mature. And what I've observed is we all still tend to stay within our circles of comfort. So you know how after a while it's just natural that you just continue to network and operate within your own kind of circles of influence?
Alex Scandurra: I think one of the things reflecting back on my time as CEO of Stone and Chalk is I was so head down, busy on trying to help it grow, help the founders that were residents and help create this sense of an impact network that my capacity and I guess focus or prioritization on collaborating outside of our immediate sphere just wasn't there. And I think we missed out on opportunities as a result, and I think we missed out on how effectively we were able to partner and collaborate across the ecosystem. And so that's one of the things definitely that I think we can do much better.
Will Tjo: Yeah. I'd love to dig into this a little bit. When you see collaborating more, do you mean collaborating within the ecosystem such as with other founders, or do you mean collaborating with other industries like in banking and government and so on?
Alex Scandurra: I think there's both. And so there's definitely within the community or within the ecosystem for sure, how do program providers increasing, how space providers and others are actually working together are investing in groups and so forth. I think there's a lot that we can improve by doing and opening that a lot more. But probably one of the biggest areas for improvement. There's, in my mind, two, one talks to your point there around accelerating commercialization. And this is really in my mind that one of the two biggest gaps. Now, what I mean by that isn't the minutiae of how do you help an individual founder or company to commercialize. What I'm talking about is a much wider macro point, which is today and for some time the Australian economy has been led by and dominated by oligopolies in a whole range of industries. And that has two key ramifications.
Alex Scandurra: One, it makes it very difficult for new emerging companies to sell to these enterprise organizations. The B2B or the B2B to C is challenging, but likewise, it becomes really difficult for new entrants that have new novel offerings or business models to compete. I think there's a huge opportunity on the table for the government to look at a different form of R and D tax incentive that isn't about R and D, but is about incentivizing commercial collaboration between large organizations and Australian startups and scale ups.
Will Tjo: So Alex, as you know, what we're trying to do on this podcast is to document as historically as possible the history of our ecosystem just so that we can look to the future and we're trying to reach all corners from founders, investors, policy makers, and academics. Is there something that's on your mind that you're constantly thinking about that they need to hear?
Alex Scandurra: Yeah, it's a great question. I think that point around commercialization incentives between big and small is really key because I've seen a lot of companies that are really high quality companies that could have made it really big on a global scale that weren't able to get the traction they needed locally here and didn't have the capacity largely to do with capital to access international markets on time. And so introducing anything that can improve the success rate of Australian companies, and by that I mean startups and scale ups, selling to large organizations, including government and corporates. Government as a customer is something that I think is still being given lip servers to and the DTA or the DTO was a classic example of that. And then from a corporate perspective, we've got an R and D tax credit regime that still isn't incentivizing the right outcomes.
Alex Scandurra: And so from my perspective, fixing that and supporting or enhancing the ability of startups and scale up to work with large organizations domestically, I think will have huge benefit in both increasing the evidence around product market fit, customer traction, and therefore reducing the risk profile that's perceived by investors, increasing investment flows and then helping them position for greater both national and international growth. That's the kind of thinking and thesis that I've had behind that, which I think is still an area that we could address and potentially make a significant impact in.
Will Tjo: And lastly Alex, if a brand new founder came to you, given all your wins, your mistakes and your experience, what's one piece of advice you'd give them to increase their chances of success?
Alex Scandurra: A brand new founder, and it's interesting, right, because I've worked with founders that are also very close to launching and in some cases have even launched, is to make sure, number one, before you build anything, before you spend any money, is really understand the problem you're trying to solve and is the problem you think you're solving actually the problem that needs to be solved? Really understand the customer and the difference between who is the user and who is the customer of the solution that you're looking to pull together. And then finally, as you think about the solution, really do your research in terms of, do you genuinely have a unique selling proposition? What aspects that you're pulling together already exist and what aspects are novel, new, defendable or easily scalable? Because I've seen a lot of founders get the first two right, but then they get excited too quickly and develop a solution or an MVP or even further than that and find themselves in a position where they're essentially, when you really look at it, a me too.
Will Tjo: Alex, it's been so great having you on the show today. Thank you so much.
Alex Scandurra: Oh my pleasure, William. Thanks for having me.
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HIUNPERS is constructed by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) at the University of Minnesota. HIUNPERS is the number of people within each "health insurance unit" (HIU) as indicated by HIUID.
Health insurance coverage, whether through an employer or a public program, is often based on family relationships. An individual with access to employer-sponsored coverage may be able to cover his or her spouse and children through that policy. Public coverage often considers family ties in determining program eligibility, especially for children and families. Many analysts and researchers have adopted the use of a "health insurance unit" (HIU) in studying insurance coverage so as to focus on those individuals who would likely be considered a "family unit" in determining eligibility for either private or public coverage. Individual assignment to an HIU is detailed in HIURULE.
For more information see "Defining 'Family' for Studies of Health Insurance Coverage".
The Stata and SAS code is available so that analysts who choose to can easily modify the HIU definition.


Nothing this year. Also no work has started on a manual.
A very little has been added since those, and the ladder centering has a show-stopping bug.
There are a lot of releases about to hit the AtariAge store.
Still a good idea for a DIY project.
I did just get my first xonox recently. It came along with other gear I wanted.
Let's see... DK Arcade and DK VCS are both 32kb but they use different PCBs, correct?
Yes. DK Arcade is DPC+ bank switching from batari Basic; D.K. VCS is 32K plus SARA RAM bank switching.
As I understand, Melody can run it all (which is Harmony or Harmony Encore with less parts), and then there are Melody light boards with less parts for games that wouldn't use all its resources, and then even Melody light light for probably just the simplest 8K - 16 or 32K. I don't even know how my 4K FLAPPY is made, but if I had to guess I would say an EEPROM.
Both are excellent ports, despite playing differently. I'd give VCS the edge on audio, graphics, arcade on accuracy.
Tonight, May 11, 2018, Twitch channel ZeroPageHomebrew will be playing my newest build of DK Arcade 2600 on that stream at 7PM PT/10PM ET.
If you miss the live stream, it will be posted on YouTube in a few days.
I can't wait to see if the gameplay outweighs the difficulty and the few bugs like when climbing a ladder and the centering fails which leads to an unfair death. Also on the Spring level it is very easy to fall off the small platforms, and I've seen lots of people die trying to climb the last ladder with the "sproing" killing The Carpenter when they all follow the same path, unlike the Arcade which puts out the sproings at 3 different horizontal positions. Even the second time through when there are 2 sproings they also follow the same path but you need to get to the safe spot to the left of the last ladder to make it up.
"Byte Knight" did an amazing job of coding the game logic.
He has an Arcade cabinet, and kept wanting to make things harder.
It is actually easier than the arcade because of things like being able to change directions mid-jump.
We we really pushed the batari Basic DPC+ kernel because to reduce flicker at the top of level 1, 8 more visible scanlines were added. The most CPU intense part is if you get the first level 1 hammer.
The CPU is checking left/right, collisions with hammer to barrel, the hammer tune playing, the new barrels being thrown out, checking where the floor is, and more.
That's where it over-cycled, so a tweak to overscan time fixed that.
That makes the game run with 270 scan lines (normal is 262), and it runs at 58 FPS (normal is 60).
Even way off the recommended 262/60fps, I haven't found a console or display that loses sync and blanks out.
We both learned new things.
The stream had problems with the flicker.
This game and Star Castle Arcade both flicker at 58fps.
The YouTube and Twitch repost have perfect 60fps capture.
I knew about the ladder centering failure sometimes, and I can't find a fix. I tried a wider range check and a lesser range check. Sometimes the routine just returns a value that is not under the ladder, and if you climb to a platform you should be able to stand on, you will fall to your death.
Sometimes it sees the broken ladders as okay when jumping and you can climb them or glitch to a death.
I learned that the orange level 2 has a misplaced pixel in the lower left.
Although maybe I commented that out to add something.
Turning on or off of playfield pixels in "batari Basic" uses a lot of cycles and ROM!
That on & off playfield pixels is how the Elevator platforms are done.
I was sure that wouldn't work (as I had used sprites), but Byte Knight's code worked better.
Level 1 girders and Level 3 elevators both come very close to doing more than the CPU can process.
Due to the CPU drawing the display, when a game uses too many CPU cycles, the display will jitter or roll.
See the top of the first post in this thread for binary file.
I've decided to share "DK Arcade 2600", and post the Release Candidate.
This has sound, item, color differences, along with a fixed Kernel that should eliminate any "flashing ghost playfield pixels" that appear when nearly cycle maximum and that some machines were displaying.
The "latest batari Basic" version from RevEng's thread has this fixed kernel.
Reply in this thread any comments and suggestions - they are all considered, no matter good or bad, or not possible to include! Thank you.
It is also decided by me, the author, that any "Release" will be through this "batari Basic Forum Thread".
If you expressed desire for a real cartridge in this thread, no need to post again. You will be contacted when I have finished cartridges available later in 2019 or next year 2020. Payment will only be taken when finish cartridges are available - made with AtariAge hardware.
This was my first designed game, both because I liked the game, I liked the challenge, and I wanted to show that very good games can be made with the "batari Basic" DPC+ kernel.
This is an awesome update iesposta!!!!
Count me in for a cart! Thanks!
Really fantastic job on this game!
It looks great! This version seems to be generating too many scanlines, though (271 instead of the expected 262).
Well, this is pretty incredible . . .
Added 8 visible scan lines to separate The Lady at the top from the barrels to cut down on the top flicker. Also to make it taller because the original was "portrait" orientation. Flicker is still heavy.
This causes overscan to change, and overscan was also hacked to not over cycle on level 1 during Hammer Time - when the most routines are running at the same time such as music, barrels, scoring, movement, collision, animations, etc.
If I remember correctly, the barrels are animated, moved, checked for collisions, over 4 frames - Byte Knight did the game logic code. For those bB programmers going over cycle, splitting tasks over 2 or 4 frames may be the answer.
It is designed for CRT display, but I've played it on many different displays without problem, just strange flicker because of the 58 fields per second. Some builds were coming out 270, and some 271.
It is good as long as the "How High Title Screen" scan line count matches the game scan line count.
It is very similar to Star Castle Arcade in terms of scan lines and less than 60 fps.
For those interested, another hack was removal of the vertical scroll routines which returned a bit more than 200 bites back to bank1 for program use.
Still irked I had to cut the "stomp the girders" intro as I had programmed and finished that. It was taking around 800 bytes.
Count me in for a physical cart!


A Franklin home goods and design store relocates to a Nashville destination.
After 10 years in downtown Franklin, Redo Home + Design has new Nashville digs. This spring, owner Mitzi Maynard brought her home furnishing and design shop to Nashville's unofficial design district, on Sidco Drive.
The store has doubled in size, yet still maintains a boutique feeling, with warm, inviting spaces; unique and plentiful in-stock decor; bold color options; and a spacious design center, which is specially made to accommodate that side of Maynard's business.
Her goal with Redo has always been to promote beauty and exquisite design. She says they're proud to be a 'to-the-trade" destinationindustry lingo for a place that welcomes designers and their clients to come in and enjoy the store's workspace at any time, together or on their own.
For inspiration, shoppers can browse pieces that have been thoughtfully collected from hundreds of vendors all over the country or pop into the design center, which features a huge selection of designer wallpaper books and fabrics. Their in-house specialist is on-hand and ready to work on any project, large or small.


text:
Терзан 7 или Terzan 7 — разреженное молодое шаровое скопление, которое, как полагают, возникло в Карликовой эллиптической галактике в Стрельце (Sag DEG) и физически связано с ней. Оно сравнительно богатое металлом [Fe H=-0,6 и, согласно оценкам, ему 7,5 миллиардов лет. Terzan 7 имеет низкий уровень никеля ([Ni/Fe]=-0,2), который поддерживает своё членство в системе Sag DEG, поскольку оно имеет аналогичные химические особенности. Оно содержит большое количество голубых отставших звёзд, которые концентрируются в центре скопления. Терзан 7 имеет среднее распределение светимости Mv = −5.05. Оно имеет радиус (Rh) = 6,5 пк.

История
Терзан 7 является самым ярким из шести шаровых скоплений, открытых армянско-французским астрономом Агопом Терзаном в 1968 году.

Молодое шаровое скопление
Почти все шаровые скопления гала Млечного Пути формируются в одно и то же время (12-15 миллиардов лет). Даже крайне расположенный NGC 2419 (~ 100 кпк от центра Галактики) имеет тот же возраст. Эта тенденция касается и возраста шаровых скоплений найденных в Большом Магеллановом Облаке и Карликовой галактики в созвездии Печь. Однако, несколько шаровых скоплений кажется, значительно моложе, чем остальные, к ним относятся Паломар 1, Паломар 3, Паломар 4, Паломар 12, Паломар 14, Рупрехт 106, IC 4499, Арп 2, Эридан, Печь 4 и Терзан 7. В частности, эти, связанные с Sag DEG, видимо, сформировались в последнее время. Данные свидетельствуют о том, что все внешние настоящее шаровые скопления гала, возможно, первоначально формируются в карликовых сфероидальных галактиках.

Иерархия формирования галактики
Кроме того, иерархическая модель гипотезы образования галактик, в соответствии с которой часть, возможно, большая, шаровых скоплений Млечного Пути могла бы возникнуть в аккреции других сфероидальных карликовых галактик как Sag DEG. Лучший кандидат на эту идею Паломар 12.

Изображения

Гал.долгота 3.3868°
Гал.широта -20.0666°
Расстояние 75 700 св. лет

Примечания

Шаровые скопления
Местная группа
Млечный Путь
Стрелец (созвездие)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


It is a well publicized fact that companies have begun to rely more and more on outsourcing for their operations. Though this mainly refers to IT and customer service departments, more corporations are turning to third party entities for innovation in the form of research and product development. Recent participants in this new technique in innovation include technology giants Dell, Motorola and Philips, while other major corporations such as Boeing and GlaxoSmithKline have also delved into this new realm. In fact, a recent survey (see below) has shown that outsourced innovation is present in a number of major industry sectors.
The downturn in the global economy over the last 5 years has led many companies to re-evaluate their financial situations. Many executive have revealed that they possess growing concerns over the ROI resulting from in house R&D. Attracted to the lower prices of third-party entities, technology companies in particular have fully embraced the idea of outsourced innovation.
The way in which companies utilize their third party vendors varies. Some corporations, such as Dell and Motorola, rely on outsourcing to develop entirely new products. Once they receive a product from their third party vendor, they make a number of modifications and tweaks internally before branding the product and placing it in the market. In contrast, other companies use third party entities to further research ideas before making a decision regarding what sort of product or technology to develop.
Many of the most popular third party innovation companies originate from industrializing nations in Asia. These companies offer employees and researchers with highly educated background, who work for a fraction of the cost of researchers from industrialized regions. This of course results in reduced overall R&D expenditures.
Another advantage to outsourcing innovation is the ability to explore a wider variety of options in a shorter amount of time. Third party corporations often have the capacity to research a wide variety of ideas simultaneously, allowing companies to explore options they would otherwise not have the funds to move forward with. This could potentially open up the opportunity for more products to be developed, thus expanding market share and increasing returns.
A constant concern of innovative companies is the time it takes to develop an idea into a marketable product. Initial research has shown that outsourced innovation companies may have the ability to push products through to a marketable phase faster than most development departments as a result of their specialized workforce. Decreasing a product's time to market gives companies a competitive advantage in their field.
The verdict on outsourced innovation is not all positive, however. There are also several clear disadvantages that can arise from hiring third party innovators. Though the costs of working with companies in developing nations can seem low initially, contract modifications, unforeseen spending and a number of other unplanned circumstances can quickly add to the total bill. Aside from this, the fact that outsourced companies often work with several clients simultaneously means that products can sometimes end up being rather generic as opposed to innovative.
Communication is also another challenge borne out of working with third party entities. It is much more difficult to maintain company standards and goals when working with an outside business. Studies have also shown that corporations who rely too heavily on outsourced companies are much less likely to produce innovative products and patents, which can lead to them losing market share over the long term.
A company's individual restrictions and requirements must be taken into consideration when looking into the option of outsourcing innovation. There are certainly advantages which this strategy can provide, but is seems that regardless of the situation, a business should not rely on outsourced innovation alone. Instead, third party innovators should be viewed as another source for idea development which can be used to assist or enhance current in-house R&D efforts.
Red Or Blue? Which Ocean Do You Choose?
Which type of Innovation is Right for your Organization?
Can I Incrementally Innovate Forever?
Can I Innovate Too Much?


I take into account that even a new young boy like myself, he was rather interesting. I have heard him since, and have always been impressed. He previously had some important things to say about morality, this nation, and life itself. Most "good"people possess agreed with him.
During this process the oils are prone to starch, hydrogen gas, business (to prefer live in . 'bad' odor ), thus are usually bleached for dyes. Yes I said bleached!
All in a variety of it is very obvious, after looking at the details, risks, and facts, that Franklin Haney and the resources for success in Energy Market is actually a good choice for the coming of energy. Could be not as good as is actually made to be able to be also is definitely not better than any other type of energy level.
It seem interesting observe how the neighborhood issues impact the national elections in November. When pain is felt in the local level this at the start of the election cycle, will the people continue to defeat the anti-incumbency drum? Changing people that declare society more nuclear power plants the particular first to protest once the plans show the next plant get constructed outside their kitchen window. How's the view now?
The way in, and further forward, towards the quest to living the called own life is via a positively spun provision; that is, purpose taken from defensive to offensive.
Drinking coffee is an alternative way to drop the weight. Although lack drink coffee, not many realize that barefoot running has health improvements. Coffee gives Us energy and boosts our metabolisms.
You would possibly not have considered yourself being a risk taker but the reality is everyone who has ever loved someone can be a risk taker. When referring to matters of the heart, is actually no always danger of torment.
The question of peace as a universal value needs turn out to be faced with extreme intellectual honesty, sincerity of spirit and a serious sense of responsibility to oneself in addition to the nations of the environment. I would ask those responsible for political decisions affecting the relationships between North and South, between East and West end up being convinced that there can be ONLY ONE PEACE. Those upon whom the future of the world depends, involving their political philosophy, overall economy or religious commitment, widespread called that can construct a single one peace on top of the basis of social justice and the dignity and rights just about every human human being.


thank you so much!!:) I am happy you liked it!
Message edited by author 2007-06-20 03:25:20.
flantastic, svetalana. i agree with soup about the highlights. it's a wonderfullly surreal image, one might almost dadaist. as usual, you've outdone yourself.
Heh. I thought it was you. Glad to know I now recognize at least one person's style on DPC. :) Congrats on the nice score and placement!
you are so creative! this is incredible!
soup, thank you so much! excellent, i didn't think about it. great idea.
only thought toward better would be a match of the highlights on the chair around your left arm. i think that would add a bit more depth, and dynamics.
or was it a chair sitting like me?
here we are, together with my chair, sitting and watching tv, or sitting and watching a movie in a theater.
two circles = my hands, two circles = my feet, two circles = my eyes, two circles = above the chair, two circles = my head and the circle around my head.
I obviously have something for chairs and balls, circles.
I really like this picture, Svetlana. I don't understand it, so I gave it a 9 during voting, because I didn't see the connection to double take. But if I were voting on this as a Free Study, I would definitely have voted 10.
edit: After looking at it for a lot longer, I see that you are actually a double of the black chair. I guess the head and circles through me off on that realization earlier. I'm feeling really dense, because I don't understand the title either. Please realize that none of this is a criticism of the image, because it fascinates me and I really really like it.
Message edited by author 2007-06-11 20:55:11.
Did I call it? ;) Seriously, I really thought this would be top 10, not that 24th is anything to sniff at! You are far ahead of most of us that frequent DPC.
Of COURSE we liked it :) It's incredible! What an awesome composition!
I thought this was yours when thumbing through the entries (I didn't vote in this challenge). Extremely creative as always! You come up with ideas that would never occur to me in a million years. Very cool.
Svetlana, you absolutely amaze me with your ideas.
:) Nick, of course those are my eyes!
Message edited by author 2007-06-11 02:47:11.
I love how this is so alternative and how you just can't stop looking at it! Excellent!
Arresting. (Can't begin to say how I think this works - magic circles?). Love looking.
Weird works. WOO HOO - nice finish.
Silverfoxx, you are a true artist.
The most artistic shot I've seen yet. Silverfoxx? I just love the variations on theme here - how your body matches the chair's shape, the circles over the chair match your head's shape ... even the shadows are similar.
best pic ive seen so far.
Nice concept. Not too keen on the shadows as they seem to diminish the contrast.
Creative, Felliniesque! Lighting could be better - I am disratcted by the gradient on the wall - it is a bit too dark on the right.
This seems like something silverfox would produce. Very quirky and artistic.
I know you! but this is so 10, believe me, I would have given this a 10 no matter who it was.
intresting unique shot! I love the lighting.
Greatly imaginative, though the technicals could use some improvement. Really needs better lighting (a fill or reflected light from the right, I think).
So unique. Love the use of circles and the striking eyes. Love the black and white.
this is art. nice job!
By far the best photo in the entire challenge.
Great picture. I love the compostition, the lighting and id jsut great!
I absolutely love the "Out of the Box" thinking here. Very cool.
This is a mezmorizing shot. It is difficult to look away from this. Nicely done.
BUT... it could be the strangest picture i have seen in a while.
wow, you never cease to amaze me. excellent composition!!
nice, original concept. very artisty.
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text:
Followcn
Home Chinese in Australia China claims pro-Hong Kong protests in Australia nothing more than staged 'show'
Chinese in Australia
China claims pro-Hong Kong protests in Australia nothing more than staged 'show'
China has taken a swipe at Australia after demonstrations in Sydney and Melbourne against what has been widely seen as a move by Beijing to increase its grip on the self-governing territory of Hong Kong.
An editorial in the Global Times, a mouthpiece for China's Communist Party, said protests in Australia supporting demonstrators in Hong Kong were merely staged "shows" and suggested they were funded by deep pocketed organisations "ready to foot the bill".
Hong Kong, a "special administrative region" of China with more freedoms than the mainland, is in crisis over plans that critics say could give Beijing unprecedented sway over its legal system.
Amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance law, if passed, would allow people in Hong Kong to be extradited to China to face trial — a prospect described by local media as "unsettling at best and downright frightening at worst".
That could fly in the face of the "one country, two systems" framework that Britain and China negotiated when the UK handed back its former colony to Beijing in 1997.
Up to a million Hongkongers have taken to the streets of the city state in recent days to protest the extradition law, with some clashes between police and protesters turning violent.
About 1000 people marched through Sydney on Sunday to demand Australia join the United States, United Kingdom, European Union and Canada in protesting the new extradition treaty proposal.
Protests have also taken place in Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane.
But the Australian government has remained relatively silent, leading some senior political figures in Hong Kong to question why Canberra won't speak out.
AUSTRALIAN PROTESTS JUST 'SHOWS'
Despite this reticence from Canberra, the government controlled Global Timeszeroed in on Australia in an editorial published yesterday, which accused "Western supporters" of holding Hong Kong "hostage".
The missive begins by rubbishing claims of the numbers of people protesting, claiming they were far fewer on the streets.
While the demonstrations are widely thought to be the biggest in a decade, the paper said the opposite was true and a "decreasing number of people" were taking part in what it called "street politics".
The editorial then turned its attention to Australia.
"According to foreign reports, similar demonstrations on a smaller scale have taken place in some cities in countries such as Australia," the editorial read.
"In Western societies, if some forces want to hold such political demonstrations and there are organisations ready to foot the bill, it is easy to stage such shows," it said.
The Global Times dismissed any suggestions the protests were homegrown and instead pointed ominously at "international forces" that had "collaborated" with protesters in Hong Kong "instigating the opposition to create more chaos".
"Western countries … actively point an accusing finger at Hong Kong affairs, instigating the opposition to create more chaos.
"Washington has been particularly active in meddling in Hong Kong. Obviously, the US is trying to use Hong Kong affairs to pressure China. Some radical opposition members in Hong Kong are hand-in-glove with the US," the story continued.
"But from a historical point of view, the waves they created are just bubbles in the air. The future of Hong Kong will not be held hostage by the opposition and their supporters."
It said the amendments to the extradition law "should not be abandoned" by the Hong Kong authorities.
FUGITIVES
It seems the Hong Kong Government, which is stacked with politicians appointed by China, has taken note.
The region's pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam said on Monday a debate on the new law would continue tomorrow as planned.
She has denied she is acting on Beijing's instructions.
"I don't think it is (an) appropriate decision for us now to pull out of this bill because of the very important objectives that this bill is intended to achieve," she said.
"While we will continue to do the communication and explanation, there is very little merit to be gained to delay the bill. It will just cause more anxiety and divisiveness in society."
Hong Kong has extradition treaties with a number of nations including Australia — but not with China, which it is part of. This is because of concerns over Beijing's far murkier legal processes and its woeful human rights records.
Ms Lam has said the law change was essential to prevent the territory from becoming a "fugitive offenders' haven".
Amendments to the bill, she has claimed, will prevent people from being deported on political or religious grounds.
But critics said that was just a fig leaf and people Beijing disapproved of could still be spirited away to the mainland on other spurious charges.
The extradition changes have followed a number of moves by Beijing that have worried some residents. This has included barring pro-independence politicians from taking their seats in parliament and the opening of a new rail link to the mainland, which saw Beijing set up customs and police checks on Hong Kong soil.
EFFECT ON AUSTRALIANS
There are even concerns the new law could ensnare Australians, 100,000 of whom live in Hong Kong. Many more visit the region or transit through the city's huge airport.
"As an Australian, you might not have committed a crime in Chinese territory, and you might think this does not affect you. Well, unfortunately, this is not true," said Zion Lo, from the Australia-Hong Kong Link, a community organisation based in Melbourne that helped promote the local rallies.
"If China believes that you are a foreign threat, and if you are travelling through Hong Kong, you might be extradited to China, imprisoned and arbitrarily punished".
International human rights lawyer Simon Henderson told news.com.au any Australian who travelled or transited through the city would be "directly impacted" upon setting foot on Hong Kong soil.
"The reason this is so significant for any individual is because they will be subject to an unfair trial; arbitrary detention; potential torture and a legal system that doesn't protect human rights," he said.
Last December, two Canadians were detained and formally arrested by the Chinese government for spying. To this day, their location is unknown.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was monitoring the situation but was yet to issue a move to oppose it.
"The Australian government is taking a close interest in the proposed amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance in Hong Kong, including to ascertain any impacts on Australian residents," a spokesman told news.com.au in a statement.
"The Australian Consul-General in Hong Kong has raised the issue with senior levels of the Hong Kong government."
That's not enough for Mr Lo: "We urge the Australian government to immediately condemn this unnecessary law and support the people of Hong Kong to fight for a fairer and just democratic society."
By Benedict Brook
News Corp.
Previous articleAustralia the canary in China's coalmine: Bannon
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Power and Paranoia: Why the Chinese government aggressively pushes beyond its borders
Senator Jacqui Lambie declares 'we're sitting ducks', calling on Australia to pull back economic...
Australia politics editor - December 4, 2019
Senator Lambie said governments on both sides of politics allowed Australia to become too economically dependent on China.
Businessman loses $277,000 deposit on Bellevue Hill trophy home
Real Estate editor - September 14, 2017
IT WAS supposed to secure his dream home in Sydney's eastern suburbs, but $277,000 has evaporated into thin air. Property developer Peter Zhu has forfeited...
The new Chinese investors about to make Australian property foray
Real Estate editor - July 11, 2017
At least 10 Chinese investors and developers who are yet to make their mark on Australia's property scene are preparing to make an entry...
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Chinese in Australia editor - July 21, 2018
Like many people around the world, citizens in China are now getting much of their news from social media instead of traditional news outlets. Key...
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Melbourne editor - July 12, 2017
The heavily-indebted Chinese owner of Darwin Port, who is struggling to make payments on money borrowed to pay for the port lease, is offloading...
Followcn is about China, its people, history and culture, values, concerns and difficulties, dreams and hopes, and how the world sees and thinks about it.
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Chinese dairy company buys Lion Dairy and Drinks portfolio for $600m


text:
Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Release: Homefront
– January 16, 2014Find Others: Blu-ray, DVD, Movie, New Release, NewsGet More: Action, Frank Grillo, James Franco, Jason Statham, Kate Bosworth, Rachelle Lafevre, Sylvester Stallone, Universal, Winona Ryder
Digital Release Date: Feb. 25, 2014, Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: March 11, 2014
Price: DVD $29.98, Blu-ray/DVD Combo $34.98
Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Jason Statham (The Mechanic) goes up against a drug lord to save his little girl in the action movie Homefront.
Written by Sylvester Stallone (The Expendables) and based on the novel by Chuck Logan, the film stars Statham as widowed ex-DEA agent Phil Broker, whose move with his 10-year-old daughter Maddy (Izabela Vidovic, Zombieland) to a quiet Southern town quickly turns into not such a great idea.
Their new home to riddled with drugs and violence and one prychotic local drug lord (James Franco, This Is the End) doesn't appreciate the new resident.
Rated R, the action movie also stars Kate Bosworth (Straw Dogs), Clancy Brown (Cowboys & Aliens), Winona Ryder (Black Swan), Rachelle Lefevre (TV's Under the Dome) and Frank Grillo (The Grey).
Homefront grossed $20 million at the box office with so-so reviews from critics. They gave the movie 40% approval, according to Rotten Tomatoes, and moviegoers liked the film marginally better, to the tune of 67%.
The Blu-ray and DVD only contain deleted scenes for bonus features, but the Blu-ray/DVD Combo also offers a downloadable digital copy of the movie via UltraViolet.
Buy or Rent Homefront
New Release: The Expendables DVD and Blu-ray
Blu-ray, DVD Release: The Expendables 2
Blu-ray, DVD Release: The Purge: Anarchy
New Release: Fast Five DVD and Blu-ray
Blu-ray, DVD Release: 2 Guns


Home › Forum › Wp Gpx Maps › Request a New Feature › OpenStreetMap attribution is miss!!
Questo argomento contiene 7 risposte, ha 2 partecipanti, ed è stato aggiornato da FrankHop 2 giorni, 23 ore fa.
I am sure you plugin WAS displayng the correct attribution some versions ago, but now no longer. It is obviously a little bug you was not aware to introcuce, so fix it as up please!
Wait wait, I'm not showing the credits and this is 100% my fault.
Are you sure I was displaying the correct attribution? I don't like this kind of supposition.
In wing as well as to transplants, ciclosporin is also used in psoriasis, severe atopic dermatitis, pyoderma gangrenosum, inveterate autoimmune urticaria, and, infrequently, in rheumatoid arthritis and related diseases, although it is on the other hand euphemistic pre-owned in wicked cases. It is commonly prescribed in the US as an ophthalmic emulsion for the treatment of plain eyes.[8 – It has been investigated on consume in sundry other autoimmune disorders, and is every once in a while prescribed in veterinary cases, uniquely in remotest cases of immune-mediated hemolytic anemia. Inhaled ciclosporin has been investigated to investigate asthma and is being contrived as a preventive therapy an eye to persistent brush-off of the lungs. Ciclosporin has also been reach-me-down to escape manage patients with acute uncompromising ulcerative colitis that do not respond to treatment with steroids.[9 – This psychedelic is also worn as a treatment of posterior or medial uveitis with noninfective etiology. Ciclosporin is a hallucinogenic currently acclimatized to experimentally handle cardiac hypertrophy[10 – [11 – (an growing in stall volume).
Daptomycin is a cyclic lipopeptide antibiotic produced by the organism Streptomyces roseosporus.[14 – [15 – Daptomycin consists of thirteen amino acids, ten of which are arranged in a cyclic fashion, and three that adorn an exocyclic tail. Two non-proteinogenic amino acids exist in the lipopeptide, the unusual amino acid L-kynurenine (Kyn), only known to Daptomycin, and L-3-methylglutamic acid (mGlu). The N-terminus of the exocyclic tryptophan residue is coupled to decanoic acid, a medium chain (C10) fatty acid. Biosynthesis is initiated by the coupling of decanoic acid to the N-terminal tryptophan, followed by the coupling of the remaining amino acids by nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) mechanisms. Finally, a cyclization event occurs, which is catalyzed by a thioesterase enzyme, and subsequent release of the lipopeptide is granted.
Moxidectin (Milbemycin B[1 – ) kills parasites, so is used because of the arrest and repress of heartworm and intestinal worms, and can be found in treatments prescribed to go to animals such as dogs, cats, horses, cattle and sheep. Relevancy methods towards moxidectin change before treatment, and contain uttered, current, and injectable solutions. Cydectin Pour On is a swap cite towards a formulation fitted use on cows and red deer.
Moxidectin is a semisynthetic imitative of nemadectin [2 – which is produced during fermentation at near Streptomyces cyano-griseus. This Streptomyces species was discovered in a soil sampler from Australia in the fresh 1980s unperturbed by means of an agronomist working for the American Cyanamid company.
Moxidectin treats and controls some of the most mean internal and outward parasites by way of selectively binding to parasites' glutamate-gated chloride ion channels. These channels are mandatory to the go of invertebrate balls and muscle cells; when moxidectin binds to the channels, it disrupts neurotransmission, resulting in paralysis and cessation of the parasite.
Studies of moxidectin posture the side effects restyle sooner than animalistic and may be fake by the product's formulation, pertinence method and dosage. The products are usually recommended close a veterinarian to make sure correct avail oneself of and application. Herding dogs may be avermectin-sensitive, but avermectin-sensitive dogs can admit standard doses after heartworm prevention. Moxidectin is manifestly unharmed in regard to collie breeds. As a heartworm preventative, moxidectin can be injected once every six months at the beck the sort big cheese Proheart6, or every 12 months answerable to the brand eminence Proheart SR 12.
Rispondi a: OpenStreetMap attribution is miss!!


Everyone seems to have enjoyed the free map I posted a while back. It's made the rounds, been awesomed up and found a place in the Dragonsfoot forums. So I decided I may as well post another one.
I was going for a kind of comic book style with this map. It was an experiment, mostly hand drawn on a wacom tablet in photoshop. It turned out pretty good.
You could pretty easily use it for some northern wilderness setting thing, at least that's the vibe I was going for, but feel free to use it for whatever you want.
If you use the map let me know.
Both of the maps are free for anyone's personal use at the game table or for anyone's free DIY RPG products - I only ask for a link back or a credit as the maps creator.
Several people have inquired whether they could my maps in their commercial (for profit) projects. The answer is: No, you cannot use these maps for any commercial project. Read the creative commons copyright below.
But, if you are a DIY RPG person, with little to no money, and really want to use one of the maps for something that you're working on, that might earn you a bit of money, let me know. We can talk, and if I like your thing, I will most likely let you use my maps for free.
This work by John Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada License.
You bring shame to me and my crude maps, Mr. Williams. SHAME.
I do enjoy bringing shame to others, so thank you very much.


text:
Culture on the Moon: bodies in time and space
This is an excerpt from my just-published paper Culture on the Moon: Bodies in Time and Space (Archaeologies 12(1):110-128
This was very much an arena where masculinity was defined for the future of space. Automation and lack of control were equated with femininity. US experts cited Valentina Tereshkova's successful orbit in 1963 to mean that the heavily automated Vostok vehicle did not require a skilled operator. MargaretWeitekamp argues that 'Demonstrating that a woman could perform those tasks would diminish their prestige' (2004:3). So strong was this ideology that the USA did not send a female astronaut into space until Sally Ride became a crew member of the space shuttle Challenger for STS-7 in 1983.
By contrast, cosmonauts were the epitome of the ''new Soviet man'' (Gerovitch 2007), the 'cog in the machine' celebrated in Bolshevik political and poetic imagination. Sergei Korolev, the leader of the Soviet space program, was opposed to any active role for the cosmonauts, but as they, like the astronauts, were drawn from a test pilot background, the battle to preserve the aviation role of pilot was similarly played out. The unknowns and technological constraints of creating a successful lunar mission led to the development of similar human–machine interfaces and similar levels of autonomy in both programs (Gerovitch 2007). At this level, at least, evidence suggests that a hypothetical USSR lunar landing site might reflect many similarities to the US series.
The Apollo 11 surface mission was highly choreographed and scripted (NASA 1969), but at that point no person of Earth knew exactly what the experience of being on the lunar surface would be like. In the gaps between the script and the actual actions of the astronauts, there is a window where minds and bodies express their individual and cultural differences. Where there was choice, what did the astronauts choose to do? What determined those choices?
(Gorman 2016:122)
Gerovitch, S. 2007. 'New Soviet Man' Inside the Machine: Human Engineering, Spacecraft, Design, and the Construction of Communism. Osiris 22:135–157.
NASA Lunar Surface Operations Office Mission Operations Branch Flight Crew Support Division 1969. Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Operations Plan. Houston: Manned Spaceflight Centre June 27, FINAL version of document.
Weitekamp, M. 2004. Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America's First Women in Space Program. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Posted by Dr Space Junk at 11:23 am No comments:
Labels: Apollo missions, Bodies in space, gender, space race, Women in space