Buri - Creator God. - Norse God. Buri is a creator God first of the Aesir father of Bor and grandfather of Odin.
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Buri is a creator God, first of the Aesir, father of Bor and grandfather of Odin. He was licked from salt blocks by the primeval cow Audhumla. He is described as being large, powerful, and beautiful to behold.


(by Edwin Mora, CNSNews.com) – Gen. David H. Petraeus, who heads the Army's Central Command, advised members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that Pakistan is now home base for al Qaeda and should be the focus of U.S. attention.
"It is in Pakistan that al-Qaeda senior leadership and other transnational extremist elements are located," Petraeus testified before the Senate panel Wednesday.
He suggested that "civilian requirements" in Afghanistan and Pakistan must be fully met, as well.
"Operations there are imperative, and we need to provide the support and assistance to the Pakistani military that can enable them to confront the extremists who pose a truly existential threat to their country," he added.
The general testified alongside Michele Flournoy, undersecretary of defense for policy, and Adm. Eric Olson, special operations commander – both of whom echoed Petraeus' concerns about Pakistan.
"Al-Qaeda's surviving leaders have proven adept at hiding, communicating and inspiring, operating in and from remote sites in both Afghanistan and Pakistan," he added.
Petraeus told the committee's chairman, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) he thinks that progress can be made in Afghanistan regardless of Pakistan's success in dealing with extremists.
The general, however, pointed out that extremist jihadists in Pakistan pose a threat to the nation's existence.
"The extremists that have established sanctuaries in the rugged border areas not only contribute to the deterioration of security in eastern southern Afghanistan, they also pose an evermore serious threat to Pakistan's very existence," Petraeus said.
All three witnesses offered a common suggestion about how to deal with Pakistan: treat it as a sovereign nation that can solve its own problems – with the United States as a partner providing support.
"The effort in Pakistan absolutely has to be one they take forward, and one that we do everything to enable," Petraeus said.
The general said that the U.S. should – and will – expand our partnership with the Pakistani military.
This will involve helping Pakistan build counterinsurgency capabilities through training, equipment and assistance. It will also involve reinforcing Pakistani intelligence abilities by "bringing together Afghan and Pakistani military officers" for coordination, he said.
Petraeus told Collins that the U.S. would have to establish a process for providing intelligence.
Flournoy, meanwhile, underscored Petraeus' assessment of the need for a shift in policy in dealing with Pakistan.
"We seek a strategic partnership with Pakistan that will encourage and enable it to shift its focus from conventional war preparations to counterinsurgency and counterterrorism preparations," she said.
Flournoy urged Congress to pass a proposal sponsored by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) that would authorize civilian and economic assistance to Pakistan.
Along with Petraeus, she also called on Congress to support a Pakistani Counterinsurgency Capability Fund, which would provide monetary aid to help the Pakistani military to combat insurgent groups.
All original CNSNews.com material, copyright 1998-2009 Cybercast News Service. Reprinted here with permission from CNSNews. Visit the website at CNSNews.com.
1. a) Who is General David Petraeus?
b) What did Gen. Petraeus advise the Senate Armed Services Committee to do about Pakistan? Why?
2. a) What must the U.S. do to defeat al Qaeda and "its extremist allies," according to the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy?
b) What did Ms. Flournoy say is critical to the security and stability of Pakistan?
3. Why did special ops commander Adm. Eric Olson say that the situation in both Pakistan and Afghanistan is "increasingly dire"?
4. What kind of threat do the terrorists hiding in the border areas pose to Afghanistan, and to Pakistan, according to Gen. Petraeus?
5. What suggestion did all three witnesses testifying before the Senate Committee offer for how to deal with Pakistan?
6. What will the U.S. have to do when expanding our partnership with the Pakistani military, according to Gen. Petraeus?
7. How did Gen. Petraeus respond to Sen. Collins' question on whether providing the Pakistanis with "additional intelligence capabilities" would be feasible, given reports that Pakistani military personnel "have very close and troubling ties with the Taliban"?
8. In emphasizing Gen. Petraeus' assessment of the need for a shift in policy in dealing with Pakistan, what two actions did Ms. Flournoy urge Congress to take?
Read Gen. Petraeus' remarks to the Senate Armed Services Committee in full at centcom.mil/en/countries/aor/pakistan.
For information on the various Senate Committees click here.
Visit the Senate Armed Services Committee website at armed-services.senate.gov.


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Sector showing renewed vigor on back of bigger ships, value added deals
Alex Black
Tourism may have slowed over the last couple of years, but the cruise sector is proving to be remarkably robust. Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham announced earlier this year that, according to government figures, total visitor arrivals in 2010 rose by 13 per cent year on year to 5.2 million, with sea arrivals—accounting for 75 per cent of total visitors—rising by 16.5 per cent to around four million. This growth has been attributed to a combination of increased port calls from major cruise lines and higher capacity ships.
Ministry of Tourism and Aviation (MOTA) data for the first month of this year show a similar upward trend, with cruise ship visitor arrivals increasing 19.9 per cent from the same period a year earlier. These figures were in contrast to an 18.7 per cent dip in air arrivals.
"Because the number of cruise passengers is always higher than the number of air arrivals, total arrivals rose by 8.4 per cent," said MOTA Minister Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace during the mid-term budget debate in March. "This is a sign of the times. The global recession has affected everyone and because of this, people are choosing the cheaper way to travel, which for many, is by cruise ship. In many cases, the cost of the cruise to The Bahamas is often lower than the cost of the airfare to The Bahamas."
Early predictions for spring 2011 cruise figures are also bullish.
Bigger ships
The continued health of the sector has encouraged cruise lines to rollout bigger ships to accommodate those seafarers keen on setting sail for The Bahamas and the wider Caribbean region. The last couple of years have seen Royal Caribbean International add the world's biggest superliners to its fleet of vessels touring these areas, with inaugural Nassau visits by the 220,000-tonne Oasis of the Seas and its sister ship Allure of the Seas in December 2009 and December 2010, respectively.
Disney this year added Disney Dream to its Caribbean region line-up, with the cruise liner making an inaugural visit to The Bahamas' capital in January. At $900 million the 130,000-tonne vessel boasts 14 decks, 1,250 staterooms and is the biggest in Disney's fleet, carrying up to 4,000 passengers and 1,500 crew. It will operate on a three-, four-, or five-night cruise schedule with destinations in The Bahamas, including Disney's own private island, Castaway Cay. Disney Dream is one of two new ships planned by Disney, its sister vessel, to be named Disney Fantasy, is already under construction and is scheduled to have its inaugural cruise on April 7, 2012.
New rates, better deals
Tapping into the renewed vigour in the market, Disney is expanding routes as of summer 2012 to include an eight-night Bahamas cruise leaving from New York's Manhattan Cruise Terminal.
Similarly, Carnival Cruise Lines has just introduced a slew of four- and five-day Fun Ship cruises to The Bahamas starting later this year. Cruises will begin on November 7, with the 2,052-passenger Carnival Ecstasy departing from Port Canaveral, Florida. Long weekend cruises will run on Thursdays to Nassau and Half Moon Cay or Freeport, while five-day cruises will leave on Mondays and Saturdays and will call at Nassau, Freeport, Half Moon Cay or Key West.
Not to be outdone, Royal Caribbean are offering four-night fall Bahamas cruises on board Majesty of the Seas in October, leaving Miami and stopping at Nassau, Coco Cay and Key West.
Garnering its slice of a niche market in themed cruises, music cruise organizer Sixthman has announced plans for another Elvis Cruise–its fifth–to kick off on January 12, 2012. The four-night, "all-Elvis-all-the-time extravaganza" will take place on the Carnival Fascination as it sails out of Jacksonville, Florida, to The Bahamas. Next year's sailing will include appearances and performances by Elvis tribute artists, former band mates and co-stars, Sixthman says. Passengers will also hear stories about the "King" from photojournalist Al Wertheimer and Hollywood actress Cynthia Pepper, among others. The cruise will also include Elvis-themed parties and activities, organizers say.
Although The Bahamas is the premier cruise resort in the region, the impact on the local economy is debatable.
"When we look at the number of cruise visitors who come into the port of Nassau now, there is no other destination in this region that even comes close to what we estimate this year is going to be 2.4 million cruise passengers who come here to the port of Nassau," Minister Vanderpool-Wallace said at a recent event in Nassau. "But increased numbers alone are not the objective."
The key, he pointed out, is getting the passengers off the ships and into local retail and service businesses. To this end the government implemented and has since updated the Cruise Ship Overnighting Act. The act allows cruise ships docked at Prince George Dock in Nassau for at least 13 hours or travelling to or from designated ports to operate casinos and shops and sell liquor 7pm-12 midnight. The act also provides discounts on port taxes. Cruise lines transporting more than 600,000 passengers per year are charged a reduced departure tax for every passenger exceeding that number over the course of a year.
"Cruise passengers spend more time on land in the port of Nassau than any place else in this entire region," says Minister Vanderpool-Wallace.
MOTA exhibits in China trade show
Carnival Sunrise makes inaugural visit to Grand Bahama
Bahamas to bolster cruise offerings
Inaugural flight from Germany touches down – photos
Silver Airways completes recapitalization
MOTA launches campaign in Canada
MOTA presents at airline conference in London
Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance updates on internet technology contributions from the public sector
Owners hope new $7-million convention centre will put boutique hotel on map for corporate events, weddings

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Powder Metallurgy Based Porous Metal Biomaterials | OMICS International
Journal of Powder Metallurgy & Mining
Short Communication Open Access
Powder Metallurgy Based Porous Metal Biomaterials
Jiunn-Der Liao*, Han Lee and Chih-Kai Yao
Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Medical Device Innovation Center, National Cheng Kung University; No. 1, University Road, Tainan 70101, Taiwan
Jiunn-Der Liao
and Medical Device Innovation Center
National Cheng Kung University; No. 1
University Road, Tainan 70101, Taiwan
Received Date: July 29, 2012; Accepted Date: July 31, 2013; Published Date: August 06, 2013
Citation: Liao JD, Lee H, Yao CK (2013) Powder Metallurgy Based Porous Metal Biomaterials. J Powder Metall Min 2:109. doi: 10.4172/2168-9806.1000109
Copyright: © 2013 Liao JD, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Visit for more related articles at Journal of Powder Metallurgy & Mining
Powder metallurgy (P/M) as a fabrication technique involves the compaction of metallic powders, followed by a heat treatment to produce a denser piece. The technique makes it possible to produce a virtually non-porous and shaped piece with very close dimensional tolerance, which has the properties almost equivalent to the fully dense parent material. Usually diffusional processes through heat treatment are employed to achieve these properties; it is thus particularly suitable for producing materials with low ductility, since only little plastic deformation among compacted particles occurs. For metallic powders with high melting temperatures, they are difficult to be melted or casted. With the intended use of multiple binders, P/M on the binders-mixed powders, followed by a heat treatment is competent to produce shaped pieces with required properties. Furthermore the metal injection molding (MIM) technique can be applied for fast production on the pieces with multifaceted designs.
On the other hand, P/M sintered porous metal material can be made of metallic powders with the inclusion of binders and spacers and produced through pressing, additives removal, and high-temperature sintering processes. With the expected properties such as high strength, rigid structure, good and uniform permeability, and high thermal and corrosion resistance, P/M sintered porous metal products are possibly utilized in various fields such as petrochemical, chemical, metallurgical, power and electrical, environmental, pharmaceutical, and aeronautical industries.
There is a developing and highly-demanding field in favor of P/M sintered porous metal materials for biomedical applications. For example, the development of artificial organs and implants for the replacement of injured and diseased hard tissues such as bones, teeth, and joints is highly required for orthopedic surgery. Subsequent acute wound healing and host responses mostly require appropriate metallic surface/cells interactions, e.g., cells that are capable of forming bones/ teeth; bioactive factors that can attract such cells and initiate bones/teeth formation; a matrix that guides the bones/teeth formation; adequate vascularization; initial mechanical support to the surrounding bones/ teeth. Therefore, it is pertinent for P/M bioengineers to set out new approaches to restore the normal function of impaired hard tissues. Their challenge is to develop a bones/teeth substitute (preferably porous) that enhances healing (biocompatible) but also offers adequate strength (preferably metallic support). The P/M sintered porous metal biomaterial may thus provide a solution.
Porous ceramic and polymer biomaterials are usually not suitable for load-bearing sites, but can be used for filling lost cavities or regenerating soft tissues. Porous titanium-based scaffolds, for example, are interesting, since they may provide superior mechanical properties with high strength/weight ratios. Some alloying elements, e.g., Zr, Nb, Ta, Sn, Mo, Si, may lead to superior improvement in properties of the materials. Although the potential of porous metal biomaterials has been recognized for years, the development of open porous structures has been hampered by limitations in production techniques. With the intended use of plasma spraying as a coating technique or common P/M containing space holder or sintered titanium-based fibers, it is still difficult to produce a desired porous structure with an architecture that meets both osteoconductive and mechanical requirements.
To have the effect of so-called "osteoconduction", an "open interconnected" porous structure with pores in the range of 200~500 m is estimated, though there is no exact agreement between scientists about the perfect size of pores to stimulate cells proliferation. From a mechanical point of view, the porous structure should be stiff enough to sustain physiological loads, but should not drastically exceed the stiffness of the bone being replaced to avoid stress shielding. As a consequence, to develop P/M sintered porous metal biomaterials for biomedical applications, it is required to compromise both properties and adjust their structural stability as a function of long-term implantation time. In view of perspective, it is promising to focus upon porous metal biomaterials using P/M sintering or MIM technique, in particular for orthopedic and dental applications.
Composite Materials Fabrication
Compressive Strength
Fracture Toughness
Geological Materials
Hydrometallurgy
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Journal of Lasers, Optics & Photonics
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July-2013 - Jan 18, 2022]
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Nigeria to increase beef consumption to 1.3 million tonnes by 2050 – Adesina
"The total amount of beef we eat is about 360,000 tonnes a year."
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Akinwumi Adesina, has projected an increase in beef consumption in the country from 360,000 tonnes to 1.3 million tonnes by 2050.
Mr. Adesina said this on Thursday in Abuja during the 2nd induction ceremony of 12 individuals as fellows of the Nigerian Institute of Animal Science, NIAS.
He stressed the need to get the nation's livestock system working properly in order to meet the increasing demand for beef.
"The total amount of beef we eat is about 360,000 tonnes a year; we expect that to increase to 1.3 million tonnes by 2050.
"We need to invest in animal genetics, in artificial insemination and modernise our abattoirs in the country.''
The minister attributed the high rate of clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers to climate change.
He observed herdsmen in countries like Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso were moving their animals down south for grazing, thereby putting pressure on Nigeria's carrying capacity.
Mr. Adesina explained the 19 million heads of cattle in Nigeria was not enough to create the level of crisis the country had recorded in recent times.
Adesina named champion of Africa's Great Green Wall initiative
African Development Bank appoints Belgian as Director
Okonjo-Iweala named first female African of the Year
Nigeria demands apology from UK government over MP's allegation against Gowon
On youth involvement in agriculture, he reiterated the need to change the curriculum for teaching agriculture in the country's universities to attract more youth to the sector.
"We need to have younger entrepreneurs in agriculture; the average age of our farmers is between 55 years to 65 years.
"Unless we deal with the issues now, there would be no farmers to feed us in the next 50 years," he warned.
The minister urged school management across the country not to teach the science aspect of agriculture alone, adding that they should also teach the entrepreneurial skill needed to set up agribusiness.
In his address at the occasion, former Ghanaian President, John Kufuor, noted that 60 per cent of arable land in Africa had not been cultivated.
He predicted that the population of the continent would double by 2050 and therefore, stressed the need to double food production in order to create wealth.
He commended the Agricultural Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government, saying that it had set the pace for transforming the continent.
Mr. Kufuor urged the management of NIAS to be at the forefront in influencing government's decision to facilitate credit for farmers and to adapt modern climate friendly methods of farming.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Placid Njoku, the President of the institute, said the 12 inductees had made "distinguished" impact in the development of the institute.
He said that former President Olusegun Obasanjo would be conferred with the first honourary fellowship of the institute for his contributions to the institute and national development.
Mr. Njoku, a professor, congratulated the new fellows and urged them to continue the good work that had brought them the honour.
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Nigerian governor, who lied about COVID-19, discourages vaccine use
Kano records 2 cases of polio in 2014 - Official
CPC defectors may dump PDM


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President Basescu scathes the operators of his 2012 suspension
PDL – "accomplices to a dirty compromise." "PNL should make a public apology for the suspension two years ago." PDL and PNL rule out any chance of collaboration with PMP.
Once again, President Basescu has launched a verbal attack on both the current governance and PDL for its intention of merging with PNL. In a debate organized by the People's Movement Foundation and marking two years since the head of state's suspension, Basescu criticized PDL for wanting to merge with the Liberals, whom he characterized as "accomplices to a dirty compromise" with the authors of the 2012 coup d'état. On the other hand, he congratulated the People's Movement Party for its results in the EP elections, stressing that the party's objective is 2016 and reassuring PMP representatives of the country's need for a new party.
The President argued PNL backed him in 2012, but there were also "opportunists," people who took advantage of the circumstances to pose as defenders of the rule of law and who are now "accomplices to a dirty compromise." "They are the same people who have now unashamedly compromised with the very same authors of the coup d'état," Basescu asserted with the caveat that he, too, was one of those politicians, and yet his compromises were "not as dirty and unconditioned."
In the President's opinion, the unification of the right is necessary to win the presidential elections, but PNL should make a public apology for his suspension back in 2012. Moreover, he condemned PMP's defeat at the hands of "the wrecks of the two parties, PNL and PDL."
"Please consider yourselves a freshly launched small boat with the potential for change. You are a young party and shouldn't be upset that they tried to discredit you – as I had anticipated – because you lacked the necessary regional structures," Basescu told the leaders of PMP.
"I'm not saying PNL should not be included in the right-wing party category, particularly given its application for membership in the EPP, but last week proved that their instinct is to make buddies with PSD and agree to its principles – not to give the benefit of the doubt, not to uphold the rule of law, and to commit a Parliamentary abuse and broadcast it to every embassy," the President went on, adding, however, that "this doesn't mean PMP will not support the right-wing candidate to make the run-off, regardless of his identity."
Referring to the "fumbling democratic forces," Traian Basescu expressed his conviction that "the majorities will get a wake-up call," remarking that "what we see today in the governing ranks enforces the continuous temptation of going against the rule of law and democracy." In Basescu's view, the state has a long way to go until it achieves "the rule of law" because the emergency ordinance procedures are being abused and the Parliament refuses to uphold certain laws. In this context, the President found fault in the fact that 11 MPs could not be charged or remanded in custody and benefited from the Parliament's refusal to implement court decisions. The criticism of a "Criminal Parliament" is starting to sound justified, he said further.
Ombudsman, under fire
President Traian Basescu further accused Ombudsman Victor Ciorbea of 'servility'. 'We cannot say that the supremacy of the Constitution is fulfilled as long as the governments abuse with the emergency ordinances, as long as they have an Ombudsman, the only one who could challenge the Government Emergency Ordinances (OUG), yet he is politically subdued or one could buy him with last-ditch facilities, as it happened in the last Government meeting. Mr. Ciorbea is the happiest Ombudsman since the Revolution (1989- editor's note). His budget has been inflated, he has been created facilities to build as much as it needs and you'll see that the great trade union man Ciorbea will be an obedient Ombudsman', Basescu said, adding that Ombudsman should challenge to the CCR the OUG regarding the modification of the Education Law. The President denounced that Government turned Education into 'a kiosk where some could purchase diplomas'.
PMP proposes 'pact for the rule of law'
Following Traian Basescu's speech, PMP chairwoman Elena Udrea announced the party's proposal for a "pact for the rule of law" and invited all advocates of the independence of the justice system and the rule of law to make additional suggestions. Udrea also mentioned that the President wrote her a note saying the pact must be brought for debate.
The People's Movement Foundation president Cristian Diaconescu, candidate for the president of Romania in this November's poll, said that Romania does not deserve to bear the consequences of "irresponsible moves of some politicians too much in a hurry to mutilate a democracy," referring to 2012 referendum to suspend Basescu. "It was a time when part of the political class attempted an illegitimate aggression against the rule of law state, in a democratic and European country and an insult to the Romanian nation's efforts and objectives," Diaconescu said.
Blaga and Antonescu strike back
When asked to comment on Traian Basescu's attack against PDL, Liberal Democrat Vasile Blaga said that Traian Basescu is the one who signed a cohabitation pact with Victor Ponta, not PDL, and emphasized his party's previous and future efforts to defend the rule of law. According to Blaga, PDL would have been the main right-wing political force if the head of state had not torn it apart. In turn, Udrea accused PDL and PNL of refusing to set up the respective commission.
In response to the President's denouncement, former PNL chairman Crin Antonescu stated there was no coup d'état during the referendum on the President's demotion in the summer of 2012 and PNL has nothing to apologize for. It was "the will of the people expressed democratically by referendum, in a cutting manner that leaves no room for interpretation or twists of result," Antonescu said, as cited by Hotnews.
Rosia Montana project – blocked without political backing
Former ANAF chief Sorin Blejnar, indicted for tax evasion
3,000 participants in PMP rally in Bucharest, Udrea says
Nine O' Clock July 6, 2014
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New criminal codes, in force 4 years after approval
Nine O' Clock February 2, 2014


We've hand selected some of the New and Noteworthy brands showcasing in Sole Commerce for the upcoming show in New York. Choose who not to miss and get your shopping list ready now.
For a full list of brands exhibiting this season at Sole Commerce, Click here.


Have a Field Day! Made from lightweight brown waxed, cotton canvas and gorgeous chocolate-colored full-grain, distressed leather, the Field Muzetto—with its fully padded laptop/tablet compartment—will keep your device protected and by your side. Vertically-oriented with a secure zippered pocket inside the main compartment, a no-scratch, lightly padded front pocket with a smartphone pocket inside it, and an open-topped exterior back pocket. Adjust the strap to wear cross body for the commute or over a shoulder for more formal settings.
The front flap is made from gorgeous Waterfield waxed leather. It looks terrific out of the box and, as it wears in, takes on a unique look all its own. The flap covers the entire front portion of the bag and gives it a nice, streamlined look.
The back of the bag has one long, open pocket. This is ideal for a magazine, some papers, or if you need to keep your tablet as accessible as possible. Again you can see the beautiful material used to make this bag. In this case, it is the waxed canvas that is already showing a bit of the unique wear from my using it. Personally, I think the bags look better with age and some markings!
When you open this back pocket and look inside you see that it is lined with a bright material. This isn't just an aesthetic choice, it makes it easier to see the items you may have stowed in the pocket!
I like the subtle bit of leather accenting Waterfield puts on this bag. I LOVE carrying a bag that has the leather tab on the front with the Waterfield name. It is, in fact, rare that I use a Waterfield bag and don't have someone ask me about it. When they do I simply point to this leather accent piece.
Nylon belt webbing is used for the adjustable shoulder strap. It is permanently affixed and is wide enough to be super-comfortable when wearing a loaded down bag. The hardware is made from plastic but is built tough and will withstand pretty much anything you throw at it. But while the shoulder strap is comfortable and usable I do wish this bag had a grab handle at the top so you could carry it in hand rather than always needing to throw it over your shoulder. That's just a personal preference though.
Lifting the flap reveals a large open pocket sitting just in front of the main storage space. It is larger than it might appear and is ideal for a few small accessories, your phone or if you like, your tablet. Take note of the thread line running along the top of the pocket. As you would expect from Waterfield the stitches are perfectly spaced, completely straight, and give a finished look to the bag.
As mentioned, the front pocket may be open but it can hold far more than it initially suggests!
The main compartment of the bag has a zippered pocket toward the front and a few smaller pockets inside that. This adds to the organizational prowess of the bag and makes it truly usable for both work and play. The bright material makes an appearance here as well and helps you find the various gear you quickly tossed into the bag when you were running out that morning.
The bag comes in three sizes that promise a perfect fit for your gear of choice. The small is designed to hold an iPad Pro, a Surface Pro 4, and similar-sized tablets. It measures 11.5″ x 9.3″ x 2.0″ and weighs just 1.3 lbs. It retails for $169. The medium size is designed to hold the Surface Book, a 13″ MacBook, and similar-sized laptop. Large for 15-inch MacBooks & other thicker laptops. it is 14″ x 11″ x 2.5″ and weighs 1.8 lbs. It has an MSRP of $189. The large version is designed to hold large, 15″ laptops and other items. It measures 15.5″ x 11.75″ x 2.7″ and weighs 2 lbs. It has an MSRP of $199.
As I say in the video, I think the medium version of this bag is the sweet spot. It holds everything you might need to hold without being too large.
As you may not expect, I really love this bag. Then again, I am partial to Waterfield bags in general. This offering, however, really stands out to me as something that can serve a variety of purposes, is comfortable and functional to carry and looks great. I am enjoying the Waterfield Field Muzetto and know you will too!
Check it out here on the product page!
What I Like: Great design and impressive build-quality; Holds much more than you mght expect; Is simply a pleasure to use and something you will like being seen using; Gets better looking with age; Avaiable in three sizes to meet your specific gear needs.
What Needs Improvement: I wish it had a grab handle at the top.


Discussion in 'News' started by MadeManG74, Sep 22, 2018.
Sozos and Lygophilia like this.
Virtua Racing is nice for the Switch. I hope more Sega games come to this system, because I give up on PS4 and XB1. I strongly prefer handhelds now, but wish a joystick can be implemented for the Switch for fighting games.
Are we talking in terms for handheld part of the Switch?
EDIT: I came across this.
You can also use the Brooks universal board to use an arcade stick with the switch.
Alternatively, the PS4-Wii U Brooks converter also works on the Switch thanks to a new update.
Wow, it's great to see VF at #4 out of 30. I hope something good lead to this. I would LOVE to play a VF game on switch. I know for the time being, the closest thing is the Sega Genesis version of VF2 as part of the upcoming Switch version of Sega Genesis Collection.


text:
January 23, 2009 Number 52 (2008)DOI 10.18422/52-09Arab Americans, Theatreadmin
Amazing Acrobatics of Language:
The Theatre of Yussef El Guindi
by Anneka Esch-Van Kan
Despite the importance of minority rights movements and literatures of migration within the last century's history of the humanities, no light has been shed so far on the life and arts of Arab Americans. While there is a tradition of Arab American writers and poets, it is often claimed that 'Arab American Theatre' was born on September 11. This article will start from general reflections on the development and forms of Arab American theatre in the United States and will in its main body concentrate on the works of Egyptian-born playwright Yussef El Guindi.
"Immigration is not for Sissies"
SAMIR in Language Rooms,
Yussef El Guindi
A New Arts Movement Is Born: Arab American Theatre
1It is commonly claimed that Arab American theatre was born on September 11. While many Arab American playwrights who have gained influence and recognition within these last years are in their 30s and 40s, it is argued that only after 9/11 artists formed networks and started to focus their writing on issues relevant to their religious, ethnic and national belonging. Yussef El Guindi, who has already produced an entire oeuvre on the Arab American experience in post 9-11 US-America, points out that he shied away from addressing Arab American issues before the attacks as he would have hardly found a publisher or venue to produce his work1. "For the longest time Arab issues or Muslim issues just had not been on the radar. […] Then came 9/11. 'Suddenly there were calls for plays.'"2
2If one looks carefully enough, there is a history of Arab American theatre that predates 9/11. One notable frontrunner is Golden Thread Productions, a theatre in San Francisco, which has been focusing on Middle Eastern theatre from its inception in 1996, and running an annual festival called "ReOrient" since 1999. Nibras, a network of Arab American theatre artists, garnered media attention with their debut documentary theatre piece Sajjil (Record!) in 2002, but the network had actually formed shortly before the attacks. Despite the fact that the aforementioned examples debunk the myth of a sudden birth of Arab American theatre, the impact of 9/11 can hardly be overestimated. Post 9/11 initiatives include Khoury's creation of the Silk Road Theatre Project in Chicago and several one-time festivals in New York City, such as Acts for Palestine in 2005, The Public Theatre's New Work Now! Arab/Israeli Festival in 2006, as well as Aswat—Voices of Palestine presented by New York Theatre Workshop and Nibras in 2007. The festival that generated the most (international) media attention so far is the annual New York Arab American Comedy Festival3 that had its fifth run in January 2008. In his article "The Rise of Arab American Comedy" Dean Obeidallah, who joined with Maysoon Zayid to found the festival in 2003, reaffirms the importance of the date for recent developments: "The Arab American communities' support of Arab American comedy can be tied directly to the post 9/11 climate in America."4
3While Dalia Basiouny, a theatre scholar working on Arab American Female Playwrights, rightly finds that "one of the interesting features of the current flowering of Arab American theatre and performance is that a great majority of the participating artists are women,"5 this article—not diminishing the importance of such wonderful theatre artists and playwrights as Betty Shamieh and Heather Raffo, will concentrate on the works of Yussef El Guindi.
4Seattle-based playwright El Guindi, now in his mid-forties, was raised in England after his family fled Egypt in 1963. Even though he later returned to his home country as a university student, he describes his Arabic as "rudimentary." After graduating from American University in Cairo in 1982 he moved to the United States where he received a Master of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.6 While El Guindi had long been fighting for recognition with his early plays Hostages and Finishing School, his topical and highly politicized works have found a wide reception since 9/11. He was playwright in Residence at the Chicago Silk Road Theatre Project as well as at Duke University, where he taught playwriting for seven years. His plays have been published by Dramatist's Play Service and Theatre Forum. In recent years he has been honoured with several awards for his seminal works Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith and Back of the Throat. He just received the A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) 2008 New Play Award for his most recent play Language Rooms.
5While El Guindi, who is himself of Muslim heritage, most skillfully explores how the Arab American protagonist in Back of the Throat is violently transformed into "the other" and while he devotes an entire play, Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes, to the criticism of negative stereotyping of Arab and Muslim characters within the movie business, his plays such as Language Rooms and Our Enemies never lose the need for a critical analysis of his own community and thereby blur the lines between binary distinctions such as friend and enemy. His early work Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith created a heated controversy within the local Muslim community that finally resulted in the Cornerstone Theatre Companies decision to refrain from producing it. Far from falling into the trap of writing straightforward issue-driven plays, El Guindi's greatest strength is the poetic quality and the wit of his language; that are characteristic for all his plays and most beautifully shown in his one-acts Such a Beautiful Voice is Sayedas and Karima's City. Both are adaptations of short stories by Salwa Bakr and were originally performed together under the title Acts of Desire. The aim of this article is to introduce his major plays, distill recurring topics and motives and at the same time trace the evolution of his aesthetics.
'. . . Like These Russian Dolls'—Language and Interrogation
6A surprise even to himself7 El Guindi's breakthrough to a wider reception and acknowledgment by theatres, press, and academia was his play Back of the Throat. The play sketches how Khaled, an Arab American writer, is "forced kicking and screaming" into the narratives of two FBI-agents. The agents search his house, interrogate him and confront him with witness reports linking him to a terrorist attack in Manhattan. El Guindi started writing the play shortly after 9/11, even though the immediacy of its subject kept him from finishing it before 2004.8 In the author's introduction, published in Theatre Forum, he underlines the urgency of the play's topic:
Back of the Throat began as a paranoid thought game. In those first few months after 9/11 as an Arab/Muslim-American one wasn't quite sure where one stood. What laws were still in place to protect one from government inquisitiveness or from a government, rightly or wrongly, deciding to throw aside civil liberty concerns in the need to protect the country from an amorphous enemy whose potential for another strike was very real. In this climate, where one feared officials needing to look and act tough and avoid allowing more terrorists through the net, I personally, on a visceral level, found myself fearing a knock on the door. For no logical reason, I should add.9
7Back of the Throat was first produced in 2005 by Silk Road Theatre Project in Chicago. Subsequently it toured throughout the US and was translated into Arabic with a staging in Egypt (Cairo). The Chicago production augmented the fictional play with documentary aspects by strengthening the links to current FBI procedures and actual fears of Arab Americans, having discussions with real-life FBI agents as well as victims of accusations and discrimination as part of the rehearsal process.10 Retired FBI agents were also asked to attend post-show discussions and compare the play's plot and depiction with their own experiences and FBI interrogation methods.11 Contrary to this approach, the Flea Theatre staging in New York in 2006 ignored questions of probability and realism in Back of the Throat, but fostered the sense of paranoia by setting the play on a tiny basement stage that allowed the verbal as well as physical violence against the most likable and multifaceted protagonist, Khaled, to make the audience shiver. El Guindi's aesthetics, including elements and methods such as montage, flashbacks, dream sequences, poetic monologues and dark humour are decisive for the skillful balancing act of Back of the Throat, and warrant their own exploration later in this paper. El Guindi's most recent play, Language Rooms, continues the mind game started in the Back of the Throat in many ways. Both plays will now be analysed in terms of their implied concept of America and American patriotism, of identity and the self as well as of the function and power of language.
8Language Rooms is set in a Guantanamo-like facility. Nasser and Ahmed, both Arab-Americans, work as translators and interrogators. Based on the transcripts of the "Khaled-interrogation," Ahmed, who often distances himself from his colleagues, is suspected to be a sympathizer or spy. The interrogator is interrogated. The knot is tied closer when Ahmed's father, Samir, is brought in as a captive and Ahmed is made to interrogate him, thereby finding out about his father's betrayal of his family: Samir had been cheating on his dying wife. Ahmed loses his temper and shows his aggression against his Arab heritage thereby revealing his twisted position. He is forced into an isolation suit and box that earlier appeared in an expressionistic dream sequence, while Kevin, his boss, continues the interrogation. The drama ends with a poetic picture described in Samir's final monologue: A romantic family-scene at the beach, which expresses their very personal version of the American Dream, the longing for a country that would make anything possible and heal any wounds, for a country that would make the young Ahmed forget he had almost drowned in the sea. The very last words—and the first words Ahmed learns to say in English—are interspersed with bitter associations:
I would point to something, sand, and you would repeat it—sand.—Sea—and then you: sea.—Sky…sky.—Family…family. Airplane…airplane…America…(slight beat) And I showed you in which direction. And you said, where? And I held you up high on my shoulders… and I pointed. (Hold for a beat. Blackout)
9After 9/11 it seems impossible to imagine Samir's hand pointing towards the USA without identifying it with the airplanes, and without misinterpreting his pointing as a threatening gesture of attack. The picture combines hope and fear, America appears as both a utopian land of strength and a fragile object of attack, it is idyllic as well as apocalyptic, it presents an Arab American family, whose members are all too human, and at the same time uncovers the stereotypes and prejudices that form our perceptions and readings. Language Rooms extends the 'thought game' of Back of the Throat by spinning the idea of the logic of interrogation out to the extreme, demonstrating how the interrogator himself turns into a suspect, and how trust and faith are excluded by a system that always assumes hidden layers of meaning beneath everything that is said: "That's the trouble with what we do. We read too much into even harmless things. We imagine conversations going on beneath other conversations. When really we're meaning exactly what we're saying."12
10The subject of interrogating suspects accused of having ties to or being actively engaged in terrorist plots is not the only link betweenthese two plays. Language Rooms canoffer itself to be read as a continuation of the earlier play by referring to the "Khaled file" and can suggest that after the interrogation at his house, Khaled was kept prisoner in a Guantanamo-like facility. Beyond all this, both plays share a set of features and motives. They express a double-edged image of America and address the phenomenon of exclusion that many Americans of Arab heritage or Muslim faith have been suffering in post-9/11 America. In both plays, the Arab American protagonists are sketched as patriotic Americans whose ties to the Arab world are to be considered rather loose and in both cases they are gradually alienated from their American identity and forced to merge with the image of the "other."
11Despite intimidation, the Arab American main characters keep their belief in their American Dream and strongly identify themselves with the United States. Even when Ahmed is taken captive in an isolation box, his father reassures his interrogator of his own and his son's patriotism: "We are both—proud Americans. We love our new country." Khaled, in Back of the Throat, even intended to call the FBI himself, as he considers it his obligation as a loyal American patriot.13 Starting to sense increasing pressure, he vocally and emphatically claims to be an American: "It's my fucking country too."14 In Language Rooms, Ahmed objects the established notions of being a "regular American"15 or a "real American,"16 referring to someone being born in America. Before losing his temper and unleashing a flood of swear-words, Ahmed claims that these terms contradict the American idea at its very core: "It's supposed to be instant conversion. Anyone who becomes a citizen inherits everything. Which means never ever having to say I'm sorry for being foreign-born."17 The FBI agent Bartlett in Back of the Throat also underlines that the United States is an immigrant-nation that transcends issues of ethnicity, but at the same time he is taking it ad absurdum:
One more thing: at no time should you think this is an ethnic thing. Your ethnicity has nothing to do with it other than the fact that your background happens to be the place where most of this crap is coming from. So naturally the focus is going to be on you. It's not profiling, it's deduction.
12He then adds that the focus group shifts every once in a while, meaning that all ethnicities are finally treated alike: "Tomorrow it might be the Dutch." It is one of El Guindi's standard techniques to either merge inconsistent logics or spin out logics to such an extent that the conclusions drawn are indefensible while at the same time being completely compatible with the premises and rules of combination assigned to a logical system. Referring to Back of the Throat El Guindi himself has pointed out a certain "Kafkaesque element,"18 as "there is always a level of absurdity with any bureaucracy."19
13One would, however, miss the point if one blatantly read El Guindi's plays as artistic expressions of objection against exclusion and as claiming the American-ness of Arab immigrants. One would still unduly oversimplify his plays if one additionally reflected the double-edged image of "America," being idealized as the object of the "American dream" and at the same time being questioned and satirized to the extreme. Though El Guindi's plays address questions of an Arab American identity on a literal level, claiming characters' status and value as American citizens and denouncing misrepresentations, accusations, and exclusions, and though El Guindi does address intercultural miscommunications and conflict zones of immigrant life in the United States, his plays effectively dig much deeper. While it is indeed important to add positive or—as El Guindi puts it—human representations "with warts and all"20 to prevailing images of Arab and Muslim people, his plays explore these questions on a more fundamental and political level, questioning concepts of "self" and "identity" as such. In the author's introduction to Back of the Throat, El Guindi refers to uncomprehending spectators of Arab heritage who want an explanation as to why he had decided to create "such an ambiguous character in Khaled."21 El Guindi amplifies his reflections on the issue by pointing out the main focus of the play and thereby its underlying conception of identity and self:
I am […] interested in how someone can be forced, kicking and screaming, into someone else's narrative […] and then find himself unable to extricate himself from these stories.22
14In the end it cannot be decided if Khaled is guilty or not. He is caught in a web of narratives that distort any clear-cut differentiation between truth and fiction. Actors stay on stage when they are not in a scene, observing the stories unfolding around them. Despite the fact that in its Flea Theatre production changes of lighting and background music mark scene changes, it remains impossible to extricate subjective memories from cinematic flashbacks, dreams from constructions of potential scenarios, fiction from "reality." Even though El Guindi creates multifaceted characters of high credibility, he subscribes to a poststructuralist conception of the "subject" as being a product of signs, caught within and defined by language.23 In El Guindi's "language rooms" what is commonly called "reality" is just the most powerful construction or reading of a set of signs at that point in time.
15These poststructuralist conceptions that deconstruct notions of "identity" and "self" are expressed most vividly in the metaphor of the Russian doll that is of importance in Back of the Throat as well as in Language Rooms. Giving image to Khaled's transformations in light of an increasing number of accusations, Beth claims "It was like watching a man hide himself in one box after another; like those Russian dolls."24 In Language Rooms,Ahmed's supervisor describes the work of the interrogator as an art of language that aims at uncovering hidden layers of meaning, of unpacking Russian dolls.
KEVIN: Because what we do is an art, Ahmed. Those assholes may think otherwise. But what they don't get is that the people I've assembled here have the same profound love for this kind of investigation as I do. We want to know. We love unpacking people, so to speak, like those Chinese boxes, or Russian dolls[…].
16While the Russian doll in Back of the Throat is being constructed, the one in Language Rooms is being de-constructed. The parallels among the plots of the two plays, however, reveal that both motions are interchangeable and are finally merging into one. Any idea of a true root of the matter or of the character is defeated by the underlying conception of the metaphor: there will always be a doll within each doll, ad infinitum; there is no such a thing as a uniform subject; there is nothing that could ever be revealed as being the "truth."
17Language in El Guindi's plays is the basis of any construction of reality. While language as a general capacity to speak and as a system of signs is the basis of all distinctions, the differences between several languages play an important role as well. The language one speaks determines one's perspective on the world, and the translation of meaning from one language into another never works out with complete clarity. Ahmed's colleague, Nasser, points out to Ahmed why he could fall under suspicion based on the Khaled interrogation. Ahmed had intended to pretend being a sympathizer as a tactic to break the suspect's silence. Nasser explains that despite Ahmed's poor Arabic skills, it is the language they share that puts them "a beard trimmer away from the people they bring here."25 He concludes that "we are who we translate to them. We can't put on the disguise of the enemy as a tactic because we're already wearing it. The language itself puts us in enemy territory."26 While on the one hand language, following a constructivist perspective, bears the potential to deconstruct notions of identity and thereby seemingly nullifies ethnic categories such as "Arab American," in El Guindi's plays, languages, on the other hand,do serve as markers of differences that can never be equalized as translation becomes necessary and will never allow for the dissolution of an ultimate gap. In Back of the Throat it is also the Arabic language that links Khaled to the terrorist, Asfoor. His Arabic studying material attests to his intention to learn the language and to his interest in his Arab roots. The testimony of a librarian assures that there had been conversations going on between the two of them. A flashback or hypothetical construction of their meeting shows Asfoor proposing a deal to Khaled: they could help each other learning their respective languages as tandem partners. In the ambiguous final scene of the play, Ahmed and Asfoor are left alone on stage, and Asfoor ends with a poetic monologue stressing the importance and power of language:
When first I come to this country—I not know how to speak. How…even to say anything. […] I say, I must learn language that is everywhere. Language that has fallen on our heads and made us like—like children again. What is this power? […] I want to write. I want to write a book. In English. […] And one day, I say […] I might even teach it… I will teach language back. I will make them speak their own language differently.27
Our Enemies'—The Power of Representation
18El Guindi's play Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes was first produced by Golden Thread Productions in June 2008. Barray, an agent, attempts to talk Ashraf, an Arab American actor, into auditioning for the Julius Steele movie "Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes." The job offers generous payment and the chance to work with Ashraf's most favourite director as well as a famous actress called Cassandra. The catch, however, is the plot and character profile of the role offered to Ashraf. The movie is overloaded with stereotypes and sketches the "Arab" as the evildoer and as the "other." It confirms all prejudices and clichés currently strengthened by mass media. Ashraf claims that "there are enough stereotypes […] to create a whole new cartoon network" and even extends his criticism stating that he'd "settle for a stereotype now" as "at least that implies something two dimensional," whereas "this is a monotype. Not even a type. There's no such creature in the natural world that corresponds to my character. He's a bad joke with real world consequences."28 The play circles around the question of (mis-)representation and extricates a multiply interwoven relationship between images and reality. Trying to justify himself and criticize the movie project, Ashraf ends up mirroring the behaviour he at the same time tries to prove unrepresentative. Pointing a gun at the director Ashraf insists: "I'm not a gun-toting fanatic even if I'm behaving like one."29
19As Language Rooms extends the 'thought game' of Back of the Throat, Our Enemies complicates the issues raised in Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes. In both cases the earlier play's complexity is increased by transgressing the boundaries of a binary logic of "them against us." Language Rooms portrays Arab American interrogators who are practicing torture as an interrogation technique. Our Enemies addresses a split within Arab American communities and sketches how Arab American writers and religious spokespersons are actively engaged in perpetuating negative media images and misrepresentations.
20Our Enemies depicts the struggles of a young female Arab American writer, Noor, who is asked by her future publisher to make changes to her manuscript which would fit her story into mainstream narratives of Arab (immigrant) women. Her boyfriend, Gamal, has turned into an activist aggressively attacking spokespersons on matters of Arab and Arab Americans as well as on Islam, who are—in his view – reaffirming stereotypes and prejudices held up in mainstream media. He paints "whore" on the forehead of the Arab American writer, Mohsen, who is later going to try to talk Noor into committing to the mandated re-writes and finally ends up having a one-night stand with her, being caught—in an almost grotesque scene—in flagranti by Gamal, who hides his defeat by inviting them for a drink. Before starting Zen meditation therapy to cope with his anger and making amends to the people he had wronged, Gamal publicly humiliates Sheik Alfani by throwing his birthday cake into his face. Later he is being accused by Alfani's son, Hani, who had left for a longer stay to Egypt to get familiar with his roots, of having burned his father's mosque down. The play presents "lively scenes of love and combat" (as the play's subtitle tells us) that reveal how being attacked from various sides, Arab Americans in this most difficult situation are turning against each other, becoming their "own worst enemies."30 The focal points of this fight are questions of representation and identity politics: how Arabs and Arab Americans should or should not be represented as well as the determination of the relationship between Arabs and Americans.
As experienced by other minority groups before us, and today more than ever by Arabs, the media spotlight on 'hot-button' communities is often a double-edged sword. This attention, while providing an opportunity for recognition and understanding, is largely filtered through the lens of sensationalism. […] This places an enormous burden on artists, whose work is often asked to meet a myriad of political expectations. In the case of Arab Americans, Arab audiences are hungry for positive portrayals to balance the media; non-Arabs may see negative or even questionable characteristics as confirmation of those existing stereotypes. In this sense, both groups often place upon one story character, or artist the burden of representing an entire people.31
21El Guindi had his own share of problems revolving out of the tendency to generalize any depiction of an Arab American character in these most polarized times. The Cornerstone Theater in Los Angeles commissioned him to write a play, Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith that was supposed to be part of a five-part faith-based cycle. "'This was to be their Muslim play,' El Guindi said. 'They asked me to come to L.A., speak with people in the Muslim community, then to go off and write the play.' […] El Guindi felt a certain pressure was on the show to speak for all American Muslims" and concluded that "no one play can do that."32 After a staged reading in a Los Angeles mosque, "the play was dismissed by some mosque members as being 'unrepresentative'"33 and was subsequently taken out of Cornerstone's program.
22While Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith was censored by the local Muslim American Community in Los Angeles based on the fact that it breaks major societal taboos, including a gay son and another one who has lost his religion in its character list, and sheds a critical light on a Muslim family living in the United States, Arab American theatre artists need to be aware that their art meets restrictions from various directions. While local communities boycott plays, artists are also dependent on venues and theatres that present their work. El Guindi made it very clear that for the longest time there was simply no interest in Arab American issues and that he therefore did not address them. Since 9/11, theatres are inviting submissions, but the calls are as double-edged as the new book division focusing on the Mid-East in Our Enemies. While the editor argues that "We think this is a region that has been terribly misrepresented and we want to do our bit to correct that,"34 and she highlights the "great opportunity for young authors like [Noor]. Writing about things that matter,"35 she at the same time demands Noor commit to far-reaching re-writes because the love story of a young girl in her adolescence might not so much be the "typical concerns of a young American woman," but of "a young, Americanized woman. A young immigrant woman who is trying to strike out on her own and break away from her traditions."36 Arab American issues are only considered interesting as long as they put the focus on the first part of the compound word and as long as they meet a set of pre-requisite narratives that end up being as reductive as the stereotypes they are seemingly countering. The editor also underlines that she can get her on "more shows if it's your story. It would be a lot easier to pitch."37 Noor's aesthetic and artistic skills appear to be secondary, as she is supposed to be hardly more—without devaluing often probably most well-intended projects—than a representative figure in an already written script. Noor assumes that the radio interview on the occasion of her book's publication will immediately start with questions concerning neither the storyline nor the aesthetic strategies of her novel, but her personal background and the oppression of women in Muslim societies. Without giving it a chance, Noor interrupts the interview before it even begins, making crystal clear that the book is plain fiction and that she is not trying to make any "statement" at all.38 This intervention obviously forces the entire focus of the interview on exactly those issues she intended to circumvent. Arab American artists are trapped. Restricted in what can be addressed by conservative forces within their community, dependent upon editors and venues to present their work and thereby to meet mainstream narratives and demands, artists cannot escape even another kind of restriction which are forms of self-censorship. Arab American writers are trapped among the need to reach beyond clichés and create rounded and multi-faceted characters that subvert put-up dichotomies on the one hand and the risky consequences of any depiction of negative aspects or character traits that are easily employed to justify and reaffirm prevalent negative stereotypes on the other. Julius Steele, the director of Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes, replies to Ashraf's concern about the very negatively portrayed Arab in the movie what Ashraf's solution would be. "Certain subjects are off-limits? Censorship?"39 The Arab American playwright Noor in Our Enemies complains:
Why is it that when a woman gets beat up in Texas or New Jersey, it's a domestic matter and isn't made to reflect on you as a man, an American man, or this country. But when a woman gets abused in the Arab world, it suddenly becomes an indictment of the whole region. An international matter and an excuse to make sweeping statements.40
'Such a Beautiful Voice…'—El Guindi's Poetics
23Taking the pitfalls of representation addressed in Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes as well as Our Enemies seriously, El Guindi's plays would be harmed if scholars left out a thorough analysis of his aesthetics besides all aspects of content. In the author's note to Such a Beautiful Voice is Sayeda's and Karima's City, two one-acts adapted from short stories by Salwa Bakr that deal with the oppression of women within Arab and Western societies,El Guindi emphasizes that firstly, "[b]oth plays are best staged if kept fluid, moving, with lightning changes where necessary, but no full blackouts between scenes,"41 and that secondly, "[i]t is much more effective if the men come across as human, and familiar."42 These indications in a sense apply to all of El Guindi's plays and create basic parameters of his work. El Guindi creates strong and multifaceted protagonists that are confronted with just as rounded and human characters. This is one aspect that makes it possible for his plays to address hot-button issues without supercharging them with ideology. Instead of being "issue-driven," his plays are "character-driven" as well as "language-driven."43
24Interestingly, as was shown earlier, El Guindi's plays are character-driven but simultaneously subvert any possible understanding of a psychological realism and deconstruct notions of "the subject" and "truth." His greatest skill may be the way he leads the audience through different stages of emotional involvement, the never linear development of suspense within his plays and the witty mergence of horror and humour. It is worth mentioning that despite the seriousness of their subjects all plays discussed in this article, except for the two one-acts, are being categorized as comedies or dark comedies. It is as if their irony and wit force the audience to bend with laughter though it might be awakened with a hurtful beat or stitch in the very next moment. El Guindi himself says, "life is a dark comedy. It's perplexing, bewildering and funny. Humor has its own wisdom."44 Reading El Guindi's plays is like riding the rollercoaster or entering a haunted house—one never knows what is going to be around the next corner or when one might suddenly fall, but one is taken captive by the intense dynamics and changing rhythms of the plays. The surprise factor is only increased by the nesting of different narratives. The Russian doll is not only a metaphor that comes up in Back of the Throat and Language Rooms but it is the core of El Guindi's aesthetic. His plays often unfold in a multilayered universe that combines dream-sequences, flashbacks, monologues and hypothetical constructions via cinematographic montage techniques. While it can generally be said that El Guindi's is very much a cinematographic aesthetic, at the same time his plays could only ever work on a theatre as they live off the immediacy and physical closeness of reception. Additionally, his plays almost always include one or more poetic monologues that are highly theatrical and lyrical. Oftentimes, as is the case in Back of the Throat and Language Rooms these poetic monologues end the plays. One reason for this dramaturgical gimmick might be that El Guindi intentionally wants to leave audiences with complicated questions, not simple answers. As always in El Guindi's work this could be taken even a step further. One might say that opposed to other artists who highlight the importance of asking questions instead of providing answers, El Guindi depicts answers to then reveal them as the even more complicated questions.
'The Political Is Personal'—Stories That Need to Be Told
25In "Finding Our Own Voice: The Politics of the Personal in Arab American Theater," playwright and performer Leila Buck reaffirms the statement of Arab American filmmaker Vicky Moufawad-Paul that "[t]he political […] is the personal,45 and thereby speaks for a large number of Arab American theatre artists that are producing character-driven and deeply personal plays. Later on in her essay, Buck poses questions that are decisive for the reception as well as self-conception of Arab American theater since 9/11: "Is it political to simply present an Arab woman in a hijab speaking her mind or a Palestinian character doing anything but a terrorist act?" and "Does our work have to address politics directly in order to be considered political or to shape the politics of our world?"46
26El Guindi, as most contemporary playwrights, shies "away from calling [his] plays political" as he does not want them to "be viewed as agenda-driven pieces."47 As has been shown El Guindi's plays are neither didactic nor preaching to a choir, rather they deconstruct binaries and all essentialisms, leaving the audience with the most complicated questions. Even though El Guindi immediately addresses current politics in the US, the aspects that mark his work as "political" would rather be the humanization of Arab American characters on stage at a time when "enemy combatants" are deprived of their civil rights and the questioning of the generation of meaning and the construction of identity.
27While a number of Arab American playwrights try to edge their image by counterweighing negative media images with out-and-out positive representations, El Guindi's plays 'humanize' their characters. Concerning his controversial play Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith, El Guindi states:
Some have asked me, why are you depicting a gay person and homophobia? There are so many other issues to deal with. But in order to humanize a people, you need to show them warts and all. Our humanity lives in our cracks and wounds. How can you affirm something, without talking about everything?48
28Without having the room to enter into deeper discussions on different concepts of political theatre, it seems obvious that understanding any Arab American performance as political would be too simplifying. El Guindi's work however does not only humanize its characters and (even though this might not be a precondition for political theatre at all) addresses current events, but it also transcends facile questions and digs deeper into the way meaning is generated and worlds constructed. El Guindi is the most talented Arab American writer of political plays on the scene and it is only to hope that there will soon be far more stages inviting his amazing acrobatics of language.
1 "The more theatres like that [Nibras, Golden Threat, Silk Road Theater Project] spring up, the more inclined I am (and other writers I'm sure) to explore issues around immigration and the Middle East. Before the creation of these theatres, I was somewhat hesitant to tackle subjects that I felt would not get past the first reader at a theater." Yussef El Guindi cited after: The Non-Traditional Casting Projekt, "Arab Americans in Theatre—an online roundtable discussion," The Non-Traditional Casting Project, September 25, 2003, <http://www.ntcp.org/NationalDiversityForum/Roundtable/DinaAmin.htm> (23 October 2008).
2 Yussef El Guindi cited after: Dinitia Smith, "For Arab American Playwrights, a Sense of Purpose," New York Times, February 11, 2006, <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/ 02/11/theater/newsandfeatures/11thro.html?fta=v>.
3 Arab American Comedy Festival, Official Website, <http://www.arabcomedy.org/> (23 October 2008).
4 Dean Obeidallah: "The Rise of Arab American Comedy," Etching Our Own Image—Voices from Within the Arab American Art Movement, ed. A. Ameri and H. Arida (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007), 194.
5 Dalia Basiouny, "Current Trends in Contemporary Arab American Theatre," Performance, Exile and 'America', ed. Y. Meerzon and Silvija Jestrovic (Chicago: Palgrave Macmillian, forthcoming 2009).
6 Dinitia Smith, "For Arab-American Playwrights, a Sense of Purpose," New York Times, February 11, 2006, <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/11/theater/ newsandfeatures/11thro.html?fta=y>
7 Cf. Misha Berson, "Yussef El Guindi—Are We Being Followed? His Play About Post-9/11 Arab-American Anxiety Strikes A Nerve," American Theater Magazine, January 2006, <http://www.srtp.org/newsreviews/reviewsandfeatures/backofthethroat/feature-BackThroat-AmerThtrMag.html>
9 Yussef El Guindi, "Author's Introduction to Back of the Throat," Theatre Forum, 29 (2006): 26.
10 "To gain a deeper perspective of the play, the cast and crew met with FBI agents, American Civil Liberties Union lawyers, and members of the local Arab-American community who had been interviewed by government agents." Jenn Q. Godu, "A Play That Asks Tough Questions: Throat Finds Wisdom Through Humor," Chicago Tribune, April 7, 2006, <http://www.srtp.org/newsreviews/reviewsandfeatures/backofthethroat/feature-BackThroat-Tribune.html>
11 Yussef El Guindi. Telephone Interview, June 15, 2006.
12 Yussef El Guindi. Language Rooms, unpublished manuscript, 19.
13 While Arab Americans are fighting for recognition as an ethnic minority, it is striking how strongly artists and scholars are claiming their national belonging and American patriotism. On the occasion of the attacks' first anniversary AAI published a leaflet called Healing Our Nation that included polls revealing that statistically Arab Americans were even more confirmative of government policies and the war in Afghanistan as Americans in general were. The leaflet includes photos of Arab Americans displaying American flags and of an Arab mother who has lost her son in duty on 9/11. Cf. Arab American Institute, "Healing the Nation—The Arab American Experience after September 11," Arab American Institute, http://aai.3cdn.net/64de7330dc475fe470_h1m6b0yk4.pdf (23 October 2008).
14 Yussef El Guindi, "Back of the Throat," TheatreForum, no. 29 (2006).
15 2. El Guindi, "Language Rooms," 43.
16 Ibid. 29.
18 "[…] this isn't so much an echo of a literary source, as it is of what's currently going on. The situation around the country and elsewhere has become Kafka-esque. It's reality mimicking fiction. And Kafka's fiction very early on captured the sense of getting caught up and lost in a huge and impersonal bureaucracy. Once your name is on "the list", it's very hard to get off it." Yussef El Guindi, "Seattleplays Profile—Yussef El Guindi," Seattleplays, http://www.seattleplays.com/yussef.html (23 October 2008).
19 2. Godu.
20 Rummana Hussain, "Play Explores Muslim-American Family," Chicago Sun-Times, October 5, 2005, http://www.cairchicago.org/inthenews.php?file=cst10052005
21 2. El Guindi, "Authors Introduction to 'Back of the Throat'," 26.
23 1. Metzler Lexikon Literatur- und Kulturtheorie, 4th edition, s.v. "Poststrukturalismus." 591f.
24 2. El Guindi, "Back of the Throat," 43.
27 2. El Guindi, "Back of the Throat," 49–50.
28 Yussef El Guindi, "Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes," unpublished manuscript, 74.
30 Mohsen in Our Enemies: "We really have to stop hurting each other. It seems the one thing we do well—is be our own worst enemies." Yussef El Guindi, "Our Enemies," unpublished manuscript, 89.
31 Leila Buck, "Finding Our Own Voice: The Politics of the Personal in Arab American Theater," Etching Our Own Image—Voices from Within the Arab Ameircan Art Movement, ed. A. Ameri and Holly Arida (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007) 25f.
32 Jack Helbig: 'Leap of Faith' Took Just That to Make it to the Stage, Daily Herald, 21 October 2005.
33 Jamil Khoury and Malik Gilliani, "Founders Khoury and Gilliani Discuss 'Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith'." News Release, 13 October 2005, http://www.srtp.org/ newsreviews/reviewsandfeatures/10acrobats/release-10acrobats-2.html (23. October 2008).
34 El Guindi, "Our Enemies," 15.
39 El Guindi, "Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes," 84.
40 El Guindi, "Our Enemies," 92f.
41 Yussef El Guindi, Such a Beautiful Voice is Sayeda's Karima's City (New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2006).
43 2. The Non-Traditional Casting Projekt, "Arab Americans in Theatre—an Online Roundtable Discussion."
44 Godu, "A Play That Asks Tough Questions: Throat Finds Wisdom Through Humor."
45 Leila Buck, "Finding Our Own Voice: The Politics of the Personal in Arab American Theater," Etching Our Own Image—Voices from Within the Arab Ameircan Art Movement, ed. A. Ameri and Holly Arida (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007). 19.
47 Kerry Reid, "The Political Act of Being an Arab-American Playwright," Performink, June 2008, http://www.srtp.org/newsreviews/reviewsandfeatures/ ourenemies/feature-OurEnemies-Performink.html, (20 October 2008).
48 Misha Berson, "Yussef El Guind—Are We Being Followed? His Play About Post-9/11 Arab-American Anxiety Strikes A Nerve," American Theater Magazine, January 2006, http://www.srtp.org/newsreviews/reviewsandfeatures/ backofthethroat/feature-BackThroat-AmerThtrMag.html
Ameri, A. and H. Arida, eds. Etching Our Own Image—Voices from Within the Arab American Art Movement. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007. Arab American Comedy Festival, Official Website. <http://www.arabcomedy.org/>.
Arab American Institute, "Healing the Nation—The Arab American Experience after September 11," Arab American Institute. <http://aai.3cdn.net/64de7330dc475fe470_h1m6b0yk4.pdf>.
Basiouny, Dalia. "Current Trends in Contemporary Arab American Theatre." Performance, Exile and 'America.' Ed. Yana Meerzon and Silvija Jestrovic. Chicago: Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming 2009.
Berson, Misha. "Yussef El Guindi—Are We Being Followed? His Play About Post-9/11 Arab-American Anxiety Strikes A Nerve." American Theater Magazine (January 2006). <http://www.srtp.org/newsreviews/reviewsandfeatures/backofthethroat/feature-BackThroat-AmerThtrMag.html>.
Burrows, Sara. "Arab Americans Take the Stage." Pioneer Press online, January 30, 2008. <http://www.srtp.org/newsreviews/reviewsandfeatures/ourenemies/ feature-OurEnemies-PioneerPress.html>.
El Guindi, Yussef. "Back of the Throat." Theatre Forum, no. 29 (2006): 25–50.
—. Language Rooms. unpublished manuscript.
—. Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat. unpublished manuscript.
—. Such a Beautiful Voice is Sayeda's and Karima's City. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2006.
—. Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith. unpublished manuscript.
—. Telephone interview, June 15, 2006.
—. "Seattleplays Profile—Yussef El Guindi." Seattleplays. <http://www.seattleplays.com/yussef.html>.
—. "Playwright El Guindi Discusses 'Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith'." News Release, October 13, 2005. <http://www.srtp.org/newsreviews/reviewsandfeatures/10acrobats/release-10acrobats-1.html>.
Godu, Jenn Q. "A Play That Asks Tough Questions: Throat Finds Wisdom Through Humor," Chicago Tribune, April 7, 2006. <http://www.srtp.org/newsreviews/reviewsandfeatures/backofthethroat/feature-BackThroat-Tribune.html>.
Horowitz, Simi. "Arab-American Theatre Artists Speak Out." Back Stage, October 19, 2001. <http://www.allbusiness.com/services/amusement-recreation-services/4597333-1.html>.
Huntington, Samuel. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. London: Free Press, 2002.
Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck. Not Quite American?: The Shaping of Arab and Muslim Identity in the United States. B&T, 2004.
Hussain, Rummana. "Play Explores Muslim-American Family." Chicago Sun-Times, October 5, 2005. <http://www.cairchicago.org/inthenews.php?file=cst10052005>.
Khoury, J. and M. Gilliani. "Founders Khoury and Gilliani Discuss 'Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith'." News Release, October 13, 2005, <http://www.srtp.org/newsreviews/reviewsandfeatures/10acrobats/release-10acrobats-2.html>.
Muaddi Darraj, Susan, ed. Scheherazade's Legacy—Arab and Arab American Women on Writing. London/Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2004.
Obeidallah, Dean, "Watch List—Arabs Are the New Blacks," Comedycentral, Videoclip. <http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=81074>.
Reid, Kerry. "The Political Act of Being an Arab-American Playwright." Performink, June 2008. <http://www.srtp.org/newsreviews/reviewsandfeatures/ourenemies/feature-OurEnemies-Performink.html>.
Salaita, Steven. Arab American Literary Fictions, Cultures, and Politics. New York: Palgrave McMillan, 2007.
Samhan, Helen Hatab. "Not Quite White: Race Classification and the Arab American Experience." Arabs in America: Building a New Future. Ed. Michael W. Suleiman. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1999.
The Non-Traditional Casting Projekt, "Arab Americans in Theatre – an online roundtable discussion," The Non-Traditional Casting Project, September 25, 2003. <http://www.ntcp.org/NationalDiversityForum/Roundtable/DinaAmin.htm>.
Anneka Esch-van Kan has studied Theatre in Frankfurt on the Main, Giessen (Germany) and at Stony Brook University (New York, USA). She is currently affiliated with the Graduate School for the Study of Culture at Justus-Liebig University Giessen (Germany) where she has been working on her PhD thesis "Representation of Crisis—Crisis of Representation. The Politics of Aesthetics and 21st Century Political Theatre in the United States" since 2007.
Esch-Van Kan, Anneka. "Amazing Acrobatics of Language: The Theatre of Yussef El Guindi." American Studies Journal 52 (2008). Web. 18 Jan. 2020. DOI 10.18422/52-09.
Articles in Issue no. 52
Arab-American Literature: Origins and Developments
Transnational Communication among Arab Americans in Detroit: Dimensions, Determinants, and Attitudinal Consequences
The Arab American Way: The Success Story of an American Family from a Syrian Village in Global Diaspora
Challenges Facing the Arab American Community from a Legal Perspective
Arab Americans in Literature and the Media
From Sheikh to Terrorist? Arab Characters in American Film
Muslim Americans in American Society—and in the German Classroom
Mosques in North America


text:
As a build system CMake hast to do alot with long running tasks, especially when using external programs in the build or configuration process. E.g. checking out a dependency repository, uploading a large file ...

I needed a system which allows me to do some parallel work and split larger tasks into smaller independent tasks.

header 1 | header 2 | header 3
---------|----------|---------
value 1 | value2 | value3

## Example

```cmake
```

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Choosing acrylic blush could be abreast the top any account of stressors. With acceptable intentions and hours of decorating shows on TV, you somehow accept managed to accept the amiss acrylic color.
The new acrylic goes on the walls easily, and at first, you feel absolutely acceptable about your choice. This color seems to bout the new daybed or the cabinets and looks aloof like the photo you added to your affection board. As weeks go by, the you alpha to feel a little active back you access the room, but aren't abiding why, and you ask yourself, "did I choose the amiss acrylic color?" Here are the 4 signs that you chose the amiss blush for your space.
This is a attenuate assurance that can be calmly missed. All it takes is the amiss acrylic blush to change the actualization of anyone that walks in the room. The best accepted offenders are blooming and gray in the bath or any allowance area you appearance yourself in a mirror. If you're allotment a blooming for the bathroom, opt for warmer undertones, and accumulate the colors on the aloof side. The amplitude area you see your face for the aboriginal time anniversary morning is not the abode for a trendy, but extreme, color. Pink, peach, and ablaze blue, can be actual flattering.
You'll apperceive that a blush is too aphotic if you are axis on added lights than you had in past. If you are alienated tasks that requires added ablaze and had ahead done them in that room, again the blush you chose is too dark.
A acrylic blush that is too aphotic not alone affects the animation of a allowance but can make it feel smaller.
If you are assertive the blush you chose is too aphotic and changes in lighting has not anchored it, consider befitting one bank in that blush as an emphasis wall, and repainting the added walls with a lighter adumbration of the aforementioned blush for a adapted look.
At first, you don't apprehension that a blush is too bright.
The blush you chose hits all the appropriate addendum in analogous the adornment and bringing abundant activity to the room. You will apperceive that your blush is too ablaze back you acquisition yourself concealment the lights, closing blinds, and alienated the allowance during the brightest times of the day. At night, you aback favor the darker apartment of the house.
The best way to abstain a too-bright acrylic best is to sample the acrylic blush first. Using a adaptable lath or sample blur allows you to appearance the blush in anniversary bend of the room, and at all times of the day or night. If your new acrylic blush seems too ablaze in the evening, try alteration your lightbulbs afore aggravating a new color.
Paint blush can casting an association on any apparent in a room. The lighter the surface, the added acceptable to reflect an exceptionable undertone. The amiss acrylic blush can accord a blooming or gray casting to white cabinets, authoritative them assume aback out of place.
A change in lighting can sometimes advice with blush association problems, but best generally a new acrylic blush will be the solution. To abstain this botheration in the future, use ample sampling boards to analysis your acrylic adjoin the cabinets and flooring. Be abiding to abode the boards erect to the attic or counter, to get a accurate attending at how the blush will arise back ablaze hits it.


A shipment of 10,000 metric tons of low-radiation waste from the Savannah River Site to Utah has been delayed by at least two months.
The Associated Press has the brief.
A few weeks back a Utah Congressional representative asked the Department of Energy to halt the shipment.


text:
Altis Cardinal Returns to Development
Altis Cardinal has announced returning back to development with the acquisition of 10.5 acres of land in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Kathleen Krilanovich
Jan 23, 2015
Miami—Altis Cardinal LLC has announced returning back to development with the acquisition of 10.5 acres of land in St. Petersburg, Fla. Adjacent to Skyline Fifth, a multifamily hi-rise acquired by Atlis Cardinal in December of 2012. The intention for the purchased land is to develop an extension of Skyline Fifth, which will reduce operational costs per unit.
The current property is located in the historic Kenwood neighborhood. It is known for being a charming district with 1920s apartments and is a short five-minute walk from the waterfront.
"The plan for the property is to upgrade the existing, integrate the properties, and bring a resort feel addition to the building," said Frank Guerra, principal for Altis Cardinal, "In the first phase of the project, we plan to redevelop the existing six-story building into loft style living with 11-12 foot ceilings with approximately 76 units."
Currently the project is in design development and awaiting approval from the city to move into creating construction drawings which is the next step of the approval process. Once given the green light, Altis Cardinal expects to break ground on the development by the end of the third quarter.
For residents, amenities that have been planned for the development will include a resort-style pool, deck, and an expanded state-of-the-art gym. The community is also expected to have a party room with indoor and outdoor areas and a dog park, as well as a business center.
Altis Cardinal
Frank Guerra
South FL Luxury Condos Score $75M in Financing
CIM Group Completes Austin's Tallest Tower
Class A Community Near Disney World Breaks Ground


Korean War veteran John Roseland of Newfolden, MN shares his recollections in this home recording made in the early 1990's.
On this edition of Scrapbook Roseau County, longtime Roseau County resident Irene Olson tells us the story of the early history of Polaris Industries.
On this edition of Scrapbook Roseau County, Roseau historian Irene Olson tell us about how a young L.B. Hartz found himself employment as a door to door salesman selling vegetables. In 1925, Hartz would open his store in Roseau County and from there went on to own one of the largest chains of stores in Minnesota.
On this edition of Scrapbook Roseau County, Historian Irene Olson tell us the story of the the legend of the Ghost of Roseau Lake.
On this edition of Scrapbook Roseau County, Irene Olson of the Roseau County Historical Society tells us about Roseau County resident Bob Berglund. Berglund was a career politician who served as the Secretary of Agriculture under President Jimmy Carter.


text:
Futurpreneur and the Government of Manitoba team up to support small businesses
Written by Natalia Manzocco
Today, Futurpreneur Canada is pleased to announce a new partnership with the Government of Manitoba that will allow us to further our mission of helping young entrepreneurs launch and sustain successful businesses across the province.
The partnership will provide Futurpreneur with $750,000 in new funding over three years, creating an estimated 150 new youth-led businesses and 400 jobs across the province.
"We're very grateful for this support from the Government of Manitoba as we increase our efforts to help diverse, young (age 18-39) entrepreneurs launch successful businesses across the province," says Futurpreneur CEO Karen Greve Young.
"The businesses we support with our loan financing, mentorship and specialized resources are pillars of their communities, contributing to local economic growth and prosperity, while also creating jobs and fostering the vitality of main streets in communities large and small. Their success will be critical to Canada's inclusive economic recovery in the months and years ahead."
The funding is part of the province's #RestartMB program, which is geared toward boosting the province's economy in the wake of COVID-19.
This investment will allow Futurpreneur to support even more young entrepreneurs in Manitoba by providing the financing, mentorship and resources they need to succeed, helping them join the ranks of other Futurpreneur-supported businesses in the province—all of whom have seen significant growth despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic:
Wolseley Kombucha (pictured)
After finishing Futurpreneur's Rock My Business program and signing up for our Start-Up program, Michelle Leclair opened a taproom (Winnipeg's first-ever "kombuchery") for her organic kombucha business in January 2020. When COVID-19 hit, Leclair pivoted to online sales. Since then, her business has grown so much, she has plans to expand to other provinces and build a larger production space in the coming months.
Brows By G
Giovanna Minenna started her eyebrow business from a chair in her condo. After appearing on Dragon's Den, signing up for Futurpreneur's Start-Up program and participating in our Growth Accelerator program, Minenna and her husband William Russell have expanded the business to two locations with 25 employees and offer training programs across Canada. Now, they're expanding even further with Futurpreneur's support, developing a new Browluxe line of microblading products.
Bit Space Development
This Winnipeg-based VR firm recently ranked among the top-10 world's best virtual-reality- and augmented-reality-development companies. Bit Space has carved out a niche in the construction and manufacturing industries, creating virtual training solutions that safely and remotely prepare workers for hazardous situations.
Felicheeta Artistry
Makeup artist Felicita Ovadje has long been a fixture in Winnipeg's beauty community. Her studio, dedicated to championing diversity in the beauty industry and showcasing brands owned by and catering to people of colour, launched its flagship brick and mortar location in Winnipeg in September 2020, and offers online sales as well.
Community Gym
Billing itself as an inclusive, approachable gym, Community, founded by Aime Seier, opened its doors in the spring of 2019. Within two days of the COVID-19 lockdown, the gym brought fitness classes online; less than two weeks later, they developed an online stationary bike and weight rental service, delivering gear straight to gym members' homes. This fall, they've dramatically expanded their class offerings and even launched a collaboration with Lululemon.
Trainfo
Trainfo's mission is to solve railroad safety issues by providing real–time updates on railroad crossings and blockages to road users and rail companies. Steady growth since their launch in 2016 has allowed them to shift their focus to the U.S. market and grow their team accordingly. Despite the impact of COVID-19, Trainfo is on track to hire over two dozen team members by year's end.
Want to learn more about how Futurpreneur can help launch your dream business? Click here.


Ford today unveiled the stylish and distinctive range of all-new Kuga SUVs, debuting sleek new exterior design with premium proportions that deliver improved roominess and comfort. Ford's most electrified vehicle ever, the sophisticated all-new Kuga Titanium, sporty Kuga ST‑Line and upscale Kuga Vignale.
In Scandinavia, just a few kilometres away from the Arctic Circle, it is proving its potential in terms of driving dynamics on snow and ice. At the same time, Porsche engineers are taking advantage of the summer in the Southern Hemisphere. In South Africa, they are conducting performance tests, as well as final adjustments in terms of continuous performance and reproducibility. In Dubai they are carrying out hot-climate endurance runs and testing battery charging under extreme conditions.
Alfa Romeo is breaking into the electric vehicle world at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show, revealing the new concept of the Alfa Romeo Tonale premium compact SUV. The Tonale is the first plug-in hybrid and the first premium compact SUV for Alfa Romeo. It rewrites the rules of today's fastest growing segment using the brand's trademark language made up of gorgeous Italian design and unparalleled driving dynamics.
Ferrari has revealed the first official photographs of the F8 Tributo, the new mid-rear-engined sports car that represents the highest expression of the company's classic two-seater berlinetta. The name is an homage to both the model's uncompromising layout and to the engine that powers it – with a massive 720 cv and a record specific power output of 185 cv/l, it is the most powerful V8 in Prancing Horse history for a non-special series car and sets the benchmark not just for turbos, but for engines across the board.
Muscle cars come in different flavors but it is safe to say that they have come a long way since the 60's. Some may argue that others have strayed from the original flavor, but the Dodge Challenger is probably the most authentic muscle car today. It is the most traditional and it does not pretend to be anything else. A muscle car needs lots of power and we thought that the Hellcat edition with 717 hp was all that we needed. Dodge must have felt otherwise because for 2019 they have introduced the Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye with a full 797 hp.
Polestar has taken the next step in its development as the electric performance brand with the reveal of the new Polestar 2. Polestar 2 is the new all-electric fastback that brings electric performance cars to a broader and increasingly progressive audience. It offers avant-garde design and a unique customer experience in the premium compact electric segment. Polestar 2 is the first electric car to compete in the marketplace around the Tesla Model 3, with the range starting at a guide price of 39,900 euros.


FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — If rookie second baseman Mike Fontenot has been overwhelmed by his first spring training with the Baltimore Orioles, it doesn't show.
Ask Fontenot whether he feels at all bewildered and the 23-year-old just smiles, aware of the opportunity presented him — partly because the Orioles have a new manager and partly because second base is suddenly a deep position.
That opportunity came quicker than expected for the 2001 first-round draft pick.
In the first inning of the Orioles' first exhibition game, second baseman Jerry Hairston sustained a fractured knuckle on his right ring finger while sliding into third base on a successful steal attempt.
Hairston remains out, and Brian Roberts is being prepped to play second base in the April4 opener against Boston.
Fontenot, given the chance at some unexpected playing time because of Hairston's injury, quickly made an impression on those who thought he needed more minor-league seasoning.