text:
WLGA report - The toxic culture recognised
(WLGA report was later discussed at November 12th council meeting here)
My analysis of the WLGA report can be found below this press release just in from the office of Plaid politicians Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM and Jonathan Edwards MP:
'Culture change needed at County Hall'
AM and MP comment on WLGA review at Carmarthenshire County Council
Plaid Cymru Assembly Member Rhodri Glyn Thomas and Member of Parliament Jonathan Edwards have warmly welcomed the publication of the 'Governance Review' undertaken by the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), established as a result of Wales Audit Office reports in the public interest which stated payments made to the Carmarthenshire Council's Chief Executive were 'unlawful'.
The Plaid Cymru elected members said the report's findings are constructive, present a clear way forward for the council, and vindicate the position they have taken in challenging the authority over the last two years.
Mr Thomas and Mr Edwards have been strong critics of the Labour and Independent leadership of the council. Their criticism has centred on the way in which legitimate debate is stifled, how the authority has been senior officer-led, and how public trust in the leadership of the council is at an all-time low.
Amongst other things, the WLGA review team confirms it heard that:
1. Internal systems of governance and constitutional processes were either not consistently followed or were perceived to be designed to constrain democratic debate and public engagement;
2. The perception has been that the Chief Executive and senior officers have dominated some of the decisions....to the extent that the balance of governance has become disjointed and the Council is perceived to be officer-led;
3. The Council's member and officer leadership was viewed as defensive and did not encourage or respond constructively to challenge.
4. There was widespread concern about the way the Council conducted business from many internal and external stakeholders.
The WLGA report, Mr Thomas and Mr Edwards say, entirely justifies the strong position they have taken in speaking out on behalf of county residents.
AM Mr Thomas says a complete culture change is needed at the heart of the council and the democratic deficit needs to be addressed. MP Mr Edwards says a political reboot is needed at county hall if public trust is to be restored. He questioned whether the council leadership should remain in post.
Assembly Member Rhodri Glyn Thomas said:
"We warmly welcome the publication of the WLGA's review. It is a fine piece of work and presents some positive and clear ways forward for the council. But let us be in no doubt, it is a very damaging report, and shines a spotlight on the toxic culture which has been allowed to fester under successive years of Labour and Independent political mismanagement.
"The concerns that Jonathan Edwards, myself and others have raised about the lack of democracy, openness and willingness to except criticism are completely justified in the publication of this report.
"If implemented, the WLGA recommendations will go a long way to help restore trust in the council. It can go a long way to restore the democratic deficit which has developed.
But the County Council is in desperate need for the strong political leadership which it has lacked for so many years. Regrettably, though, the current Labour and Independent Executive Board has been exposed as not being up to the job."
Member of Parliament Jonathan Edwards added:
"The report will be welcomed by almost all in Carmarthenshire as an open and honest assessment of the worrying culture which has engulfed the council. It is a vindication of the independent free press we have in Carmarthenshire which has rightly held the local authority to account.
"The county council has had the same councillors at the helm of the council for the best part of a decade. It is a lack of political leadership, and certain over-bearing senior officers which have contributed significantly to the position in which the council finds itself today.
"As I said during the publication of the damning Wales Audit Office reports earlier this year, it is only with a complete political reboot and change of personnel will we be in a position to restore the good name of the county.
"Carmarthenshire, its rich heritage, history, culture and crucially, its future is more important than any one individual or any political party. The review's findings should make those at the top of county hall seriously consider whether they are the best people to move Carmarthenshire forward."
My comment on the WLGA Report
The long awaited Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) report was published yesterday, it was required following the two Wales Audit Office reports concerning the pension payment and libel indemnity scandals but covered the dire state of governance throughout the council.
As I have said, there were 39 recommendations; these are not recommendations to fill in a few more potholes - these recommendations go to the very heart of governance in Carmarthenshire.
The WLGA have, very politely, concluded that the council is a complete shambles, 'in disarray and not fit for purpose' to use the words of the lay member of the audit committee, Sir David Lewis.
The Wales Audit Office have said that they will not declare Carmarthenshire Council fit for purpose until the outcome, and the council's response to, this review.
The rationale put forward by Kevin Madge for the WLGA to carry out the review was to ensure complete independence. This has been brought into question given the way in which the review has been carried out. The WLGA describes itself as a 'critical friend' to the council and has briefed and consulted with senior council officers and group leaders (yes, including the 'independent' group, but not unaffiliated councillors) throughout the process.
I wonder just how more damning the report would have been without consultation with the perpetrators.
However, I think they have been able to sort the wheat from the chaff and, reading between the lines, have recognised, in the main, the deep rooted problems in how this council has been run.
With one eye on the requirements of the WAO, the recommendations are to be implemented within six months.
I am pleased that the report recognised that a change in culture is necessary, not just tweaking around the edges, a 'culture change programme' must be commenced as a matter of urgency.
It also recognises that the council's constitutional arrangements have been a barrier to legitimate challenge and scrutiny. There was recognition that the constitution had been used to deliberately 'deflect and diffuse debate and disagreement'.
One paragraph (3.37) makes reference to the chief executive's role in bringing the council to this dire state of affairs. Again, the wording is polite and professional but to the observant reader, the meaning is very clear.
The attitude of 'defensiveness' is also recognised and this is also mentioned in the context of whistleblowing. As a blogger I have been approached by a number of staff, in all areas of council business, who have suffered under a culture of fear and bullying. It is pleasing to note that the report recommends that this area comes under the culture change programme. Not before time.
The council's relationship with local media also comes under deserved attack and concludes that an open and transparent council, the stated aim of the review, will respect the independence of the local press and will not "suppress or censor the activity of an independent press and media".
As for scrutiny by local bloggers (paras 3.51 -3.53), the report makes it clear that with the 'significant' resources the council invests in its reputation, it has sufficient channels already available to itself to respond properly and reasonably to criticism. It now needs to learn how to use them.
The chief executive's application for severance also get's a mention and states that it will subject to independent advice. This process should not interfere with the urgent recommendations, and my own interpretation of this section is that once he's gone, members should strike whilst the iron is hot.
The Local Service Board, a 'strategic' talking shop of local service executives has been under fire for not producing a set of minutes since 2010; the report recommends that minutes are published and meetings are webcast.
Fortunately the proposals put forward by the chief executive that full council meetings should be sterile affairs with open debate replaced by endless power point presentations have been scuppered and the review states;
Our recommendations relating to Council meetings therefore have the objective of allowing the Council meeting to become an open and transparent arena for debate and challenge on the direction being taken by the Council and its Executive Board with opportunities for input from councillors, scrutiny committees and the public.
After the supplementary question fiasco at the last meeting, it is recommended, as it should be, that they should be allowed forthwith.
There is also an interesting section on Motions on Notice. You may recall that these have often been concerned with matters of public interest (eg Freedom of the press) and, to avoid airing a controversial debate in the chamber, have either been refused point blank with spurious reasoning or headed off at the pass and referred to a distant committee.
There was also the appalling amendment to the constitution, masterminded by Mr James, that seven seconders were required for each motion rather than the usual one.
The recommendations are that;
The revised constitution should relax the requirement for signatories for Motions on Notice e.g. proposer and seconder. The constitution could include a safeguard such as numbers of Motions per councillor per meeting/per year.
The revised constitution should not include the reference to allow Motions to be referred to another committee/Executive Board.
In another rather telling paragraph the review team were told that members of the public in the gallery have their details taken for 'fire safety' purposes. Those who remember the lengthy 'undertaking' farce after the #daftarrest episode will recognise this as utter nonsense. I don't think the review team were taken in either.
The recommendations with regards to public participation are to be welcomed, and hopefully welcomed by the council.
They are;
Promote the opportunity available to members of the public to table questions at Council Meetings
Have a standard item on the agenda for public questions even if none are tabled
Table all public petitions on the Council meeting agenda
Include a dedicated online petition page on its website
Review its approach to monitoring attendance in the Public Gallery in the Council Chamber
Consider allowing the public filming of council meetings.
Many submissions highlighted the undue influence exerted by the chief executive on the Chair of council. The review team have remained polite over this but have recommended extra training for chairs, presumably so they can hold their own against such influence and shin-kicking. The 'influence' should be going soon anyway.
It is also recommended that Minutes contain more detail, that they include both sides of an argument, not just the council spin. For accuracy, consideration should be given to audio record all meetings. Again this is a polite way of saying that currently the minutes are sometimes misleading.
Interestingly the report recommends that Executive Board meetings are webcast. It also expresses surprise that ordinary backbench councillors, who are present at Exec Board meetings are thrown out when exempt reports are discussed and neither are any non-executive members given copies of exempt reports.
Not only does this practice inhibit the ability of ordinary councillors to scrutinise decisions, It was partly this practice which led to the two public interest reports. Some interviewees, the ususal suspects, were worried that some councillors might divulge details of these reports to the world at large. The review panel reminded them that code of conduct rules already regulate against this.
I'm also pleased that the report suggests a pilot exercise to publish all spending details - this is something I've been calling for for a number of years. Similarly, the report recommends that the Register of Members' Interests is published online, instead of being locked away and viewed under exam conditions with an invigilator.
Further recommendations include giving ordinary councillors the opportunity to ask questions at executive board meetings and allowing them to be present at Executive Board Member Decision meetings. The recent revelations concerning 'Meryl's Millions' is mentioned and indicates that the WAO have made it's own recommendations for improvement.
Another recommendation was that Executive Board members should only attend Scrutiny meetings when invited to do so. Their continual lurking presence is seen by many councillors as a way of exerting influence, "big brother" style.
Similarly, Carmarthenshire's procedure for call-ins (a key back-up power for scrutiny members to examine executive decisions) was recognised as being, unsurprisingly, unduly restrictive. Not only do they have a mere three days to propose a call-in, but access to executive reports is restricted and the number of signatories required means that any call-in is dependant on the unlikely support of members of the ruling administration.
This needs to be reviewed.
The report also states that a public question time slot should be included at Scrutiny meetings.
I urge you to read the whole report. There are a few areas which fall short, such as the findings on the Business Management Group and the preliminary meetings of the executive board, but on the whole, and as the Plaid press release states, it recognises the toxic culture.
Incidentally I made a 10,000 word submission to the review team and many of my suggestions have been included. Also included are many of the issues I have highlighted on this blog over the past five years....I always knew there was something wrong...
Ii is now up to the councillors to ensure these recommendations are followed through. I believe this process will be eased by the departure of Mark James. There is no question that it is he who has deliberately sought to reduce democracy in the county; sought to control and silence the local press, councillors, staff and the critical public, and who was willing to compromise the Freedom of Information Act and due legal process.
Many of these proud achievements of Mr James CBE have been polished with the veneer of democratic agreement. The ruling junta has been cultivated and preserved, the ever ready cash cow moving seamlessly from the ever loyal Meryl to the embarrassingly weak Kevin Madge.
For the past few years the compliant head of law, Linda Rees Jones has been at Mr James elbow to give the gloss to his legal and constitutional whims and the press manager has acted like a cold war spy reporting overheard conversations and critical articles in a manner most dictators would have been proud of.
By removing a rotten apple doesn't mean the barrel won't still fester. With the next local election not until 2017 we're going to have to wait a while to express our opinions towards those elected members who have been complicit in bringing the council into such disrepute.
This report, which certainly goes some way, if politely, in spelling out what needs to be done, will be discussed at next week's council meeting, be sure to tune in. You will be able to watch the council spin machine in action...
Whatever which way you look at it, thirty nine recommendations, many of which call for a direct reversal of amendments dropped into the constitution by Mr James CBE and his crew over the past few years, is nothing to be proud of.
On that note, please sign the petition.
Update 5th November;
The Western Mail has reported on the WLGA review here; Damning report into Carmarthenshire council finds balance of power has become 'disjointed'
and the Carmarthen Journal here; 'Carmarthenshire Council 'widely perceived to be officer led', according to report'.
Should be an interesting full council meeting next week....
Further analysis of the report, the background and the possible implications for the future can be read over on;
Cneifiwr's blog; Unprecedented upheaval and in disarray,
Oggy Bloggy Ogwr; Carmarthenshire - The rot laid bare
and Pat Racher's West Wales News blog.
Jacquie, you have been vindicated. All the things you have blogged about over the last few years are things that the report highlights. However, it is a crying shame that it has cost you £30,000 plus, and years of stress, to be proved totally right.
Wow! These recommendations really lift the veil on the anti-democratic manipulation of Council meetings that Mr James has spent years achieving. Now that the emperor has been revealed to have no clothes, his cynical and self-serving abuse of power justifies his being booted out, not rewarded.
Tessa said...
Two things that surprise me here. One is that things have been allowed to get so very awful, over some 10 years or so. The other is that the problems are finally being recognised by those bodies who exist / have been commissioned to monitor and report on bad practise so as to prevent it. The bulk of the work done to raise awareness and to address the shocking state of our council has been done by those not only unpaid, but also who have stood to lose, and indeed have lost, so much (Jacqui and the whistleblowers). Morally it is these people who should be remunerated and receive the severance settlement that seems to be, unbelievably, being considered as a golden goodbye.
MuppetMan said...
I wonder if, under the circumstances and in light of the findings, dropping all claims against Jacqui might be made a condition of any severance deal. Such a move might serve as an indication that people genuinely accept the errors that have been made in the past...
Also, since Mr James is widely suspected to have already got himself another role to walk into, why are we even considering a severance payment? I thought the intent of such schemes was to provide an incentive to get people to voluntarily leave post so as a post can be made redundant.
This guy is going anyway, so why lo we need the incentive?
You have most certainly been vindicated Jacqui - a good read for Judge Tugendhat who in my view got it all so wrong.
The most telling thing for me here is the role of the Labour Party in all this.
They have been the most useless lot imaginable - Consider how they have behaved. They have allowed themselves to be used and abused over the years by a Conservative group masquerading as independents and have just rolled over at every turn.
They have supported (unlawfully as it turns out) one of the wealthiest blokes in the county while our own people suffer cuts after cuts.
Mr Madge has been completely out of his depth - he should compare himself with the Labour bloke in Pembs who has earned many plaudits for standing up for the common people against the unlawful payments to the CE.
The prospective candidate for carms - Callum, has not covered himself with glory. He could have made a real name for himself but instead went along with things.
How a democratic organisation can ignore the biggest group in the county also stinks - Politics demands that they be included.
It is now time to re-boot the governance of the council but also the politics. There must be inclusivity which means forming a coalition with Plaid.
I am not a Plaid supporter but a Labour/Plaid coalition at the moment sounds quite appealing.
To the labour Party in Llanelli I would say this - Find your backbone - remember your roots. Llanelli was and still is a proud town and needs socialism more now than ever. Consider how your recent moribund performance would be viewed by your forebears.
For god sake stir things up a bit !!
Anonymous 09:49 makes a number of really good points. Councillors have really taken their eye off the ball, but Labour members in particular have really failed the people of Carmarthenshire. It is a fact of life that no-one likes criticism. Mr James's assurances that his politburo style of running Council meetings had a superficial attractiveness, saving lots of time, and avoiding having to deal with awkward pesky questions that might upset the smooth running of the officer-led authority. But Labour members have all signed up to a constitution which has as one of its values an open democracy, in which government is held to account by the people (Clause IV, 2C of the Labour Party rules). Kevin Madge has shown feeble leadership and has allowed lamentable governance to damage the reputation of the Council. The Labour members who went along with him should be ashamed. Jacqui should receive a standing ovation next time she manages to overcome the obstacles placed in front of those wishing to stand in the public gallery - thoroughly vindicated.
"Overall Whistleblowing arrangement are good ..." How insulting to EX employees who were persecuted for doing just that ...WHISTLEBLOWING.
Hear, hear Tessa!
Be afraid, people, be very afraid:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2823752/Axed-Harrow-council-cheif-executive-given-big-money-payout-pension-rehired-months-later.html
Just to repeat what everybody else says, which I normally don't bother doing, but in this case Jacqui, I don't think we can repeat it often enough that you were right and you said all this ages ago! Well done for persevering and hopefully this is the beginning of something truly good for all of us...
Thanks for all the comments and especially the words of support.
As for the report, we'll have to wait and see just how committed County Hall will be to seeing it through. As the report says, in that respect, there is an overall sense of cynicism. I assume it will be on the agenda for next week's meeting so we may get an idea.
I also understand that a pre-meeting gathering of a select few was held today, presumably to devise a tactical approach...
@Redhead with regards to the link to the story of the re-hired chief executive...don't even joke about it!
I wish it was a joke!
Knowing the tone and the understated (very British) way in which these WLGA reports are written, findings of this report could not get any worse.
If things run true to form in a few years, when the old guard of the council have gone, Jacqui Thompson will be presented with a democratic award by the then democratic officer and the chair of the Council in the very chamber in which she was arrested.
Hopefully by this time she herself will be a Councillor.
Wavell said...
A high percentage of the CCC mess has been caused by the Councillors "them and us" attitude when making any decisions.
Until such time that they start making more democratic and true decisions the mess will most certainly continue, irrespective of whether Mr.James has gone or not.
Cars, bins and mergers - news in brief
Those 'allowable expenses' were 'allowable'! Fancy...
A question of costs
More of Meryl's meetings
News round up; Leighton looks west....and council ...
Further coverage - Respecting the press
November Council Meeting - updated
Unison statement on Mark James' pay off
Next week's meeting...and a council by-election
Western Mail reports on the petition to block Mark...
WLGA Governance Review final report - Carmarthensh...


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text:
فارسی عربي Shqip Thursday, Jan 21, 2021
habilian
Iran slams designation of Cuba as state sponsor of terrorism
Dumping of Trump to Leave Thugs Stumped
MKO claims responsibility for assassination of Basij's head in Ramsar
Trump Branded as 'Domestic Terrorist of 21st Century'
Meet the Terrorism Supporter vying for House foreign affairs leadership
Iran has a clear track record against al-Qaeda terrorism: FM
A Year Ago, the U.S. Assassinated a National Leader
MKO claims responsibility for eleven terrorist attacks in a single week
Who is the link between the Mek and the Zionists in Canada?
Rising Tensions between the MeK and Manëz Citizens
Lobbyists of Terror
Terror Victims
A List of 17000 terror victims in Iran
A shady Facebook campaign is stoking the Iran-U.S. conflict
Written by Daily Beast
The Facebook pages appear to be a part of a larger effort to sway U.S. opinion on policy toward Iran.
As U.S. policymakers weigh responses to increasing Iranian aggression in the Persian Gulf, a German national based in a small neighborhood of northwest London is quietly financing an ad campaign designed to stoke a more forceful U.S. policy toward Tehran.
The person behind the campaign, pushed in part under the guise of independent news and analysis, is Soheila Aligholi Mayelzadeh, who's previously identified herself as a lobbyist for the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a leading opposition group in the country. Since March, a company owned by Mayelzadeh has bought dozens of Facebook ads targeted at users in the United States promoting a more aggressive confrontation with Iran.
Those paid ads have run on two Facebook pages. One is the official page of the People's Mujahedin of Iran, a militant Marxist opposition group in the country with deep ties to the NCRI, and commonly known by its Farsi acronym, MEK. The other is the page of an ostensibly independent news organization called Iran Focus.
The previously unreported advertising campaign shows how some leading opponents of the present Iranian government are attempting to capitalize on U.S. momentum for a more aggressive policy toward Iran. And it reveals efforts to present that lobbying campaign not as the work of an organized political bloc but as supposedly independent foreign policy analysis.
Both Iran and Iraq consider the MEK a terrorist group. It was previously designated as such by the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Union, all of which have since removed the group from their respective lists of foreign terrorist organizations. The U.S. did so in September 2012.
Since then, the MEK has won some critical U.S. allies in its push for regime change in Iran, most notably John Bolton, President Donald Trump's national security adviser. "There is a viable opposition to the rule of the ayatollahs," Bolton told an annual MEK gathering in Paris in 2017. "And that opposition is centered in this room today."
Bolton is currently one of the leading advocates in the Trump administration for a more aggressive confrontation with Iran, putting him squarely in line with the immediate U.S. policy objectives of the MEK and the NCRI, widely considered to be the MEK's de facto political arm. The NCRI has pressed its case with other Trumpworld figures as well, according to foreign agent filings with the Justice Department, including Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich.
The Facebook pages for the MEK and Iran Focus appear to be a part of that larger effort to sway U.S. opinions on policy toward Iran.
Both pages began running ads on the same day in late March, according to Facebook's archive of political ads. They've run dozens of ads since then, and while neither page is hugely popular—fewer than 4,000 "likes" between them—and the sums spent on those ads have been relatively small, about $7,500 total, they've managed to reach between 500,000 and 1.4 million U.S. Facebook users over the last two months.
All of the money for those ads, according to Facebook's archive, has come from a single company called All for Freedom. The London-based company's website says it "work[s] with charities and non-profit organisations to help them with events management and other services for them to achieve their charitable and humanitarian activities and goals."
Corporate records in the U.K. list Mayelzadeh, a German national, as All for Freedom's only officer. And she has ties to the NCRI going back decades. In 1995, Mayelzadeh donated to the campaign of former Rep. Jim Traficant (D-OH). She listed an address in the Virginia suburbs of DC, and her occupation as a "lobbyest" [sic] for the National Council of Resistance.
Attempts to reach Mayelzadeh were not successful. An email sent to the address listed on All for Freedom's website was not returned.
The majority of the Facebook ads that the company has financed have simply promoted the pages and websites of the MEK and Iran Focus, all of which take a hard line on U.S. policy towards Tehran. Some ads, though, promote specific bits of content that advance the Iranian opposition's views on the matter.
One recent ad on the MEK page recapped a NCRI press conference in early May and subsequent coverage of the event by the Washington Times. At the press conference, a top NCRI official called on the U.S. to designate Iran's intelligence service as a foreign terrorist organization and generally to "take a firmer stance against the bloody and violent Iranian regime."
The event also got a positive write-up in Iran Focus, which describes itself as "an independent non-profit news service provider that focuses on events in Iran, Iraq and the Middle East with a network of specialists."
Its coverage of late has leaned heavily on the U.S. to step up a military confrontation with the Iranian government. "Iran seems to understand only the language, the language of force," one recent piece declared. "They speak the universal language of bullies. And we all know what happens when you stand up to a bully… they back down." Another piece last week said the Iranian government has "benefited from impunity for far too long and it must face the consequences. Whatever they may be."
The website appears to be less independent than it claims. It's favorably covered the MEK and NCRI for years, but it appears to have some overt ties as well. According to domain registration data, the Iran Focus website was maintained by Mohammad Hanif Jazayeri, whom the NCRI website identifies as a spokesperson, until at least 2015, when the site anonymized that registration information.
Neither Iran Focus nor Jazayeri responded to questions about the news outlet's relationship with the NCRI and MEK.
The latter is renowned for its foreign media, propaganda, and lobbying capabilities. Stolen U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks show State Department staff repeatedly marveling at the MEK's ability to promote its message abroad. One cable remarked on the group's "extremely sophisticated international media and lobbying apparatus."
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Assassination of Iranian authorities based on colonial wars pattern
Iran vanguard of fight against terrorism: Russian FM spox.
MNA
The Champion of Fight Against Terrorism
Albanian Journalists interrogated by MEK
Afghan political party leader decries General Soleimani's assassination "blatant violation of international law"
Iran Accuses U.K.'s G4S of Role in Gen. Soleimani Assassination
A Brief History of the MeK's Activities between 1971 and 1975 (Part One)
Medicine embargo on Iran example of terrorism
A Brief History of the MeK's Activities between 1971 and 1975 (Part Two)
Gen. Soleimani assassination flagrant violation of int'l law
Copyright © 2005-2016 Habilian Association
Americans describe the MeK

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
The Meta Taylor Rule
Lee, Kevin and Morley, James and Shields, Kalvinder (2015) The Meta Taylor Rule. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 47. pp. 73-98. ISSN 0022-2879
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jmcb.12169
We characterize U.S. monetary policy within a generalized Taylor rule framework that accommodates uncertainties about the duration of policy regimes and the specification of the rule, in addition to the standard parameter and stochastic uncertainties inherent in traditional Taylor rule analysis. Our approach involves estimation and inference based on Taylor rules obtained through standard linear regression methods, but combined using Bayesian model averaging techniques. Employing data that were available in real time, the estimated version of the "meta" Taylor rule provides a flexible but compelling characterization of monetary policy in the United States over the last 40 years.
Journal of Money, Credit and Banking
Lancaster University Management School > Economics


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A serious threat to public health
E. coli O157:H7 is one kind of bacteria you don't want in your food.
The strain is one of seven types of E. coli that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has banned in meat and other food products. All seven produce a toxin that has been linked to outbreaks of diarrhea, damaged red blood cells and sometimes kidney failure in people in the U.S. and around the world.
It is up to scientists like Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers Harshini Mukundan and Alina Deshpande to devise tests that can distinguish between the good and the deadly forms of E. coli (full story).
Also from the New Mexican this week:
Buckman alert system to stop storm runoff fromentering city water supply
While Northern New Mexico awaits the arrival of another summer monsoon season, managers of a river diversion project on the Rio Grande are confident an early warning system will prevent any storm water flowing past old Los Alamos National Laboratory waste sites from entering Santa Fe's drinking water supply.
The system automatically shuts down the Buckman DirectDiversion on the river when flows in Los Alamos Canyon and Pueblo Canyon reach a certain level (full story).
Los Alamos National Lab celebrates 1,000th transuranic waste shipment
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), which is operated by a team led by Bechtel and the University of California, has made its 1,000th shipment of transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a permanent repository near Carlsbad, N.M. This is a major environmental milestone for the communities of New Mexico.
LANL has sent record numbers of shipments to WIPP each of the past three years. Since October 2011, the beginning of fiscal year 2012, LANL has sent 147 shipments to WIPP and is on track to surpass the 171-shipment record set for fiscal year 2011 (full story).
Las Conchas fire one year later
While speaking at Los Alamos National Lab Tuesday, Governor Susana Martinez credited firefighters for protecting Los Alamos. No homes were lost around the city.
"So whenever you see a firefighter I'm going to ask you, if you don't mind, turning to them and thanking for them for all theirhard work," Martinez said (full story).
Gov. applauds removal of waste
Last year's Las Conchas Fire — at the time the largest recorded wildfire in the state's history — burned more than 156,000 acres and destroyed 63 homes and 49 other buildings near Los Alamos.
It also sparked increased efforts by Los Alamos National Laboratory, federal agencies and the state to eliminate radioactive waste stored above ground on LANL property.
On Tuesday — exactly a year after the fire started when a tree in the Jemez Mountains fell across a power line — Gov. Susana Martinez visited the lab to commemorate the 1,000th shipment of transuranic waste from LANL (full story).
LANL removing radioactive waste
On the one-year anniversary of the Las Conchas fire, Los Alamos National Laboratory announced it's moving along with its plan to remove radioactive waste from its dump site.
Fear ignited last summer when Las Conchas flames were less than four miles away from the waste. On Tuesday, the 1,014th shipment left the lab to be stored at WIPP in Carlsbad.
"We have a plan and we are moving forward with that plan. In fact, we are ahead of schedule," lab director Charles McMillan said (full story).
LANL celebrates 1,000th TRU waste shipment to WIPP
Gov. Susana Martinez was in attendance Tuesday but there was another governor that was just as thrilled to commemorate the 1,000th shipment of transuranic (TWU) waste from the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
San Ildefonso Governor Terry Aguilar, whose pueblo borders the lab, had the distinction of being on hand for the first shipment back in 1999 (full story).
Also from the Monitor this week:
Tech innovations pull down more 'R&D 100′ recognitions
Technology innovations at Los Alamos National Laboratory have been recognized with three of R&D Magazine's 2012 "R&D 100" awards.
"These awards demonstrate the continued success of Los Alamos researchers and partners in defining the frontiers of innovation across a wide range of national security science," LANL Director Charlie McMillan said (full story).
Sifting through a trillion electrons
Modern research tools like supercomputers, particle colliders, and telescopes are generating so much data, so quickly, many scientists fear that soon they will not be able to keep upwith the deluge.
Berkeley Lab's Computational Research Division teamed up with researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory and others to develop novel software strategies for storing, mining, and analyzing massive datasets (full story).
LANS donates to over 230 nonprofits
LANS contributions are determined by the number of volunteer hours logged by LANL employees and retirees through an organization called VolunteerMatch.
"The genuine care and commitment Laboratory employees and retirees have for their communities are clearly demonstrated by the number of hours volunteered to these nonprofit organizations," said Kurt Steinhaus, director of the Community Programs Office (full story).
Los Alamos offers a model for how to charge for cloud services
One way might be to embrace user diversity and focus on how they conduct business. At least, that is how theEnergy Department's Los Alamos National Laboratory approached chargeback (full story).
To subscribe to Los Alamos Report, please send an email and include the words "subscribe losalamosreport" in the body of your email message; to unscubscribe, include "unsubscribe losalamosreport".
and follow us on Twitter, Flickr and YouTube!
LANL hosts robot rodeo for police agencies
Click on the picture to see the video
A robot rodeo might sound like a good time, but several New Mexico law enforcement agencies used the event hosted by Los Alamos National Labs for serious training. "It's easier to replace a robot than it is to replace an arm or a leg on a human," said Chris Ory of LANL' hazardous devices team. Eight law enforcement agencies from across the state were set up in a meth lab scenario where something goes wrong. (Full Story)
Also from KOB-TV this week:
Los Alamos exhibit showcases first hand accounts from wildfire survivors
People from Los Alamos and anywhere else now have a chance to be showcased in a museum.
It's a new wildfire exhibit at the Los Alamos National Laboratory's Bradbury Science Museum.
Museum director Linda Deck is one of the first people you'll see on exhibit recounting her personal account of the Las Conchas fire which caused the complete evacuation of Los Alamos in June 2011. (Full Story)
Bomb-squad teams square off in Robot Rodeo's sandwich-making competition
A robot attempts to pour Gatorade at the 2012 Robot Rodeo. New Mexican photo.
On Tuesday, on a remote section of lab property, eight bomb-squad teams (including one from the New Jersey State Police) began competing against each other in the sixth annual Western National Robot Rodeo at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Their tasks in the three-day event range from the whimsical to the very practical and serious. Each scenario is 1 1/2 hours, and there are 12 scheduled. (Full Story)
Also from the Santa Fe New Mexican this week:
LANL Foundation grants $2.1M to schools
The Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation has announced $2.1 million in grants to public schools in seven Northern New Mexico counties to teach science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The educational effort, known as STEM, promotes teacher training, curriculum development, technology in the classroom and support to students to prepare them for science- and math-related careers. (Full Story)
LANL bestows funds on HydroBio, Vapour Organic Beauty, Integrative Enzymatics
Three small New Mexico companies have received a total of $195,000 in funding from a Los Alamos National Laboratory program that helps start ups get traction in the marketplace.
The money comes from the Venture Acceleration Fund (VAF) from Los Alamos National Security LLC which provides $1 million in annual funding to small businesses in northern New Mexico. (Full Story)
Newest Los Alamos Facility Receives LEED® Gold Certification
The LEED Gold building at LANL. LANL photo.
Los Alamos National Laboratory's newest facility, the Radiological Laboratory Utility Office Building (RLUOB), is also its first to achieve both the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) status and LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
From its robust design to its advanced scientific equipment, RLUOB is essential to the Laboratory's national security mission in support of the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) nuclear weapons program. (Full Story)
RLUOB first building at lab to receive distinction
The RLUOB mass spectrometry lab. LANL photo.
At more than 200,000 square feet, this building is the only radiological facility within the Department of Energy to have attained LEED Gold, which contributes to NNSA's achievement toward the high performance sustainable building goals outlined in Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance. (Full Story)
And follow us on Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr
Study finds new evidence supporting impact theory
An 18-member international team of researchers that includes Robert E. Hermes of Los Alamos National Laboratory has discovered melt-glass material in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Syria, and is the result of a cosmic body impacting Earth.
"The melt material also matches melt-glass produced by the Trinity nuclear airburst of 1945 in Socorro, New Mexico," he continued. "The extreme temperatures required are equal to those of an atomic bomb blast, high enough to make sand melt and boil." (full story)
Got mass? Princeton scientists observe electrons become both heavy and speedy
The Princeton-led team, which included scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the University of California-Irvine, used direct imaging of electron waves in acrystal.
The researchers did so not only to watch the electrons gain mass but also to show that the heavy electrons are actually composite objects made of two entangled forms of the electron (full story).
New tech at Y-12 could save millions of dollars
The process is called Nondestructive Laser Gas Sampling (NDLGS) and is capable of assessing the internal gas constituents of hazardous components in a nondestructive manner. NDLGS demonstrated first use on a W76 Retrofit Evaluation System Test unit on May 3.
The new system, which is deployed at NNSA's Y-12 facility, was made possible through collaboration among scientists and engineers from Los Alamos National Laboratory, Y-12 and the Pantex Plant (full story).
LANS, LLC gives foundation $250K for scholarships
Los Alamos National Security, LLC through its employee gift-match program, has given $250,000 to the Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation to award scholarships to help students in seven counties pursue a higher education (full story).
LANL building achieves LEED Gold certification
Los Alamos National Laboratory's newest building, the Radiological Laboratory Utility Office Building, is its first to achieve both the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design status and LEED Gold certification from the U.S. GreenBuilding Council.
The 200,000 square foot building contains laboratories for analytical chemistry of special nuclear material, along with offices, training and emergency operations (full story).
Los Alamos exhibit captures wildfire stories
The Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos will host an opening reception Wednesday for its new exhibit, Living With Wildfire: Share Your Stories.
The exhibit opens nearly a year after the Las Conchas Fire, which started June 26, 2011, and burned a large area of the Jemez Mountains (full story).
Energy agency builds its own social network
The Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration is utilizing cloud-based social networking tools to allow the NNSA's workforce to collaborate and work from any device, at any time.
Created at LANL, the cloud broker platform takes server automation to the next level by allowing researchers or scientists to log on and provision a virtual server in 30 minutes as opposed to 30 days, said LANL's Anil Karmel (full story).
And don't forget to follow us on Twitter, YouTube and Flickr!
Computer simulations of hurricane lightning could be the key to predicting and avoiding the storms' real-world punch
Time evolution of the primary convective activity (white) and lightning (red dots) for Hurricane Rita. LANL image.
Jon Reisner, a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, is building the biggest, meanest hurricane model he can, one that grows over the sea from a relatively weak category 1 to a crushing, city-swamping category 5 by the time it makes landfall. He wants everything a hurricane has to offer, from violent, convective updrafts that turn vast quantities of tropical water vapor into ice, to the massive vortex's swirling eye wall. (Full Story)
Northern lights process like untangling twisted strands of spaghetti?
Diffuse gas—called plasma—flows outward from the sun asthe "solar wind." NASA image.
Jack Scudder, UI professor of physics and astronomy, and his colleagues – including Los Alamos National Laboratory's Bill Daughton – have reached a milestone in describing how the northern lights work by way of a process called "magnetic reconnection." (Full Story)
See a video about magnetic reconnection research by Bill Daughton at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Also from Science Daily this week:
Precise measurement of radiation damage on materials
Model of the electronic wake (blue surfaces) generated byan energetic proton (red sphere) traveling in an aluminum crystal (yellow spheres). LLNL image.
LLNL's Alfredo Correa along with colleagues Alfredo Caro from Los Alamos National Laboratory, Jorge Kohanofffrom the UK and Emilio Artacho and Daniel Sánchez-Portal from Spain, have directly simulated this quantum friction of the electrons in a real material for the very first time. (Full Story)
LANL raises bar with May shipments
More transuranic waste heads for WIPP. LANL image.
Los Alamos National Laboratory's Transuranic Waste Program is looking at another record-setting month for the amount of TRU waste leaving Area G, and headed off the hill to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for permanent disposal. LANL exceeded its planned removal of TRU waste from Area G in April, shipping more than 91 cubic meters of waste to WIPP — more than the lab has ever shipped there in a single month. (Full Story)
New Mexico Small Business Assistance program recognized by U.S. Department of Commerce
The New Mexico Small Business Assistance (NMSBA) program, a collaboration of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Sandia National Laboratories and the state of New Mexico, received the 2012 Manufacturing Advocate of the Year award from the Manufacturing Extension Partnership under the U.S. Department of Commerce. (Full Story)
A serious threat to public health E. coli O157:...
LANL hosts robot rodeo for police agencies Clic...
Study finds new evidence supporting impact theory ...
Computer simulations of hurricane lightning could...
Saturday Chat: Manvendra Dubey If climate change ...


Well done Year 5 for your effort in producing these amazing projects!!
Well done to all the children for their efforts at raising money!!
The Legacy of Greek Democracy was in full flow in year 5 this afternoon! Not only that, but we 'ate like gods too'!
Dance Mat Typing Learn how to type the fun way!


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Home / Itineraries / Thailand Itineraries / Adventures in Thailand and Cambodia
Adventures in Thailand and Cambodia
Tripotohttps://www.tripoto.com/
By Gaurang Garg
Khao San Road Phra Nakhon Thailand
HotelsMap
The first destination on my list was the famed Khao San road in Bangkok. This is supposed to be the Mecca for backpackers worldwide. My flight landed late evening in Bangkok, so by the time I reached my hostel at Khao San Road, it was almost midnight. Suvarnabhumi Airport has shuttles running to Khao San road every hour or so. They are the cheapest way to commute and cost about 150 baht.
I stayed at Napark Hostel at Khao San. This was not on Khao San road (even though its called Napark at Khao San) but a couple of streets away from it. That being said, Khao San road was still easily accessible on foot.
The hostel was really cosy and clean. It had massive dorms with place for twenty two people or so. The only drawback to this hostel was that they had an inadequate bathroom area for so many people. Also the cost per night was towards the expensive side compares to other hostels in Bangkok (USD 11.5).
Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Pra Kaeow) Phra Borom Maha Ratchawang Bangkok Thailand
The Khao San area is great for one or two days but I would recommend not staying here for longer. There are other better areas like Siam Square and Sukhumvit in Bangkok. Long gone are the days when Khao San road was the only place with cheap accommodation in Bangkok. Stay here for a couple of nights for the experience and then move out to other modern areas. While you are here, you can visit the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Pho, Wat Arun. All these are walking distance from Khao San road. At night, you can enjoy the vibrant nightlife of Khao San road with its bars playing live music and cheap good street food available everywhere.
I flew over to Phuket late at night from Don Mueang Airport. This is the domestic airport from which low budget carriers like Air Asia operate. Don Mueang is in the opposite direction to Suvarnabhumi Airport.
One of the mistakes I made was getting a late night flight because all shuttles from Khao San to the airport stop at 4pm. After that you need to get a taxi to the airport and it's very expensive due to a lot of toll tax along the way (total cost about 450 Baht). Also make sure you book your luggage online while booking your ticket. On Air Asia flights you do not get any check-in luggage allowance on the cheaper fares. If you book extra luggage online, it will cost you about three hundred Baht. On the other hand, if you do the same thing when you show up at the airport, you will have to pay over a thousand baht.
It is a short one hour fifteen minute flight to Phuket. The airport at Phuket is quite far away from the main Patong beach area, but you have cheap shuttles available until late night.
Thanon Bangla Patong Phuket Thailand
I stayed at Bodega Hostel which is very close to the famous Bangla Road. This is probably the best hostel I stayed at in Thailand, in terms of the complete package i.e. atmosphere, great dorms and friendly staff. I stayed in the right person mixed dorms and it was a wonderful experience. I met a lot of people from all across the globe and the entire vibe about the place was really friendly. Every evening we would start with a few drinking games followed by a bar crawl in which we would go to a few bars on Bangla Road.
I would highly reccomend staying here. I am sure Dan, Ben and Jake (the owners/staff) will make you have a great time.
I had booked my scuba diving with Aussie Divers in Phuket. I had already completed my Open water certification in Goa and opted to go in for the Advance open water in Phuket. It cost me 12500 Baht in total, out of which I had to pay 4000 Baht as advance vis PayPal. I thought this was a little towards the expensive side, so I would advise that you check with a few other dive shops like Sunrise divers before booking.
Patong Beach Patong Phuket Thailand
My first day diving began with an 8am pickup at my hostel in Patong Beach. This was followed by a forty five minute drive to the pier. Here I was introduced to my instructor (Bryan) and two other Americans who were doing the course along with me. I was much less experienced (four dives) than the two other guys, who had over a hundred dives logged.
Phi Phi Islands Ao Nang Krabi Thailand
We hopped on to a dive boat and set off towards our dive destination for the day, Phi Phi islands. The journey was about two hours one way. The dive boat had space for approximately 25 people. This included divers from various other dive shops in Phuket. The dive boat was adequately equipped with all the dive equipment. We were also served breakfast enroute to our first dive spot.
Our first dive spot was Turtle Bay. As you can already guess by the name, this spot is famous for sea turtles along with occasional Black tip reef sharks. The depth was approximately nineteen Metres and the visibility was a good twenty Metres or more. This was a practice dive for our group since Bryan had to what our current level was. We were lucky enough to see loads of fish and three sea turtles as well. Some of the other groups saw a black tip reef shark as well. Apparently, while I was communicating with a friend from another group, a black tip whizzed past me. The shark disappeared within a few seconds. Sadly, I wasn't able to catch a glimpse of one. Nevertheless, it was an adrenaline rush knowing that they were in the water with you. Probably, the sharks know exactly where you were but you had no clue about where they were. This thought scared the shit out of me :p
Koh Bidang Koh Chang Tai Trat Thailand
The second dive spot was known as Koh Bida Nok. This site is known for massive schools of yellow snappers. Our dive instructor told us that on certain days, these fish would form a shoal of thousands. There would be a joke amongst divers that the visibility in this area was really bad because when you would swim through a shoal, you would not be able to see a thing. That's how many fishes you could see on a good day. We were supposed to be doing our navigation dive over here. On the day we were diving, the visibility was bad (3-4 metres) and the currents were really strong. This was the perfect environment to do compass navigation, something I really dread. It was a nightmare to navigate in such bad visibility because you would not see a thing anywhere over three metres away. Personally, I never understood how a compass works and would always get lost. Getting lost in such bad visibility was a scary experience. Even though we say a lot of fish, this dive was by far the worst for me because I really messed up with the navigation drill.
Maya Bay
Before we went over to our third dive spot, shark point, we were served lunch onboard. The boad stopped right opposite Maya Bay (if you guys remember the movie "The Beach." This was the little paradise in that movie) For food we were served, Thai curry and Pad Thai cooked fresh on the board while we were doing our second dive. Also, this break was important because it helps eliminate the excess body nitrogen that we generate while diving.
Shark Point was an hour and a half away, on the way back to Phuket. We chilled on the boat on the way back to our third dive spot. Shark point is famous for the docile leopard sharks that can be seen resting on the sand bed. Also, there had been a whale shark sighting here a few days back (exciting stuff). We were going to do a drift dive over here. The basic thing about drift diving is that you do not need to do any work, the current will take you along with it. So, we dove with some extra kilos and our BCD fully deflated. In diving terms, this is called a Negative entry. You do this to not expose yourself to the strong surface currents. This turned out to be a really exciting dive. The visibility was a good 15 metres and we saw so many different kinds of fish here. Unfortunately, because we were doing our drift dive, we were not able to see some of the really big stuff. One of the other groups saw two leopard sharks. Seeing the big stuff is basically down to luck. This was our last dive and soon we headed back to Phuket.
By the time I reached back to the hostel, it was 8pm. All the lads at the hostel were playing drinking games. I joined them for a game of Kings cup. This was followed by a bar crawl which I went for an hour or so.
Lunch spot overlooking Maya bay
The day started with another 8am pickup from the hostel followed by the tide to the pier. We hopped on to a different dive boat and set sail for our first dive. Some of the people on board were the same ones from the previous day. So it was good to see familiar faces around.
Our first dive spot for the day was a wreck known as king cruiser wreck. This ship sank in 1997 after hitting Anemone reef. This was supposed to be our wreck dive and was by far he best dive over the two days. The ship lay on the sea bed at a depth of over thirty metres. As a advanced open water diver, this is the deepest you can dive to. This was a wreck that you could not penetrate barring just one part, in which you can go through a doorway. Wreck penetration is a another speciality level in PADI. It is extremely dangerous if it's not done with the right technique or equipment. Most of the ship was still intact and had become home to loads of different fish. We even got to see some lion fish. On this dive, I also felt the effects of Nitrogen Narcosis which is basically a kind of narcotic effect that Nitrogen has on your body at depth. You start to feel dizzy and your vision starts to blur. To get over this, you just have to swim to shallow waters for a few seconds and then swim back down.
All in all, this was a great wreck diving experience.
Our next dive was Koh Doc Mai, which is a wall dive. Basically, in a wall dive, you have a huge nearly vertical wall on one side and open sea on the other. Most of the life is on that wall, except for the rare Manta Ray sighting in the open sea. The visibility could have been better on the day. This was supposed to be our Multi level planner dive in which you plan your dive using a dive planning computer. We got to see some good stuff here. This included shrimps, clown fish and Moray eels.
This dive was followed by lunch and then we headed over to our third dive spot, which was shark point again. I was hoping for some better luck today. Maybe we get to see a leopard shark or, even better, a whale shark. This last dive was to be our deep dive at 19 Meyers deep. Technically, we had dove deeper for the wreck dive but to be an advanced diver, you need to fulfill five different types of diving. So this was going to be our deep dive (anything over 18 metres is considered deep depth). Here we got to see a lot of great fish but the leopard shark was elusive yet again.
This was the last dive of the course and after this one, I was going to be a certified advance diver. Yayy!!
Today we got done early and I reached back to the hostel at 6pm. Rest of the day was as usual. Drinking games followed by the bar crawl. I partied it out till 3am with the fellow hostellers. The owner of the hostel, Dan, treated us to free shots at a club. All in all it was a wonderful two days in Phuket.
Phi Phi Islands
I had booked the early morning ferry to Phi Phi Don, the main island at Koh Phi Phi. The ferry from the hostel had cost me about 700 baht. This was inclusive of the pickup from the hostel to the pier and an open return ticket from Phi Phi to Phuket. I tool the 9am bus by the 11am ferry. The ferry ride was picturesque about two hours long.
Phi phi don is a small paradise island with crystal clear waters. It was on every backpackers list because of its crazy party scenes.
A small piece of advice: AVOID Maya Bay and the tour. If, at all, you need to do the tour, get a half day one. A bigger tour is not worth it.
I took the afternoon ferry back to Phuket and a subsequent, late evening flight to Bangkok
I met up with a friend of mine for this second part of the trip. We took an early flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.
Chiang Mai is a beautiful, quiet town in the northern part of Thailand. We went during the off season, so it was much quieter than we had expected. Places shut down by 12 pm. Chilling at the hostel and seeing temples spread out across town were our best bets.
We had earlier planned on staying at chiang mai for a couple of nights and then go to Pai (which is another small hill station), but we decided against that. It was probably the wrong season for the Northern part of Thailand. The numerous rivers and waterfalls around Chiang Mai and Pai were running dry with very low water levels (dry season).
We chilled at the hostel with a bunch of other travellers and enjoyed the food. I would advise everyone to try Northern Thai food. It is very different to the normal Thai that we are all used to (only for Non vegetarians though). BEWARE: Dont even mention spicy ;)
We booked an early morning elephant and rafting tour. It was nothing spectacular for us. We had pretty much done most of the stuff back home in India. The elephant ride part of the tour was fairly straightforward while the rafting part was horrendous. With the waters running so low, there was barely any rafting that we could do. The entire time we were stuck in between the exposed rocks trying to move ahead. Overall the tour was a bad experience.
Krong Siem Reap
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Aditi Gupta
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Car accidents are incredibly common, which is why it is the legal necessity for every driver to have car insurance coverage. However, in the event that the driver who hit you is not insured, the urgency of the situation drastically increases. In these instances, your own insurance company will be held responsible in paying for any and all expenses incurred--if and only if you have obtained uninsured motorist coverage, also known as UIM.
Following this kind of accident, the first step to take in your course of action is to notify your car insurance company to learn how your coverage can apply to what has occurred. It is essential you do this as soon as possible, as some policies require these claims be filed within a very specific, and often shortened, time frame. Though these kinds of claims take longer to resolve as there is a lack of responsive information from the guilty party's side, fighting to have your costs completely covered is more than worth it.
At Kempton & Russell, we know how stressful it can be to be in a car accident, and the pressure only increases if the driver is uninsured. This is why it is vital you enlist in the help of our Sedalia personal injury attorneys, who will do everything in our power to fight for your rights. We will fight tooth and nail to ensure your damages are paid for, injuries are covered, and medical bills are taken care of--allow us to advocate on your behalf.
Schedule an initial consultation with someone from our team by calling (660) 722-4115.


In accordance with its annual tradition, Pakistan Railways has completed arrangements for a "Special Azadi Train" this year as well.
The Azadi train will embark on its journey just two days prior to 14th August. It will be traveling on a special route as part of its voyage all across Pakistan.
Officials from Pakistan Railways have confirmed this schedule. The Special Azadi Train will run throughout the country on the auspicious occasion of the 70th Independence Day.
Officials also stated that the train intends to focus on different phases of the Pakistan Movement. It will also focus on the sacrifices that Pakistan Armed Forces personnel have been making for the country.
Another important aspect of this long journey relates to highlighting the cultural traditions of all the regions.
Preparations for the Azadi train are in full swing at the Rawalpindi Carriage Factory. More than one hundred people are working to give the final touches to the Azadi train before its planned departure on August 11.
The coaches of the Azadi train will represent the cultures and traditions of all the four provinces plus Azad Kashmir and Gilgit- Baltistan. The train will also highlight Pakistan's efforts against terrorism and extremism.
The Azadi Train will continue its journey across the length and breadth of the country for one month, making stopovers at the stations situated in the main cities.
During this journey, it will also hold shows where local artists can represent their culture.
According to an official from PNCA, the National Puppet Theater will be part of the program. They will present their puppet shows to highlight different national themes.
Lok Virsa artists will also be part of the show as they will add another colorful dimension to this activity at the national level.
When will it come to Lahore?
Islaha dikhanay kay ilawa kuch or hai is qoam k pass….


text:
Posts Tagged 'Ruby Neri'
Second Nature: The Valentine-Adelson Collection
Hammer Museum
Second Nature is a display of a selection of a large gift of contemporary sculpture. The works were produced from 1995 to the present. The opening wall text uses several catch-all phrases (my favorite) to describe the collection and the exhibition: "three-dimensional objects" (duh) in a "variety of media." So the only think linking these works together is they are all sculpture made in Los Angeles from 1995 onwards. The wall text also explains the importance of the show is being "two fold." First is a personal collection vision (important?), and second is a cultural legacy of contemporary Los Angeles sculpture (which is important).
I would like to give credit for the educators of this exhibition for doing the best job they could with the artworks they were working with. Not every work had an explanative text, but every third work probably did. Some of the works spoke for themselves, and for the works which did not, the writers did the best they could to make me believe these works were actually interesting.
Pedestal Inquisition: Greely's "Weaver," Benson's "Figure 8" & Ruby Neri's "Untitled (Lioness)"
The first room features works of various sizes and mediums, as promised. What struck me immediately was the various ways of displaying art. Hannah Greely's Weaver, was displayed on a very low white pedestal. Next to it was displayed Jonathan Pylypchuk's Guy Peeing in Heart Plant was displayed hung from the wall, resting on a simple, rough wooden pedestal, which was part of the work. To add to this assemblage of pedestals were the polished wood of Frank Benson's Figure 8, and the garish, neon green pedestal on which sat Ruby Neri's Untitled (Lioness). Both Benson and Neri's pedestals were part of the artworks. The collection of pedestals was almost distracting, and I focused more on them than I did on the art in the room.
Sculpture not-in-the round: Curry's "Fragments from a Collective Unity (Standing)"
Aaron Curry's Fragments from a Collective Unity (Standing) is also displayed in this first room. The work is made up of two parts: a tall wooden abstract sculpture and a movie poster set upside-down against a wall. I have to say I was disappointed with the way the piece was installed; the wooden piece was set too close to the wall so a viewer could not walk around it or appreciate from all angles.
Concert Hall: Johnson, "The Pianist"
A nicely displayed work is Matt Johnson's The Pianist (Designed by Robert J. Lang, and Folded by Matt Johnson). The large work needs a lot of space, as it is impressively large, and the space was given. It was set alone in an appropriately-sized room allowing a viewer to completely ambulate around the artwork and appreciate all of its blue folded angles, at all angles.
Color-coded room
A large room features several works by various artists. All of the works are unified in color scheme: blacks, beige, and some silver. The works include Evan Holloway's Dichotic Sculpture, Sterling Ruby's 2 Stacks of Husbands, Patrick Jackson's Black and Midnight Blue, Evan Holloway's Black to Purple, and Nathan Mabry's A Touching Moment. The works are nice together because they invite formal comparisons. This can be done in peaceful, silent contemplation. At least until Dichotic Sculpture turns on. When it started making a horrible, vibrating, electric sound I understood what the ugly black cord connecting the artwork to the wall was for.
Plug it in: Holloway, "Dichotic Sculpture"
The normally pleasing sounds of Pachbell's Canon started ringing off the metal cans and pots inside the speakers of the work. This elicited the following reaction from my friend: "We learned how to make speakers out of household items in my physics class too" (said with feigned enthusiasm). The sound was so assaulting on my ears that it made me forget my formal comparisons and I quickly left the room.
Karaoke Machine: Kersels, "MacArthur Park"
I turned my attention to find the source of more noise: the disco music which had been bouncing off the gallery walls since I entered the exhibition. (This reminded me of my previous visit to MOCA's galleries were the sound from an artwork permeated through an entire exhibition.) I found the source of the disco and was disappointed to see it coming out of Martin Kersels's MacArthur Park. Regardless of my disappointment, the sound permeating out of its ugly exposed stereo did draw me to it. I was glad to see that this piece was one of the lucky ones; it had an informative wall label. From the label I learned the piece mixed low and high forms of art (where the high art aspect was I couldn't identify) and the piece was also a self portrait…
Literacy Test: Craft, "Untitled (Lazy Daze)"
Another work which I felt rightfully deserved space to circumvent it was Liz Craft's Untitled (Lazy Daze). Viewers can walk around the piece and see all of the letters in L-A-Z-Y D-A-Z, with the E being chased off by a little creature. The effort in viewing the work made it briefly amusing, until I was distracted away by the less-then-amazing works displayed elsewhere in the room.
Swept into a corner & Up in a corner: Lapinski, "Nothings of Such and Such a Sort" & Rocklen
Lisa Lapinski's Nothings of Such and Such a Sort was pushed up into a corner like a heap of trash swept up into a pile waiting to be brushed into the dustpan. While at the same time a work by Ry Rocklen was elevated up on high by a video projector aimed at a corner of the ceiling, placed like a forgotten spider web.
Small-Large-XXL: Greely, "Molly and Johnny," Ruby "Monumental Stalagmite" and Meadows, "Untitled (Picnic Table and Beehive)"
In the following room was the best installation of work. It combined small approachable works like Hannah Greely's Molly and Johnny and Paul Seitsema's sneakers, with large-scale works like Sterling Ruby's Monumental Stalagmite and Jason Meadows' Untitled (Picnic Table and Beehive), and then also combined artworks that invited the viewer to interact such as Mateo Tannatt's Turkish Kitchen (where the viewer was invited to don headphones) and Chris Finley's Damn Mosquitos (which kindly requested in the wall text a viewer to use a flashlight illuminate the painting on the interior of a wooden box). The combination of small intimate objects, with overwhelming large objects, and also with interactive art objects made for an actively installed room.
Touch Me: Finley, "Damn Mosquitos" and Tannatt, "Turkish Kitchen"
The final artwork that caught my attention was in the last room of the exhibition, it was Paul Sietsema's Rococo Room. When you approach the work you don't know what to expect as all you see is a large black box. Only after circling around the object (thank you to the curators for allowing this space) do you come to a window in the structure to look through. Inside the unrecognizable structure is a luscious miniature Rococo interior.
All the remodel budget went into the interior: Sietsema, "Rococo Room"
This work was sticking to me because of its extreme attention to detail: from the tiny gilded stucco work to and the crystal chandelier. The work reminded me of another work I saw recently at LACMA. In the recent exhibition Your Bright Future, there is a work called Fallen Star by Do Ho Suh. These works both have a maniacal attention to detail and it was interesting to me to see that sculpture perhaps concerned with similar ideas was being produced by both Los Angeles artists, and Korean artists.
Echoes across LA: Do Ho Suh, "Fallen Star"
Leaving the exhibition I felt I did not have a greater understanding about what contemporary Los Angeles sculpture is all about. If there was a message, theme or statement about sculpture, I'm not sure it was communicated well. There is not really a curator's statement since what is on display was not really of a curators choosing. Instead the statement made is the collector's statement. As acknowledged in the opening wall text the vision is all the about the collector's taste rather then an informed curator's vision.
– H.I.
Posted in Contemporary, Hammer, Inquisition, Permanent Collection
Tagged with Aaron Curry, Chris Finley, Contemporary, Do Ho Suh, Evan Holloway, Frank Benson, Hammer, Hammer Museum, Hannah Greely, Jason Meadow, Jonathan Pylypchuk, LACMA, Lisa Lapinski, Liz Craft, Los Angeles, Martin Kersel, Mateo Tannatt, Matt Johnson, MOCA, Nathan Mabry, Pachbell's Canon, Patrick Jackson, Paul Seitsema, pedestals, Permanent Collection, Rococo Room, Ruby Neri, Ry Rocklen, sculpture, Second Nature, Sterling Ruby, UCLA, Valentine-Adelson Collection, Your Bright Future


Experience a campus transformed from an army base into a regional leader in modern sustainable development! Fort Ord Military Base was closed in 1991. In 1994, CSU Monterey Bay became the 21st campus of the CSU system when land formerly known as Fort Ord was transferred to the CSU. This campus tour will cover the history of the site, including major demolition projects that are soon to be completed. We will visit the site boundaries of our two current capital building projects: a new Academic Building and the Student Union. Infrastructure relating to transportation, energy, stormwater management and habitat protection will be showcased along the way. Campus Planning and Development staff will be on hand to answer questions and share highlights of the draft campus master plan vision of how the next 20 years will shape this growing campus and the future of the CSU system.
Where: Arrive 15 minutes prior to the tour start time in front of the Monterey Conference Center. The bus will depart promptly at 1:00 PM.
This activity is a great way to get outdoors and acquaint yourself with the surrounding area while experiencing the conference.
This leisurely bike ride along the Monterey Coast Bike Trail will take us through Cannery Row to Lovers Point Park and to the gorgeous coastal views of Pacific Grove. We will stop and visit the grounds of the historic Point Pinos Lighthouse before returning to Portola Hotel. The route is primarily flat and will be less than 10 miles in total. IMPORTANT: Wear appropriate shoes and clothes, and bring a hat, sunscreen and your own water.
See the aquarium like you've never seen it before. The former sardine cannery is now a top attraction on Monterey's Cannery Row with over 35,000 creatures representing over 550 sea life and marine species. Special exhibits include the Kelp Forest, the Open Sea Gallery and Splash Zone. Unlock the secrets with this special tour and follow the guides through staff-only doors. You'll discover what it takes to run a world-class aquarium, learn about exciting research projects the aquarium is conducting and find out how the staff prepares food for over 10,000 animals. Get a glimpse of exhibits from the other side of the window!
IMPORTANT: The cost includes general admission and the Behind-the-Scenes Tour. Tour attendees are welcome to enjoy the aquarium on their own during general hours. Tour starts at 3:30 PM; meet at the tour desk at 3:15 PM.
Where: If taking the bus, arrive 15 minutes prior to the tour start time in front of the Monterey Conference Center. The bus will depart promptly at 3:00 PM. If meeting at the aquarium, be at tour desk by 3:15 PM.
Where: Arrive 15 minutes prior to the tour start time in front of the Monterey Conference Center. The bus will depart promptly at 4:00 PM.
Used by a consortium of seven CSU campuses, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories administers the Master of Science in marine science program for California State Universities in northern and central California, and is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in both education and research in a wide variety of disciplines including: marine ecology; the biology of marine plants, invertebrates, fishes, turtles, birds and mammals; oceanography and marine geology; chemistry and biogeochemistry. MLML is known for a hands-on, field-oriented approach which places students, faculty, researchers and staff at the frontiers of marine science worldwide where discoveries are being made.
The lab, established in 1966, is located adjacent to Monterey Submarine Canyon, the largest such feature on the west coast of North America. To the east of MLML is the Elkhorn Slough, the largest tract of tidal salt marsh in California outside of San Francisco Bay, and an important site for shorebirds and fishes.
Join us for an hour tour led by a MLML graduate student guide where you will get a close-up view of an active marine education and research campus—visiting classrooms, a research museum, and aquarium room. Following the tour, enjoy dinner al fresco with your colleagues at Phil's Fish Market located in the heart of Moss Landing. Phil's Fish Market is famous among locals for delicious fresh fish and seafood. Attendees will order and cover the cost of their own dinner and beverage.
Where: Arrive 15 minutes prior to the tour start time in front of the Monterey Conference Center. The bus will depart promptly at 4:00 PM and returns approximately 7:30 PM following dinner at Phil's Fish Market.
For special accommodations for any of these tours, please contact fmconference@calstate.edu.