text:
Appalled by government apathy towards providing affordable shelter: The case of Gurgaon
The longer I work in the low-income housing sector, the more appalled I am by government apathy towards providing shelter, one of the most basic human rights upheld by the Constitution of India as well as in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which India is not merely a signatory but a nation that has played an active role in drafting the declaration!
Over the years, governments have distanced themselves from the role of provider of housing, citing the need for private investment. The bald truth is that private developers have no reason to build homes for lower income groups as long as the middle and high income markets continue to offer good returns. Government intervention is therefore essential. Various models to deliver affordable homes are being adopted by States across India. However, much distance lies between promises made and achievements on ground.
Take Haryana for instance. In 2009, the Haryana government declared it would build 100,000 low cost homes across the state- 40,000 in Gurgaon, and 30,000 each in Faridabad and Panchkula. These are urban centers in the state that border the cities of Delhi and in the last case, Chandigarh.
In Gurgaon, the State government intended to build homes on 200 acres of land and these homes were to be prices between Rs 4 and 16 lakhs. Unit sizes were to be 270 and 520 square feet. Clearly, these homes were targeting LIG households in the city.
In a departure from the way governments have traditionally acted in building homes themselves (DDA in Delhi, for example), the Haryana government decided to distribute licenses to private builders to construct these affordable homes. A planning department official has told the media that about five such licenses have been granted, but refused to divulge the locations of these projects or any other details. The land for these projects, however, has not been acquired. The state town planning department's website apparently shows that only 21 acres out of the total 200 (11.26 acre at Sector 67 and 10.06 acre at Sector 93) are actually available for this scheme. Meanwhile, developers have rapidly acquired land in the sectors demarcated in the Gurgaon Manesar Master Plan 2031 and it seems that the government is playing into the hands of the builder lobby rather than protecting the interests of the citizens.
Citizens groups and the media has alleged that HUDA has not acquired any land to build government housing or sell plots that would be affordable to the middle class either, leave alone provide shelter options to the poor. The last time plots were auctioned at affordable rates was in 2008 in Sector 57.
My fellowship research is attempting to study the possibilities of evolving an inclusive approach to housing in this city. My initial sense is that there has been a definite (and deliberate?) failure of the government to do its duty. Now, with land prices extremely high on the back of anticipated rapid development of the demarcated sectors in the city, there is little hope of the poor being accommodated easily. How is this city going to survive if it continues to deny shelter and even the most basic living conditions to its supply of labor, that essential workforce that is an important pillar that supports the city's economy? My research attempts to prove that the poor have a stake in this city's story, that they do have the resources to survive and they will, if only they were given a chance and recognized as stakeholders rather than as nuisances to be swept under the carpet!
Tags: affordable housing, apathy, Developer, government, Gurgaon Manesar Master Plan 2031, Haryana, HUDA, land acquisition, low income housing, policy, scheme, shelter, urban poor
Violence is an easy answer when real issues go unaddressed: Cases of South Africa & India- Oct 9, 2012
J M Coetze's Booker winning book 'Disgrace' is deeply disturbing. It tells the story of the cultural backlash against whites in South Africa. The story caused me to have violent and dark nightmares because of the matter of fact reactions of the "victims" of violence, in this case a middle aged man and his young daughter. I finished the book last evening in a grim mood, wondering how it would be to live in a society where being safe was apparently not even a right any more.
Today, on cue as it has happened often enough lately, The Hindu carries an editorial by Anita Lakshmni Powell titled 'Bring my my machine gun' about the violence in South Africa. Shocking stats: One of 4 men in a nation of 50 million admitted to committing rape, half of them say they've done it more than once. Murder is commonplace; the police system reports one million unsolved murders a year!
A report by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation report, released in 2010 claims that violence is cheap, easy and the thing that works, the only answer where there are none. The report draws strong correlations with the disbalance is South African society (SA is one of the most unequal countries in the world, with a Gini coefficient of 0.7 in 2008; the top 10% of the population accounted for 58% of South Africa's income, the bottom 10% accounted for 0.5% and the bottom 50% less than 8%, as per a recently released World Bank report). A quarter of South Africans are unemployed and traditional routes to prosperity, like education, simply aren't working well enough.
To me, all of this sounds scarily familiar. Unemployment, growing disparities, rampant violence, rape as a means of expressing frustration, hatred, rage…..we see this all around us. And a weak policing system, a judiciary that simply cannot cope, political apathy.Is this where pockets of our country are going as well (13 rapes in Haryana within a month!)? Is India destined to be a violent nation? Will we also be no longer able to step out of our homes without fear? Will our children live a gated, over-protected life and never experience freedom, for fear of reprisal from their youthful counterparts who happened to be born on the other side of the social divide?
The real bad news in South Africa, the editorial claims, is that violence is a language that was endorsed as the rightful means for recourse even during the anti-apartheid movement. The establishment turns a blind eye to violence and politicians glorify violence in their campaigns. Violence is culturally acceptable.
Fortunately for us, we did not win our freedom through violent means, but the aftermath of Independence saw a nation steeped in blood and gore. Our system still frowns on violence and there is no social endorsement yet for it. In SA, a gang rape of a mentally deficient girl was distributed brazenly as a video on mobile phone; here rapists still try and run away from the law. But that's neither here nor there. Increasingly, we are become inured to violence and perpetrators are becoming bolder. Increasingly, we want to believe that the bad things happen to someone else and live in fear of becoming victims. The larger issues are taking way too long to be addressed and in the meantime, paranoia is taking hold of our society.
The South African experience should be a wake up call for us. Inclusiveness is not a warm and fuzzy type of concept that idealists (like me, I have been told recently and yes, I am a bit angry about that) promote. Inclusiveness is a necessity, so that we do not become an inhuman, abnormal, highly stressed and unworkable society. Equal opportunity, as much as possible at least, regardless of religion (ref: Sachar Committee report), caste, ethnicity, gender, income level, is the goal we must adopt, as a nation. Otherwise, we are doomed indeed. I shudder, I hope. I fervently hope for change.
Tags: apathy, disparity, India, opportunity, racial, rape, South Africa, urban, victims, violence
Low-income informal communities offer a window into an astonishing array of home-based work- Sep 25, 2012
Yesterday, we revisited Sundernagari, the site of the project we did last year in which we experienced a fairly intense community involvement process to redesign a slum in-situ. One of the first questions we got asked was if we knew whether the scheme to redevelop the slum would take off. Kokila Ben, the member of the women's cooperative run by SEWA Bharat and MHT, had been fending questions by community members asking if they should invest in adding floors to their homes. Already, we saw several homes had been added to or were in the process of doing so when we walked through the neighborhood.
The home is a matter of emotion, pride and sustenance for anyone, more so for the poor and especially for this community where most people practice home-based occupations. A mochi community, nearly every home has its male head sewing and repairing shoes, while women support the house by venturing out to sell shoes or, in some cases, working as domestic help in middle income homes nearby.
Kokila ben is an eloquent, down to earth woman who sells the shoes her husband (drunk the day we visited) makes because the cops harass women less than the men!
Shoe designs change with time. In this house, the uppers and soles and other components have been stitched together to create this modern sports shoe
I was struck by how much lower the activity levels seemed as compared to last year. When I asked, a tale of woes and apathy spilled out. Apparently, the Lal Qila market where these people sold their finished products is being disbanded and moved to the defunct Power House near ITO, which will take a while to attract customers. As of now, the shoemakers are selling from their basti and constantly being hounded by the police for what they claim is illegal work. It is clearly hard to make ends meet, and with kerosene halved on their BPL ration cards plus hiked electricity rates, they were tightening the belts for tough times ahead. One mochi brazenly asked us for a loan to grow his business and claimed he could make chappals to our design specifications if we wanted to try him out.
Rajkumar is confident of being able to make chappals of any design you want! He works 12 hours each day to support a family of seven, who all live in a home that measures some 12 sq metres
Walking around the basti, we saw some other very interesting occupations. A wizened old lady was sticking pins into tiny pieces of plastic, apparently a component that goes inside a bicycle horn. Another woman was putting together two small bits of plastic to fashion a whistle. These little components would then be fitted by someone else into the colorful plastic cover that we associate with the whistle! Other home-based occupations we ave noticed in these slums are buffalo rearing, which makes for an interesting though messy situation, metal fabrication to make things like birdcages and rat traps, jewelry making out of beads and sequins, embroidery and needlework, stitching and carpentry. Quite an array, isn't it?
The old lady bent over her horn components!
The whistle makers
The home is a matter of pride. And how! This home is in the adjoining settlement colony next to the slum we worked in
Indian communities have such a strong traditional of skilled handwork and handmade items of all kinds. The level of finish may vary but these people take pride in what they do. Most of these are non polluting, take very little energy and gives livelihood to scores of people. Certainly the city would not be able to provide employment to all these people if they stopped doing what they do. Yet, we place such little economic value on these tasks, and our legal system declares many of these home-based activities to be illegal, subjecting these poor people to the misery of harassment and corruption. It sees to me rather unfair and I wish I knew how to help these communities with better linkages to the supply chain, some means to reduce exploitation and increase market value through design inputs, branding and skill enhancement.
Tags: apathy, caste, chamar, community, cost of living, cultural, design, home-based work, mochi, occupation, traditional, youth
Is a new political entity an answer? Random conjectures on the future of Team Anna- Aug 2, 2012
Will Team Anna enter politics? Should they? Will such a move end our woes, provide a more rational, appealing option to voters, especially urban voters in India? It's a question that has daunted me the past few days and something I wondered about even last year when Team Anna's movement against corruption was its focal issue and at a high point.
Today, the team clearly announced that they would enter politics to provide a "political alternative" to the 'corrupt' political class". They also said they would support candidates committed to "patriotism" and "country's development".
If I were to be outright cynical (and I confess I feel that way about a lot of things happening in the Indian political scene right now), I would say Kejriwal's original plan has always been to start a political party. Even last year, his comments betrayed his leaning in this direction, but Anna himself maintained a neutral stand. The debate on extending this movement into a political one seems to be growing right now.
What does this development mean for us as citizens? For very long, our sense of disillusionment with politicians has been intense. Many urban, educated voters are really caught between a rock and a hard place while trying to take sides between the Congress-UPA bunch and the BJP-NDA lot on the other. Theoretically, a third front has always been an option. But putting together such an alternative is an enormous challenge.
It is one thing to call upon politicians to answer on charges of corruption and demand change as a citizen group. But will Kejriwal and his allies be capable of the political acumen required to play the power games? Will they remain clean when they are in the system? I don't see in this team the kind of charismatic leadership you need to upset the power balance in a democracy as large as India. I've heard Kejriwal speak up close and while he has his facts pat, he came across as hot headed, even a bit rabid. His simplicity and uprightness is very appealing, but I wasn't bowled over. Not by a long shot. Who else, with Anna clearly taking a non-political stand. (Of course, one could argue that the two main parties are just as bereft of capable leadership!) I'm also wondering if TA has a pan India base. I don't know enough and would love to learn more. And importantly, an alternate political party needs to have a bigger vision for the nation. I don't quite see that here, though it can evolve by logically extending the current principles of transparency, democratic process, etc.
Despite my doubts, I do admire the courage and conviction of the movement. I wish it had not waivered, but rather stuck to its original agenda of targeting graft. I also wish it had focused as much on efficiency of governance as on corruption; efficiency and optimization through technology and better processes would go a long way in solving most of the day-to-day problems citizens face, and control low-level corruption.
I also understand that it is logical to fight the system from inside if you cannot make a dent from the outside. If Team Anna can unveil a well-rounded and more palatable vision for India, then they might well get popular support. However, I suspect a lot of their appeal until now has been that they represented the common man and fought against the establishment. Now that they aspire to be the establishment, the expectations will change drastically. To keep their agenda afloat in this new milieu will be quite a challenge. Let's wait and watch- the run up to 2014 is getting exciting!
Posted in Politics & Citizenship
Tags: 2012, ambitions, apathy, corruption, elections, Kejriwal, politicians, politics, Team Anna, urban, vision, voters
No value for human life: How I prepared myself to be a thick-skinned Indian citizen! June 24, 2012
The anger at the death of little Mahi (whose lifeless body was rescued from the borewell she fell into 85 hours after she went missing!) across social media is genuine. The anger is, of course, directed at those who let such things happen, but even more so, it is directed at us. At the public memory of Indian newspaper readers and news channel watchers, who have gotten so used to stories of pointless death that we scarcely bat an eyelid anymore!
I always remember it being like this, though. When we were little (I was 8, same as Udai is now) and Indira Gandhi died, I was actually amazed to see so many people crying because someone on TV had died! I simply could not understand it. There were people dying in newspapers and TV all the time. Why did some people get tears and others shrugs? To my eyes at the time, many of the people shot by militants in Punjab or dying in train accidents seemed more like us. People with kids, who went to offices, carried tiffin boxes, wore nondescript check shirts and brown/grey trousers or bleached fading cotton saris. And so their dying seemed somehow to talk about the vulnerability of us. I once dreamt that my parents held hands and jumped off the Worli seaface into the sea…..perhaps a fallout of all the violence, distant and yet surrounding me.
Later, as a teenager in Lucknow, in the late '80s and early '90s, I clearly remember a few of us took responsibility of a small pinboard in the faculty club, our venue for evenings full on table tennis, carrom and gossip! That pinboard became our canvas for expressing our feelings. We put up a daily tally of lives lost in the J&K insurgency. For months, those figures leapt at us everyday. I don't remember the reactions of the adults round us, but our group of kids was very much affected by the sheer number of innocents losing their lives to a cause they didn't perhaps understand or subscribe to fully.
Even then, we were steeling ourselves to become adult Indian citizens. Part of that preparation was developing a thick skin about death, killing the tears before they sprang to the eyes, stopping yourself from caring too much, convincing yourself that there is precious little you can do, so its best to get on with life and not think about the negatives.
It's not easy to really be like that though. Many of us still get seriously disturbed by death that could be avoided if we were more careful, more sensitive, better organized, more prepared. And while I try and fight the feeling of total helplessness, I rack my brains to think about what I can possible do to change this, the deaths themselves and certainly, the apathy!
Tags: apathy, casualties, death, disaster, militancy, mishap, public reaction, safety
Disturbed by the political paralysis at the Center- May 8, 2012
The political deadlock we are seeing at the Center in India is really disturbing. When we do shavasana in yoga class, our teacher tells us to focus on each body part and let it go, imagining that it is no longer now part of the body, is detached, dysfunctional. That's how the current political madness plays out in my mind. As if, one by one, critical functions are being rendered defunct and India will eventually reach a state of suspended animation!
Sounds like nonsense, perhaps, but it's really scary! I agree that the Congress government has botched up on serious issues. But its still got two more years in power. So unless the Opposition really thinks it has a good chance at toppling the government and having early elections, I don't see the point in obstructing anything and everything the ruling party is trying to do, obstructing Parliamentary proceedings, obstructing the business of policy making, the business of governing a country as large and chaotic as India, where children die in thousands and Maoists abduct ajd kill policemen!
I guess I don't see the point because I am politically dumb, but really, as a citizen, I see each day go by as a wasted opportunity to make positive changes. When the top politicians in the nation engage in meaningless scuffles, citizens like me wonder what the future is going to be like!
The world is seeing massive economic shifts; the rules are being redefined and the growing economies (like ours) need to deliver. Or we can craft our own set of rules on how we would want to grow in order to secure a better future for our citizens and contribute positively to the global economy.
In the end, the targets for India are crystal clear. Address poverty, health, education and governance. Create a climate of opportunity, encourage entrepreneurship, attract investment towards sustainable industries that can nurture communities, not destroy them. Those would be highest on my list.
There as so many petitions I am asked to sign-Save the Girl Child, Speak Against Child Sexual Abuse, Stop Illegal Mining, Stop Ragging…..and so on. Can we put up a petition for Parliamentarians to make the Parliament function? Incidentally, that's their job. Who gives them a right to waste public money fighting amongst themselves. Debate, by all means, but also take some decisions! The future of the nation, the future of you and me depends on it.
Tags: apathy, citizens, Congress, depressed, future, India, opposition, Parliament
A vibrant construction industry based on shoddy treatment of laborers? Shame! 1 May, 2012
At work, I'm part of a team working to set up a system for certifying affordable housing projects. The initiative is that of the Ashoka Innovators for the Public and we at mHS are working on the aspects of the rating system that would impact the low-income community.
Anyway, during our discussions, we often come to the point where we wonder if the rating should consider whether the contractor uses ethical and legal practices for treatment and payment meted out to labor working on the project. If they use child labor, for instance, or use sub-standard shelter to house their labor, they should drop lower in the ratings, we think.
Today, on the occasion of Labor Day, The Hindu carried an excellent editorial written by Moushumi Basu on the subject. She spells out clearly the Acts contractors and construction companies violate when they pay lower wages, do not build decent shelter, do not ensure safe conditions for work, etc. Moreover, developers and construction companies who have ridden the wave of India's GDP growth (and continue to do so despite slower growth) have no business to do this at the cost of the labor that works for them. It is a sad tale of mistreatment of those who have no voice. Besides the legality, where's the humanity here? Would it really hurt to pass on a tiny bit of your profits towards improving the lives of those that made your projects possible, often risking their lives, migrating far from their homes?
So in our ratings projects, we're really wondering….how do we factor in the humanity/ethics (or lack of these) of developers into ratings for affordable housing, where profit margins are lower than regular projects, when they fail to factor in regular projects where profit margins are decent?
Tags: apathy, construction, contractor, Developer, development, GDP, growth, humanity, India, labour, laws, migration, payment, treatment
Good governance can only come out of good intention! Not feeling optimistic about Gurgaon- April 7, 2012
In May 2011, Gurgaon residents elected its first set of councilors under a newly formed Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG). Nothing dramatic seems to have happened since then. In fact, from what I hear, many initiatives remain mired in conflicts between councilors and contractors, contractors and MCG officials and MCG officials and councilors. Voters who dare to ask questions are pretty much told to shut up and show up to make changes at the next election!
So when Shashi Tharoor says that good governance must become the passion for governments, I can only laugh! In the context of Gurgaon, good governance does not even seem to be in the vocabulary of the government. Day after day, residents struggle with the same issues–bad roads, frequent power cuts, lack of policing, traffic mismanagement, no system to streamline private developments with mainline government-supplied infrastructure, poor maintenance of public spaces, no street lighting, mafia-run public transport, nuisance liquor vends at every crossing….I could go on and on. And councilors continue to not care. Clearly, they ran for public office with the sole intention of filling their personal coffers. I sincerely hope they are not being able to achieve even that, which is probably the case since contracts would need to be given out and some work shown for pockets to be lined!
Of course, part of the issue is that Gurgaon's educated urban population doesn't really turn out to vote. And priorities of rural voters and urban voters do differ. Councillors, therefore, do not really feel the need to be answerable to you and me. I am tired, however, of trying to divert the blame for lack of governance on lack of motivation by citizens. We deserve good governance because we pay the taxes that fund the government. Gurgaon's urban citizens may not vote, but they pay hefty taxes to the state government and deserve not just basic, but world class amenities.
Gurgaon is an opportunity gone waste for Haryana. Yes, the government's made a killing on land, but opportunity for continued revenue generation is being wasted as the city languishes in a semi-developed state. If Kingdom of Dreams is not making enough money to pay the government taxes, something is terribly wrong indeed! I don't feel optimistic at all about a city that fails to make its entertainment destinations economically viable, a city where the transition from 'scattered islands of population' to 'community' is painfully slow and receives absolutely no government support, a city where no one really seems to care and those who do….. don't vote!
Posted in Politics & Citizenship, Urban Planning & Policy
Tags: apathy, community, corruption, councilors, disaster, future, vote
Women feel unsafe: Of petitions, activism and perceptions- March 19, 2012
The atmosphere of festive bonhomie at India Gate yesterday morning could have fooled some, but there was real anger simmering inside for a lot of us who chose to show our support by walking from India Gate to the President's home Rashtrapati Bhawan to hand over a petition asking for measures to enhance safety for women.'We want women safe' was what the event called itself….
The most unlikely people have spoken to me these past few days about feeling unsafe in Gurgaon. A girl who works at the beaut parlor across the road left her job after the latest rape that has triggered the spate of protests. Her friend recounted her personal experiences of being teased, heckled, harassed, a male friend who was dropping her home being beaten up, etc. My maid spoke about not being able to take up work on winter evenings as it wasn't safe to walk or cycle back to her basti; she spoke of relatives being groped, pushed over from their cycles, people in passing cars trying to pull one young girl in…. Amid the outpouring is a scary sense of helplessness…there must be some way to change attitudes!
On Sunday morning, we saw a group of enthusiastic cyclists (some had come in from as far as Noida and civil lines), many walkers and a show of support from the Harley Davidson club; plus kids on skates, a street play, drummers….the works. I wouldn't say there were a lot of emotional moments, but everyone felt strongly for the cause and proud of being able to do something, release the frustration and angst that was festering inside. Nupur and me clicked some pictures that document the protest march.
The hashtag being used on twitter for the campaign
Sunrise, India Gate, martyrs us all?
Aadyaa making a poster
Show of strength!
And the Harleys roared...adding a glam element we enjoyed!
Some 170 signatures on the petition and over 200 people...
Udai walked all the way and back carrying that. Is it enough to tell an 8 yr old that rape is a 'very bad thing' someone did to a woman? How else could I answer his question?
The Gurgaon Drum Circle also joined in...silent but rhythmic protest!
Gathering momentum...reaching the North and South blocks
Heartfelt....
Tags: apathy, Gurgaon, petition, protest, rape, urban, youth
Gurgaon rape: To bring change, we need sustained effort beyond immediate anger and protests- March 14, 2012
I try and not rant against the system on this blog, but when you read about rape everyday and then it happens in your backyard, it's just too much provocation! I took a taxi back from the airport close to midnight yesterday and I was glad for the paternal polite sardarji who was my cabbie, while still wondering about whether appearances can be deceptive. I am not a paranoid person, but when brutal incidents happen everyday, it twists your mind, doesn't it?
And then, to top it all, the police response is to stop women from working in pubs after eight in the evening. Sure, they caught some of the rapists, but I'm not willing to forgive an attitude that resorts to curtailing the freedom of citizens rather than taking measures to increase the safety of our city.
My first reaction, of course, is how easy it is for society (the authorities are reflecting a larger social attitude) to ask women to behave 'within limits'. Just like recent incidents in which airline staff asked people with disabilities to deplane, the attitude reeks of a mindset in which women are considered weak, disadvantaged and mostly a problem.
Why can't we do something to promote (among men and potential rapists and everyone) understanding and tolerance, perhaps by creating common platforms to bring people from diverse backgrounds together? Culture and sports, community building activities like planting trees, cleanliness drives…I don't know. There must be something we can do to stop the 'us' and 'them' thinking. Urban vs rural, rich vs poor, modern vs traditional, boys vs girls……as a society, we seem to be losing our balance and lashing out against something. And I am, perhaps naively, convinced that rape, brawls and bad driving are symptoms of a problem, while also being problems in themselves and therefore we need to take a larger view and address the issue at many levels.
Of course, there is a disregard for the law and authority, which needs to be addressed by harsher punishments and better policing. But I cannot believe a rapist thinks he is right or isn't shit scared when the police actually catch him. Then what makes him do it? What makes him not stop? Its insensitivity, the prioritization of his pleasure over anything else, the importance of 'I' and our own and the absence of an inclusive sense of community. If I were to actually know a girl who worked in a bar and see her as a normal person trying to earn a living, would I be less likely to rape her? (For that matter, I don't happen to know a rapist, so its hard to profile one!)
I don't know how to think all this through. But I do know that citizens have a right to expect governments to act. The action, however, must be long-term and two-pronged and a diverse range of citizen groups must be involved. Protests should convert to some sort of sustained communication, building of trust and spreading the message that crime against anyone is a crime against yourself, your community, your family, your women……..yourself…..
Tags: apathy, attitude, citizens, development, freedom, Gurgaqin, intolerance, protest, rape


text:
Statism has turned Detroit into Ayn Rand's Starnesville
by Ian R Thorpe
When the city of Detroit, once the greatest car making city in the world, declared bankruptcy, it seemed like the formal announcement of the death of the American dream. But from another perspective the plight of Detriot should concern us all. Writers who try to warn of the dangers of big government paternalism usually talk of George Orwell's 1984 vs Huxley's brave New World. Now there is a new contender, Ayn Rand's Starnesville ...
Statism has turned Detroit into Ayn Rand's Starnesville.
Picture embedded in this page from: http://www.canditophotography.com/Photography/Photo-Safari-to-DetroitPackard/i-smK3qvR/5/L/20100221-Detroit%20Urban%20Decay-8600-L.jpg
Last week I was asking readers which of Britain's two great dystopian future prophecy novels had been closes to correct, Gorge Orwell's 1984 with its total surveillance society or Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" in which the paternalistic totalitarian regime of The Controllers lulls the population into passivity as they are stripped of their free will and individuality by a diet of drugs, sex, soft threats and organized leisure.
I was off target because I have never read the third dystopian prophecy novel, Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Yet in spite of having become a potent hate symbol to the American pseudo - liberal, crypto - fascist left, in the wake of last week's news of American manufacturing city Detroit filing for bankruptcy, Atlas Shrugged seems to be closer to the bull, at least for the American experience of western decline, than either of the others.
Maybe I'll have to read the book at last. Look at this description of Detroit from the UK's upmarket, left - wing Sunday newspaper Observer:
"What isn't dumped is stolen. Factories and homes have largely been stripped of anything of value, so thieves now target cars' catalytic converters. Illiteracy runs at around 47%; half the adults in some areas are unemployed. In many neighbourhoods, the only sign of activity is a slow trudge to the liquor store."
Now compare that with the uncannily similar description of Starnesville, a Mid-Western town in the novel. Starnesville had been home to the great Twentieth Century Motor Company, but declined as a result of socialism:
"A few houses still stood within the skeleton of what had once been an industrial town. Everything that could move, had moved away; but some human beings had remained. The empty structures were vertical rubble; they had been eaten, not by time, but by men: boards torn out at random, missing patches of roofs, holes left in gutted cellars. It looked as if blind hands had seized whatever fitted the need of the moment, with no concept of remaining in existence the next morning. The inhabited houses were scattered at random among the ruins; the smoke of their chimneys was the only movement visible in town. A shell of concrete, which had been a schoolhouse, stood on the outskirts; it looked like a skull, with the empty sockets of glassless windows, with a few strands of hair still clinging to it, in the shape of broken wires.
Beyond the town, on a distant hill, stood the factory of the Twentieth Century Motor Company. Its walls, roof lines and smokestacks looked trim, impregnable like a fortress. It would have seemed intact but for a silver water tank: the water tank was tipped sidewise.
They saw no trace of a road to the factory in the tangled miles of trees and hillsides. They drove to the door of the first house in sight that showed a feeble signal of rising smoke. The door was open. An old woman came shuffling out at the sound of the motor. She was bent and swollen, barefooted, dressed in a garment of flour sacking. She looked at the car without astonishment, without curiosity; it was the blank stare of a being who had lost the capacity to feel anything but exhaustion.
"Can you tell me the way to the factory?" asked Rearden.
The woman did not answer at once; she looked as if she would be unable to speak English. "What factory?" she asked.
Rearden pointed. "That one."
"It's closed." ... "
Now here's the really extraordinary thing. When Ayn Rand published those words in 1957, Detroit was, on most measures, the city with the highest per capita GDP in the United States.
The real-life Detroit, like the fictional Starnesville, decayed rapidly after the boom years of the nineteen fifties and sixties. Yet even in the sixties, when I spent time in upstate New York, some people were starting to worry about where the USA was heading. I remember talking to the writer Joe David Brown*, whose articles for The New Yorker about the moral values of Sweden's social democratic society had shocked conservative America. While wholly approving of the civil rights movement he said then he could see the creation of a dependent class and the corresponding vast expansion of government creating major problems.
In the mid nineteen nineties, while working as a contracted consultant for DEC Computers, I found the feeling among managers was that in most of the western democracies but particularly in the USA a shrinking number of taxpayers were sustaining more and more people dependent in part or totally, on government handouts for their income.
A quick look at historical statistics shows Detroit was already in trouble The population of Motor City had fallen from a peak of almost two million in 1950 to less than one million by 2000 (Detroit Population History), and once prosperous neighbourhoods have become derelict as manufacturing jobs have migrated, driven out first by high city and state taxes and the restrictive practices of the major unions, first to US locations more friendly to business and now to the low labour cost and lax labour law regimes of the far east. According to television documentaries and articles in print media seventy six thousand homes have been abandoned; agents are unable to shift three-bedroom houses for a dollar.
The Observer in reporting this remains loyal to it's left wing readership and quotes a native complaining that 'capitalism has failed us.' Ironically capitalism is the one thing the Detroit desperately needs; the city has been under Leftist administrations for half a century. It has spent too much and borrowed too much, driving away business and becoming a tool of the government unions, instead of dealing with the realities of running a city local politicians have obsessed over pie-in-the-sky concepts such as 'fairness', 'equality', 'minority rights.'.
Of Detroit's $11 billion deficit, $9 billion is accounted for by public sector salaries and pensions. Under the mountain of accumulated obligations, the money going into, say, the emergency services is not providing services but pensions. Result? It takes the police an hour to respond to a 911 call and two thirds of ambulances can't be driven because they are not roadworthy. This is not the failure of capitalism and it cannot be fixed by taxing the rich (not that Detroit has any rich to tax now.) It is a failure of the government, a result of spending vast amounts of money to buy the votes of minorities, the blacks, Hispanics, gays, etc. etc. Even now, in bankruptcy, that corrupt system is fighting to look after its clients: the latest report from Detroit tells us a court has rejected the bankruptcy application on grounds that 'will lessen the pension benefits of public employees'.
Detroit could all too easily be the standard bearer for a spate of municipal bankruptcies across the rest of the United States. Mark Steyn sums it up in the National Review:
"Like Detroit, America has unfunded liabilities, to the tune of $220 trillion, according to the economist Laurence Kotlikoff. Like Detroit, it's cosseting the government class and expanding the dependency class, to the point where its bipartisan "immigration reform" actively recruits 50–60 million low-skilled chain migrants. Like Detroit, America's governing institutions are increasingly the corrupt enforcers of a one-party state — the IRS and Eric Holder's amusingly misnamed Department of Justice being only the most obvious examples. Like Detroit, America is bifurcating into the class of "community organizers" and the unfortunate denizens of the communities so organized."
Is it any wonder the divisive and increasingly autocratic president would rather talk about his dear 'son' Trayvon Martin than America's real problems. If you want to see Obamanomics taken to its conclusion, look at Ayn Rand's Starnesville. And be afraid, be very afraid.
*If anyone is thinking of telling me I was not talking to Joe David Brown in the 1960s, I think I am better place to know who I was talking to than you. For more reasonable people curious to know how I knew him, I was dating his daughter who was part of the social group the daughter of the family friends I stayed with had introduced me to.
From The Bloated Big State A Mighty Trump Burst Forth
Many Americans cannot understand why so many apparently reasonable people support Donald Trump. To the irrational left he has become an even more potent hate symbol that Sarah Palin, to the right he is a maverick and a loudmouthed clown with a ridiulous haircut (perfect qualifications to be a rapper if only he was black.) But few intellectuals or members of the political elite or the medic circus can understand why people are supporting him.
In Parallel With The Upheaval In European Politics, A Similar Cataclysm Is Happening In The USA Having reported for three or four years now the rise of the anti - Integration parties in European Union member nations, UKIP in Britain, the FN in France, AfD in Germany, Denmakr's Peoiple's Party, Five Star and the Liga Nord in Italy, the Sweden Democrats and others in every E U member state, we now look at what is going on in the USA as campaiging for the presidential election gathers pace.
Loud Trump Resonates Throughout America - Boggart Abroad
I don't know why the politically correct left are getting so worked up about The Trump, American politics is even more tightly controlled by big money than the European system, and the really big money (Golman Sachs, J P Morgan, Soros and company) are not going to let him win. It would upset thrir buddies in Saudi Arabia too much.
Americans Don't Know that the Rest of the World Views U.S. as Biggest Danger, Rogue State
Americans are stupid, right? Well it is a generalization and generalisations are usually both right and wrong. Not all Americans are stupid of course, I know many who are very intelligent and highly articulate. But as in Britain, France, Austrilia, Russia, Germany, China etc. there are stupid people in America. What we mean however in saying Americans are stupid is that overall American citizens tend to be less well informed on current events and general knowledge that Europeans, Asians and South Americans...
FUKUS axis imposes sanctions, Russian Oligarchs Shrug
So far in the Libyan crisis, the Syria crisis, the Iraq crisis and the Ukraine crisis, Obama and the European leaders have made a lot of noise and imposed a lot of meaningless sanctions (like confiscating the bus passes of retired Russian gengsters living in the west. And the Russians have just quietly got on with doing what they were doing.
Former Amazon Workers Speak Out Against Third World Working Conditions
Amazon are earning a reputation for bad business practice, what with their tax avoidance, dodgy accunting practices, slowness at paying bills and now imposing slave labour conditions on their workers. Well folks, there are plenty of other online retailers out there, as I'm sure you all know.
American Democracy Today? like most Europeans who take a passing interest in American politics I was aware that money is a major factor in US elections and so was aware that the so called Super PACs are a way of avoiding legal spending limits on candidates campaigns. I was curious to know more about superdelegates and being a survivor of a long career in Information Technology wanted to know just how easy it is to hack the voting machines. (Quick guess: an eleven year old could do it). The Jobless EconomyPoliticians, economists and others with an interest in talking up the economy to get us all spending and taking on debt and mortgage loans again may rave about recovery. With our industrial base so depleted where will the jobs come from that we need to lead a recovery?" They may call it fiscal prudence, we call it loonytoons economics...
The Real Unemployment FigureNew unemployment figures released yesterday show unemployment fell by 0.1% in the three months December to FebruarY. Contained in the figures was a statistic that undermines government talk of an economic upturn. This is the number of people in work. Headline unemployment has fallen the number of people in work has also fallen. What's going on?
Economic Recovery Signalled By Jobless Figure? An Illusion Worthy Of David BlaineUnemployment figures release by the US government for June were heralded as a strong singnal of economic recovery. But is the news of 'new jobs created' really good for jobless people or just another illusion, a trick that relies on statistical sleight of hand.
Eurozone Jobless hits new highPoliticians and their media poodles keep screaming and shouting like a bunch of schoolgirls about economic recovery. But in spite of all the fraudulent statisical data flying around, people sense economies are stagnant, jobless figures need more and more massaging to make them look respectable while economic growth stubbornly refuses to rise in line with infaltion.
Improvement In Empoloyment Figures Is Another Statistical DeceptionPoliticians, economists and others with an interest in talking up the economy to get us all spending and taking on debt and mortgage loans again may rave about recovery. With our industrial base so depleted where will the jobs come from that we need to lead a recovery?" They may call it fiscal prudence, we call it loonytoons economics...
What Is Really Killing Town Centres And JobsIt is very easy to blame the internet for the decay of our town centres. As high streets and shopping malls appear to have more shops boarded up and bankrupt than are open for business, blaming the internet alone is too easy. The digital revolution must take some of the blame for stubbornly high jobless statistics too, but the whole picture is far more complex.
Manufacturing Racism: Public Sector Recruiting Policy Is Recipe For Civil UnrestFor all the politically correct posturing of the left, public sector recruitment policy is racist and biased towards minorities. Whenever a straight, white, able bodied christian or non believer sees the words 'Apllications from members of ethnic, religious and sexual minoritiesnd disabled people are welcomed it's obvious nobody normal will get the job.
The Failure Of Education, The Subversion Of BureaucracyGovernment plans to toughen up the penalties that can be imposed on parents guilty of 'bad parenting' and tolerating truancy do not signal determination to deal with the problems in the education system but are an admission that progressive and ideological ideas in education havre failed generations of bored and disengaged pupils.
ILO warns global employment situation is 'alarming'; Eurozone in crisis:The International Labour Organization (ILO) has reported that the global employment situation is "alarming" and unlikely to improve soon. The agency said that austerity measures, especially in advanced economies, were hurting job creation and the situation was likely to get worse amid slowing global growth and more people entering the workforce. They have a point of course but it is just not feasible to keep borrowing money to pay for
Unemployment Falls As Part Time Working Hits Record Levels And More Drop Out Of The WorkforceThe fall in unemployment announced today will lead to a burst of false optimism in the media and a lot of silly talk from politicians about "green shoots of recovery" and other such meaningless phraes. Employment experts warn the fall in joblessness is masked by "underemployment", including a record high in the numbers of Britons being forced to work part-time ...
Meanwhile all is not well in the Eurozone either as Unemployment his a new high.In spite of all the political chicanery aimed at creating the impression that the Euro single currency had been saved, all is not well for the (B)euro(c)rats of Brussels. Eurozone unemployment has climbed to its highest level since the euro was introduced, official data released today has revealed ...
We told you so, University Degrees Are WorthlessThe Daily Stirrer has been saying it for years, now a leading British businessman has come out and said it too. University Degrees are worthless.Self-made multimillionaire Simon Dolan left school at the age of 16 and went on to form a business empire which now turns over close to £100m a year, putting him 703rd on the Sunday Times Rich List. Mr. Dolan also criticised the designer degree business that is responsible for creating such oddball courses as waste management with dance. He described these and even the less insane courses like ...
Broken SocietiesAn appraisal of Coming Apart: The State of White America 1960-2010 by Charles Murray. inequality is a very hot topic, Murray is one of the few people looking at it from a conservative point of view, which is strange when one looks at what is most likely causing this divide. Policically nations have never ben more polarised with conservatives and liberals both convinced the other is evil, while the gap between rich and poor widens, the middle class disintegrates and the working class becomes a state dependent underclass.
No Jobs For The Masses In The New Economy Despite University EducationNo matter how leaders like David Cameron and Barack Obama try to talk up their economies or assure voters the jobs market is improving, growth returning and unemployment will soon start falling, the truth is change does not equal progress and forcing the pace of social change has only masked the true depth of economic and social problems. One of these is unemployment and particularly joblessness among the young. Even a universdity education does not provide a guaranteed career path.
More Graduates Stuck In Low Skill JobsMore University graduates, on leaving college are being forced into taking jobs that do not require graduate level educational qualifications due to lack of openings for graduates in the jobs market, according to research published today. The study shows that six months after leaving university, approximately 40% of last year's graduates are ...
The Real Story Behind Obama's Job CreationLast week's announcement by the U.S. labour department that the American economy had created 216,000 jobs in March was seized on as cause for celebrations by sychophantic Obamessiah cultists desperate for something to praise "The greatest human being who ever lived" for. Obama cult inhouse newssheets The New York Times, the Washington Post reported that ...
The 99ers: Death Of The American Dream.The 99ers are a new social class createde by the economic recession in the USA. This new demographic, not one the advertizing industry will be interested in are jobless people whose unemployment benefit (job sekers in UK parlance) benefit has run out and thus who have dropped off the unemployment statistics. But even for people who are not 99ers times are hard scross the pond ...
Equalities Bill Discriminates Against Everybody EquallyThe Equalities Bill, passed by the previous Labour government before they were ejected from power becomes law today. This farrago is typical of the imbecilic mindset of the self righteous hypocrites who style themselves the progressive left. Presented as a law in support of equality in the workplace , in this era of pandemic joblessness and perpetual financial crisis it is nothing but an attack on the businesses that provide the real, wealth producing, revenue generating jobs in the private sector.
Where Did All The Money Go? (poem)
Jobs Crisis Menu
Greenteeth Elsewhere: [ The Original Boggart Blog] ... [ Writerbeat ] ... [ Daily Stirrer.shtml ]...[Little Nicky Machiavelli]... [ Ian's Authorsden Pages ]... [Greenteeth & Daily Stirrer on YouTube ] ... [ It's Bollocks My Dears, All Bollocks ] ... [ Minds ] ... [ ] ... [Scribd]...[Wikinut] ... [ Boggart Abroad] ... [ Grenteeth Bites ] ... [ Latest Posts ] ... [Ian Thorpe at Flickr ] ... [Latest Posts] ... [ Tumblr ] ... [ Authorsden blog ] ... [Daily Stirrer News Roundup]
... [ Boggart Network News ] [ Ian at Facebook ]
CREATIVE COMMONS: attrib, no comm, no dervs.
KEYWORDS: news, opinion, dailystirrer,
Close Window and return to previous URL
Skip RSS Feeds and go to Greenteeth Menu Panel
News Feeds (Go back to top)
" HSPACE=2 VSPACE=2>
find keywords on
this domain
Enter keywords& choose search engine:
Google: Yahoo: MSN:
More From Around The Labyrinth

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
University Strengthens Policy Regarding Expressive Activity on UVA Property
University of Virginia President Teresa A. Sullivan on Friday announced a revised policy regarding the time, place and manner of expressive activity by groups that are unaffiliated with the University meeting outdoors on University property.
The policy requires unaffiliated persons to make reservations to engage in expressive activity in certain designated locations, on certain days and during certain hours.
"The University of Virginia is committed to the constitutional principle of free speech and to the safety and security of every member of this community," Sullivan said in a message regarding the policy revision to the University community.
Here are additional details about the University's revised policy regarding the time, place and manner of expressive activity by unaffiliated groups:
What is the new policy?
The University of Virginia is a community in which the ideals of freedom of inquiry, thought and expression are respected and sustained. The University is committed to supporting the exercise of constitutionally protected expression in University-controlled facilities and property while maintaining a safe atmosphere free from disruption.
In consultation with the University Counsel's Office, legal experts within the School of Law and the Dean's Working Group, the University has been working to propose an amendment to the University's policy regulating access to University property by persons unaffiliated with the University.
The time, place and manner provisions related to unaffiliated persons have been added to the University's existing policy PRM-017, "Use of University Facilities and Limits on Direct Solicitation and Advertising."
What is the effective date of the revised policy?
The revised policy is effective May 4, 2018.
Who does the revised policy impact?
The policy revisions are focused on the activities of outside individuals or groups and are designed to provide a framework for unaffiliated persons to peacefully assemble and engage in constitutionally permissible speech at the University. Unaffiliated persons include, among others, alumni of the University and independent contractors.
There are no substantive revisions to the policy regarding University students, faculty, staff and University-recognized student groups and organizations.
What are the new time, place and manner provisions?
Unaffiliated persons or groups wishing to utilize outdoor University property to engage in public speaking, to make public announcements or to distribute literature may do so in designated areas and must make a reservation for that space with the Reservation Officer no more than four weeks in advance and at least seven days in advance of the desired speaking date.
Reservations are allocated on a space-available basis, with priority given to student groups/organizations and affiliated persons. Reservations are for two-hour blocks, with a maximum of one two-hour block per speaker, per week. Use of spaces designated for public speaking or distribution of literature must conform with University regulations and policies and must not block pedestrian or vehicular traffic or impede normal University operations.
Events that are held in indoor University facilities and are open to the public or to select unaffiliated persons create a right to peaceful demonstration and protest on outdoor University property in specific relation to such events in a manner that one, does not impede normal operations or obstruct pedestrian or vehicular traffic; two, is consistent with University policies; and three, complies with any event-specific security requirements.
The policy revisions were modeled after time, place and manner provisions adopted by the University of Maryland and upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Where are the designated locations for unaffiliated individuals or groups?
The University has identified nine locations across Grounds for unaffiliated individual or groups to gather under the revised policy.
The locations are:
Nameless Field, which may be reserved by a group of up to 50 persons.
The triangular, grassy area on the west side of Brooks Hall, which may be reserved by a group of up to 25 persons.
The grassy field in front of Brown Residential College, facing Minor Hall, which may be reserved by a group of up to 50 persons.
Madison Bowl, which may be reserved by a group of up to 50 persons.
The grassy field between Shannon Residence Hall and Observatory Hill Dining Hall, facing Alderman Road, which may be reserved by a group of up to 50 persons.
Newcomb Plaza, the plaza located between the University Bookstore and Newcomb Hall, which may be reserved by a group of up to 25 persons.
McIntire Amphitheater, which may be reserved by a group of up to 50 persons.
The grassy square in front of University Hall, bordered by McCue Hall, which may be reserved by a group of up to 25 persons.
The Park complex located in the North Grounds area, which may be reserved by a group of up to 50 persons.
How do unaffiliated persons make reservations?
Persons wishing to engage in public speaking or to distribute literature are required to reserve space by registering in advance with the Reservation Officer. Reservations are allocated on a space-available basis, with priority given to student groups/organizations and affiliated persons.
Reservations are for two-hour blocks between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. A specific individual or group may reserve up to one two-hour speaking block per week. Reservations are valid only for the date authorized on the Unaffiliated Person(s) Reservation Form.
A group making a reservation must designate one contact person for the group, and the contact person is permitted to reserve up to one two-hour block per week. The contact person is responsible for identifying people in the group. Additional reservations made for the same group under a different name are not permitted.
Only one of the designated locations shall be available for reservation at a given time on a first-reserved basis. As soon as one location is reserved for a two-hour block, all the other locations will become unavailable to unaffiliated persons during that two-hour block.
There shall be a 30-minute period between each reservation to allow for a peaceful and orderly transition.
A copy of the Unaffiliated Person(s) Registration Form must be available for inspection upon request by University officials.
In addition to the reservation requirements, are there other procedures or requirements that unaffiliated persons must follow?
Yes. In accordance with Title 8 Education, Agency 85, Chapter 20 of the Virginia Administrative Code and University Policy SEC-030: Regulation of Weapons, Fireworks, and Explosives, persons who engage in public speaking or distributing literature in the designated locations are prohibited from carrying weapons, including guns, knives or instruments for cutting, stabbing or bludgeoning.
Unaffiliated persons wishing to speak publicly or to distribute literature must comply with these rules and with University policy, including the amplified sound policy and the prohibition on the sale or promotion of commercial goods or services. Unaffiliated speakers are prohibited from:
blocking pedestrian or vehicular traffic; and
impeding normal University operations.
Failure to adhere to the above described University procedures will result in revocation of an approved reservation, other appropriate administrative action, and/or prosecution for trespass or other offenses under state law.
Will the University periodically review the designated locations or other procedures within the policy?
Yes. The designated locations that unaffiliated persons may reserve shall be reviewed periodically. These designated locations must be reviewed after the construction of the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers and also on July 1 of each year.


text:
From Portsmouth to Chernobyl One Local Creative's View
November 29, 2018 / Team Locals
My name is Michael, I live in the Southsea area of Portsmouth. I became interested in photography around seven years ago after the passing of my mum, I went through a really rough time, shut myself away from everyone, and did not venture out for two years.
My first camera was a Nikon 3200, this was a gift from my partner Mellisa to try and help me get through my rough patch. It took some time but I eventually started going out again and slowly started interacting with new people via social media. The more I went out to take pictures the more interested in photography I became — I self-taught everything I know from books and magazines. I have taken pictures for family and friends to practice, including a prom, a wedding, and general everyday family pictures.
I always had an interest in urban exploring and came across Chernobyl through TV documentaries and the internet when I was a teenager. I started researching more on Chernobyl thinking of all the amazing images I could capture if I went there. I decided to start sharing some images via social media once my confidence had grown some more. I followed some local photographers and started seeing some images of Chernobyl from someone I followed.
Sarah had visited Chernobyl before and her images were brilliant! We began chatting about Chernobyl and she mentioned she wanted to take the trip again. Following some time planning we managed to book a trip for August 2018. It was booked via a third party, so I knew there were others going, this was a big thing for me as these people were complete strangers. I struggle with meeting new people so this was definitely outside of my comfort zone. I invited my niece Toni to come along with me as she is also interested in photography and it meant I had someone I knew going on the trip.
The camera I took with me was a Nikon D810, which I had recently purchased. We booked a hotel for just under a week in Kiev, Ukraine, with two nights and three days staying in a hotel in Chernobyl.
We were met at Kiev airport by our guide Nikolai of Gamma Travel, he took us to the Hotel Ukraine in central Kiev. From the moment we arrived in Ukraine I was impressed as there were so many potential images I saw just driving to the hotel. Our first night was spent in Hotel Ukraine, I had stunning views from my room window. Nikolai came by early the next morning to drive us to Chernobyl for our two nights stay in the zone, it was a few hours drive to Chernobyl from our initial base.
When we arrived in Chenobyl, we made our way to the hotel, checked in and left our luggage, then made our way to the zone having to go through a few military check points on the way. We also had to sign a waiver stating that we understood the risk of high levels of radiation and that we wouldn't sue if we fell ill in the future. We were then given geiger counters to measure the levels of radiation in the different areas we were visiting.
Once we made it through the check points the first place we visited was the unfinished reactor number 5. This reactor was under construction at the time of the accident on reactor 4 and was 70% complete when building stopped. The reactor was a massive structure, from looking inside through an opening, we saw that materials inside the building were being removed by remaining workers, this meant that all that remained was mostly concrete pillars and metal beams. In addition to this, tower cranes that were being used to build the structure were left there when construction was halted, they have since collapsed into the water, making the building seem even more eerie.
We were then shown to the Chernobyl workers canteen to join them for lunch, this canteen is where we ate breakfast and dinner for the next few days. Once in the building we had to go through a radiation detector machine before going in to the canteen. The food being served was very interesting, it contained lots of different versions of eggs, chicken, pasta, and salad. It was quite tasty and definitely filled us up and gave us the energy needed for all the walking we did.
Over the next few days we visited various locations throughout the zone this included the Pripyat hospital. This was a very creepy building with loads of medical equipment still lying around, we visited the maternity ward which still had the baby cots in the nursery, the labour bed with the leg supports still attached, as well as loads of books, paperwork, and medicine jars.
Obviously the buildings are decaying so there is loads of dust and mould around, the floors and walls are crumbling and peeling. Unfortunately we were not allowed access to the hospital basement as the levels of radiation there are still very high due to this being where the fireman's uniforms and the clothes of the first patients admitted after the accident were dumped before the evacuation. The clothes are in a pile on the floor of the basement omitting radiation.
We visited the morgue which is a separate building from the hospital but is nearby. This building again was in a state of disrepair, here we saw small jars of unknown samples in storage cupboards, there was a room with an autopsy table which had the sink and drainage pipes still attached.
Continuing our exploring we headed to the city of Pripyat which contained numerous apartment blocks. We walked to the top floor of one of the blocks, this was hard work but was fun. We walked up approx. 16 flights of stairs to get to the roof, as the lifts were out of order, probably due to the block having no power.
The view from the roof was amazing and peaceful, it was a strange feeling seeing all the abandoned buildings with nature taking over slowly. Walking on the roof in the heat was a tad scary. It felt very spongy and unsafe with only a rusted hand rail to stop us from falling.
The amusement park was another eerie place that we visited. It was built brand new the year of the accident and was due to be opened in time for mayday celebrations but was cancelled due to the disaster. The amusement park included a Ferris wheel, bumper cars, paratrooper ride, and swing boats. The Ferris wheel is still standing tall, some of the other rides only have the framework remaining due to weathering and looting. The amusement park is an amazing site to get some brilliant images.
We also visited the local school. This was a large complex with various buildings, one building had some creepy dolls lying around which allowed us to capture some creative images. There were a few small cot beds and some lockers. Another building had loads of text books, writing books, reading books, work tables and science equipment lying around. There was also an abandoned library in one of these building full of books.
Another location we visited was the Azure swimming pool. Here there were two concrete diving boards over the swimming pool. I managed to climb up to the top-level diving board which was a bit nerve racking, however this was something I wanted to do in order to get some quality images.
The next location we visited was a building called the Jupiter Plant which officially made cassette recorders and components for home appliances but also secretly made semiconductor components for the military. This building was very interesting, cassette players were smashed up all over the floor. The front of the building appeared official looking but at the back of the building there was a set of secure safe locked doors — possibly where the secret components were made. It is a massive building with a large warehouse and a slowly collapsing roof.
The trip continued with a visit to the abandoned ferry terminal. At this site there was a docking area with a lovely view, there were abandoned sinking boats on the water. There was also a nearby café which was architecturally amazing. I could picture the way it used to look when it was in full use. There were huge stained-glass windows in the largest open area, some of these still fully intact, they were brilliant to look at!
After clearing another check point, next on the tour was the Duga Radar Station also known as the woodpecker. From looking at photos you can't really understand the scale and size of this structure, it is huge! We went down in to the underground control centre which monitored US missile attacks, lots of equipment is still at the damp underground bunker such as control panels, cabling, and switches.
We visited the North villages which included St. Elias church which is still an operating church, mostly made from wood, this gives an unprecedented look into life before the disaster. It retains a large amount of its original artefacts, including art work and murals. Occasionally priests return to the church to hold special rituals. This is an amazing church which makes you feel as though you are going back in time.
Also in this village was a small post office which still has a post box and a collection of stamps and letters inside.
We also made some new friends in the zone, packs of wild dogs, and Simon the fox who can be hand fed but you are not supposed to touch them. After our two nights and three days in Chernobyl we travelled back to our hotel in Kiev and spent the last few days sight seeing in Ukraine and doing some street photography in Kiev. Kiev is a beautiful city full of history.
I feel I have only seen a small portion of Chernobyl and know there is much more to be seen, a second trip is definitely on the cards for the future. From a photography point of view, it was definitely a good learning experience.
If people are deciding whether to go themselves, a few pieces of advice I would give are I would advise not to book with a large tour company if you are taking a photography trip because there will be too many people in the images and blocking the views as you don't get a lot of time in each area.
I would personally highly recommend Nikolai from Gamma travel, as he has a vast amount of knowledge of the area and the disaster, he is also a very talented photographer himself so can easily recommend good areas for photos. He will also tailor your visit specifically to your requirements which means you can visit specific locations.
The zone can also close at any time with no warning due to military training or other undisclosed reasons, therefore I would advise to book more than one day in the zone so you are not disappointed.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me via social media.
WORDS: Michael Rutter
Find out more about the Gamma Travel tours here »
Please be sure to follow Michael on his Twitter and Instagram where he's happy to chat with you about his trip.
Instagram: @MRutterUK
Twitter: @MRutterUK
November 29, 2018 / Team Locals/
creative, arts, photography, locals
Team Locals
Mary Rose Museum Shortlisted for ...
Pompey Breeze past Walsall to ...


NORTHFIELD, ILL. — Net income at Kraft Foods Inc. in the year ended Dec. 31, 2011, was $3,527 million, equal to $2 per share on the common stock, down 14% from $4,114 million, or $2.40 per share, during fiscal 2010. Results in 2010 included more than $1,600 million in gains from discontinued operations.
Earnings from continuing operations in fiscal 2011 totaled $3,547 million, up 42% from $2,495 million in fiscal 2010.
Operating income in fiscal 2011 was $6,657 million, up nearly 18% from $5,666 million in fiscal 2010.
Revenue for the year was $54,365 million, up 11% from $49,207 million during the previous year.
For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, the company had earnings of $830 million, or 47c per share, up 54% from $540 million, or 31c per share, during the same quarter of the previous year. Revenue for the quarter was $14,688 million, up 7% from $13,773 million. Earnings were up in the quarter due to revenue growth, cost management and investments in major brands.
Even as the company plans to trim North American brands and split into two companies, it is still predicting growth in 2012.
The company said it will have a one-time restructuring, transition and transaction costs of $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion as it prepares to separate later this year.


text:
Beyond The Existence Official Website
Passed Dates
Scipheord Productions
Beyond The Existence is a Greek Atmospheric Death Metal band, founded in 2012 by the band's lead singer Ikki (Ikaros Poimenidis) in the city of Thessaloniki.
The band's earliest releases were categorized as Atmospheric
Death Metal, Death Gothic Metal, inspired by acts such as After Forever, Dark Tranquillity, The Duskfall and many more.
In 2013 with the release of their 1st Demo, the band's line up was altered many times and had a major shift in its musical style. At the same time, the group started acknowledging their growing influence of different genres such as Melodic Death Metal, Progressive/Technical Metal and hints of Thrash Metal. That resulted in a huge reconstruction of their sound, which lead the band's musical genre to be known as Atmospheric Death Metal. The aggressive guttural vocals, mixed with technical guitar riffs and piano/strings arrangements, earned them recognition and support beyond the European border, in countries such as Bulgaria, Romania, Argentina, USA, Brazil and Japan. In May of 2016, after their debut album "Silent Mourning" was released, the band started touring around Greece and Europe to promote their new material, playing alongside and supporting acts such as Testament, Moospell, In Mourning, E-An-Na, GOD, Taine, White Walls, Velian.
As of now, the band released in 2019 their second album titled "Thoughts Through Imagination" and continues working in new songs
* Beyond The Existence – Demo (2013)
* Silent Mourning (2016)
* Thoughts Through Imagination
*YouTube
*Reverbnation
*Sound Cloud
© All copyrights of all media such as Music, Lyrics, Photos, Videos etc., are reserved to Beyond The Existence®


Now that my schedule is getting hectic each day, as much as I want to do a food trip in Binondo every Chinese New Year I cannot do that anymore. For those who have the same fate, I super recommend Paradise Dynasty. It is a chain of restaurants serving authentic Chinese cuisine from northern and southern part of China. They first opened in Conrad Manila S Maison then added one in The Podium Mall, Ortigas. You can click HERE the blog post I made about my lunch experience about it. Open 7 days a week, you can eat your favorite Chinese food during business hours of SM Aura.
While I am both hand's down to the great taste and superb service of the one in The Podium, I really wished somehow they'll have another branch that's close to where l stay. Mandaluyong is a bit far from me. I would be glad to either go to Makati or BGC instead. Guess what, after a few months my wish was granted! Imagine the joy in me when I learned that Paradise Dynasty opened in SM Aura which is just a jeep away from where I live.
Just a few days ago, another lunch invite landed on my Facebook messenger in Paradise Dynasty SM Aura. It is hard to say no to eat in my favorite Chinese restaurant in BGC! This is actually my second visit at Paradise Dynasty SM Aura. Just last month, I and my two sisters went there for a hearty dinner after some holiday shopping. We didn't have any guessing game about what to order since like I mentioned I have dined already at the Paradise Dynasty The Podium. They share the same menu so I chose the ones that I really like so much.
As expected, the Paradise Dynasty's signature xiao long baos (Php 388) where served to us first. Xiao long baos are best eaten while warm, that's why in no time I ate two of these. I could eat more but I know I have other blogger friends who would like to take a bite too and I know they'll serve several dishes so I need to make sure my tummy is well-partitioned to be able to try all of the food that we have to eat. Inside a bamboo steamer, we saw eight flavors:Garlic, Ginseng, Foie Gras, Szechuan, Cheese, Crab Roe, Black Truffle and Signature Original Xiao Long Bao. I can only memorize the original which is colored white.
Next, we were able to try the Chili Crab Xiao Long Bao (Php 540). Served inside a closed bamboo steamer, you have five pieces to indulge a piece of spicy seafood flavored xiao long bao. After one bite, I wish I can eat all four pieces remaining! Some of my friends did the traditional way by dipping it in the black vinegar sauce first before swallowing it but me it went straight to my mouth! Paradise Dynasty is only offering chili crab flavor of xiao long bao for a limited time so better plan your visit to this restaurant soon.
What else did we ate?
Below are the dishes we also ate. This is not the first time I have tasted these but I will never complain eating these over and over again.
I am not really a fan of eating a lot of leaves. However, this one is an exemption. There's some magic in this lettuce roll dipped in a sesame sauce. I do not know if this is because of the crunchy lettuce or the sauce that's so creamy, but I super like it!
I was so confident this is desert when I first ate it but no it is not. I was told it is some kind of dimsum! That's why it was not served last. It tastes like bread to me though but the hint of radish and that unnamed white slices that I suspect a coconut meat inside is superb. Who can prove me right (or wrong)?
Where's the rice? This is what came to my mind when the waiter came to serve a plate of these pork dumplings! I swear, the taste is so great you'll end up regretting why you never ate it without rice.
To be honest, my concentration went to the pork dumplings all throughout because all I ever want to be served next is a bowl of steamed white rice. This one reminds me of a rice porridge but richer with scrambled egg. You don't need to mix it, just eat it as is.
I can eat this without the need to wrap it with crepes. I was only able to eat a small serving of this one due to my strong craving for a bowl of white rice. Blame it on that sinful pork dumplings served to us.
Finally, I do not need to weep in silence. A bowl of fried rice came along with a plate of crispy fried crystal prawns tossed in salted egg yolk. I didn't tasted the crystal prawns but it is the taste of the salted egg yolk that made me so crazy about it. I think I was under the spell of the smell of the salted egg yolk for a few minutes. I am not joking!
I can eat fried chicken from breakfast to dinner every day. Whether it is spicy like this one from Paradise Dynasty or deep fried, you're not gonna hear a word of me complaining!
Making a dish made of green beans and minced pork is never a bad idea. I wish though these beans were not cooked all the way. I want it crisp and half cooked. This is only my preference.
Last but not the least, we had (H.) charcoal custard lava buns for dessert. So good, I wish every lunch I have some of these on my table! Thanks Miss Xchosa and Paradise Dynasty SM Aura for having me again.


there is a significant pot hole as well as a sink hole that has been reported by Dr real neighbors but remains unaddressed.
there is a significant pot hole along with a sink hole in front of this house. it has been reported to PW by various neighbors but remains an issue.
mattress and couch left on curb.
My leaf bag has been sitting in front of my house through 2 trash/recycling pick ups. Do we have to post a SCF ticket every time we want our bags picked up? I see a lot of tickets opened for leaf bags not picked up.
this car has neen parked in front of 51 Pearl gor over a month. please investigste.
this tree fell fown in the gitst nor easter. They cut the tree up but left this enormous stump. will the city remove?
light is flazhobf red from Munson, flashing yellow from Winchester. very dangerous because poor visibility.
the people who required this handicap spot sold the house 2 years ago. can this be removed so residents can use It?


LTE Band 28 (700 MHz) Operators and LTE Devices for B28 – 4G Mobile Broadband – blogger via Google Alerts Jun 10 06:35 LTE is used by the network providers in various frequency ranges. In the future, the area around 700 MHz(LTE Band 28) will be increasingly used.
LEX F10 FirstNet Solution – Motorola Solutions via Google Alerts Jun 7 19:09 The LEX F10 is offered specifically for the FirstNet broadband network by Motorola Solutions: one of the FirstNet partners.


text:
import update from 'react/lib/update';
import { LOAD_ALLPOI, LOAD_POIPIC, LOAD_PICNUM, SET_USERFORMAT } from '../constants/AppConstants';
const defaultState = {
    allPoiId: {},
    poiPics: {},
    PoiNum: {},
    setUserFormat: {}
};
function stationReducer(state = defaultState, action) {
    Object.freeze(state); // Don't mutate state directly, always use assign()!
    switch (action.type) {
        case LOAD_ALLPOI:
            const poiTemp = action.poiIds;
            const allPOi = {};
            poiTemp.forEach((item) => {
                allPOi[item.stationID] = item;
            });
            return update(state, { allPoiId: { $merge: allPOi } });
        case LOAD_POIPIC:
            const detailPoi = action.detail;
            const temRes = [];
            const _poiTemp = {};
            console.log(detailPoi);
            Object.keys(detailPoi).forEach((item) => {
                const tempObj = {};
                tempObj.text = item;
                tempObj.count = detailPoi[item];
                temRes.push(tempObj);
            });
            _poiTemp.detail = temRes;
            console.log(_poiTemp);
            return update(state, { poiPics: { $merge: _poiTemp } });
        case SET_USERFORMAT:
            const userTemp = action.userFormat;
            const tempUser = [];
            const _userTemp = {};
            Object.keys(userTemp).forEach((item) => {
                const tempObj = {};
                tempObj.name = item;
                tempObj.picCount = userTemp[item];
                tempUser.push(tempObj);
            });
            _userTemp.detail = tempUser;
            return update(state, { setUserFormat: { $merge: _userTemp } });
        case LOAD_PICNUM:
            const PoiNum = action.num;
            return update(state, { PoiNum: { $merge: PoiNum } });
        default:
            return state;
    }
}
export default stationReducer;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British owned company in the aerospace company in the Aerospace industry locate at England, one of its subsidiary in North America is BAE Systems Inc. The company started operation on November of 1999.
BAE is the descendant to a variety of aviation companies which includes A.V. Roe and Company, The Marconi Company, de Havilland, Supermarine, EADS Astrium, Elektronik, Concorde, and Spitfire.
BAE Systems' products in commercial aviation are in BAE Systems Regional Aircraft which continues to lease and support its products, the Jetstream, BAe ATP, BAe 146/Avro RJ family, and BAe 748.


Levant Tours & Travel offers a wide range of excellent, well-planned nature and camping hikes and tours throughout Jordan and beyond. We've been planning trips for over 20 years and follow well planned, tried and tested, itineraries which will enable you to enjoy the 'must-see' highlights and many memorable experiences, such as riding camels or horses , 4x4 safari, scuba diving and walking trips. Our small group trips let you explore unfamiliar places, trek through incredible mountain scenery, get active and enjoy the local culture. Tours are guided, the guides are among the best in the business, and are generally fluent in English, French and German.


Photographs Through Junk: How to take better pictures through a messy airplane window.
I was flying from Saint Louis to Philadelphia one beautiful fall day, and I was looking out the window, observing some wondrous landscapes. I can't begin to describe the fascinating geometric shapes into which the land had been carved by the agriculture in the area. Seen from the macroscopic view of the plane, it was marvelous!
Precisely because I couldn't describe it, I badly wanted to take a picture of it. (As well as several other views along the trip.) I was frustrated that I didn't have my camera with me, but I consoled myself saying "Well, it wouldn't have turned out well anyway...it looks good to me, but this window has all these miniature abrasions (which plane windows always seem to have) which would have crapified the picture something fierce."
And thinking of that, I kept shifting my view back and forth between the landscape and the window, watching the marks come into focus and then be blurred away.
Which reminded me of the time I discovered that while looking through a window screen is annoying (because there's this nasty miniature GRID in the way!) if you take a nice camera and focus on something other than the screen, you don't see screen at all.
And this made me realize, "Hey! When I use the f-Stop on my camera to open or close the iris, I'm effectively changing the diameter of the focusing lens. So if I want to take a picture through something messy (like a screen, or an airplane window) I should crank that aperture as wide open as possible [lowest-numbered f-Stop] to help the image ignore that junk in the way!"
While I got a little sad again because I had just lost the sour grapes that were consoling my on the lack of my camera being present, my spirits were lifted by the further revelation that the wider-open the aperture, the more light comes into the camera, and hence the faster your shutter speed should be to help compensate. Which is nice because with the shaking of the plane and the shaking of your hands and the ground sliding along below, you want that camera shutter moving as fast as possible to help freeze time.
Summary: to take good pictures when there's stuff in the way, crank open the iris of your camera and hopefully you can avoid the nasties in-between.


Eco print on watercolour paper: eucalyptus, bramble and mystery leaf. I love the insistent staccato of that deep and velvety maroon.
This entry was posted in Art, Eco/Natural Dyeing and Printing, Printmaking and tagged Bramble Print, Eco Print, Eco Print on Watercolour Paper, Eucalyptus Print, Monoprint. Bookmark the permalink.
Those prints look like the ground outside my door. You inspired me to go and take some photos. We had massive winds then heavy rain yesterday so the ground is covered in fresh debris.


Those people young couples are all things considered bright who may have accessory into their world basically in light of the way that acknowledge marriage could be an authoritative way to deal with live with your dream life accomplice. in the event you get acknowledge marriage with all your associate you may used your life happily with the acknowledge friend however at some point or another two or three young couples need to experience a significant measure of inconveniences in getting acknowledge marriage that is accurately why we're here. If you are having startling inconveniences in your lovemarriage and a while later watch our Rohani ilaj about acknowledge marriage program and have answers for the difficulties. Going to catch specific the one that gets these sorts of difficulties however for any person who is more dedicated which you can't adjust to this kind of inconveniences in vague time period you may help of Rohani ilaj about acknowledge marriage system.


Why revenue growth is IoT's surprising side effect.
Of all that the Internet of Things (IoT) promises, manufacturers seem most focused on supply chain efficiency, and with good reason. Under constant pressure to reduce costs and get to market faster, but having limited ways to do so, IoT's promise of faster, cheaper and better is alluring.
Getting less attention in IoT discussions is the potential for revenue growth through innovation. Practically speaking, it's easier to improve an existing operation than to improve things that haven't yet been imagined.
That vision will get clearer as manufacturers get their IoT sea legs. But how much time is there? Digital native consumers have shown little patience in product also-rans unless they come with a big advantage.
When manufacturers talk about being more competitive, they talk aspirationally about having a more agile supply chain. IoT strategies can help you create a more agile supply chain, but you need to extend that agile mindset to research and development to keep up with today's consumers.
There are many ways to tap into innovative breakthroughs. In UPS's 110-year history, we've been IoT pioneers by connecting our operations through sensors and scanners – and then studying the data so we can make improvements.
UPS Package Flow Technology, for example, evaluates and optimizes every step in a delivery cycle – from the way a package is routed and tracked to how it's loaded and then delivered.
The visibility provided by Package Flow Technology then led to breakthrough customer delivery options like the ability to intercept packages, as well as alternative delivery options provided through the UPS Access Point Network and UPS MyChoice.
The Internet of Things has created the best and worst of times for research and development. On one hand, an influx of attention and funding for digital advancements is an innovator's dream. On the other hand, the R&D teams of today tend to lack the range of expertise needed to get disruptive products to market.
Specifically, virtual and augmented reality, Bluetooth beacons, RFID – not to mention the growing murmurs about blockchain technology – require companies to open their doors to some surprising collaborators.
Such collaborations were coined "Industrial mash-ups" in a paper by Ernst & Young and Harvard Business Review. Those alliances can come together faster than mergers and acquisitions allow and can "develop new products and services rapidly by piecing together components from an ecosystem of collaborating partners," the paper found.
Looser alliances also help companies explore new technologies with expert help from each field. All parties win through data and knowledge sharing. For example, UPS has collaborated with Fast Radius and SAP to develop a digital-distributed manufacturing network for on-demand 3D Printing. A separate UPS collaboration with Cy-Phy Works tests the use of drones for both commercial and humanitarian deliveries.
Smart companies know that to stay on top, they'll have to be open-minded. Companies owe it to their customers and themselves to get outside of themselves and to catch up with or get ahead of emerging tech.
Leaders are understandably wary of IoT when there are still so many unanswered questions. What standards will emerge? What is a realistic return on investment? And perhaps the biggest question of all, where to start?
The hardest step in enterprise initiatives like IoT is often the first one. My simple advice would be to get an extended team around the table and start talking – including R&D, marketing, IT, sales, human resources and customer service. The next steps will flow from there.
Having UPS involved early in the process is also really important. It's incredible what can happen when your business strategy and supply chain strategy are in perfect alignment.
Charlie Covert is Vice President, Customer Solutions, at UPS where he is responsible for supply chain design, sustainability and consulting for the automotive, aerospace, government, high-tech, professional services and industrial manufacturing sectors.


text:
Q: Animate css with scrollTop() for a timeline wonderful helpers!
I'm trying to create a timeline element that animates the CSS width property on #marker based on scroll position. I'm pretty new at jQuery and I know I probably have a few errors... Sorry. On the up side, I did make helpful comments explaining what I'm trying to do. Please take a look, and thanks in advance!
    <!DOCTYPE html>

            <link rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' href='styles.css'>

                Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum dolor turpis, consectetur vel libero a, mollis dapibus odio. Nunc lobortis, eros non tincidunt porttitor, purus tellus porta lectus, non luctus arcu augue eu est. Nunc malesuada ex elit, vel bibendum erat dictum nec. Proin imperdiet efficitur elit eu vestibulum. Nullam id augue tincidunt, efficitur nunc non, efficitur urna. Proin sit amet tincidunt purus. Sed interdum, felis quis facilisis malesuada, felis felis viverra lectus, eget euismod elit risus et mi. Mauris eu enim tellus. Aenean tincidunt orci nec tincidunt facilisis. Phasellus dignissim ante ut maximus feugiat. Mauris sollicitudin venenatis neque nec luctus. Quisque vel tempus urna, sed feugiat leo. Sed tellus magna, molestie non purus in, viverra condimentum orci. Nulla a nunc mauris. Aliquam convallis interdum velit, ac luctus massa rutrum at.

                Sed volutpat purus enim, eget accumsan odio ullamcorper sit amet. Sed vitae imperdiet metus. Aenean mollis mauris odio, eget finibus ligula ornare eu. Aliquam id velit quis tellus cursus imperdiet. Mauris eget laoreet ipsum, sed ultricies magna. Aliquam vel neque ut risus dapibus suscipit nec nec ipsum. Nullam vulputate, elit sit amet finibus sagittis, nunc nisl molestie sem, et tincidunt neque magna in nunc. Nullam aliquam mi et ante dapibus posuere. Vivamus aliquet ipsum sit amet tellus lacinia, vitae convallis odio aliquam. Mauris rhoncus, leo sit amet vulputate placerat, sem tortor fermentum ex, quis luctus nulla sapien consequat nunc.

                Phasellus a pellentesque urna. Integer eget mattis nulla. Nullam sed diam ipsum. Fusce interdum scelerisque arcu, quis ultricies risus accumsan vel. Quisque luctus nisi a nisl porttitor, at finibus elit porttitor. Fusce eget mauris a magna sollicitudin volutpat. Sed nisl magna, volutpat quis mauris a, sagittis mollis nibh. Ut consectetur justo et sem convallis, at elementum purus hendrerit. Curabitur eros odio, ullamcorper vitae facilisis vel, congue sed mauris. Aliquam egestas augue nec scelerisque ornare. Integer et neque metus. Suspendisse aliquet scelerisque odio et ornare. Donec ac mi sed nunc interdum aliquet nec at lectus. Praesent eu tortor pretium, euismod tellus ut, scelerisque massa. Nullam eleifend malesuada magna rutrum gravida.

                Phasellus ultricies elit ac turpis consequat, a suscipit tellus cursus. Aenean in consectetur turpis. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed non dui non ipsum pretium sagittis. Donec dictum, enim sit amet venenatis venenatis, ante purus malesuada neque, ac pellentesque eros turpis eu velit. Vestibulum ligula leo, aliquet et dignissim et, dapibus nec orci. Nullam ultrices sapien id imperdiet aliquam. Vestibulum id lorem finibus, condimentum magna mollis, interdum magna. Sed vel lorem feugiat, aliquam mauris non, consequat ante. Nunc eu sem et dui porta auctor. Nam tincidunt orci sed egestas tempor. Suspendisse euismod, arcu vitae porta sollicitudin, justo erat porta sem, vel suscipit odio lorem sit amet mi. Maecenas quis finibus elit.

                Praesent eu ante eu est rutrum suscipit. Maecenas dictum massa eros, blandit fermentum dui ultrices et. Duis in orci eget nulla tincidunt rhoncus at et purus. Nunc porta ipsum vitae lacinia ornare. Vivamus laoreet odio quis urna porta blandit. In viverra molestie ornare. Nam lorem turpis, lacinia at lacus non, pharetra efficitur ipsum. Donec ultrices lacinia velit id eleifend. Integer pellentesque lectus tincidunt est porta, et elementum ex euismod. Vivamus lobortis at odio at interdum. Vestibulum posuere quam dolor, at rhoncus elit cursus nec. Proin mollis tincidunt libero quis convallis. Donec vel placerat dui, at cursus urna. Donec cursus eleifend dapibus.

And the CSS:
#timeline {
    width: 98%;
    height: 1%;
    margin: 1%;
    padding-top: 1%;
    padding-bottom: 1%;
    position: fixed;
    bottom: 0;
    left: 0;
    background-color: #590C13;
    border-radius: .5em;
    }

#path {
    width: 98%;
    position: fixed;
    border-top: 3px solid #424343;
    }

#marker {
    width: 0%; /* This is defaulted to zero. jQuery resets value based on scroll position. Don't mess with it! */
    position: relative;
    top: 0;
    border-top: 3px solid #ffffff;
    }

p { /* This is place holder content used to test jQuery scroll position. Feel free to delete.  */
    padding: 3%;
    font-size: 2em;
    line-height: 3em;
    }

A: I have restyled your CSS a little bit, and also wrote the logic that will update the marker width when you scroll or resize the viewport. The CSS mainly involve changing #marker and #path to absolute positioning instead of fixed:
#path {
    width: 100%;
    position: absolute;
    border-top: 3px solid #424343;
}
#marker {
    width: 0;
    absolute;
    border-top: 3px solid #ffffff;
}

For the computation, the trick is the following:

*

*Compute the scrollable distance, which is basically the content's height minus the viewport height

*Get the position of the viewport from the top

*Use this to calculate what percentage the user has scrolled through

*Multiply this percentage/fraction with the path's width

*Voila! :D

And now here is the logic in jQuery. I have chosen to do the calculations in a function called updateMarker(), so we can call it whenever the viewport size changes, or when the user scrolls. You should also call it onload (in case the user does not start from the top of the page).
$(function() {
    var updateMarker = function() {
        // Update measurements
        var viewportHeight = $(window).height(),
            contentHeight = $('#content1').height(),
            pathWidth = $('#path').width(),
            scrollPosition = $(window).scrollTop();

        // Update #marker dimensions
        $('#marker').width(scrollPosition/(contentHeight-viewportHeight)*pathWidth);
    }

    // Call function when viewport is resized or scrolled
    $(window).on('scroll resize', updateMarker);

    // Call function on DOM ready
    updateMarker();
});

See fiddle here: http://jsfiddle.net/teddyrised/e0ezfw6w/
ps: On a side note, you might want to consider use the <progress> element, which is semantically more relevant than just
 ;)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange