* This program makes it possible for you to enter your survey data offline - without an internet connection.
* You will need to access the internet to upload the completed surveys, and then error-check and submit the surveys to REEF through the online entry interface at www.REEF.org/dataentry. Important note: this is a 2 step process - after uploading your surveys from this program, you must logon to the Online Data Entry interface to submit your surveys to REEF. They are not submitted from this program.
* You can enter as many surveys as you like while you are offline.
* The program supports surveys from all of REEF's regions.
* Select your view: Each region has multiple underwater survey papers. Be sure to select the version of paper that you are using so that the species are listed in the same order..
* At any point while you are entering survey data, you can save the survey using "Save For Later". You can then continue entering the survey or start entering a new survey. To access saved (but not uploaded) surveys, use the Open Survey option under the File menu.
* Once you have completed a survey, you can either "Mark For Upload" (if you are offline) or "Upload" (if you are online).
* When you have internet access and are ready to submit one or more surveys that were Marked For Upload, go to the Upload options under the File menu.
* These steps must be done while online. Always be sure to update the program whenever you are online.
* Click "Check For Updates" under the Help menu. If there is a newer version of the program available than what you are currently running, it will prompt you to visit www.REEF.org/dataentryprogram to download the most current version.
* During the update check, it will also check for updated data files (zone codes, species lists). If new versions are available, you will be asked if you want the program to download the files.
There are 8 steps needed to enter, submit, and upload your REEF survey data using this program. The first 6 can be done offline and are found on tabs along the top of the program. The last two steps require an Internet connection to upload your surveys to the REEF Online Data Entry page and ultimately submit your surveys through that page.
5. Enter the Geographic Zone Code if you know it. If you don't know it, type in part of the name of the site in the Geographic Zone Search box. A chart will appear so you can select the proper site. (Some sites in different areas have the same name, so this helps you select the proper one). Click on the name of the site in the chart, and it will automatically appear in the Geographic Zone Code box.
8. Select habitat type. If you were surveying over several types, choose the best fit where you spent most of your time or found the most fish species.
The *most common* fish (and invertebrates in applicable regions) are listed on this page.
1. **Select your view: For each region, there are different versions of the uw survey paper, be sure to select the one that you are using.
3. Click on the family (or phylum for invertebrates). A species list will appear.
4. Click on the desired species. A box will appear by your mouse pointer, select the abundance code.
5. Mark abundance codes for all species seen that were positively identified during your survey.
If you didn't find your fish on the Listed Species list, here's where you'll likely find it. Use the search bar to type in all or part of the name. Click on the species when you find it, and select the abundance in the pop up window. If you find a species and click on it, but it does NOT appear in the list above the search bar, that's because it's a Listed Species. But you can still add it from this page without going back to the Listed Species page. If you saw a species that you cannot find on this list, send an email to data@REEF.org to request that it be added.
This screen shows your survey in its entirety, with both Listed and Unlisted Species lists. Missing fields are marked in RED. Double check it for accuracy and then either "Save For Later" (in case you may need to add more species) or if you're all done with it, "Mark for Upload".
You'll need an internet connection for this step! If you are currently working on a survey and it's ready to go, click Upload Now. You will be asked whether you want to just submit this survey or all surveys that have been marked for upload. You can also access these options under the File menu.
You will receive amessage once your survey(s) upload successfully. *Note, you are not finished yet!* See Step Eight.
Go to www.REEF.org/dataentry and sign on using your member number and last name. Once past the address verification page, you'll see a list of your pending surveys. Click on each one of them, progress through error-checking and the final submission page. Only after hitting Submit is your survey completely finished and transmitted to REEF! After your survey(s) are submitted to REEF, it typically takes 1-3 weeks for final processing and error checking by REEF staff. After that, your surveys will be available online for viewing through the reporting features on REEF.org.
Thank you for using the REEF Data Entry Program!
We welcome your feedback and comments. Please send them to data@REEF.org.


text:
IBI recommends US companies in Tel Aviv
On average, companies yield 2.4% higher than government bonds
Oct.October 18, 2017 03:50 PM
By Chava Gourarie
IBI, an investment firm in Israel, gave a thumbs up to U.S. real estate companies trading on the Tel Aviv bond market, with a few caveats.
The company released a report Wednesday providing investors with guidance on the sector and recommended five companies in particular.
"This is an opportunity to make order and remind [investors] that not all American companies are of a piece," IBI wrote in the document.
The five companies highlighted by IBI were the Moinian Group, Related Companies, Jeff Sutton's Wharton Properties, the California-based KBS, and Lightstone Group. In terms of performance, all five have seen their yield spread trend downward relative to government bonds, demonstrating increased investor confidence in the firms over time.
Nevertheless, the yields remain higher than comparable Israeli companies, presenting an opportunity for investors to exploit. The report puts the average yield spread at 2.4 percent for the five American companies and 1.2 percent for comparable Israeli ones.
Wharton has the shortest track record, having entered the market in January. The Wharton portfolio is strictly retail but is protected from the retail slowdown by its prime locations and because it's locked into long-term leases with built-in rent increases, according to the analysis.
Lightstone has made three substantial multifamily purchases outside New York in the last several months, which will increase its portfolio by 2,900 units for a total of $257 million, and thus its income flow is expected to increase substantially.
A slew of new U.S. companies have entered the market, at varying levels of quality, over the past few months, and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange introduced an index to track them.
jeff suttonlightstone groupmoinian groupReal Estate FinanceTel Aviv Stock Exchange
Real estate stocks push up this week as U.S.-China trade tensions ease
Chelsea landlord claims "predatory" lender is charging a crippling interest rate as punishment after losing foreclosure case
About case: Joe Sitt drops suit against Lightstone execs
Jordan Slone and his $1.6B want to fund your rentals
KKR clamps down on REIT withdrawals, joining Blackstone, Starwood
Struggling with $481M loan, Joe Chetrit looks to sell national portfolio
Moinian sells dev site near LaGuardia for $50M

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home » Freedom of the Press 2004
Freedom of the Press 2004
Overview Essay
Supplemental Essays
Read a Country or a Territory Report
- Select a Country or a Territory Report - Abkhazia * Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo, Democratic Republic of (Kinshasa) Congo, Republic of (Brazzaville) Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Crimea * Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia, The Gaza Strip * Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong * Hungary Iceland India Indian Kashmir * Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Nagorno-Karabakh * Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea Northern Cyprus * Norway Oman Pakistan Pakistani Kashmir * Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico * Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Samoa San Marino São Tomé and Príncipe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia Somaliland * South Africa South Korea South Ossetia * South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent and Grenadines Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Tibet * Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Transnistria * Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine Ukraine Україна (Translation) United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam West Bank * Western Sahara * Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe
This survey of 192 countries and one territory expands a process conducted since 1980 by Freedom House. The findings are widely used by governments, academics, and the news media in many countries. The degree to which each country permits the free flow of information determines the classification of its media as "Free," "Partly Free," or "Not Free." Countries scoring 0 to 30 are regarded as having "Free" media; 31 to 60, "Partly Free" media; and 61 to 100, "Not Free" media. The criteria for such judgments and the arithmetic scheme for displaying the judgments are described below. Assigning numerical points allows for comparative analysis among the countries surveyed as well as facilitating an examination of trends over time.
This study is based on universal criteria. The starting point is the smallest, most universal unit of concern: the individual. We recognize cultural differences, diverse national interests, and varying levels of economic development. Yet Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights holds that:
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers.
The operative word for this survey is everyone. All states, from the most democratic to the most authoritarian, are committed to this doctrine through the UN system. To deny that doctrine is to deny the universality of information freedom-a basic human right. We recognize that cultural distinctions or economic underdevelopment may limit the volume of news flows within a country, but these and other arguments are not acceptable explanations for outright centralized control of the content of news and information. Some poor countries allow for the exchange of diverse views, while some developed countries restrict content diversity. We seek to recognize press freedom wherever it exists, in poor and rich countries, as well as in countries of various ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds.
This survey does not assess the degree to which the press in any country serves responsibly, reflecting a high ethical standard. The issue of "press responsibility" is often raised to defend governmental control of the press. Indeed, a truly irresponsible press does a disservice to its public and diminishes its own credibility. However, governmental efforts to rein in the press on the pretext of making the press "responsible" has far worse results, in most cases. This issue is reflected in the degree of freedom in the flow of information as assessed in the survey.
Our data come from correspondents overseas, staff travel, international visitors, the findings of human rights and press-freedom organizations, specialists in geographic and geopolitical areas, the reports of governments and multilateral bodies, and a variety of domestic and international news media. We would particularly like to thank other members of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) network for providing detailed and timely analyses of press freedom violations in a variety of countries worldwide.
Through the years, we have refined and expanded our methodology. Recent changes to our methodology are intended to simplify the presentation of information without altering the comparability of data for a given country over the 24-year span, or of the comparative ratings of all countries over that period.
Our examination of the level of press freedom in each country is divided into three broad categories: the legal environment, the political environment, and the economic environment.
The legal environment encompasses an examination of both the laws and regulations that could influence media content and the government's inclination to use these laws and legal institutions in order to restrict the media's ability to operate. We assess the positive impact of legal and constitutional guarantees for freedom of expression; the potentially negative aspects of security legislation, the penal code and other criminal statutes; penalties for libel and defamation; the existence of and ability to use freedom of information legislation; the independence of the judiciary and of official media regulatory bodies; registration requirements for both media outlets and journalists; and the ability of journalists' groups to operate freely.
Under the category of political environment, we evaluate the degree of political control over the content of news media. Issues examined in this category include the editorial independence of both the state-owned and privately-owned media; access to information and sources; official censorship and self-censorship; the vibrancy of the media; the ability of both foreign and local reporters to cover the news freely and without harassment; and the intimidation of journalists by the state or other actors, including arbitrary detention and imprisonment, violent assaults, and other threats.
Our third category examines the economic environment for the media. This includes the structure of media ownership; transparency and concentration of ownership; the costs of establishing media as well as of production and distribution; the selective withholding of advertising or subsidies by the state or other actors; the impact of corruption and bribery on content; and the extent to which the economic situation in a country impacts the development of the media.
Each country is rated in these three categories, with the higher numbers indicating less freedom. A country's total score is based on the total of the three categories: a score of 0-30 places the country in the Free press group; 31-60 in the Partly Free; and 61-100 in the Not Free press group.
Country Status: Free (0-30)/Partly Free (31-60)/Not Free (61-100)
Legal Environment: 0-30 points
Political Environment: 0-40 points
Economic Environment: 0-30 points
Total Score: 0-100 points
‹ Liberated and Occupied Iraq: New Beginnings and Challenges for Press Freedom up Press Release ›


The Style Crone stayed with Jackie in her apartment on the Upper West Side during her NYC visit. Having a place to stay in NY is a true and generous GIFT! And she took so many photos that Nelson feared he was losing his job as the official Style Crone photographer. Here she is looking stunning in orange, white, and black as I caught her going out the door to work on Monday morning. I met Jackie through my dear friend Linda, who is pictured above. Jackie and Linda have known each other since the age of nine, and that's a long term friendship filled with fun, travel, and laughter. Chic Style Crones they are! Here's to friendships as they keep us healthy and ALIVE.


text:
Michael Phelps Mirim Lee Paul Biedermann Ryan Lochte Ian Crocker Egan Arley Bernal Stephan Jaeger Laura Davies Women's gymnastics FINA Aquatics World Championships Men's swimming Men's aquatics Men's cycling Men's road cycling Summer Olympic games Olympic games Baseball Professional baseball MLB baseball Women's road cycling Women's cycling Men's sports Men's gymnastics Gymnastics Women's aquatics Women's sports Women's swimming Aquatics Swimming Football Professional football NFL football General news Record setting events Sports Cycling Road cycling
Sportlight-Dennis Martinez pitches a perfect game.
1913 — The United States wins its first Davis Cup since 1902 by beating Britain three matches to two.
1928 — The Summer Olympics open in Amsterdam and the Olympic flame is lit for the first time.
1929 — The Chicago Cardinals become the first NFL team to train out of state, holding camp in Michigan.
1972 — The American Basketball Association announces that San Diego will receive a franchise and the NBA's Buffalo Braves relocate to San Diego and are renamed the San Diego Clippers.
1972 — The Dallas Cowboys beat the College All-Stars in Chicago 20-7.
1984 — The Summer Olympics open in Los Angeles with a record 140 nations competing. The Soviet Union and 13 Communist allies, including Cuba and East Germany, boycott the games.
1987 — Laura Davies shoots a 1-under 71 to defeat Ayako Okamoto and JoAnne Carner in an 18-hole playoff to win the U.S. Women's Open.
1987 — Angel Cordero Jr. becomes the fourth U.S. jockey to win 6,000 races when he rides Lost Kitty to victory at Monmouth Park, N.J.
1991 — Dennis Martinez pitches a perfect game for the Montreal Expos, who beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0.
1992 — American Mike Barrowman sets a world record in winning the 200-meter breaststroke, and Russian Evgueni Sadovyi becomes the Summer Olympics' first triple gold medalist, also smashing a world record in the men's 400-meter freestyle.
1994 — On the night baseball players set an Aug. 12 strike date, Kenny Rogers of the Texas Rangers pitches a perfect game for a 4-0 victory over California.
2000 — Blaine Wilson, America's pre-eminent gymnast, wins his fifth straight championship in St. Louis. He becomes the first gymnast to win five straight national titles since George Wheeler did it from 1937-41.
2009 — Germany's Paul Biedermann hands Michael Phelps his first major individual loss in four years, setting a world record in the 200-meter freestyle at the world championships in Rome. Phelps, a body length behind, loses for the first time in a major international meet since Ian Crocker beat him in the 100 butterfly final at the 2005 worlds.
2011 — Ryan Lochte celebrates the first world record set since high-tech bodysuits were banned 1 1/2 years ago. Lochte edges Michael Phelps in 200-meter individual medley at the world championships at Shanghai.
2013 — Brek Shea scores less than a minute after entering the game as a second-half substitute, giving the United States a 1-0 victory over Panama in the Gold Cup final. It's the fifth Gold Cup title for the Americans but their first since 2007.
2016 — Mirim Lee shoots a 10-under 62 to match the Women's British Open record and take a three-stroke lead in the major championship at tree-lined Woburn (England) Golf Club.
2016 — Stephan Jaeger shoots a 12-under 58 in the Web.com Tour's Ellie Mae Classic in Hayward, Calif., for the lowest score in major tour play. The German finishes with a 10-foot birdie putt.
2019 — 22-year-old Egan Bernal becomes the first Colombian and Latin American cyclist to win the Tour de France.


text:
Pervez Musharraf
maryumtanweer
Pervez Musharraf is one of those rulers in Pakistan who is not only criticized but also appreciated widely. He is the 13th Chief of Army Staff and 10th president of Pakistan. He came into power after the takeover of the government in 1999. Musharraf was President of Pakistan for 7 years from 2001 to 2008. During his government, Pakistan saw an economic rise and stability. He is currently in Exile in Dubai. This article has all the information about Musharraf, including Pervez Musharraf Biography and Pervez Musharraf Family.
Name: Pervez Musharraf
In Urdu: پرویز مشرف
Famous As: Army General
Residence: Dubai
Education: Graduation
Alma Mater: Christian College Lahore
Profession: Ex Army General and Politician
Website: https://www.facebook.com/pervezmusharraf/
Awards : He Bagged Various Awards
Date: 11th August 1943
Place: Old Delhi, British India
Spouse: Sehba Musharraf
Children: 1 Son and 1 Daughter
Parents: Musharrafuddin and Begum Zain
Siblings : 2 Brothers
Relatives: Asim Raza ( Son in law)
Pervez Musharraf Biography
Musharraf date of Birth
Education of Pervez
Pervez Musharraf Family
Military Career
Kargil War
Military Coup
As a President
Musharraf Decline
Musharraf Book
The association of Musharraf with Pakistan is never questioned. It can be seen in his involvement in three major wars with India. He joined Pakistan Army in 1961 and was commissioned in 1964. He played a vital role in the Afghan Civil War. In 1998, he was made the Head of the Armed forces by Nawaz Sharif. In the army, he has served as major general, commanded SSG (Special Service Group), and director-general of military operations. After his takeover, Musharraf made Pakistan a key state in the War on Terror. Hus government ended dramatically. His decisions at the eleventh hour greatly affected Pakistan. He suspended the constitution. He paid it in the form of high treason case in Sharif's government. He also formed his Party, All Pakistan Muslim League (APML).
Musharraf was born on 11 August, 1943 in British India. He is currently residing in Dubai in Exile with his wife.
He got his early education from Saint Patrick School in 1957 in Karachi. Later, Musharraf joined Forman Christian College Lahore. He graduated in 1964. He has also passed various exams including Psychological, and officer Training. He likewise took deep interest in Socio economics
Musharraf was the second son of Musharrafuddin and Begum Zarin in all three children who were boys. His elder brother, Javed Musharraf is an economist and one of the directors of the International Fund for Agriculture. His younger brother is Naveed Musharraf. He is an anesthesiologist. He married Sehba in 1968. They have two children, one son and one daughter. His son in law Asim Raza is notable Pakistani Film Director.
Musharraf joined Kakul academy in 1961 and was authorized in 1964 and was deployed on the borders and next year he participated in the 1965 war against India as a lieutenant. It was his first-ever battlefield experience. He participated in Kashmir, Sialkot and Lahore war zones. Musharraf became famous for staying in the prop under shellfire. It earned him the middle after the war. He also participated in the war of 1971. This time he was the Commander of SSG battalion.
In 1974, he was proceded to the post of Lieutenant Colonel. When he became a Staff officer at NDU, he served as a deputy professor of political science and war studies. In 1987, Musharraf appointed as a Brigade Commander of a Brigade deployed in Siachen glaciers. In 1990-91, Musharraf spent time in Britain. He went to the Defense Royal College and wrote a thesis on " Impact of Arm Race in the Indo-Pak subcontinent". Based on his thesis, he was called one of the best students of his career by Antony Walker.
In 1993, he was promoted to the designation of major general and served in the district of Okara Military. From 1993-1995, he worked as a Director General of Military Operations with the Chief of Army Staff. It is said that Benazir was impressed by Musharraf's war philosophy and on the recommendations of Molana Fazal Rahman, he was promoted to Benazir's key staff. He used to visit Washington with her and was the one who held secret meetings with officials of Mossad and Israeli Premier, Yitzhak Rabin.
In 1998, Musharraf was promoted to four-star general upon the recommendations of the civilian government.
The Kargil plan was first made by Pakistan but the leadership was reluctant to act. In March 1999, Kashmiri forces were infiltrating in Kargal. As it was discovered, India started the war. Nawaz Sharif as the Prime Minister withdrew the support due to the international pressure. It antagonized the Army and news of a possible coup erupted. Musharraf's reputation was on the stack and a court-martial of him was demanded. He was severely criticized and called responsible for human loss.
The relation between Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif were weak after the rumours of a coup. One day, Musharraf was on the way back from Srilanka when his landing was denied in Karachi. As the new came to the Army, the troops were mobilized for a possible coup. Sharif was placed under house arrest but he managed to send a message to Karachi airport to redirect Musharraf's plane to India. The Army had luckily taken control and on 13th October, the nation was addressed by Musharraf
Soon after the coup, an emergency was imposed in the country. Different army officials were made the administration of the provinces. No organized protest was faced by Musharraf. Sharif, after the house arrest was exiled to Saudi Arabia on his request. The whole country was handed over to technocrats and beaurocrates. Many constitutional changes were made in the constitution under Legal Framework Order. In 2002, the general elections were held and Musharraf's backed PMLQ and MMA won the majority seats.
For the first time in the history of the country, new faces were brought to the national level who were considered liberal. He brought a cultural policy that developed the media and news channels were opened. He encouraged the cultural events
After 9/11, Pakistan became part of a war against terrorism. Soon he gave a speech against extremism that declared the policy of the state. The country also saw some developments for women after the women protection bill was passed in the assembly. Though it was criticized but it only proved to be a lip service and nothing more. In his governance, women seats in the assembly were increased from 20 to 60. During his government, many assassination attempts were made but failed every time. In 2003, two suicide bombers blasted themselves. Musharraf escaped the attack narrowly.
At the eleventh hour of his government, the Laal Masjid operation and American support deteriorated his popularity. in 2007, he suspended the Chief Justice after he charged him with corruption cases. The whole country erupted and a movement started for the restoration of Chief Justice. The arrival of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir also sparked the issue. They accused him of putting the country into crises.
When Benazir was assassinated, the situation for Musharraf worsened and resigned from his seat. When PPP and PMLN got the majority seats, Musharraf was forced to step down as a president. On 18 August, he finally announced his resignation and left for London. He also started his political party APML but it didn't work the way he had intended. Several cases were made against him that finally compelled him to leave the country.
Recently in 2020 in the High Treason Case, he was sentenced to death by Special Court for suspension of the constitution. It was the first case that a general was sentenced to death. He challenged the verdict and in 2020, the Lahore High court annulled the death sentence.
He has written a book "In the line of Fire" in 2006. It was translated to many languages. The book was named as "Agnipath" means "The Path of Fire" in Hindi.
https://www.facebook.com/pervezmusharraf/
https://twitter.com/p_musharraf?lang=en
Shoaib Dastgir
Mirza Ali Baig
Actress Sehar Khan
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
Kamran Akmal
Akram Ansari
Arif Lohar
Usama Khan


Really getting into these catalogue style photos! I met Rey for an apparel photoshoot sometime in 2018. He had asked to do another shoot with me recently and this time, I took out the big guns. The lighting was my flashpoint 600 with a soft box 3x1 strip, one of my favorite lighting rig.


text:
← "HELP! HELP! I'm being repressed! Come and see the violence inherent in the system!"
In anticipation of the 400th anniversary of the King James Version: A brief review of God's Secretaries →
The crusades: Step by step through a spectacular mess
Medieval miniature painting of the Siege of Antioch - First Crusade
After lecturing the other day to Bethel undergrads on the feudal system (the defining reality of "those who worked"), and before outlining the idea of sacramentality and the sacraments in the Middle Ages (a central notion and rituals for "those who prayed"), I laid out what many of "those who fought" were doing between the 11th and 15th centuries.
They were going on Crusades.
That is, they were seeking to reclaim the city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land in general for Christendom.
[Again, sources for this part of the lecture include several lectures from the Teaching Company, e.g., http://teachingcompany.12.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=2605]
Jerusalem was the center of the world for medieval Christians—and for hundreds of years, Christians had been making pilgrimages there. Yet since the 7th century, Jerusalem and the surrounding area had been controlled by the Muslims, whose massive growth from the 7th through the 11th century came at least partially at the expense of formerly Christian territories.
As the Muslim world expanded, its reach moved from the Middle East through North Africa and into Spain. So by the end of the 11th century, Christians, Jews, and Muslims had been living side-by-side in the area that we would call the Holy Land. And they lived together peacefully, for the most part.
Yet the first rumblings of the Crusades had already been felt in the 10th century.
The first mini-Crusade was known as the Reconquista, or literally reconquest, of Muslim Spain.
Then, in the middle of the 11th century, the borders of Byzantium—that is the Eastern half of the old Roman Empire—started to be overrun by Turks, many of whom had converted to Islam in the 10th century.
The fact that Christian territories were being lost led Eastern leaders to appeal for help from their Christian brethren in the West. So when Pope Urban II preached the First Crusade at Clermont, France in 1095, he pressed the ideal of a united Roman Empire, which had been alive pretty much ever since the Western empire had fallen to the Germanic tribes way back in the 5th century and West and East had split.
Essentially, Urban was calling on the citizens of what had been the western half of the empire to come to the aid of the citizens of what had been the eastern half of the empire—with the hope that this might result in some sort of symbolic or literal reunification.
When he called for the First Crusade, Urban announced two goals: The first was to liberate Christians living in those territories that had been conquered by invading Turks; the second was to free Jerusalem, the holiest of cities, from Muslim rule.
And very soon after that fateful call to arms, a combination of religious fervor, political idealism, and opportunism produced a willing body of warriors ready to travel to Jerusalem. It is estimated that the fighting force of the First Crusade numbered around 50,000.
What motivated those who joined the First Crusade? It would seem many went for religious reasons. Yet for a long time, many medieval scholars felt that it was really another reason that motivated most crusaders. This goes back to the system of primogeniture we've talked about: For those younger sons not thrilled with entering religious life, a campaign like the Crusade presented an opportunity to acquire wealth, status, and property through that time-tested method of warfare and pillage. And in fact as the Crusades wore on, many young noblemen did gain properties, and titles, and stature they never could have attained if they had stayed back in Europe.
Yet heading out on Crusade was also a very expensive, risk-filled undertaking, and so in the majority of circumstances a heart-felt religious devotion seems to have been the underlying motivation. Especially important was the fact that when he preached the Crusade, Pope Urban also granted those who participated a blanket amnesty for all their sins, including any they incurred while on Crusade and those that they had incurred in their lifetimes before setting out for the Middle East. For a citizen of the medieval world, to whom hell and purgatory loomed quite large, this was, indeed, an attractive incentive.
The depth of feeling that prodded many to go on Crusade is nowhere more visible than in the case of what has come to be called the Peasants' Crusade, which actually set off for Jerusalem earlier than any other group.
The Peasants' Crusade was an unofficial Crusade led by a man named Peter the Hermit. It was made up of a group of commoners who headed overland across Europe toward the Middle East.
Peter the Hermit and his followers apparently made it as far as Anatolia, where most of his band were either slaughtered or sold into slavery. Other armed militias, however, made it all the way to the city of Jerusalem, taking several cities along the way. From the point of view of Western Christendom, the First Crusade was a success.
And for a time, the Crusaders set up a new society—one that they called Outremer, which means "over the sea." It consisted of four Crusader states: the county of Tripoli and the county of Edessa, the principality of Antioch, and the kingdom of Jerusalem. All four of these were ruled over by Europeans until 1291.
Initially, they simply tried to drive non-Christians out of territories considered holy and part of a new Latin Christendom. But they soon discovered they had nowhere near enough Europeans living in these lands to make this a reality. Who was going to work the fields? From whom would they buy goods at the market if Jewish and Muslim traders were forbidden in Christian territory?
What the Crusaders discovered was that they were going to have to adopt a policy of accommodation if the settlement in Outremer was going to survive. In fact, many of their policies were similar to the tolerant policies of the Muslims when they had controlled Jerusalem.
Crusading orders (Knights Templar, Hospitallers, Teutonic Knights)
The Outremer experiment brought with it a surge in the number of pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem. Obviously, such a long journey required a significant outlay of expenses, and required also that pilgrims carry a significant amount of money with them. This, as you might guess, made them attractive targets for bandits. Enter an organization that has been the subject of much wildly imaginative discussion in books and movies lately: the Knights Templar.
The Templars were an utterly new kind of knight, in that they were also monks. Their stated goal was to offer protection to pilgrims who were traveling to Jerusalem. They did this not only by serving as a kind of bodyguard for those pilgrims passing through Palestine, but also by cleverly coming up with a way to remove the need for pilgrims to carry money and other valuables with them. The idea was, essentially, the birth of banking. A pilgrim to the Holy Land deposited their money with the Templars before their trip and, through the use of a code on a piece of vellum, withdrew it at their destination.
One of the most important religious figures of the day, Bernard of Clairvaux—a Cistercian monk and abbot—legitimized the Templars by writing rules for their order, and they took as their uniform the white robe of the Cistercians with a red cross on the front.
The Templars were not the only new order of knights to be created as a result of the Crusades. Two other groups—the Knights Hospitaller and the Teutonic Knights—are worth mentioning. Like the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller wanted to offer assistance to pilgrims who had traveled to the Holy Land. The Hospitallers cared for those who became ill while in Jerusalem. They set up the massive 2,000-bed Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem, as well as other hospitals. And they served the ill in a way similar to many other monastic hospitals in Europe: They venerated poverty, subjecting themselves to the extremes of an impoverished life—but in contrast, they treated all of the sick in their hospitals, no matter their rank, as if they were great lords or noblemen.
Within 50 years of their founding, the Knights Hospitaller, like the Knights Templar, had become a military order of monk knights with a division of ranks—those who tended to the ill in the hospital, and those who fought on behalf of the order. While the Templars wore a white tunic with a red cross, the Knights Hospitaller were easily identified by their black tunics and white crosses.
The last of the new orders of knighthood to result from the Crusades were the Teutonic Knights. This order was established later than the Templars and the Hospitallers—closer to the end of the 12th century—but again, like the other two orders, the impetus for their existence came from a desire to help those in need. In this case, the Teutonic Knights set themselves the task of caring specifically for injured Crusaders. They are called the Teutonic Knights because most of the original members were nobles from the area of Europe that roughly corresponds to modern Germany and Austria—and thus, they are distinct from the mass of Crusaders who were usually referred to as Franks because their ranks were so dominated by the French.
The Teutonic Knights wore white tunics with black crosses, and compared to the Templars and Hospitallers their order was rather small.
The story of these orders of "helping knights" is all very romantic and chivalrous. However, throughout the Crusading period, groups considered outside the mainstream of Western Christianity but living within the bonds of Europe also became the victims of Crusading fervor—non-Christians in Scandinavia; heretics, such as the Cathars in France; and perhaps most significantly, the Jews.
Peter the Hermit's decision to march through the Rhineland on his way to the Holy Land was a deliberate one, and along the way his militia slaughtered huge numbers of Jews living in this area. Other groups of Crusaders engaged in similar behavior, and there are many chronicle accounts—most of them certainly based on eye-witness testimony—that relate in excruciating detail the vicious slaughter of entire Jewish communities. Those that were not killed were forcibly baptized.
It wasn't long before many of the Crusader states, starting with Edessa, were retaken by local forces, and new Crusades needed to be declared with the goal of re-taking, once again, these locations for Christendom.
How many Crusades were there? There's some debate about this, because defining the nature of a Crusade gets a little more difficult as we head toward the early modern period. For example, some Crusades, like the Fourth, never even made it to the Holy Land—and others, like that against the Cathars in France, never even intended to head toward Jerusalem. If we define Crusade as a military effort to bring portions of the Middle East—particularly Jerusalem—under Christian control, then we can identify roughly eight or nine within the medieval period.
The Second Crusade and Bernard of Clairvaux
The Crusading kingdoms began their decline in 1144, when an Arab leader named Zengi retook Edessa. The Second Crusade was specifically preached in order to retake Edessa, and one of its most vocal proponents was Bernard of Clairvaux, the famed Cistercian abbot who had been such a supporter of the Knights Templar. The leaders of this expedition included both the king of France and the Holy Roman Emperor—but the group found that they weren't having any luck, and essentially turned around and headed home.
The Third Crusade: Saladin and Richard the Lion-hearted
After this, the Arabs took control of Egypt, a key strategic position for any force wishing to hold power in the Middle East. Their Muslim leader was the great Saladin. In 1187, at the Battle of Hattin, Saladin defeated the Christian military forces at Jerusalem and retook the city.
After his capture of the city of Jerusalem, Saladin mercifully spared most of the Christian inhabitants of the city, at a time when it would be much more common to put them all to the sword, as the Crusaders had done to the Turks when they took Antioch on the First Crusade. Saladin allowed all those who could to buy their freedom—and then he allowed thousands of others who could not afford to pay the ransom to be freed.
Soon after the Battle of Hattin, the Third Crusade was called, involving the heavy hitters King Phillip II of France, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, and King Richard the Lionheart of England.
After Barbarossa died and Phillip returned home, Richard remained as leader of the fight for Outremer. Stories of the mutually chivalrous behavior of Saladin and Richard were popular from Europe to the Middle East, and contemporary accounts relate the great respect that each man had for the other and his abilities.
For example, when Richard became ill, Saladin offered the use of his personal physician, should the English king have need. When Richard lost his horse, Saladin sent him two of his own. For his part, Richard proposed attempting to settle the conflict by marrying his sister to Saladin's brother, but nothing came of this proposal—although they did sign a tentative truce. The gains Richard had made were a setback for the Muslim cause, but Jerusalem, the jewel in the crown, had not been recovered—so it was only a matter of time before another Crusade was called.
Richard and Saladin even managed to forge an agreement to let Christians visit the Holy Lands without being hassled. But making deals with Muslims was, to many in Europe, not the point of crusading. Richard's stock dropped, and on his way home he was set upon and captured by soldiers of his former ally Frederick Barbarossa's son—and was imprisoned and held in exchange for the payment of literally a "king's ransom"—100,000 pounds, which nearly bankrupted England.
From this point on, the activity of crusading seems to lose much of its focus. The Fourth Crusade was called by Pope Innocent III in the early 13th century, with the goal of, once again, retaking the Holy Land—but this Crusade never even made it near Jerusalem.
The sack of Constantinople
One band of Crusaders did make it to Constantinople, and in 1204, the crusading camp, after having been stationed outside the city walls for some time, breached those walls, entered the city, and sacked it—pillaging over a period of three days. The justification for this on the part of some was that the Byzantine, or Eastern Orthodox, church was not the true church—it had not been since the Great Schism of 1054, when the patriarch of the Eastern Church and the papal representatives of the Western Church had excommunicated one another.
So, on the Fourth Crusade it was the Byzantines—those whose perceived need for assistance had, in fact, sparked the first Crusade—who were on the receiving end of the righteous militarism of Western Christendom. From there, it was just a small step to direct that righteousness toward other groups closer to home.
This is exactly what happened in 1208, the year of the so-called Albigensian Crusade. For many years, a heresy—known most commonly as Catharism—had been growing in the area of what is today southwestern France. The Cathars were dualists, believing that the material world was evil and only spiritual things were good. Worse, since all things of the flesh were evil, then Christ could not possibly have become incarnate. They did consider themselves Christians, but a very strange sort of Christians in that they were vehemently opposed to attaching any sort of significance to the crucifixion. Many, in fact, denied that it had even happened.
After a series of attempts to persuade local leaders to deal with the heresy, Pope Innocent III preached a Crusade against the Cathars, or Albigensians. The fighting that followed for the next 20 years or so was horrifically violent and seemingly arbitrary, as many non-Cathars were caught up in the frenzy of Albigensian persecution and killed too.
The horrors of the Albigensian Crusade were repeated in a different key in the year 1212, when spontaneously, it seems, two separate groups of children rallied thousands of other children to their sides and set off to reclaim Jerusalem for Christendom.
These children believed was that because they were innocents, they would have more success in retaking the Holy Land than would mature warriors, who had long lives of sinning behind them. Some scholars now believe that the number of children participating has been largely exaggerated, and that a good portion of the group were actually poor adults. In any case, 7,000 to 30,000 of them headed off to liberate the Holy Land. And none of them actually made it. Most turned around and headed home early on. Some made it to Rome, where the pope released them from the vows they had sworn to take the cross. Yet some accounts tell of shiploads of young crusading pilgrims killed in wrecks, or of young girls being taken into brothels, and boys sold into slavery.
Despite all these setbacks, the crusading movement continued—with a Fifth Crusade getting underway in 1218, just a few years after the Children's Crusade. This Fifth Crusade focused its attention again on Egypt, as this was considered the heart of the Muslim world, but it was a dismal failure, as were the next three Crusades that followed in rather quick succession.
The Sixth and Seventh Crusades (1248/1270), for example, both led by Saint Louis (Louis IX), the King of France, proved utter failures. Louis, in fact, died leading the latter and in neither came anywhere near the Holy Lands.
The end of the Crusading presence in the Holy Land came in 1291, when the last true Crusader stronghold, the city of Acre, fell to the Muslims.
Crusading zeal sprang from multiple sources. While many Crusaders did have material ambitions in mind when they set out for the Holy Land, it seems that most of the people who participated in the Crusading movement were inspired to do so by deep and sincere faith and piety.
This entry was posted in Medieval Wisdom for Modern Protestants and tagged Crusades, First Crusade, Islam, Jerusalem, Middle East, Muslim, Pope Urban II, Roman Empire. Bookmark the permalink.
4 responses to "The crusades: Step by step through a spectacular mess"
hakan | August 29, 2012 at 11:02 am | Reply
good,objective information.thanks…
g2-1f9d9a9efc2f523b2f09629444632b5cJohn | August 25, 2011 at 9:12 am | Reply
Thanks for your time and efforts , I was looking for this information from last 10 months , i never found this , once again , thank you verymuch.
Theresa Bruno | November 29, 2010 at 12:37 pm | Reply
Informative post! The Crusades are a difficult subject and I felt you covered both sides fairly. I'm sharing this post with my readers.
Chris Armstrong | November 29, 2010 at 1:19 pm | Reply
Thanks for the link, Theresa.


If the mountain ash comes down, people will still visit Parkdale Manor, but they will be less tempted to make it their home.
I am a resident of Parkdale Manor in Summerland.
Two years ago, browsing online, I discovered the manor. I was attracted not only to the comfortable suites but also to the beautiful courtyard with a mountain ash tree as its centre piece. Visiting, I discovered the lovely tree to be even more awesome than the photo shows.
I applied, was accepted and moved in. The staff are remarkably friendly, the atmosphere family-like and the food excellent.
Last week as we sat at dinner Wayne Cyback, manager of Parkdale Housing visited to tell us that the mountain ash was coming down. He said its roots were heaving the courtyard bricks, creating a tripping hazard.
We were all too stunned to answer. He departed, leaving us to ponder the fate of the tree that we all loved for it beauty and its shade. But he promised he would put up a shelter of some sort with an aluminium roof where we could escape the hot sun when we wanted to sit outside.
I needed a day or two to think about the situation, and decided that I owed it to myself and my fellow tenants to let Wayne know how we felt. So I wrote him a letter.
He was courteous enough to come to see me immediately, and to show me the details of what the tree roots were doing to the interlocking bricks in the courtyard. I saw there is a problem, but it was obvious that cutting down the tree was not the only solution.
He said he would not consider replacing the mountain ash, and when I questioned him about the three beautiful mature trees in the front yard which are causing heaving in the brick walkway between them, he said they also would eventually have to go.
After encountering Wayne's brick wall resistance I decided to send a copy of that letter to Orv Robson who is chairman of the Parkdale Housing Board of Directors. Orv also responded immediately and was understanding, but indicated that the board had a contract with Wayne which gave him responsibility for making decisions of this nature. I was back at the brick wall.
If the mountain ash comes down, people will still visit the manor, but they will be less tempted to make it their home.
Residents will still live at the manor but they will be less inclined to sit in the lovely courtyard. Trees are living beings that make people feel at home.
Aluminium shade devices are mechanical things that people use out of necessity, not because they are comforting and make them want to linger.
Grooming the tree and the brickwork may cost a bit more in the short run. But how much will it cost in the long run if the manor loses it's trees one by one?
Just like I was, people will be drawn to stay here because of the homey feelings of trees. How many potential clients will be turned off by a cheap looking aluminium shelter at the centre of the courtyard?
And how many brick wall experiences will tenants tolerate before they begin to move on?
Parkdale Housing is a non-profit organization with a history of excellent service to seniors in Summerland and area. I would like to see that reputation continue untarnished. Perhaps it needs to review its self-declared goals?


ACET is a pioneer in providing English for Academic International with 16-year history in Vietnam. Our commitment to you is not just learning a new language, but also develop your critical thinking skills and gain the confidence needed to be successful at further academic study and international working environment.
Please leave your contact information and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Hàng năm, ACET thiết kế các khóa học Anh ngữ đặc biệt trong dịp hè, cung cấp cho học viên nhiều lợi ích học tập và hoạt động ngoại khóa bổ ích.
I chose ACET because of my cousin and many English classmates here and scored high. My goal of studying at ACET is 7.5 or higher and I have achieved that after only one course. Studying at ACET, I have found a very new and effective study environment, with enthusiastic teachers and friendly and energetic students. During my studies I did not encounter any obstacles, and I am grateful to ACET for ensuring that.
Tran Thi Thao Van excelled at 8.5 IELTS as a high school student, with 9.0 for listening and reading, 8.0 for speaking and 7.0 for writing after a period of study at ACET.
Lan Chi found the course at ACET to be extremely rewarding due to the lessons with locally based teachers with good teaching qualifications and years of experience at ACET.
Doan Cao Huong Thao is currently a 12th grade student at Vo Nguyen Giap High School, Quang Binh. Having decided that she should start working towards her target of studying at university overseas right from her high school days, Thao always prioritized improving her English ability. In particular, every summer Thao always devoted herself to to studying English full-time at ACET Hanoi.


Hayden is an ancient English name, based on villages in Norfolk and several other eastern counties, such as Cambridgeshire, Devon, Dorset, Northumberland and Somerset. Derived from Old English "heg", meaning hay, and "dun", meaning hill, Hayden family history includes a mention in the Magna Carta: judge Sir Thomas de Heydon (c. 1185-1250). Related Irish Hayden genealogy is said to be an anglicization of the Gaelic "O Eideain", meaning descendant of Eidean, whose name derives from the word for armour. The Hayden motto "ferme en foy" translates from the French as "firm in faith". Hayden immigration to America commenced in the 1630s to New England.


Arrive Cochin. Afternoon Meet & Greet by our representative later transfer to Hotel. Relax & freshen up. Later the day proceed for a sightseeing tour of Cochin. Visit the famous Chinese Fishing Nets, Fort Cochin, Mattancherry Palace, Jewish Synagogue and Saint Francis Church. Overnight at Hotel in Cochin.
After breakfast drive to Munnar, en route visiting beautiful lush tea plantations and breathtaking mountain scenery. Set amidst picturesque mountains and spectacular waterfalls, at an altitude of about 1,600 m above sea level, Munnar is the most beautiful hill resort in south India. Munnar is famous for its spectacular mountain scenery with enchanting hill ranges, lakes, mist filled valleys and beautiful view of low-lying clouds. Arrive & check in at Hotel. Overnight at Hotel in Munnar.
After breakfast, proceed for sightseeing tour of Munnar. Walk through the lush tea and spice gardens spread like a green velvety carpet for many kilometers. Visit Raja Malai, an enchanting mountain peak- famous for its Neel Tahr (mountain goats) and the Muttuputty Dam. Also enjoy an exciting boat cruising in the beautiful Munnar Lake. Overnight at Hotel in Munnar.
After breakfast, drive to Thekkady, passing through lush green tea estates and spice gardens. Arrive Thekkady and check in at Hotel. In the evening visit the popular Kumily spice market nearby. Thekkady is famous for the Periyar wildlife sanctuary, one of the finest and picturesque national parks and tiger reserves of India. Periyar is known for its rich elephant, tiger and bird population. Overnight at Hotel in Thekkady.
After breakfast, we drive to Kumarakom. Arrive Kumarakom and check in at Hotel. Kumarakom is an enchanting backwater destination in Kerala, offering exciting and unforgettable boating and fishing facilities. Overnight at Hotel in Thekkady.
Today after Breakfast, enjoy an exciting and memorable boat cruising on the picturesque Kumarakom Lake. Afternoon at leisure. Overnight at hotel in Kumarakom.
Today morning we will proceed to Kovalam. Kovalam is internationally known for its pristine exotic beaches, ideal for swimming, surfing, fishing and exciting catamaran rides. Arrive at Kovalam and check in at Hotel. Rest of the day free to relax at the beach. Overnight at Hotel in Kovalam.
After breakfast at hotel, enjoy a full day excursion tour of Kanyakumari, visiting the famous Padmanabhapuram Palace and Suchindram Temple en route. At Kanyakumari visit the famous Kumari Amman Temple, Vivekanada Rock and the 6th century Vattakottai Fort. Also enjoy the spectacular view of the beaches and the sea at Kanyakumari. Drive back to Kovalam in the evening. Overnight at Hotel in Kovalam.
After breakfast at hotel, drive to Trivandrum. Arrive & transferred to airport for your onward journey.


text:
Date: November 6, 2008 Print article -
2008 Election Aftermath: Rethinking The "Big Tent"
By employing the filibuster, robustly and, if necessary, frequently, Republicans could once again validate their existence in the Senate, while highlighting the stark contrasts that should separate them from the liberalism of the Democrats. It was the abysmal lack of such contrast on defining issues, for nearly a decade that contributed more than any other factor to public disillusionment with the Republicans.
As a result of this week's elections, the Republican minority caucus in the United States Senate currently represents the sole remnant of a "firewall" against an uncontrolled implementation of the liberal agenda. With less than a sixty-vote Democrat majority needed to force a vote on any issue, a Republican filibuster is the only means by which the left can be stalled from its overarching and despotic expansion of government intrusion into the lives of the citizenry. So if the filibuster is the only manner in which Republicans can exercise opposition to the left, it should be enthusiastically touted and employed as such.
No doubt, the Democrat hypocrites in Washington, who comprise the most self-serving, partisan, and divisive Congress and Senate in the history of the nation, will now invoke and enshrine their phony version of "unity" as every politician's highest calling. During the years of a Republican Congress and presidency, every underhanded Democrat attack that could divide the Congress and distract it from its necessary duties, even during a time of war, was considered noble. Yet those same partisans will now shamelessly maintain that any dissent or criticism of the Marxist goals of Barack Obama will represent the height of "un-American" behavior.
Regardless, Senate Republicans have only this avenue by which to fulfill their commitment to those constituents who elected them. Accepting the bogus premise of Democrat "unity" would be a total abdication of this solitary vestige of purpose for having a Republican Party. Therefore, the enormous pressure that will undoubtedly be inflicted on Republicans to attain "unity" should be recognized and rebuffed as the dangerous snare that it is.
Conversely, by employing the filibuster, robustly and, if necessary, frequently, Republicans could once again validate their existence in the Senate, while highlighting the stark contrasts that should separate them from the liberalism of the Democrats. It was the abysmal lack of such contrast on defining issues, for nearly a decade that contributed more than any other factor to public disillusionment with the Republicans.
Spending excesses, the bloating of government in areas where it constitutionally does not belong, along with the concurrent abandonment of its real responsibility to protect American sovereignty, have convinced many in the grassroots that Republicans are no more interested in representing them than are the Democrats. As a result, a once loyal and enthusiastic conservative base became fractured and demoralized.
In a similar manner, Republican acquiescence to Democrat demands to "end the rancor" and "reach across the aisle" have only served to convince America that the Democrats are the true leaders, and indeed deserve to be in complete control. Admittedly, Republicans in the House of Representatives do not possess any means by which to completely stall unwanted legislation, as do their Senate colleagues. Yet they are still in a position to exhibit a unified opposition that would thereafter delineate between those who promote bad law and those who oppose it.
During some brief periods in America's history, the political landscape was indeed comprised of differing political and philosophical camps whose members shared a common interest in the well-being and future of this nation. Yet for more than three decades, this has not been the case inside the Beltway.
The ascendancy of the 1960s counterculture as a potent political force brought with it a mindset of activity that constituted a war on traditional America. Sadly, too many on the right refused to recognize this aspect of the enormous divide that now defines the political landscape. The brutish and often flagrantly illegal actions among liberals, seen so blatantly during this past week, stand as undeniable proof of this grim state of modern American politics.
For Republicans to respond to such behavior with anything less than a genuinely outraged and truly confrontational manner is to legitimize it and ultimately ensure that incidents of this nature will only continue to increase in frequency and severity. The left is at war with traditional America. It needs to be engaged in that war by an opposing force that, rather than attempting to peaceably accommodate it, recognizes the critical necessity to vanquish it.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Republicans need to rethink and rework their entire approach to the "Big Tent." Initially conceived by President Ronald Reagan as a means of promoting a cohesive GOP under his worthy leadership, the concept has degenerated in recent years to the point that some Republican "moderates" invoke it as justification for the party to cease standing for anything at all. Not surprisingly (except apparently to those of the D.C. "political class"), every attempt to make political gains through such an approach have proven to be abject failures.
Ultimately, this thoroughly compromised and morally rudderless "Big Tent" has devolved to the point that during the most recent election cycle, it represented nothing more than a conglomeration of disparate personalities. Its boundaries were established and continually moved, not to define any worthy principle, but to make room for the latest aspiring Republican "wannabe."
The self-destructive futility and absurdity of such a counterproductive approach to governing and leadership was made grimly obvious by the seeming betrayal of the party, at the worst possible moment, by former GOP luminary Colin Powell. Throughout the past decade, the boundaries of the "Big Tent" were stretched to grotesque proportions in a vain attempt to be "inclusive" of Powell and his kind, only to have them utilize their heightened credibility to the benefit of the opposition at critical points in the presidential campaign. A "tent" that accommodates Trojan Horses like Powell sows the seeds of its own defeat.
In contrast, during the current reign of liberal insanity, a conservative party philosophy and platform that focuses on the best interests of the American people will, by definition, represent a starkly different, and eventually very appealing, alternative to the twisted dreams and sinister aspirations of the left. The goals and methods of liberalism never have, and never will, offer a better life for those subjugated under them.
For truly principled and courageous Republicans, this time in the wilderness may seem desperate and bleak. But it also represents an incredible opportunity to underscore the differences that irreconcilably divide right and left. The Republican Party can either continue its futile attempts at appeasement and thus be relegated to irrelevancy, or it can face this challenge head-on and thereby embark on the surest road to its renewal.


Netscape 4.0 (click here for for the file download page.
or visit the Microsoft website to download Internet Exploder 4.0 or higher.
Developed with the assistance of a grant from CHSRF.
Selected in the Top 5 "Best of the Web" Evidence-based Medicine resources by the American Thoracic Society.
All contents copyright © 2019 Gordon S. Doig, except where noted.
Design, layout and images by John Soer and Gordon Doig. All rights reserved.


text:
Wot do u call it: future garage?
Blackdown: So for those people who don't know you, can you introduce yourself: who are you, what music are you into, how long have you been DJing, where do you DJ, what label do you run...?
Whistla: I'm Whistla I run Sub.FM (under the alias Atari-420), I run L2S Recordings, the Future Garage Forum and Future Garage Facebook Page. I've been DJing properly since 97, and have been producing for the same length of time. I got into music from raving to hardcore back in the early 90's and as I got older decided to start producing and DJing for myself, rather than just being a listener/raver. I first got into radio by playing on pirate station Addiction FM, which I then started to assist in the management of until it folded.
I then moved to Eruption FM and moved away from hardcore and into the early breaks and growing garage scenes. I guess my "progress" through music has been pretty "nuum-ish" except that I never did the dnb thing, I went from hardcore to garage & breaks, d&b was always a little too fast for my taste. In 2000 I went on a long travelling spree and went all over Asia and lived in Australia for a while. Once I got back, I got straight back into doing the music thing, this was the very early Forward days, I was playing in various places that had fluid music policies, where i would play dark garage, some breaks, and some classics.
It was at this time I started Sub.FM, I had always wanted to do an internet pirate ever since the early broadcasts that Interface did. Once I started the station, the ball really started to roll, and dubstep became the name for what I was playing, and the growth of the station spurred me on in my own productions and I guess that takes us up to where I am now. You can hear me playing every two months at my residency @ Superdubpressure in Brighton, I also regularly play all over London and the UK, you can catch me @ the next Woofer Attack, and also on my European tour to Vienna and Kiev this December.
B: I've suggested this interview to talk about the term 'future garage' that you coined a while back as a "movement more so than a genre" designed so "garage can have a future" (rather than futurist garage per se). That term has gained some traction recently, can you give me a little background to it? What lead you to head in this direction?
W: Well I think the realisation that what i wanted to make and play wasn't "dubstep" anymore came when I would be at a night and I wasn't vibing like I was before. That led me to think about what I did want; skittery hats, and swing, and shuffle, and drums! And not just bass, though of course bass is still very important!
For me, at least, the word dubstep has come to mean a different type of music to what it meant to me personally in the beginning, which is fine, words and there meanings change all the time. But it did leave a void "so what shall I call this stuff i'm playing?". So I just started saying various different names, these included "Psychedelic Garage" "Detroit 2 Step" etc .. but the one that seems to have resonated with people is future garage, in this way I think its a name that "chose itself".
I also think that "post-dubstep" trying to make one sweeping name to describe various different aestetics is a bit dangerous, I also think the idea of "pushing" a genre name is misguided (this happened loads with dubstep ie. "let's push the sound", of which I admit I was also guilty of). I think "pushing" a sound in that way actually leads to formulaic productions as people rush to make new tunes and "become part of it". The name future garage has appeared as an attempt to help describe the music rather than to market it persay.
In this respect I think future garage isnt really a genre at all, its not a final destination like dubstep was, instead I see Future Garage as a collection of DJ's and producers that share a vision of what garage can and should be, but who all have different visions at the same time. Future garage is like a moment in time, its garage not reborn, but garage re-envisioned. Who knows what will come from it, but its not an end stop, future garage is just the beginning of a new generation using the best bits of garage along with there own aestetics, creating lots of new musical avenues to explore.
B: So, why now?
W: Well I think its happened now due to the general ill fitting "dubstep" tag for a lot of the garage influenced producers who were/are working under the umbrella term "dubstep". I know that dubstep doesnt really fit for me anymore, and the same is true for a lot of people. A new way to describe the music was needed.
B: What labels, artists and DJs should people be looking for in this vein?
W: Some of my fav labels are: L2S Recordings, Night Audio, Bass Machine Music, Furioso, Frisjfo Beats, Smokin Sessions, some of the latest bits on Keysound are big too!
Some producers and djs I'd say to look out for are: Submerse, Littlefoot, Clueless, M2J, Monz, Dawntreader, Erra, Touch, Sines, Demos, Dom, VVV, ReSketch, Synkro, KingThing, Fused Forces, Sully, Sclist, Kanvas, Pangaea, Dokument, Cosmic Revenge, Point B oh and me ;)
B: And Dusk + Blackdown ffs! :) But moving on... you've made a Future Garage Facebook page and now a Forum, which seemed to have helped to bring interested parties together for discussion and debate. Was that the intention?
W: Yes, exactly. There was nowhere for people to go to get info and to communicate with each other, threads on dsf would get lost in amongst the sea of threads that go up there and often go completely unnoticed. I started the Facebook page to try and gauge if a forum would be worth doing, and the response was a resounding yes, so I launched the forum and its been going from strength to strength. It reminds me a lot of the early days of Dubstep Forum.
B: Lots of those interested parties have been through and come out of the dubstep scene. There's lots of different areas of creativity that are being explored by people like this, be that the hyperdub/wonky/synth/hip hop stuff, grime, UK house and funky as well as classic 2step/uk garage styles. Are you open to cross pollonation and interaction with other scene or is the future garage a distinct direction in itself?
W: I think the cross pollonation is what makes future garage what it is. It's something that blends lots of influences from lots of places, but puts it into a garage framework. Thats what makes it future garage, cross pollination within a garage framework. To this end I have been contacted by various producers from other scenes interested in doing future garage releases, one that I'm particularly looking forward to getting released is traditional UKG producer Duncan Powell's forthcoming EP on L2S "Came Into View EP".
B: You've talked a little on the Future Garage forum about your concerns around just the using the term "garage", primarily that "So Solid and the like destroyed any hope of 2step being accepted again in any really serious sense". I mention this because was at FWD>> a few sundays ago for Joy Orbison, a house-influenced artist in a dubstep club, and he'd attracted quite a following, much younger and more student-y than the usual FWD>> crowd. Spyro was on before and dropped Wiley's "Eskimo" and So Solid's "Dilemma" - and like much of his set, these total anthems got air. Which makes me think that to lots of people, there's so much water under the bridge that "garage" might not be a dirty word anymore. What do you think on this point?
W: I think that your right, to a younger crowd the "garage" word isnt so much of a swear word, but it does however have a different connotation of being "mum's music" ie. 18 year olds now, there parents probably listen to old EZ mixes in the car etc... This then becomes the other problem with it just being simply "garage". And to me it really isnt just plain "garage", there are no straight rnb rip offs (the staple of what I call traditional garage) and the whole approach is totally different, its not music designed to get dressed up in shoes and shirt for, its music to dance all night too, too take the dance somewhere new and exciting, rather than music to lear at girls to.
The 2step tag equally has similar problems, but these are more to do with noterirty rather than simply "meh garage, posh birds and moody fellas". With 2 step people like So Solid etc engendered an image that was so alien to a lot of the garage faithful, that they lost faith completely, and in most instances went completely over to house. I wouldn't want to use a name that has such a chequered meaning to so many people. And anyway to say all future garage is 2step would be incorrect.
Photo: Todd Edwards and Whistla
B: The elephant in the future garage room for me is that you can very effectively argue that UK funky is future garage, or certainly UKG mark II. For me any move to revive garage ideas should do its best to work with the energy and ideas of the funky scene, as it has grass roots support in London and tons of momentum. But I sense you're not so keen, what's your feeling on if or how future garage and funky could interact?
W: Yeah your right, I'm very uncomfortable with UK Funky. I don't particularly like the idea of UKG pt2 and I can see the same patterns repeating already that happened back with UKG pt1, the dress codes, the mc's, the "cheesey crossovers", except that its all happened in a year and a half, rather than over 5 yrs. I do however really like the fact that there is UK Funky, as it "leaves us alone" to build our thing without "scensters" trying to jump on it. I guess if pushed to make UK Funky and future garage interact I would have UK Funky in one room and future garage in another. Thats how I would envision it.
I personally dont hear UK funky as being very "garagey." I dont often hear the "swing" and even less "the shuffle", plus tropical beats and soca patterns have never really been my thing. Most UK funky I've ever heard has been either very housey or too broken beat for my taste. I actually hear a stronger Acid House era influence to a lot of UK Funky than a garage one. Future Garage has that indescribable something that I want from tunes, funky hasn't given me that. And trying to "cash in" on the success of another scene also seems slightly wrong, I'd rather future garage do its own thing, on its own terms.
B: While after the wonky debacle, which wasn't intended as a genre name but quickly nobody noticed that detail anymore, I appreciate I shouldnt talk about names too much but I have a concern about the use of the word "future" and how it will be seen, despite your best intentions now. Futurism is a school of thought in itself and to me is one that has been over-used in a musical context. It's also a prophecy that doesn't fullfill itself: you can't be the future forever and eventually you will look and sound dated, just, for example, as (the wonderful) records from 80s Detroit now do. Also it doesnt seem accurate in this case: going back to garage is less 'future' more 'past' or 'present'. What's your thinking on this?
W: Like we have already said, I see this as a movement, not a genre. It's an easy way to find out about a lot of new music that currently has a shared aestetic and complimentary sound. To me saying "future" implies newness and a contemporary approach, and yes the term might sound dated possibly in 10 yrs time, but I am sure that by then everyone you associate with future garage will have been termed something else by someone anyway. Thats the nature of dance music, esp dance music that is made by producers that try to keep moving and progressing in there sounds. Future garage is a movement, taking garage to new places.
Once garage has been given a new future (outside of Time and Envy and one off events thrown by EZ @ the O2) we will be "in the future" once this is the case who knows what we will be calling it? I dont think people should form attachments to names, look what heartache that caused to people that had invested so much emotional attachment to the word "dubstep". The word just lets you know what your getting.
Once its no longer relevant then fine use something else, that is the stage dubstep reached, it stopped being a useful descriptor, and the name we are using instead is future garage, at some point in the future sure people might start calling there stuff something else, but man come on lets not worry about the unknowable, just enjoy the music, as its the music that will live forever and is what truely matters, the name just helps people find there way thru the map of dance.
I wouldnt say people are particularly going "back to garage" either as most future garage producers werent even around for garage the first time round, they are building based on a whole different framework. That is what is so refreshing. Its going forward with all the best of the past as its bed-rock, its not a retro trip, or some kind of nostalgia buzz, its a whole new thing.
Bandshell said...
Hmmm, not sure about the whole "future garage" term if I'm honest. I always thought of dubstep as future garage anyway.
foundsound said...
Fantastic interview!
Whistla really has a great way with words in describing "future garage" which largely deals with the very new and yet unknown. Case in point: the term "Future Garage" itself, i thought he did a marvelous job describing why he feels it is an applicable name, and why at the end of the day it doesn't really even matter if its applicable!
oh and this quote-
"Well I think the realisation that what i wanted to make and play wasn't "dubstep" anymore came when I would be at a night and I wasn't vibing like I was before. That led me to think about what I did want; skittery hats, and swing, and shuffle, and drums! And not just bass, though of course bass is still very important!"
$$$$money.
would read again.
-Dan in Portland
i'm not too sure either tbh, but i do like the return of swing...
Littlefoot said...
Dubstep was one of the many future garages.. grime, bassline, funky... It's just a catch all term which works as a descriptive against the above, and it's related to all of them. Wicked interview man, big up!
bingo said...
I like the new directions everyone's splintering off into, but i wonder at what cost. Wonder if we'll lose the scene once the abstract ideas holding everything together fades.
A very interesting and in depth profile and a good exploration of the concept of Futurism dance music.
I would however contest that far from being out dated 'Futurism' as a conceptual driver for creative output will often result in some beautiful timeless music.
Using 80's Detroit is a bad example to illustrate the authors point as the early output of Metroplex/Transmat and UR/Drexciya both looks and sounds like it was made some time in the year 3000.
Funny that above mentioned night at FWD w/ Joy Orbison. There was a mass exodus after Joy played. I mean, who puts Youngsta on after Spyro and Joy at an early party? Head scratcher that was.
The deal with this 'future garage' thing is that some artists flying this flag are trying far too hard to sound like old-school garage and it starts to sound retro instead of futuristic. Make any sense?
Don't force the swing/shuffle/swivel young g's.
tonyharrow said...
we should all really not care so much about whether or not 'future' is appropriate adjective to describe a permutation of a already splintered sub genre of music.
seriously, is there a point to all of this? yes of course it's progressive "new" music - but isn't it redundant to affirm that?
Having just listened to a couple of Whistla sets from the Sub FM podcast, i'm afraid to say there was a lot of swing but not much soul. I feel the same way about dubstep at the moment. Something is missing.
future garage sounds like it is projected from a past thats not quite realised in the present or projected into a future that doesnt exist yet ?
seems more revisionist than futurist especialy for those who didnt live the tunes first time round.
take vvv for instance, a texas garage head making sublime tunes...preposterous:) like emeute is one of my tunes of the year and for all its garage leanings it doesnt sound like it belongs to the UK garage heydays but it doesnt belong to the future either...
its anomalous, not so much out of time but out of place and thats where the future of garage is....online and in the wider geographical spectrum beyond london and the 'nuum nonsense it never really broke free from all those years ago.
As a producer of "future garage", I find the idea of revisionism sickening to be honest. And personally there is only 50% of Future Garage I think is worth playing out, I was never a garage head back in the day, it's more that the swing has given some of us a way of creating a contrast with the machismo of Dubstep.
The FG I play, has almost nothing in common with half of Whistla's selection other than a 2step pattern. This is why I worry about me and my fellow Notts heads being described as Future Garage, as we're as much on this tip as we are on the darker side of Funky, "Wonky", Skweee and wierd Techno.
ayo littlefoot...
...you ever gone back to back with whistla or alternatively soundclashed with him :)
wouldn't it be better if people stopped worrying about different names for different scenes? IMHO, 'post-garage' has been hamstrung by eagerness of scene stalwarts to splinter in order to self-identity.
beauty of DnB and 96-01 garage was this unwillingness to compartmentalize. it meant the producer/consumer horizons were expanded, ultimately resulting in higher quality music.
hopefully the success of joy orbison signals an about-turn although hyph mngo is by no means a ground-breaking track. touch of the deep dish there.
interesting interview martin - keep the insights coming sir!
interesting discussion around future garage etc.
to be honest, I wonder about this perennial pursuit of new scene names. IMHO a lot of post-garage music has been hamstrung thus - often by scene stalwarts eager to differentiate and self-identify.
It may be no coincidence that DnB and garage 96-01 were less troubled by this. The result? Wider producer pallette and consumer choice, ultimately meaning better tunes.
If the dubstep v/'n' house thing signals some sort of about turn, all to the good. Mind you, the joy orbison track may not be as much of a bar-raiser per se, sounds like a quantized deep dish tune IMO - but very good all the same.
Garage did not catch on in the USA like Dubstep did.
Likely due in part that "Garage" is a silly name. No offense but "Future Garge" is an even sillier name. If you want this sound to catch on at all I would highly recommend not calling it this.
My honest opinion is that calling it something like "Progressive Dubstep" would be a lot better.
I like the concept of future garage far more than the name, but even so "progressive dubstep" is an even more terrible suggestion, implying that dubstep was "regressive."
Wobble may be regressive, in my subjective opinion, but most of dubstep isn't.
Enis Jusufspahic said...
much like anything that develops organically that's dragged out into the mainstream dubstep has lost much of its appeal as a rallying call for outsider electronic music.
a movement is an undefinable and fickle thing. the best dnb i know is free - look at alphacut and plainaudio. the moment money and more importantly status enter the fold (as opposed to equanimity and devotion to music) the music produced by the newly birthed scene looses its authenticity and erodes as those who truly drive the sound walk away disillusioned.
dubstep has become derided with simplistic rhythms, punishing mid-range bass. it has moved so far away from the dub ethic that it no longer holds any meaning.
'future garage' is an attempt to focus and preserve the dub ethic which puts music ahead of self wherever that music may lead or morph into over time. however, i think that FG is too concerned with building a scene - probably because its acutely aware of its roots in/.with UK Funky.
there is still good music coming out under the broader dubstep banner that wouldn't necessarily fall under FG - ranking, mordant, hotflush, project squared, immerse, hessle, meta-syn etc.
voodoobass said...
it's funny, in my head, 'future garage' would sound more like the trippier side of mnml tech with more swing and speed garage basslines rather than anything dubsteppy. I look forward to hearing more of what people are coming up with...
baze.djunkiii said...
no matter whether the term of FG itself is a good choice or not - seems like there's an interesting idea floating around and i really hope that distributors in germany will pick up on this soon'ish and not being afraid. seems like the big garage breakdown is still present in their minds and terms of doing business as a lot of stuff that can be related to uk garage / speed garage is not really coming thru to german recordstores, take niche / bassline as an example. working @ otaku records in hamburg i know what i'm talking... would be good to see some FG at our shelves soon.
dughug said...
Kudos to Whistla, great interview.
Hmm, When you say 'garage' over here in the uk, i think of beats, sweet vocals urban bla bla...makes sense....remember how garage is pronounced over in the US tho
"gar ahje" music,esp future gar ahje doesn't have the same connotations sounds not right
Anyway Big fan of the L2S and Night audio releases, favourite stuff is the synkro stuff which most people shoved under the generic dubstep umbrella, big up whistla for subfm and the sounds...like this direction, getting fed up with "yeah man that bass is sicker than my gran m8" on every dubstep vid i come across on youtube
Loved this article. I thought whistla provided an insightful explanation behind his movement towards future garage. Littlefoot's comments are also spot on. I'd say that FG has roots inspired from contemporary 2 step than dubstep influences (if it's not FG then it's 2 step, certainly not "progressive dubstep"). Either way, it's an exciting sound that encompasses more of the electronic spectrum than other bass-driven genres. Its beat composition enables a more experimental and creative latitude, that will give it far greater longevity than dubstep (rip). Great interview!
I don't know what Daniel is saying. Garage came from America in the first place but was originally known as Deep House. Future Garage is just the next phase where Dubstep left off since it's been damaged now.
Nice article and we'll see where this new form of Garage goes in the near future of British Dance Music.
Rinse November
United Vibes 10 Year Anniversary
LDN015 Sully
Grievous Angel mix
Roll Deep Street Anthems
Pitchfork End of Year 2009
Happy Birthday: I am 5


The 1-DAY ACUVUE MOIST disposable contact lens from Johnson & Johnson is manufactured using Lacreon technology – an imbedded water-holding treatment that resembles natural tears for locking in moisture and providing increased comfort throughout the day. This precision-crafted lens offers UV-Blocking to help protect your eyes from damage caused by the sun. If you are one of the approximately 50 million Americans suffering from allergies, you may experience some relief from mild allergic discomfort and ocular itching. One box contains 30 daily disposable soft contact lenses in a buffered saline solution. Lenses are 42% polymer (Etafilcon A) and 58% water. The manufacturer of Acuvue 1-Day Moist contact lenses recommends these for wearers who experience excessive discomfort from allergies. Allergies may inflame, burn, or swelling eyes, which cause nasal discharge, respiratory or sinus discomfort. 1-Day Moist helps with UV protection, a claim allowed by the Food and Drug administration. This contact lens uses Lacreon TM Technology, which retains a substance similar to tears into the body of the lens. 1-DAY ACUVUE MOIST 90 Packs are usually best value!


MOLESWORTH, John (1729-75), of Pencarrow, Cornw.
b. 12 Mar. 1729, 1st s. of Sir John Molesworth, 4th Bt. educ. Balliol, Oxf. 1749. m. (1) 28 Sept. 1755, Frances (d. 1758), da. and coh. of James Smyth of St. Audries, Som., 1s.; (2) 22 Sept. 1762, Barbara, da. of Sir John St. Aubyn, 3rd Bt., M.P., sis. of Sir John St. Aubyn, 4th Bt., 2s. 3da. suc. fa. as 5th Bt. 4 Apr. 1766.
Molesworth was returned for Cornwall unopposed in 1765, and again in 1768. Always considered a Tory, he was marked by Rockingham in July 1765 as 'contra'; next: 'Lord Edgcumbe saw him and is to bring him to me'; and finally 'pro'. An independent country gentleman, Molesworth voted against the Government on the land tax and the nullum tempus bill; but does not appear in any division list on Wilkes and the Middlesex election. On 8 Mar. 1769 he supported Burke's motion for an inquiry into the conduct of the Government during the riots in St. George's Fields: living himself 'in a county very liable to these disorders', he knew of no case where order could not be restored 'without the interference of a military power'.1 At the Cornwall county meeting of 6 Oct. 1769 he strongly supported the petition for a dissolution of Parliament.2 He voted against the Address on 9 Jan. 1770, and against the Spanish convention, 13 Feb. 1771. On 12 Feb. 1770 he supported Dowdeswell's motion for disfranchising revenue officers: 'If this question is carried I shall meet more of my country men in this House and the boroughs will oftener see their Members.'3 He voted in favour of abolishing subscription to the 39 Articles in the universities, 6 Feb. 1772, which shows once more how little uniformity of principle there was among so-called Tories: all that can be said about Molesworth is that he was a thoroughly independent country gentleman. On 1 Mar. 1771 and 30 Apr. 1772 he spoke on corn bills, defending what he thought the best interests of British agriculture: but again there was diversity of views about the subject among the country gentlemen.4 In Robinson's survey on the royal marriage bill in March 1772 he appears as 'contra, present' and on 8 Mar. as 'contra, sick, present': which probably explains his absence from the division on the bill, on the 11th. He voted with Opposition on the naval captains' petition, 9 Feb. 1773, and on the Middlesex election, 26 Apr., and both spoke and voted in favour of making permanent Grenville's Act on election petitions, 25 Feb. 1774, describing it as 'the most constitutional Act that has passed'.5 At the end of the Parliament Robinson listed Molesworth as an opponent.
1. Cavendish's Debates, i. 319.
2. T. Pitt to Grenville, 7 Oct. 1769, Grenville mss (JM).
3. Cavendish's 'Debates', Egerton 220, pp. 59-60.
5. Cavendish's 'Debates', Egerton 253, pp. 116-18.
6. Almon, iii. 45; Stockdale, ii. 228.
7. Maclean, Trigg Minor, i. 470.


Searching For Insurance Agents In Brazos County?
Service Insurance Group Is Really The 1st Selection For Insurance Agents!
Life takes place - the unexpected happens close to and also to you and me that could possibly leave us all essentially unguarded if we do not have a certain amount of insurance policy to help us. One particular point is for certain - we cannot eliminate unpredicted events regardless of diligently we try or how cautious we struggle. What person is able to control the weather - or the activities of another person? That's the reason Insurance Agents in Brazos County are usually there to safeguard us all from unforeseen, unexpected, and quite possibly serious occurrences. In a few words, in what way will it help me to find Insurance Agents in Brazos County?
Reassign possible loss expenses to an insurance agency!
It could be required by legal or fiscal specifications!
Shield you from a loss due to a person without insurance!
The average person doesn't always understand insurance policies or protections - they choose to count on the assistance of Insurance Agents in Brazos County to guide all of them thru the arena of insurance coverage. Any time you find yourself having to get Insurance Agents, your best option will be Service Insurance Group to address your insurance protection needs.
They recognize budgets - and will look for the best insurance plan and insurance coverage at an competitively priced cost!
Shielding you, family members, in addition to your business from the hazards of day to day life is really a necessity. Don't search for Insurance Agents in Brazos County all by yourself. Converse to the devoted staff members at Service Insurance Group - they're your best option to get the insurance coverage guidance that you need!
Looking In Brazos County For Insurance Agents?


text:
White-collar hiring activities in India rose 4 per cent in December 2022: Report- The New Indian Express
To PTI
Mumbai: Employment activity for the white-collar professionals segment in December 2022 showed an increase of 4% compared to the same month of the previous year, according to a report.
According to Naukri JobSpeak, the Naukri platform posted 2,890 white-collar job listings in December 2022, up 4% from 2,770 in the same month of 2021.
Naukri JobSpeak is a monthly index representing the state of the Indian job market and recruitment activity based on new job listings and job-related searches by recruiters in Naukri.com's resume database.
The report goes on to say that the momentum generated at the beginning of 2022 has persisted into the second half of the year, with the exception of a few key sectors.
However, a sectoral analysis comparing December 2022 with the first half of 2022 (January-June) reveals mixed trends.
Also read | Amazon announces more than 18,000 job cuts
Growth in the domestic economy-led sector and in non-megac cities is offsetting the slowdown seen in IT and BPO, providing continued stability at the aggregate level, he added.
Compared to December 2021, we saw steady growth across multiple sectors, but the composition changed in the second half of 2022, with domestic economy-led sectors registering strong growth.
The report showed a strong 51% growth in employment activity in the insurance sector in December 2022 compared to the first half of 2022.
Other sectors that have registered upward trends compared to the first half of 2022 include oil (33%), banking (24%), real estate (21%) and autos (12%).
However, the IT and BPO sectors, which are linked to global markets, were down 19% and 9% respectively in December from the first half, with start-up employment being the hardest hit.
Meanwhile, among non-metropolitan areas, Ahmedabad led the list with growth of 39%, followed by Vadodara at 29% and Jaipur at 16%.
Among the top-tier metros, Delhi/NCR and Mumbai saw a 12% increase in employment activity compared to the monthly average for the first half of the year.
A similar trend was observed in Kolkata, where new employment increased by 3%, the report reveals.
On the contrary, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, which rely heavily on the IT sector, saw declines of 4%, 7%, 11% and 15% respectively, the report said.
"India's job market has seen strong hiring activity in 2022, with a 20% increase in new job creation compared to the full year 2021 base. We are cautiously optimistic about 2023 given the non-IT sector and smaller cities," said Naukri.com's chief business officer. added Pawan Goyal.
Mumbai: Employment activity for the white-collar professionals segment in December 2022 showed an increase of 4% compared to the same month of the previous year, according to a report. According to Naukri JobSpeak, the Naukri platform saw 2,890 white-collar job postings in December 2022, an increase of 4% from 2,770 in the same month of 2021. . Naukri JobSpeak is a monthly index representing the state of the Indian job market and recruitment activity based on new job listings and job-related searches by recruiters in his Naukri.com resume database. The report goes on to say that the momentum generated at the beginning of 2022 has persisted into the second half of the year, with the exception of a few key sectors. However, a sectoral analysis comparing December 2022 and he the first half of 2022 (January-June) revealed mixed trends. READ ALSO | Amazon Announces Over 18,000 Job Cuts Continued at overall level as growth in domestic economy-led sectors and non-metropolitan cities offset slowdowns seen in IT and BPO Compared to December 2021, we saw steady growth across multiple sectors, but the composition changed in the second half of 2022, with more sectors led by the domestic economy. recorded strong growth. The report showed a strong 51% growth in employment activity in the insurance sector in December 2022 compared to the first half of 2022. Other sectors that have registered upward trends compared to the first half of 2022 include oil (33%), banking (24%), real estate (21%) and autos (12%). However, the IT and BPO sectors, which are linked to global markets, were down 19% and 9% respectively in December from the first half, with start-up employment being the hardest hit. Meanwhile, among non-metropolitan areas, Ahmedabad led the list with growth of 39%, followed by Vadodara at 29% and Jaipur at 16%. Among the top-tier metros, Delhi/NCR and Mumbai saw a 12% increase in employment activity compared to the monthly average for the first half of the year. A similar trend was observed in Kolkata, where new employment increased by 3%, the report reveals. On the contrary, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, which rely heavily on the IT sector, saw declines of 4%, 7%, 11% and 15% respectively, the report said. "India's job market has seen strong hiring activity in 2022, with a 20% increase in new job creation compared to the full year 2021 base. We are cautiously optimistic about 2023 given the non-IT sector and smaller cities," said Naukri.com's chief business officer. added Pawan Goyal.
8 Outdoor Activities for Winter-Wary Kids
Martin Luther King Day 2023 Activities


The new animated 'Addams Family' is coming to theaters this Halloween — watch the first trailer now.
Better get watching fast, a ton of good stuff is leaving Netflix next month.
Tomorrow morning, all of Fox's movie properties will belong to Disney.
An associate of Queen says a follow-up to the Oscar-winning film is very much possible.