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#NotOkayNL: Coalition launches campaign to end violence against women | CBC News Loaded
Nfld. & Labrador
#NotOkayNL: Coalition launches campaign to end violence against women
Members of a coalition traveled around St. John's in a white van Wednesday to spread what they say is a life or death message.
CBC News · Posted: Nov 26, 2015 5:48 AM EST | Last Updated: November 26, 2015
Alicia Legge, a domestic violence survivor, is sharing her story in the hopes that it will help other women in the province. (Meghan McCabe/CBC)
On the International Day to End Violence Against Women, members of the Coalition Against Violence-Avalon East travelled around St. John's in a white van to spread what they say is a life or death message: violence against women is going on all over the province, and it needs to stop before another woman is killed.
The campaign comes on the heels of Trevor Pardy's sentencing for the first-degree murder of Triffie Wadman, a high-profile example of violence against women.
"What we're trying to do with the white van and our accompanying social media campaign #NotOkayNL is call attention to violence in Newfoundland and Labrador and get folks to speak out and speak up and say what's not okay," said Catherine Dwyer, the executive director of the coalition.
Catherine Dwyer, the executive director of the Coalition Against Violence - Avalon East, says that violence against women is a serious issue in Newfoundland and Labrador. (Meghan McCabe/CBC )
Members say they hope to educate people around the province on proper consent, what abuse looks like, and how to treat each other with respect.
They also want to let people know that violence against women is an ongoing problem in this province.
"It's one in two women in Newfoundland and Labrador over the age of 15 that will experience some form of physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. That's a grim reality, and that's based on folks that actually come forward and report," said Dwyer.
If more women reported violence, Dwyer says, that number would likely climb even higher.
Respect is paramount
The Coalition Against Violence - Avalon East launched their #NotOkayNL campaign on Wednesday to mark the International Day to End Violence Against Women. (Meghan McCabe/CBC)
One woman who is speaking out against the violence is Alicia Legge, who said she was in an abusive relationship four years ago and that she feared for her life.
"I didn't know if my son was going to be in danger next, or if I was going to survive," she said.
But she escaped the situation, and now she's sharing her story to let other women know that they're not alone.
"We are human beings. We deserve to be treated with respect."
"The message out there for women is we're not less than. We are just as powerful, just as smart, intelligent, hard-working as any man."
"If you have someone who's in your life that loves and respects you as a human being, they will treat you as an equal partner, they will never look at you as less than," said Legge.
16 days of activism
The actions on Wednesday coincided with the kickoff for a campaign caled 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence.
Over the course of the next two weeks, the group will share more pieces of information online, using the hashtag #NotOkayNL.
With files from Meghan McCabe
Who was Triffie Wadman? Her family wants you to know


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Category Archives: Religion
Archeology, Bible, Bible History, Bible History, Books, DVD, Music Review, Discipleship, History, King James Bible, Religion
King James VI & I
November 13, 2017 Kevin Airrington	Leave a comment
James Charles Stuart
James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625), the only child of Mary, Queen of Scots, was King of Scots from 1567 and King of England and Ireland from 1603, being the first monarch of the House of Stuart to rule all three countries. His descendants include Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Philippe of Belgium, Felipe VI of Spain, Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Margrethe II of Denmark, Harald V of Norway, Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, and Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. This article deals with numerous descendants of James and his wife Anne of Denmark (Since he is not known to have had any illegitimate children).
James VI and I was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death in 1625.
Born: June 19, 1566, Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Died: March 27, 1625, Theobalds House, Goffs Oak, United Kingdom
Spouse: Anne of Denmark (m. 1589–1619)
Mother: Mary, Queen of Scots
Father: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
Children: Charles I of England, Elizabeth of Bohemia, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales
In August 1589, James married Anne of Denmark by proxy and their actual wedding ceremony took place in Oslo, Norway, on 23 November of that year. Although James and Anne were close at the beginning of their marriage, they gradually drifted apart. She had been brought up a Lutheran and converted to Catholicism shortly after marrying James, which was unpopular among the people of Presbyterian Scotland (and, later, those of Anglican England).
By the time of her husband's accession to the English throne in 1603, Anne was the mother of three living children (Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, Elizabeth and Charles), but had also suffered at least three miscarriages and stillbirths, and had another four children who died in infancy. Their second son succeeded James as King Charles I.
Marriages and Issue
Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales 19 February 1594
Stirling Castle, Stirling Scotland Never married
no children 6 November 1612 (aged 18)
Elizabeth of Bohemia 19 August 1596
Falkland Palace, Fife, Scotland Frederick of Bohemia
8 children. The current UK monarchy stems from her 13 February 1662 (aged 65)
Charles I of England 19 November 1600
Dunfermline Palace, Fife, Scotland Henrietta Maria of France
5 children 30 January 1649 (aged 48)
Henry Frederick STUART, Prince of Wales
Birth 19 FEB 1594, Stirling Castle; Death 6 NOV 1612, St. James Palace, England. Notes: Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Lord of the Isles, Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester. Died of Typhoid.
STUART, Child
Birth JUL 1595; Death JUL 1595–Stillborn
Elizabeth STUART, "The Winter Queen", Queen of Bohemia
Birth 19 AUG 1596, Dunfermline; Death 13 FEB 1662, Leicester House, London, England. Notes: Married Frederick V, Elector of Palatine of the Rhine, King of Bohemia 1619-1620. Had 13 children.
Margaret STUART
Birth 24 DEC 1598, Dalkeith Palace; Death MAR 1600, Linlithgow
Charles I STUART, King of Britain
Birth 19 NOV 1600, Dunfermline, Scotland; Death 30 JAN 1649, Whitehall Palace, England; Burial , St. George's, Chapel, Windsor, England. Notes: Acceded to English throne upon death of his father on March 27, 1625. Murdered by order of "Puritan" Oliver Cromwell and other insurgents. Trial of King Charles I ||| Last words ||| more links to information on Charles I on the King James VI & I index page.
Robert Bruce STUART, Duke of Kintyre
Birth 18 JAN 1602, Dunfermline; Death 27 MAY 1602, Dunfermline
Birth MAY 1603, Stirling; Death MAY 1603, Stirling
Birth 8 APR 1605, Greenwich Palace; Death 16 SEP 1607, Stanwell Park, Middlesex, England
Sophia STUART
Birth 22 JUN 1606, Greenwich Palace; Death 23 JUN 1606, Greenwich Palace
*King James VI & I is not known to have had any illegitimate children.
Geneaology from King James I
to Prince Charles and Princess Diana
(and subsequent descendants)
The following genealogical chart is used with kind permission from Yvonne Demoskoff (http://users.uniserve.com/~canyon/royalty.html). Thanks Yvonne! One can also see this page as a pdf at kjchart.pdf
This chart outlines the descent of the late Princess Diana and Prince Charles from their common ancestor, King James VI & I. The names in red are five of the six godparents of their son Prince William. Please note that some information (such as full names and titles, in some cases) has been omitted for the sake of space.
(Copyright © 1998 Yvonne Demoskoff)
JAMES I of England and VI of Scotland (1566-1625) | |————————————————————————————————————————| | | Elizabeth Charles I, King of England | | | | Sophia James II, King of England | | | | George I, King of Great Britain (natural daughter:) | Henrietta | | George II, King of Great Britain James, 1st Earl Waldegrave | | |———————————————————————–| |———————| Frederick, Prince of Wales Louisa 2nd Earl Waldegrave 3rd Earl Waldegrave | | | | |———————| | | | | | | | | Augusta George III, King of Great Britain Louise Anne Horatia 4th Earl Waldegrave | | | | | | | | | | Augusta Edward, Duke of Kent Louise Horace 8th Earl Waldegrave | | | | | | | | | | Paul Victoria, Queen of Great Britain Christian IX, King of Denmark Adelaide William | | | | | | |——————————–| | | | Pauline Edward VII, King of G.B. Alice George I, King of the Hellenes 6th Earl Spencer 11th Earl Waldegrave | | | | | | | | | | | | Nicholas George V, King of G.B. Victoria Constantine I, King of the Hellenes 7th Earl Spencer 12th Earl Waldegrave | | | | | | | |—————| |————| | | | Sophie George VI, George, Alice Louis, Earl Paul I, King of the Hellenes 8th Earl Spencer Lady Susan Waldegrave | King of G.B. Duke of Kent | Mountbatten | | | | | | of Burma | | | | | | | | | Anastasia Elizabeth II, Alexandra Philip, Duke Patricia Constantine II, King Lady Diana Spencer | Queen of G.B. of Edinburgh | of the Hellenes | | | | | | Georgina |——————————-| Norton | | | | | | | Natalia Charles, Prince of Wales | |————————————————————————————| | | H.R.H. Prince William of Wales
April 9, 2011, H.R.H. Prince William of Wales married Miss Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey. They became known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
July 22, 2013, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announce the birth of their first son, [the baby was eventually named George Alexander Louis] born at the Lindo Wing, St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington. "The baby is third in line of succession after His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge. He is styled His Royal Highness Prince [name] of Cambridge."
(derived from www.dukeandduchessofcambridge.org/the-duchess-of-cambridge/biography. Quote taken from www.dukeandduchessofcambridge.org/news-and-diary/the-duchess-of-cambridge-has-been-delivered-of-son)
May 2, 2015, the second child of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge was born–a daughter, HRH Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge at St. Mary's Hospital in London. She is fourth in line for the British throne: (1st) Prince Charles (her grandfather) (2nd) Prince William (her father) (3rd) Prince George (her older brother) (4th) Princess Charlotte.
King James I of England(VI of Scotland)INTERESTING FACTS
King James I was a Christian who wanted the Bible in the hands of the common man. Specially commanded the Authorized (King James) Version of 1611 of the Bible.
King James was known for his wisdom. He was known as "Great Britain's Solomon" while he was yet alive.
Fluent in Greek, Latin, French, English, and his native Scots. Schooled in Italian and Spanish.
Wrote extensively including Basilicon Doron (the Kingly Gift), Daemonologie, and tracts on varied subjects such as "Counterblaste to Tobacco" which condemned the use of tobacco. Counterblaste is considered the first anti-smoking tract. These and many other writings are found in The Workes of the Most High and Mightie Prince Iames (in Jacobean typography, the letter "I" can represent I or J), a massive collection of the king's writings now online. In The Workes, one finds that King James was a contender for the faith of Jesus Christ and cared about the spiritual well-being of his kingdom. He even wrote Christian meditations for his people. His writings are still relevant today–King James has a message that Rome does not want you to hear.
William Shakespere was one of his subjects. Learning and writing thrived under the King's reign.
Formed the foundation for what is now known as the British Empire by uniting warring tribes of Scotland and then enjoining the crowns of Scotland and England in 1603. He was the first to call his new kingdom, "Great Britain".
King James was became King of Scotland in 1567 when he was 13 months old and acceded to the English throne in 1603.
Scottish reformation leader John Knox read the sermon when he was crowned King.
He endured racism as a Scot ruling over the English, nevertheless had the love and admiration of many subjects. Years after his death, detractors tried to sully his good name. Unfortunately, it continues today, yet KJV translators, yea the King himself had predicted such.
King James was sickly having crippling arthritis, weak limbs, abdominal colic, gout, and a number of other chronic illnesses. He also had physical handicaps which affected his legs and tongue. Coupled with numerous attempts on his life, he required constant attention and watchcare.
His mother was Mary Queen of Scots who was deposed in 1567 and executed in 1587 after 19 years in prison. His father, Lord Darnley, was murdered in 1567.
Roman Catholic clerics tried to kill him more than once. The King was born during the time of the Reformation and well knew popery's atrocities. In 1536, popery burned William Tyndale to death for distributing the Bible and it was MUCH displeased with King James' authorization of a Bible in English (see translator's notes). Roman Catholic Nicolo Molin, an Ambassador said this of King James:
"…He is a Protestant…The king tries to extend his Protestant religion to the whole island. The King is a bitter enemy of our religion (Roman Catholic)…He frequently speaks of it in terms of contempt. He is all the harsher because of this last conspiracy (Gun Powder Plot) against his life…He understood that the Jesuits had a hand in it."
King James said this in Basilicon Doron:
"I am no papist as I said before…Now faith…is the free gift of God (as Paul sayeth). It must be nourished by prayer, which is no thing else but a friendly talking to God. Use oft to pray when ye are quiet, especially in your bed…"
He led a chaste life. Sir Henry Wotton (June 1602) said this of King James:
"There appears a certain natural goodness verging on modesty…He wears short hair…among his good qualities none shines more brightly than the chastness of his life, which he has preserved without stain down to the present time. Contrary to the example of almost all his ancestors, who disturbed the kingdom with the great number of bastards which they left."
F.A. Inderwick wrote in 1891:
"James had a reputation for learning, for piety, for good nature, and for liberality."
In 1603, Sir Roger Wilbaham wrote:
"The King is of sharpest wit and invention…of the sweetest most pleasant and best nature that I ever knew, desiring nor affecting anything but true honor."
King James loved literature and wrote extensively including the Basilicon Doron which contains instructions to his son on how to live and be a just king. King James' advice to his son concerning chastity:
"Keep your body clean and unpolluted while you give it to your wife whom to only it belongs for how can you justly crave to be joined with a Virgin if your body be polluted? Why should the one half be clean, and the other defiled? And suppose I know, fornication is thought but a veniall sin by the most part of the world, yet remember well what I said to you in my first book regarding conscience, and count every sin a breach of God's law, not according as the vain world esteems of it, but as God judge and maker of the law accounts of the same: hear God commanding by the mouth of Paul to abstain from fornication, declaring that the fornicator shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven, and by the mouth of John reckoning out fornication among other grievous sins that declares the commiters among dogs and swine."
Advice to his son on how to treat his wife.
"And for your behavior to your wife, the Scripture can best give you counsel therein. Treat her as your own flesh, command her as her lord, cherish her as your helper, rule her as your pupil, please her in all things reasonable, but teach her not to be curious in things that belong not to her. You are the head, she is your body, it is your office to command and hers to obey, but yet with such a sweet harmony as she should be as ready to obey as you to command, as willing to follow as you to go before, your love being wholly knit unto her, and all her affections lovingly bent to follow your will."
King James loved his wife, Queen Anne, and wrote beautifully of her. They had nine children together. Once, while out hunting, Queen Anne mistakenly killed King James' favorite dog. Sir Dudley Carleton wrote in 1613:
The queen shooting a deer mistook her mark and killed Jewel, the King's most special and favourite hound; at which he stormed exceedingly awhile; but after he knew who did it he was soon pacified and with much kindness wished her not to be troubled with it for he should love her never the worse; and the next day sent her a diamond worth �2000 as a legacy from his dead dog….The Queen by her late pacification hath gained Greenwich.
King James is the founding monarch of the United States. Under his reign, we have the first successful colonies planted on the American mainland–Virginia, Massachsetts and Nova Scotia. King James ordered, wrote and authorized this Evangelistic Grant Charter to settle the Colony of Virginia:
"To make habitation…and to deduce a colony of sundry of our people into that part of America, commonly called Virginia…in propogating of Christian religion to such people as yet live in darkness…to bring a settled and quiet government."
Sources: Wikipedia, http://www.edinburghcity.org.uk/attractions/castle-history/, http://scotlandsmary.com/james-i-vi/, https://www.jesus-is-lord.com/kinginde.htm, http://www.israelitesunite.com/king-james.html
1611and HenriCarl XVI Gustaf of SwedenCharles I of EnglandEdinburgh CastleElizabeth II of the United KingdomElizabeth of BohemiaFelipe VI of SpainGrand Duke of LuxembourgHarald V of NorwayHenry FrederickHenry StuartJames Charles Stuartking james bibleKing James VI & IKing of EnglandKing of IrelandKing of ScotlandLord DarnleyMargrethe II of DenmarkmaryPhilippe of BelgiumQueen of ScotsTheobalds HouseWillem-Alexander of the Netherlands
Bible, Christian Living, Discipleship, Jesus, Religion, Salvation
Jesus and the Truman Show
Does it really matter if the resurrection of Jesus is a total lie?
One Easter, a relative cornered me at a family dinner and wanted to talk about the resurrection of Jesus. Let's just call her my dear Aunt Sally. Some people try to stay away from politics and religion at parties. Not Aunt Sally. 🙂
Aunt Sally she started off by telling me that Jesus didn't come back from the dead in any real sense–that the story of Jesus' resurrection just emerged over decades after the crucifixion. She said that Jewish peasants who missed Jesus and needed a Messiah figure basically made the whole thing up–probably because it helped them feel better emotionally and things like that.
But she said something else, too. She said that it doesn't really matter if the resurrection of Jesus actually happened. After all, can't we draw inspiration from a story even if it's not true?
How do you respond to these two challenges?
It doesn't matter if Jesus really rose from the dead
The story of the resurrection of Jesus emerged over decades after the crucifixion
Does it really matter if the resurrection of Jesus is a total lie? I'll bet you've heard this kind of question before: "Can't we draw inspiration from a story even if it's not true?"
This reminds me of an old Jim Carry movie: "The Truman Show." If you've seen the movie, you might remember that Truman basically lived the perfect life. But he had no clue that he was part of this fantasy world that was made up by the people who produced the Truman Show. Truman had no clue his view of the world was built on a total lie.
Now I guess you could say, "What does it really matter?" I mean, he's happy, right? But Truman got suspicious and he tried to figure out what's going on. And I don't blame him. I mean, what would you do? Wouldn't you want to know if your best friends were a bunch of fakes; if your idea of the world was based on a total lie? I would. That's because the truth really matters–especially when we're talking about spiritual stuff.
The apostle Paul thought so, too. Here's what he wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14-17:
"And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins."
Paul wasn't a fan of drawing inspiration from fiction.
Paul was convinced that if Jesus didn't come back from the dead in any real sense, the entire faith tradition is a waste of time–and that the Christian religion is based on a total lie. As a Christian, I've got to be OK with saying that if the resurrection of Jesus was faked, we're in the same kind of spot that Truman was. We wouldn't have hope in anything real. In fact, we'd be totally hopeless. Our worldview would be based on a total lie.
Sharing the Truth
You might consider sharing this illustration and idea with a skeptical family member who asks something like, "Can't we draw inspiration from a story even if it's not true?" on Easter Sunday.
It's interesting that virtually every critical scholar believes that 1 Corinthians is an authentic letter of Paul. Even more, that Paul's conversion is a fact of history.
Your personal production show
I want to ask you a more personal question. Is your personal walk with Jesus a fake? Do you really love Jesus or have you made a few changes on the outside in order to look religious? Perhaps, it doesn't really matter to you if you are religious or if you have changed on the inside to look more like Jesus. If you are faking your Christianity and your whole Christian walk is just a production show like The Truman Show, I would challenge today to look to Jesus as the author and finisher of your faith. Shed the religious skin that you have on like a snake sheds its skin and start making changes on the inside in order to look more like Jesus. And, if you have not asked Jesus to come into your life you can do that right now.
Romans 10:9 says that we must confess with our mouth that we believe (John 3:16) that He died and rose from the dead and that we must repent and ask forgiveness of our sins (Acts 3:19) and finally we must invite Him in and have a personal relationship with Him (Revelation 3:20).
Welcome to the family of God…pray every day, read your Bible every day (start with the book of John (4th book of the New Testament) and find a good Bible preaching church in which to fellowship with other believers.
Copyright ©2011 Pastor Kevin R Airrington

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Guidance is compiled and interpreted by professional pilots and physicians at FlightPhysical.com from the 2014 AME Guide pages 178-180, FAA and FDA web data (www.FAA.gov & www.FDA.gov), instructions specified in the Aeronautical Information Manual, Federal Air Surgeon Bulletins from 1999-2015, and 14 CFR Part 61 and Part 67 (the FARs).
Red Maddox rod with handle.
Horizontal prism bar with graduated prisms beginning with one prism diopter and increasing in power to at least eight prism diopters.
Acceptable substitutes: any commercially available visual acuities and heterophoria testing devices.
Note: There are specific approved substitute testers for color vision, which may not include some commercially available vision testing machines. For an approved list, See Item 52. Color Vision.
Test procedures to be used accompany the instruments. If the Examiner needs specific instructions for use of the horizontal prism bar and red Maddox rod, these may be obtained from a RFS.
This page discussed the Heterophoria portion of the Eyes & Vision section of the Fight Physical Examination required of pilots.


text:
using System.Collections.Generic;
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using GenApp.Core.Repository;
using GenApp.Core.Services.Interfaces;
using GenApp.Core.ViewModel;

namespace GenApp.Core.LiteDb.Repositories
{
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        {
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        public FactRepository(IMapper mapper, IConnectionStringService connectionService) : base(mapper, connectionService)
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}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Illiberal and authoritarian tendencies in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe
by Florian Bieber (Volume editor) Magdalena Solska (Volume editor) Dane Taleski (Volume editor)
Edited Collection 308 Pages
Series: Interdisciplinary Studies on Central and Eastern Europe, Volume 19
Format: PDF, ePUB and MOBI – for all devices
Softcover for US$ 101.80
Even though the democratic decline has been deemed a global phenomenon, the question of how it manifests itself in the postcommunist world and how it varies across different regions with divergent levels of democratic consolidation has not been sufficiently addressed yet. This book tries to fill the gap and examines the causes and nature of the deteriorating quality of democracy in Central Europe as well as the reversal or stagnation of democratization processes in Southeastern and Eastern Europe. The political elite plays a key role in initiating legislative changes that may lead to democratic backsliding. Its constant commitment to the rule of law and to the practice of selfrestraint in securing the independence of judiciary and the rights of political opposition appears hence indispensable for sustainable liberal democracy.
This eBook can be cited
Part I: Introduction: The State of Democracy and Authoritarianism
1. Introduction (Florian Bieber / Magdalena Solska)
2. Democracy, Dictatorship and Hybrid Regimes: Concepts and Approaches (András Bozóki / Dániel Hegedűs)
3. Between Stalled Reforms and Authoritarian Temptations: Revisiting Debates on Democratization, "Grey-Zone Regimes" and "Bad Leadership" in Eastern and Southeastern Europe (Vedran Džihić / Nicolas Hayoz)
Part II: Democratic Decline in Central Europe
Central Europe: Regional Overview (Magdalena Solska)
4. Populist, Illiberal and Authoritarian Challenges to Democracy in Slovakia (Grigorij Mesežnikov)
5. The Politics of "Good Change" in Poland (Magdalena Solska)
6. Pioneering Illiberal State Building in the European Union: The Case of Hungary (Dániel Hegedűs)
Part III: Competitive Authoritarianism and Democratic Stagnation in the Western Balkans
Western Balkans: Regional Overview (Florian Bieber)
7. Serbia – A Regime that Only Seemed Gone (Irena Ristić)
8. Montenegro between Democracy and Authoritarianism (Jovana Marović)
9. Illiberal Tendencies and the Aspirations for Euro-Atlantic Integration in Kosovo (Arben Hajrullahu / Lirije Palushi)
10. Macedonia: Illiberal Democracy or Outright Authoritarianism? (Ljupcho Petkovski / Dimitar Nikolovski)
11. From International State Building to Domestic Political Clientelism: The Failures of Postwar Liberalization in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Adis Merdzanovic)
Part IV: Stalled Democratization in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe: Regional Overview (Nicolas Hayoz)
12. Ukraine after Euromaidan: Increased Pluralism amid Patronal Politics (Oleksii Sydorchuk / Olexiy Haran)
13. Moldova: From Poster Child to Democratic Decay (Natalia Timuş)
14. Splitting the Apex: Liberal Democracy and Georgian Political Elites (Giga Zedania)
Part V: Regional Comparisons and Conclusions
15. Different Faces of Illiberal Party Politics in Central and Eastern Europe (Vlastimil Havlík / Věra Stojarová)
16. The Role of the European Union in Building Democracy in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (Cvete Koneska)
17. Conclusion (Florian Bieber / Magdalena Solska)
← 8 | 9 →
Introduction: The State of Democracy and Authoritarianism
← 9 | 10 →
← 10 | 11 →
Florian Bieber and Magdalena Solska
Moments of crisis reveal exactly how diverse the democratic world is. Its rules and values are not necessarily homogenous; they have different traditions and undergo different interpretations. We talk about democracy, rule of law, social justice and freedom, and understand them through the prism of these different traditions and historical experiences. John Ikenberry (2018), while writing about the crisis of liberal internationalism, stated that the unity of the West constituted an "artefact", lasting as long as the hegemony of the United States persisted. The same could be said about the concept of the "enlarged Europe", bound to last as long as the dominance continues of the European Union, which enforces a kind of homogeneity of different traditions, experiences, and above all, interests. We live in a moment of crisis, not only of the liberal international order, but also of liberal democracy, which appears fragile and increasingly polarized, vulnerable to far-right populism and backlash politics (Ikenberry, 2018).
A democratic decline has thus been deemed a global phenomenon. In the 1990s, Peter Mair and Richard Katz pointed to the alarming development of the cartel party, oriented more towards the state rather than its voters. A waning popular engagement in the political process, lower levels of electoral participation, declining levels of party membership, a fading sense of attachment or identification with conventional political alternatives have become prevalent in many western democracies (Mair, 2006). The remoteness of political elites paved the way for the populist parties of different ideological leanings. In fact, far-right and populist forces have made considerable electoral gains in Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands and United Kingdom. The election of Donald Trump to the President of the United States has led to the fear of an overtly authoritarian leadership style (Levitsky and Ziblatt, 2018). Whereas the emergence of illiberal actors in Western Europe has drawn much academic attention, comparative studies concerning postcommunist space remain clearly neglected (see Holzer and Mareš, 2016). The question addressed in this volume is therefore: "how does global democratic backsliding manifest ← 11 | 12 → itself in the postcommunist world and how does it vary across the different regions with divergent levels of democratic consolidation?"
The answer touches upon the very essence of the postcommunist system transformation and its end – the consolidation of democracy. However, the notion of democratic consolidation remains contested (Schedler, 2001). The substantive understanding of this term (see Svolik, 2015) emphasizes the desirable outcomes, frequently including robust political competition, vibrant civil society, and widespread acceptance of key democratic tenets among the public and the elites, i.e. emergence of a new political culture through the incorporation of democratic norms at the wider societal level. The prospective definition, in turn, denotes rather the continuity and durability of democratic regimes. However, the widely felt and attested "democratic decline" at the global level contrasts with the perception that democratic consolidation is a stable and permanent phase. This contradiction has resulted in a debate on the "end of transition paradigm" (Carothers, 2002), as well as on the sources, existence and expression of "democratic backsliding" (see Bermeo, 2016; Mechkova et al., 2017).
As a global phenomenon, democratic backsliding covers regions with very different patterns and levels of democratic rule. In this volume, we look at three regions with a common communist past but different traditions of statehood and pluralism: the EU member states, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia; the Western Balkan countries with a realistic prospect of joining the European Union (Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia); and the Eastern European countries embraced by the European Neighbourhood Policy (Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia). All the cases discussed here have faced similar challenges, moving away from communism (establishing a working democratic order, introducing a free market economy, maintaining an efficient state based on the rule of law and developing civil society) but have proceeded along increasingly different trajectories within the last two decades. In Central and Northeastern European countries, the successful postcommunist system transformation towards democracy and market economy was attributed to several factors (see Maćków, 1999): ← 12 | 13 →
reform consensus among the elites and their commitment to rule of law and political equality, including respect for the rights of opposition;
the victory of anticommunist forces in the first democratic elections (the reformed communist party was defeated but still accepted as a legitimate political rival);
the functionality of the state during the transformation process;
the tradition of independent statehood and pluralism;
European Union support and accession prospects.
Democracy is regarded as a political system based on the rule of law and political competition. Its crucial principle – political equality – can only be realized through various forms of participation. There are generally two approaches to the definition of democracy – the procedural and substantive (Gwiazda, 2016: 14). Whereas democracy can be understood as a set of procedures guaranteeing accountability, representation, competition and participation, the substantive (maximalist) understanding of democracy highlights such conditions as human welfare, individual freedom, social rights and security (Mair, 2008). We resort to a procedural perspective, as it allows exploration of the quality of political processes and the functioning of democracies as political systems (see Gwiazda, 2016).
The postcommunist democracies have never been impeccable. The opaque links between economy and politics, corruption, weakly institutionalized parties and party systems,1 scarcely organized civil society, and the missing democratic political culture among the elites and in society have characterized all postcommunist democracies. At the same time, the basic institutional tenets of liberal democracy – the rule of law, free and fair elections, division of powers including an independent judiciary, individual freedom both from external interference and the right of citizens to participate in the political process, political opposition and equal rights for minority groups, free market – were fulfilled to a greater or lesser extent.
Considering the complexity and uncertainty of the postcommunist transformation process, it came as a surprise that extremist, populist or illiberal forces played only marginal role during the system transformation. Postcommunist societies appeared surprisingly patient (Greskovits, ← 13 | 14 → 1998) while faced with the inevitably rising social inequalities. Mass mobilization across the region occurred, instead, against transgression from the path of reforms, epitomized by the "colour revolutions" (Ekiert, 2012). Consequently, initial fears about the popular protest against the neoliberal economic reforms implemented after 1989 faded away gradually. It was more than a decade after the EU and NATO accession that the assessment of democratic performance of, especially, the CEE countries, became more qualified. Regional experts have questioned the depth and sustainability of democratic institutionalization (Krastev, 2016) and have expressed concerns related to the process of "democratic backsliding" and illiberal, authoritarian tendencies in the region (Greskovits, 2015) as well as in the Balkan countries (BiEPAG, 2017).
When it comes to explaining divergent outcomes of postaccession developments and, more precisely, the different degree of democratic decline, two approaches may be mentioned: the structural one, focusing on economic performance, political culture, historical legacies; and the agency-related approach, focused on actor-level dynamics, such as elite choice, public opinion, attitudinal shifts (Tomini and Wagemann, 2017: 2–6). Backsliding is often associated with agency-related explanations (see Lust and Waldner, 2018), in particular the specific elite behaviour, whereby these "agents of change" are in a comfortable situation of absolute or constitutional majority of seats in the parliament and, at times, exercise control over presidential office. Structural factors can therefore act as enabling conditions (the state of democracy and economic situation before the problematic appearances), whereas agency-related elements account for the adjacent decline in democratic quality within the existing regime. Democratic backsliding therefore implies deliberate policies aiming at strengthening the power position of the ruling party, while placing its candidates in the oversight institutions, such as Constitutional Courts, judiciary, (state) media, civil service, civil society organizations, which in liberal democracies maintain their autonomy. This practice is usually associated with populist, antiestablishment discourse, emphasizing the previous elites' failures and corruption, their subsequent lack of legitimacy as the current political opposition, and the claim of the ruling party for true representation of the "will of the people". Such appropriation of public office and divisive discourse constitute the "illiberal tendencies"2 that may ← 14 | 15 → weaken the quality of democracy. It is against this background that we will be able to assess the depth and meaning of the backsliding processes observed in the regions that will be discussed.
The backsliding "entails a deterioration of qualities associated with democratic governance, within any regime. In democratic regimes, it is a decline in the quality of democracy; in autocracies, it is a decline in democratic qualities of governance" (Lust and Waldner, 2018: 5.3). Following the authors, the backsliding negatively affects competitive elections, liberties and accountability. The procedural dimension of democracy includes electoral competition (e.g. ability of parties to organize and participate in elections, independent electoral institutions). The liberties and rights relate to the laws and procedures governing civil society associations, media and freedom of assembly. Finally, horizontal and vertical accountability require the independence of the judicial and the legislative branches. This broad definition allows us to compare the cases of postcommunist democracies and nondemocracies as regards institutional and sociocultural dimensions of policy changes and proximate processes.
Jan Kubik also mentions the cultural causes of illiberalism, which should be considered from two angles: supply and demand. The political-culture approaches exploring the aggregates of attitudes provide answers to the demand side. Changes in demand for new narratives or ideologies are usually elucidated with extracultural factors such as economic crises or political action. The supply side, in turn, refers to the cultural frames and discourses, and these are regarded as autonomous causes of cultural change, explaining where the (new) beliefs come from. As Kubik emphasizes, analysis that focuses on the demand side of the politically relevant "cultural elements" treats culture as a dominant, frequently immutable "syndrome" of attitudes prevalent in a given society and shaped by history. Culture is hence seen as a constraint on political action. The supply side of analysis, conversely, approaches culture with a set of discourses, symbols, ideas constructed as resources – "carriers of meaning that are malleable enough to allow for useful manipulation …" (Kubik, 2012: 82). In this volume we combine both supply and demand sides, as the entrepreneurial ← 15 | 16 → activities of politicians might have found (at least in some countries) fertile ground within the societies under study.
The backsliding differs, however, from the democratic breakdown – i.e. a system change towards authoritarianism (Tomini and Wagemann, 2017: 688). Investigation of the backsliding processes therefore requires the in-depth exploration of qualitative differences within the countries under scrutiny in this volume. Following the theory of Juan J. Linz (2000), the authoritarian system is characterized by the "limited pluralism", i.e. deliberate policies restraining political pluralism (political opposition, political parties, associations), societal pluralism (NGOs, separation of economy from politics), and media pluralism (including freedom of expression and information, diversity of media). The system change towards authoritarianism would therefore imply explicit attempts by the ruling party to suppress the parliamentary and extraparliamentary opposition and to constrain the typical control activities of these political and societal organizations that could endanger the next electoral victory of the party at power. The "authoritarian tendencies", as the term is used in this volume, point to this direction of political development, but they do not yet imply the establishment of full authoritarianism, as experienced, e.g. in Russia or Belarus.
The book, therefore, does not handle the consolidated authoritarian regimes of the post-Soviet world. Neither does it address the Baltic States and other EU member states where illiberal tendencies have not been as remarkable as in Poland, Hungary, and partially in Slovakia. Apart from the problematic EU members, the volume focuses on the countries aspiring to become EU member states, such as the Western Balkans and Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, still struggling with their newly affirmed Westward orientation and with democratization processes.
Drawing on the theoretical considerations discussed above, the case studies in this volume have been analysed along several dimensions, illustrating the possible democratic decline and illiberal, authoritarian tendencies:
Rule of law and constitutional state: independence of judiciary from politics, separation of powers, functioning of parliamentarianism, mechanisms of control and political opposition.
Behaviour and quality of political elites: law obedience, discourse and narrative used.
The quality of political parties, civil society, media. ← 16 | 17 →
Foreign policy direction.
(Changing) identity patterns and attitudes towards conducted reforms or policy changes.
The book entails two theoretical chapters, eleven case studies, and two comparative articles. In both theoretical and conceptual chapters, the current debates are discussed, ranging from the classification of political regimes to the forms of political leadership. The analyses of regional cases are preceded by short overview chapters depicting the countries' development according to the key measures of democracy: the Bertelsmann Transformation Index, the Economist Democracy Index or the Nations in Transit report of Freedom House. They also highlight the dimensions of political process where the illiberal, authoritarian tendencies occur, and thus allow for better comparison between the countries and regions. Two final comparative studies address the role of the European Union and the surprisingly diverse landscape of the illiberal actors in Central Eastern Europe.
This volume contributes to understanding of the current processes taking place in postcommunist societies, and their impact on the quality of democracy and democratic backsliding. The relatively new literature on democratic decline has rarely looked at causes of the illiberal and authoritarian tendencies and their nature, especially in a comparative manner. This study confirms some findings of the existing research on democratic backsliding – especially related to the role of agency – but it also sheds new light on the current state of postcommunist political systems and the transformation process.
Bermeo, N. G. (2016) On democratic backsliding. Journal of Democracy 27(1), 5–19.
BiEPAG (2017) The Crisis of Democracy in the Western Balkans: An Anatomy of Stabilitocracy and the Limits of EU Democracy Promotion, Policy Brief, http://www.biepag.eu/publications/the-crisis-of-democracy-in-the-western-balkans-authoritarianism-and-eu-stabilitocracy/ (accessed 28 September 2018). ← 17 | 18 →
Carothers, T. (2002) The end of the transition paradigm. Journal of Democracy 13(1), 5–21.
Casal Bértoa, F. (2014) Party systems and cleavage structures revisited: a sociological explanation of party system institutionalization in East Central Europe. Party Politics 20(1), 16–36.
Ekiert, G. (2012) The illiberal challenge in post-communist Europe. Surprises and puzzles. Taiwan Journal of Democracy 8(2), 63–77.
Greskovits, B. (1998) The Political Economy of Protest and Patience: East European and Latin American Transformations Compared, Central European University Press, Budapest.
Greskovits, B. (2015) The hollowing and backsliding of democracy in East Central Europe. Global Policy 6, 28–37.
Gwiazda, A. (2016) Democracy in Poland. Representation, Participation, Competition and Accountability since 1989, Routledge, London and New York.
Holzer, J. and Mareš, M. (eds.) (2016) Challenges to Democracies in East Central Europe, Routledge, London and New York.
Ikenberry, J. (2018) The end of liberal international order? International Affairs 94(1), 7–23.
Krastev, I. (2016) The unravelling of the post-1989 order. Journal of Democracy 27(4), 88–98.
Kubik, J. (2012) Illiberal challenge to liberal democracy: the case of Poland. Taiwan Journal of Democracy 8(2), 63–77.
Levitsky, S. and Ziblatt, D. (2018) Why Democracies Die. Crown, New York.
Linz, J. (2000) Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder, CO.
Lust, E. and Waldner, D. (2018) Unwelcome change: understanding, evaluating, and extending theories of democratic backsliding. Annual Review of Political Science 21, 5.1–5.21.
Maćków, J. (1999) Der Wandel des kommunistischen Totalitarismus und die postkommunistische Systemtransformation: Periodisierung, Problematik und Begriffe. Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft 4(99), 1347–1381.
Mair, P. (2006) Ruling the void: the hollowing of Western democracy. New Left Review 42, 25–51. ← 18 | 19 →
Mair, P. (2008) Democracies, in Comparative Politics (ed. D. Caramani). Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 108–132.
ISBN (ePUB)
ISBN (MOBI)
Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien, 2018. 376 pp., 4 tables, 1 graph.
Florian Bieber (Volume editor) Magdalena Solska (Volume editor) Dane Taleski (Volume editor)


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On DVD: "I, Daniel Blake"
Back in May, it looked a lot like the summer of Ken Loach. The Palme d'Or victory was closely followed by the release of career retrospective Versus and the rerelease of 1967's Poor Cow, titles that spoke to a lifelong commitment to championing social change. Thereafter, the quiet man of British cinema was rather drowned out: the angry Right sounded a huffy retreat from Europe, setting the liberal-left into noisy infighting. I, Daniel Blake – for which Loach won that Cannes prize – now reappears as a rallying flag: a salutary reminder of what so many are facing today.
You could call it I, Josef K, such is the bureaucracy in which the eponymous Dan (Dave Johns), a Newcastle carpenter recovering from a heart attack, finds himself entangled. He's not fit for work, yet the State has him three points shy of the threshold required to claim health benefits; Jobseekers' Allowance has him looking for gigs he hasn't the stamina to take on. Crucially, he's not a scrounger: rather an ordinary bloke with skill and evident civic pride, obliged to jump through hoops for a handful of coins, and made to feel like an abject failure for doing so.
That Loach and his regular writing collaborator Paul Laverty should care to dramatise a sinking feeling millions – including, at points, this reviewer – have known all too well makes I, Daniel Blake an important film, yet it's not a flawless one: Dan himself might find the joisting a little rough-hewn in places, though its makers would doubtless point to this as proof of the finished product's authenticity.
Some of the non-pros drafted in as supporting players can seem wobbly, and while Johns, Loach's latest recruit from the stand-up circuit, looks canny enough to know how to insulate a home using bubblewrap, you sense him nervily feeling his way into this new performance arena. There's a marked contrast with fellow debutant Hayley Squires, who grabs the screen from the very first moment we see her relocated single mother Katie kicking off bigtime in the jobcentre.
More often than not, though, these scenes from the class struggle explode into life of one form or another. Loach and Laverty have an unfailing knack of imbuing their creations with dignity, pride and a humour that varies from bolshy to wounded, depending on the circumstances: to a neighbour who's spotted him moving cardboard boxes out of his less-than-palatial flat, Dan quips "I'm off to the Bahamas." (Byker is as far as he gets.)
The effect is to draw us further into this social stratum, and deeper down into the characters' plight. For the first time, a filmmaker takes us inside the much-reported food banks, and inspecting their doomy nuclear-bunker-meets-church-social ambiance, we're left wondering how it is we've been brought so low (guzzling baked beans direct from the tin) so quickly. Then again, the options opening up for these characters in the outside world – crime, prostitution, alcoholism – are flatly terrible.
Pointedly, cinematographer Robbie Ryan has none of the freedom he was granted in the recent American Honey, set instead to describing the neutral-grey tones of the bureaucratic drablands Dan and Katie struggle within. Yet certain other formal choices underline that we're watching a master at work, one who knows exactly what this story represents: one brilliant, tragicomic cut from a careers advisor's big spiel on smartphone CVs to Dan's uncompromising expression is eloquent indeed on how the labour market has changed, and not necessarily for the better.
At every turn, Loach's humanism – his total commitment to the specifics of the situations his characters find themselves in – transcends all other political labels. Whether you're to the left or right of Jeremy Corbyn, whether you voted Leave or Remain (and it's just possible Dan, like many across the depressed North-East, voted to go), here is a film that sets out, very starkly, what 99% of us are now up against. Rally around it and get angry (angrier?), because the alternative – resigning ourselves to dying in the streets like dogs – is, even for this moment in time, too awful to contemplate.
(MovieMail, October 2016)
I, Daniel Blake is available on DVD through eOne from Monday.
From the archive: "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"
On DVD: "American Honey"
On demand: "The Black Stallion"
On demand: "The Ivory Game"
"Rangoon" (Guardian 24/02/17)
"It's Only the End of the World" (Catholic Herald ...
Ladies who launch: "Hidden Figures"
On DVD: "The Magnificent Seven"
Body rock: "The Fits"
Eruptions: "Tanna"
Brickbat: "The Lego Batman Movie"
Pet sounds: "Sing"
From the archive: "Being A.P."
From the archive: "Testament of Youth"
Where's the beef?: "The Founder"
"John Wick: Chapter 2" (Guardian 17/02/17)
"Love of My Life" (Guardian 17/02/17)
1,001 Films: "Céline and Julie Go Boating/Céline e...
1,001 Films: "Chinatown" (1974)
River of dreams: "Moonlight"
From the archive: "John Wick"
Playing in the backyard: "Fences"
"Taxi Driver" (Reader's Digest 10/02/17)
On DVD: "The Girl on the Train"
On DVD: "The Girl with All the Gifts"
"Rings" (Guardian 03/02/17)
"Gold" (Reader's Digest 03/02/17)
On DVD: "Deepwater Horizon"
1,001 Films: "A Woman Under the Influence" (1974)
On demand: "Divines"


Bitter-sweet can't have come near to describing the experience of living through VE Day. Nazism had finally been vanquished, but much of the continent lay in ruins. This bewildering day makes an ideal backdrop for Ashes and Diamonds, a complex film about the aftermath of the Second World War.
While in the UK bunting was hung and trestle tables set with tea and cake, the Polish were at the beginning of another phase of conflict. On one side were the Russians (and Polish communists) whose armies had forced out the Germans. Against them stood the hopelessly outnumbered Home Army of non-Communist resistance fighters who had taken their wartime leadership from the government-in-exile based in London.
Made in 1958, Andrzej Wajda's Ashes and Diamonds is the last in a trilogy of films looking at the Polish experience in World War II. The film is set over the 24-hour period of the final day of the war: 8 May 1945, otherwise known as Victory in Europe Day or VE Day. Previously A Generation (1954) had told of the responses of two young men to the Nazi occupation in 1942 and Kanal (1956) followed a group of resistance fighters in the Warsaw sewers (or kanal in Polish) during the Warsaw uprising of 1944.
Ashes and Diamonds follows Maciek, a former Home Army resistance fighter who has been assigned to kill a Polish communist commissar, Szczuka (Wacław Zastrzeżyński). His first attempt fails when he shoots two innocent cement plant workers. Wajda never allows us to forget that violence is senseless and involves human consequences. The man Maciek must kill has not only fought bravely against the Nazis and Fascism in Spain, but he also has a son who has been fighting for the Home Army. Unlike with the Germans, the lines of conflict are not clearly drawn.
Maciek, the resistance fighter and hero of Ashes and Diamonds is played by Zbigniew Cybulski, a Polish actor who is often referred to as the Polish James Dean. He earned this sobriquet by playing young rebellious characters and having the misfortune to die young (in 1967 he fell under the wheels of a train while trying to jump aboard). Despite being set during the Forties, Cybulski still manages to wear dark glasses through much of film. His eye wear is explained as a sensitivity to sunlight due to the time he spent in the darkness of the Warsaw sewers, but luckily it allows him to create a rather more modern, cooler persona.
The Fifties were golden age of World War II movies, and we're all familiar with The Dambusters and all those other films of stiff-upper-lipped, stoical Brits or happy-go-lucky, courageous Yanks. Set after the Nazis had been vanquished, Ashes and Diamonds was bound to be far more equivocal. The political climate in Poland influenced the film too. Although Wajda made the film after a loosening of strict communist censorship in the mid-Fifties, free speech was hardly the order of the day. But if criticising Russia and communism was difficult, the memory of the Home Army was sacred to most Poles.
Most of the action takes place in around a hotel, a place of jazz, booze and chance encounters, and hardly the standard arena for heroics. As Maciek moves closer to his prey, he meets the hotel's beautiful barmaid Krystyna (Ewa Krzyżewska). Through his growing affection for her he is offered a chance of redemption. The difficulty of killing a man he has come, in some small way, to know becomes compounded by love.
Not only is the plot intriguing and the characters compelling, but there are moments of great beauty and originality throughout Ashes and Diamonds. Most famously, Maciek light a series of shot glasses on the bar he is drinking at with his friend and commanding officer Andrzej. But there are many more including when Andrej runs down a banquet table spraying diners with a fire extinguisher, and revellers sleepily waltzing around the dance floor as the sun comes up. Another great re-release from Arrow Academy.
As usual this Arrow Academy release comes with a host of benefits, including both HD Blu-ray and Standard Definition DVD presentations of the film. Extras include a filmed interview with director Andrzej Wajda. Also included is a comprehensive booklet by writer and film historian Michael Brooke, which includes new writing on the film, a re-print of Marek Hendrykowsk s monograph on Ashes and Diamonds, Andrzej Wajda's lecture on Cinema Past and Present. The artwork presentation packaging includes three original posters and a piece of newly commissioned artwork.


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Date of Incident: February 28, 2022
Institution(s):Various
Region & Country:Western Asia | Turkey
On February 28, 2022, police forcibly arrested and briefly detained 26 students participating in a protest over the rising cost of living, gas, and electricity in Istanbul.
The protests had been going on since September 2021, when students from various universities across the country began camping out and sleeping in parks and other public areas as part of a movement called Barınamıyoruz Hareket ("We Can't Shelter"), to protest the rising cost of rent and the lack of available student housing.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about the arbitrary detention of students peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly — conduct that is expressly protected by international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Turkey is a party. State authorities have an obligation to refrain from restricting or retaliating against expressive activities and assemblies so long as they are peaceful and responsible. In addition to the harm to the immediate victims, detentions in response to peaceful student expression undermines academic freedom and democratic society generally.
*SAR identified this incident in data made publicly available by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED).
https://sendika.org/2022/02/yurtsuzlar-odeyemedikleri-faturalarla-istiklaldeydi-gozaltina-alinan-universiteliler-serbest-birakildi-648587/
https://gazetepatika18.com/gecinemiyoruz-eylemi-yapan-ogrenciler-iskence-ile-gozaltina-alindi-108644.html
https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/taksimde-fatura-zinciri-olusturan-ogrencilere-polis-mudahalesi-video-1554898


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Get to know: West Kootenay EcoSociety
by Jessie Golem
West Kootenay EcoSociety is a non-profit community-driven organization that brings together local residents to protect the natural environment while building just, equitable, healthy, and livable communities. Earlier this year, Jessie Golem spoke with Josh Drodza to talk about the Green Resilience Project community conversations they have been conducting in the West Kootenay region.
Jessie Golem (JG): Can you tell me a bit more about West Kootenay EcoSociety and the work that you're doing?
Josh Drodza (JD): EcoSociety was founded 27 years ago out of opposition to a proposed ski resort in the Jumbo Valley. A large ski and tourist resort was proposed to be developed in the heart of the Central Purcell mountains, interfering with the grizzly bear habitat and one of North America's largest wildlife corridors. The resort is also in the middle of Qat'muk, the name of the lands that belong to the Ktunaxa First Nations territory. It was only in 2020 that the BC government declared Qat'muk, including the Jumbo Valley, as an Indigenous Protected Conservation Land under the protection of the Ktunaxa First Nations, who view the land as sacred and the home of the Grizzly Bear Spirit. EcoSociety has [since] grown into more projects. We still do a lot of conservation work—for instance, we have campaigns to preserve old growth forests and a bigger project to help local communities in the Kootenay region transition to 100 percent renewables by 2050. So far eleven out of sixteen communities have signed on.
The ways we communicate with community members have also changed over the years and right now we're practicing a tactic called deep listening, or deep canvassing. It's different from traditional political canvassing because it gives people more of an opportunity to say what they're thinking, as opposed to coming to them with something to "sell." Oftentimes these conversations end up being longer, but the rate at which we get signatures is one in three people—which is huge in the world of organizing. We want to make alliances and partnerships with the myriad communities and industries that work here, and with deep listening we gain those allies because we're not telling them that their opinions are wrong but rather listening, engaging respectfully and finding a common ground.
JG: I love that. It's building relationships so everybody feels involved and feels like they have a stake in the issue, which is why they would want to invest.
JD: Exactly. It removes so many barriers. Yes, the conversation does take a bit longer. But once you have it, you are able to bring those people on board a lot easier. In the United States, where this originated, deep canvassing happens more typically in urban centers. So the organizations that practice this have been interested in how we've been doing it in a rural area in Canada. It's the first of its kind, but we're approaching a point where we can help other organizations implement their own deep canvassing programs.
JG: You're blazing a new trail here and implementing a new way of doing policy while engaging with people. That's amazing.
JD: We also operate an online publication called Living Here, which tell stories from rural and small communities, but they're all tied to climate change in some way. We just printed out the first 1,100 copies of Living Here in the community of Trail, and we'll be sending those editions to everyone we've spoken to in the last year. Living Here is tied into everything that we do. The stories are very quality content. I would say they're on par with any other publication that is currently writing about climate change. They're telling community stories from community perspectives. Just as an example, one story we did this summer was about a woman in Trail who took her two young kids to Ontario because the wildfires [caused them to be unable to] breathe.
We also run a Farms to Friends program. We've identified low-income families in the community and we deliver approx. 80 bags of fresh produce to 80 families every week, partnering with local farms. We also put recipe cards in the bags every week. During the winter, we'll do a holiday organic chicken, locally roasted granola, local preserves and canned goods, as well as kids books from a local author.
JG: Everything is local.
JD: If it's not local, we don't want to include it.
JG: Also the things that you're distributing are fresh and healthy. A part of me is thinking how wonderful it is that everybody's donating, but another part of me thinks that of course they're donating, they are literally helping their neighbors.
JD: Exactly. We also do a lot of organizing around election times, to see which candidates support which causes and to encourage voter turnout. We also just launched our guaranteed livable income campaign this year. We are focusing on the environmental angle when we're talking about GLI, which is different from the approach some other basic income organizations in Canada are [taking].
JG: Of course. Oftentimes the focus is on automation, social justice or the economic benefits of a basic income.
JD: Exactly. Our traditional supporters are environmentalists, so we want to approach it from that angle to show folks how intersectional climate change and social issues are. If people can't afford to meet their basic needs, they can't afford to take action on climate change.
JG: Exactly. They're not going to think about recycling better or buying more efficient light bulbs if they're concerned about paying rent. That's actually what really drew me personally to the Green Resilience Project, the intersection between basic income and climate change. This is the first time I had seen that.
JD: So far the response to the campaign has been really positive. I feel like we've been successful in showing the connection between GLI and the environment. With the Green Resilience Project, we're doing individual interviews. We've been interviewing the families in the Farms to Friends Program, and we're learning a lot about them through this. We just ask them to tell us a bit about themselves, what their typical day looks like, and what they value in life. And then we talk about meeting their basic needs, such as the Farms to Friends Program, and what they like, or don't like, or how it's changed their household. We'll then shift to the 100% Renewable Energy Project, and we come from the GLI focus, trying to understand their stance on renewable energy, the environment and climate change. Like I mentioned earlier, low-income folks don't have the means to take action on climate change in the same way wealthier individuals or families do. We also want to know where they're working and how they are traveling there. Are they using public transit? Are they driving? Public transit is very difficult in this area, so we're trying to figure out solutions as part of the 100% Renewable Energy Plan.
The interviews are going pretty well. Our goal is to do 100 families and so far we have about 80 families on the program. So we're interviewing all those families and also identifying other families to interview. We'll ask them about their support and understanding of different environmental concerns, but also if they can refer other families to us that would benefit from this conversation. We also want to learn how to get these families off of the program, so we're asking them what they need. Is it more education to further their careers? New work opportunities? Better access to transportation or affordable child care? If we can learn further, we can advocate for better solutions to help these families. We want to graduate families out of the program because they no longer need the program and we've recently had our first few families leave because of this. It was a big moment to celebrate. We've been doing the interviews both in person, and over the phone.
JG: And you're hoping for 100 interviews in total?
JD: Yeah. We also have a campaign about fossil fuels. $18 billion is spent annually on fossil fuel subsidies when BC is dealing with flooding and wildfires. In one community a fire truck couldn't even get out of the station in time, and the station burnt down around it. While this is happening, billions of dollars are given to the Coastal GasLink Pipeline to go through the Wet'suwet'en Territory. So that's one of our biggest concerns.
JG: It's honestly terrifying hearing about what's happening in British Columbia, whether it's Land Defenders protecting Wet'suwet'en Territory or Fairy Creek, or hearing about the climate disasters wreaking havoc upon the province.
JD: And we're still doing quite a bit of organizing around local conservation efforts. An example is Grohman Narrows, which is a provincial park just outside of Nelson. There's been a gravel mine there that's contaminating local water sources and affecting the turtle population. We've spoken to our political representatives, and because of that they are recommending a public open-house consultation on the project. There's also another ski resort proposal that has the potential to become the next "Jumbo." The area, which is located near the village of Kaslo and New Denver, is a habitat for grizzly bears, mountain goats and other at-risk or endangered species.
JG: Your organization is busy, that's for sure. What have you learned from the interviews you've done so far?
JD: It's been interesting, and definitely different from my expectations. We expected more opposition or a lack of understanding when it came to talking about specific environmental issues, but for the most part people have been fairly agreeable and on board with the approach were taking to these issues. They're just as engaged and concerned as anyone else, but may not necessarily have the means to make a huge difference because meeting their basic needs is the top priority.
Maybe what we're doing is a bit different from other programs, but our goal is to always tie it back to the communities we work in, build meaningful relationships and approach everything with an environmental lens while building healthy, equitable and livable communities for all.
JG: The work that you're doing is really unique and inspiring. Thanks a lot for our conversation, I learned a lot today.
More information about West Kootenay EcoSociety can be found here.
Tags:basic incomeclimatecommunity resiliencegettoknow
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Since 1997, Perugia Press has been publishing first and second books of poetry by women. We publish one book a year, the winner of the Perugia Press Prize. Our mission is to help right gender inequity in publishing by launching women's voices into the world, one excellent book at a time.
Our goal is to produce beautiful books that interest long-time readers of poetry and welcome those new to poetry. We celebrate and promote our poets, and poetry, whenever we can, through social media, and at local, regional, and national book fairs, readings, and events. All Perugia poets are available for readings. Please contact the press to schedule an event.
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2019 Perugia Press Prize Winner Coming Soon!
by Abby E. Murray
At a time when lines of ideological division run particularly deep, it gives me hope to see a poet exploring the nuances of patriotism and pacifism through the voice of a speaker who embraces the duality of her identity as both a wife and also a person defined by much more than her gender or marital status. Though full of men, Hail and Farewell is a book made of everything that a woman is expected to be—beautiful, fecund, and endlessly patient—cast against the surreal landscapes of a homecoming ceremony for returning soldiers or the military family housing that turns strangers into reluctant intimates. Most of all, I'm heartened to see that what I've always told my students is true: If there is a story that needs to be told, there is someone who can tell it. And damn, but Abby E. Murray tells this one. – Keetje Kuipers
Cover art by Meredith Bergmann; Cover art photo by John Bigelow Taylor
by MEGAN PEAK
Winner of the 2018 Perugia Press Prize and the 2018 John A. Robertson Award for Best First Book of Poetry from the Texas Institute of Letters. Finalist for the 2019 Eric Hoffer Book Award and the 2019 daVinci Eye Award.
In the midst of the #MeToo movement, Peak's book is timely and timeless in its confrontation of the constraints and concerns bound up in being a girl.
"In her bold debut collection, Megan Peak writes, 'I was a girl before I was anything else.' The girls in Girldom—the one 'who burns / through dirt like a steel hoof,' the one 'who shears / her long braid to fatten the fire'—hack their way through the nettles and thorns of sexual awakening and sexual trauma. Claiming one's body—one's self—is vulnerable, brave, and important. So are these poems." —Maggie Smith, author of Good Bones
Read more & order here
Recent press for Perugia Press
Megan Peak's Girldom has won the 2018 John A. Robertson Award for Best First Book of Poetry from the Texas Institute of Letters! Girldom was also named a Finalist for the 2019 Eric Hoffer Book Award and for the 2019 daVinci Eye Award.
Abby E. Murray, author of 2019 Perugia Press Prize-winning Hail and Farewell, has been named 2019-2021 Tacoma Poet Laureate! Check out Gale Hemmann's article about Murray and her work, "New Tacoma Poet Laureate Abby E. Murray: Standing Up, Speaking Out, Making Poetry," in SouthSoundTalk.
Thanks to Travis Cravey for his April 2019 review of L. I. Henley's Starshine Road for Glass: A Journal of Poetry, steeped in the desert terrain Henley writes about, and calls home. Here's an excerpt: "The Mojave, in the end, forms this collection. It gives it blood and propulsion and meaning. The desert lays bare Henley's life and dreams, her regrets and humanity. She has managed to open herself up for us, welcoming us into this world, to this high desert love story."
Thanks to Seth Copeland for this stellar review of Girldom in the latest issue of petrichor: "Girldom is not the first great book of poetry about overcoming violation, but it is one of the wisest. Mark Doty once wrote of 'how the world gives luster as it falls apart,' but Megan Peak has shown us how it does the same while pulling itself back together again."
Here's a feature on Editor/Director Rebecca Hart Olander in the September 7, 2018 "Art Maker" column of the Daily Hampshire Gazette. She speaks about her own writing process and supporting her student writers and the women poets of Perugia Press.
Here's a 2018 interview with 2015 Perugia Press Prize winner Jenifer Browne Lawrence, conducted by Jordan Hartt for Kahini. The poet has this to say about working with Perugia Press on Grayling: "I can't praise Perugia Press highly enough … all the staff and my fellow Perugia poets feel like an extended family. They treated me and my work respectfully and intelligently—the whole process felt like the celebration of a birth—and I suppose it was."
Here's Emily Gwinn reading aloud 2009 Perugia Press Prize-winner Jennifer K. Sweeney's poem "Weathering" for NPR Public Radio station Spokane Public Radio's "Poetry Moment" on September 6, 2018. The poem comes from Sweeney's Perugia collection How to Live on Bread and Music, which also won the 2009 James Laughlin Award for the Academy of American Poets.
Here's a wonderful interview Mariano Zaro conducted with 2007 Perugia Press Prize winner Lynne Thompson, published on August 19, 2018 on YouTube for Poetry.LA. Thompson reads her poem "To Blackness" from Beg No Pardon, which begins at 10:45 in this terrific piece (though we suggest listening to the whole piece to hear Thompson's thoughts on ancestors, memory, music, coming to poetry after practicing law, hearing from founding editor Susan Kan on winning post-publication awards for Beg No Pardon, breaking stereotypes of "the other" in her poetry, the new projects she has cooking, and even Beyonce's Lemonade!).
Here's a recent review of Diane Gilliam's Kettle Bottom in Glass: A Journal of Poetry (March 2018, Ohio Poets Edition). Thanks to reviewer Karen J. Weyant for highlighting the timeless quality of Gilliam's work: "For better or for worse, coal miners and the coal industry have recently been thrust into the limelight… I want to tell [readers] to forget the current politics. I want to tell them to forget what most contemporary media outlets are reporting. But what I really want to tell them is to read Kettle Bottom Diane Gilliam Fisher, perhaps one of the best poetry books ever written. Kettle Bottom, published by Perugia Press in 2004, examines the years of 1920-21 in West Virginia, a period of tension and unrest in coal country. Divided into three sections, Fisher's collection intertwines a variety of voices, including wives, mine workers, and community children, all the while seeking to capture a time that is seemingly forgotten."
for a First or Second Book of Poetry by a Woman
Prize: $1000 and publication
Submission Period:
August 1 -
Click here for guidelines.
Perugia Press & Its Poets: On the Power of Women's Voices & Poetry
Filmmaker Kate Way spent time with Perugia Press poets talking about the importance of women's voices and poetry. Above is the 8-minute film she created from those conversations. The piece also includes scenes of a Perugia Press reading held at Smith College, and free writing workshops we offered to the community during our 20th anniversary celebrations in Northampton, MA. Enjoy!
Diane Gilliam to present at Hobart Festival of Women Writers
September 7, 2019 at 9:30 am - 11:30 am
Lynne Thompson reading at Book Passage
September 15, 2019 at 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Abby E. Murray and Karen Skolfield in conversation at Westfield State University
November 7, 2019 at 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm


text:
The 1962–63 Greek Football Cup was the 21st edition of the Greek Football Cup. The competition culminated with the Greek Cup Final, held at Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, Athens on 18 July 1963. The match was contested by Olympiacos and Pierikos, with Olympiacos winning by 3–0.

Calendar
From Round of 32 onwards:

Knockout phase
In the knockout phase, teams play against each other over a single match. If the match ends up as a draw, extra time will be played and if the match remains a draw a replay match is set at the home of the guest team which the extra time rule stands as well. If a winner doesn't occur after the replay match the winner emerges by a flip of a coin.The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows:
In the draw for the round of 32, the teams that had qualified to previous' season Round of 16 are seeded and the clubs that passed the qualification round are unseeded.
In the draws for the round of 16 onwards, there are no seedings, and teams from the same group can be drawn against each other.

Bracket

Round of 32

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Round of 16

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Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

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Final

The 21st Greek Cup Final was played at the Leoforos Alexandras Stadium.

References

External links
Greek Cup 1962-63 at RSSSF

Greek Football Cup seasons
Greek Cup
Cup

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Join us for a MFOL Art Build on April 22, 5-8pm. Free refreshments, and MFOL merchandise available.
Rummage Sale from 9am-3pm on April 26 and 27. Lots of items with great prices, all proceeds going to support the church and our mission!
April 21: "Easter is the Salvation Story Needed for the Earth" On this Earth Day weekend and Easter Sunday, let us follow the example of the early Jesus followers, who told improbable and hopeful stories of Jesus' return. We need to become evangelists for the restoration of our planet and the rebirth of its biodiversity. As an act of ritual recommitment, we will also celebrate our Unitarian Flower Communion. Please bring one flower per person. This is a multigenerational service, so all ages will celebrate together.
We will begin the morning with worship at 10:30am. Details available on this page. As an act of ritual recommitment, we will also celebrate our Unitarian Flower Communion. Please bring one flower per person. This is a multigenerational service, so all ages will celebrate together. After service, families and children will move outdoors for an Easter Egg hunt on the lawn. Discovered eggs may be brought into the Atrium and turned in for a reward of chocolate and supplies for seed-planting to celebrate and generate life. Please have your child come to church prepared with a bag or basket for egg-gathering! Middle school youth will be hiding the eggs. High school youth will be organizing coffee hour in order to raise money for their Boston Trip, less than two months away!
There is being "woke", then there is the work….


text:
Limerick Chronicle Column 31 Dec 2013 – A Look Back at 2013
Richard Lynch
See What's Happening in the Latest
I Love Limerick Chronicle Column
You can view the article by clicking on the preview.
Highlights of my year with I Love Limerick
Limerick International Fashion Student Awards
The Limerick International Fashion Student Awards 2013 were organised by the Holman Lee Agency and took place in October in the former Franciscan Church, Henry Street, which was transformed on the night into a spectacular setting for one of the most amazing fashion presentations ever held in Limerick. Fashion students representing 18 colleges and universities from across Europe, Britain and Ireland participated in the prestigious competition for the €10,000 prize. Caroline Mulhern, a student at the University of Salford in the UK was selected as the overall winner by the panel of renowned judges.
Official opening of Doras Luimní's new offices
Doras Luimní is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation that promotes and upholds the human rights and wellbeing of migrants at a local and national level and in October, they had the official opening of their new offices in O'Connell Street in the United Presbyterian and Methodist Church in the city centre. For more info please visit www.dorasluimni.org or call Doras Luimní at 061 310328.
Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh Anti-Bullying Campaign
In September, I was honoured to ask to speak to 1st and 2nd year students from Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh as part of a C.S.P.E. Action Project organised by one of the 3rd year classes and their teacher Croídhe Ní Ghloinn during the school's Anti-Bullying Campaign. Two 3rd year students, Rebecca Waters and Olivia Bennett asked me to speak to some of the students about my experiences of being bullied as a child. During the talk to the students, I expressed the positive notion that individuality should be embraced and not something to be ashamed of, as many young people feel when they are being subjected to some form of bullying. To see documentaries about bullying visit www.youtube.com/Richanthon.
Limerick Going for Gold 2013
In September, hundreds of volunteers from around the city shared their community spirit at the highly anticipated grand finale of the 2013 Limerick Going for Gold competition in the Strand Hotel. The four categories were: the Community Challenge; Individual Merit; Most Beautiful Front Garden; and Tidy Towns. I was the MC for the event and I told the audience that they put the 'love' in Limerick as every single person in the room was there to help their city be a better, brighter place to live. The overall winner of Going for Gold Tidy Towns competition was Annacotty, winning €15,000. The winner of the Community Challenge with a grand prize of €3,000 was South Limerick City Residents Association. Congrats to everyone who took part!
Limerick Pride 2013
In September, the annual Limerick LGBTQ Pride festival was a huge success with ten days of action for Equality, Love, Diversity and Celebration and this year the festival highlighted the Marriage Equality campaign, urging LGBTQ people, their families, friends and supporters to wear pink to the parade in a show of support. The Parade while being a fun day out for most people with a strong party atmosphere is something that cannot happen in places like Russia, which makes me value the event even more. Two lovely Limerick ladies, Chloe Heslin, the Limerick Rose and Shauna Lindsay, our current Miss Limerick, accompanied me in the Parade and we had a ball! To see a video of the day go to the media section of ILoveLimerick.com now.
Roche's Street Arts Festival
For two weeks in September, a unique art exhibition charity fundraiser took place in the shops of Roche's Street. Both established and up-and-coming artists placed some of their best works of art on display in shop windows along the popular thoroughfare. For the last ten years, artists have been contributing to the festival, which this year raised money for the Mid-West Branch of the Parkinson's Association of Ireland and the St Vincent's Daughters of Charity in Lisnagry.
New Lapel Pin brings Pride to Limerick
In August, Paul O'Connell and JP McManus officially launched a lapel pin to promote pride in Limerick city and county at the Hunt Museum, Limerick. 'Design a lapel pin' competition was a new category in the Going for Gold initiative, a campaign sponsored by the JP McManus Charitable Foundation to get communities and businesses in Limerick working together to clean up the city. The seven week competition to design a lapel pin that instills pride in Limerick was open to all primary, secondary and third level students in Limerick City and County. The overall winning entry was from Anna Kinsella, an 11 year old student at St. Patrick's Girls National School. Anna was among 700 entrants to the competition. The lapel pin is available free of charge in selected locations throughout the city including the Hunt Museum and the Limerick Leader office. To see a video about the launch go to ILoveLimerick.com.
Cliona's Foundation 6th Annual Cycle
The Cliona's Foundation Cycle, now in its 6th year, took place in August from the Honeyfitz Theatre in Lough Gur. I was the MC at the event and this years' cycle attracted large numbers particularly with three popular celebrities taking to their bikes on the day in support of the Foundation that provides financial assistance to critically ill children. Rugby legend David Wallace, singer and TV Presenter Leanne Moore and Ireland Women's Rugby Team player Joy Neville, each have carved national and international fame in their own right and have supported Cliona's Foundation over the years. See www.clionasfoundation.com for more info.
Pink Ribbon Walk
The 4th Pink Ribbon Walk took place in June in the beautiful lakeside towns of Ballina/Killaloe and brought together women and men, young and young at heart, to walk together in aid of Action Breast Cancer. To see all of our coverage of the event including a video and some amazing photos visit ILoveLimerick.com now.
Youth of Limerick comes together to Stop Limerick Dog Litter
In April, Limerick City Tidy Towns took a lead from scouts and girl guides on eradicating dog litter as a large troop of scouts and Irish girl guides from across city and environs made their opinions about dog litter heard by marching through the centre of Limerick chanting anti-dog litter slogans. The youths all gathered at City Hall and I Love Limerick was there to film the event and it was inspiring to see these kids all working towards a common goal. The message is simple – Always carry a bag and bin it. Show your support for this initiative by cleaning up after your dog and encouraging others to do the same. Go to ILoveLimerick.com to see a video of the youths Stop Limerick Dog Litter protest. For further info see www.facebook.com/StopLimerickDogLitter.
If anyone wants to keep tabs with what I am up to around Limerick, you can catch me on Facebook and Twitter @Richanthon. If you have a good news story about Limerick I could share on this page, you can contact me via email at [email protected] Look forward to hearing from you!
Love to you all
Richard (Richanthon) x
You can browse and read previous Limerick Chronicle Columns here.
Related Topics:bullyingcelia holman leecharityclionas foundationcommunityculturedesign a lapel pinGaelcholáiste Luimnighjp mc manuslimerick chroniclelimerick going for goldLimerick International Fashion Student Awards 2013paul o connellpink ribbon walkrichanthonrichard lynchroches street art festivalsportstop limerick dog litter
Limerick New Years Eve 2013 Photos
Limerick City of Culture New Years Eve
Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.
Limerick-based tech company ActionPoint has been acquired by the Viatel Group
Community2 days ago
Limerick mourns the loss of MIC graduate Ashling Murphy
Water testing has begun at the Corbally Baths in first step towards restoration
Education2 days ago
Researchers from the University of Limerick receive grants from ERC
Grace Keane set to donate 18 inches of hair for Milford Hospice
UPDATE Hidden Assets has been acquired by BBC
Charity4 weeks ago
UPDATE: Jack Corbett Lynch raises over €1k for LauraLynn after taking the plunge at Kilkee Pier
10 Questions with RTÉ Broadcaster JJ Hartigan
Community4 weeks ago
Helen O Donnell announces retirement from the Hunt Museum Café after 25 years
DJs Bucket List receives massive support from Limerick communities
main slider3 days ago
The Leader Column January 8 2022 – Hunt Museum's Helen Retires
See What's Happening in the Latest I Love Limerick Leader Column
The Leader Column January 15 2022 – DJs Bucket List Receives Support
The Leader Column January 1 2022 – Looking Back on a Challenging Year
main slider4 weeks ago
The Leader Column December 25 2021 – Healthy Food Made Easy
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The BHS Community Service Club is gathering goods for its annual Honor our Heroes Drive. Please check out the video from last year's drive as well as the list of items below that we need to make this year's efforts a success.
Lets pay tribute to our troops in the Middle East by sending as much TLC packages as we can!
Thanks to the many who gave so generously last time. We have already shipped TONS of large packages filled with wonderful gifts! We also received many grateful letters from the recipients. We would like to send more care packages to those who are still sacrificing so that we can enjoy our freedom.
Stationary & envelopes, note pads, greeting cards, etc.
Socks, T-shirts, Patriots or Red Sox memorabilia, hats, shirts, etc.


Vernazza Painting uses high-quality products on every job. Using high-quality products will extend the life of your paint job. We NEVER thin our paint! unless the manufacturer recommends it. We follow all manufacturer specifications. As always, Vernazza Painting is committed to providing dependable service AND affordable quality.
Below is a list of companies who's products we use for various painting applications.
As part of our commitment to protecting and conserving our planet's resources, we provide enhanced environmentally friendly products as attractive options for our clients.
Please contact us if you have any questions regarding a specific product or for a free estimate of your project.


Welcome to the Garden Route and Klein Karoo – the Southern Cape Coast of South Africa's Western Cape Province, and the country's favourite destination for holidaymakers.
We're situated on the 34th parallel, conveniently half way between the winelands of Cape Town and the malaria-free game reserves of Port Elizabeth (although we have some of our own wine lands and plenty of our own game and nature reserves, too, of course).
Our area includes the towns of Calitzdorp and Oudtshoorn in the semi-arid Klein Karoo (also sometimes called the Little Karoo), and Mossel Bay, George, Wilderness, Sedgefield, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, and Tsitsikamma along the lush, dramatically beautiful Garden Route coast.
This site is designed to provide all the information you need about accommodation, attractions, activities, tours and transfers in the Southern Cape region: and it's linked to real-time reservations systems, so you can use it to book your places to stay and things to do.
Knysna must rank as the best-known small town in South Africa: its beauty and its forests, lagoon, culture, and history draw visitors in their thousands – yet it remains a place of great tranquility.
The weather on the Garden Route and in the Klein Karoo is mild in winter and warm to hot in summer – so it's ideal for touring throughout the year.
Please contact us if you need help designing your tours and itineraries, conferences, events, functions, weddings, team building or corporate breakaways and incentives.
Online booking facilities can be found on many pages of this site.
Properties and attractions listed on this site will negotiate STO rates with tour operators. For this, please contact the service provider directly.


This time a pottery of the Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong. The cult of the figure of this leader has bequeathed us innumerable representations of the same as a man of the people, so at the base we find the motto "at the service of the people" "为人民服务".
The cult of Mao promoted by Lin Biao was one of the bases of the cultural revolution and at that time it was usual to find its image in all kinds of buildings, shops and homes throughout China. Even today his image is common in the halls of many households in rural areas.
Sculptures like these were created all over the country and are easy to find in any antique business or even new copies in art and ceramic stores.