Where may I park and sleep?
In principle, you are allowed to park anywhere and stay overnight in order to restore a vehicle to full working order. The bed is ideally suited for long distance travel – just pull off the motorway, park up, make up the bed and sleep!
I would like to have a bed in my car, but cannot find my vehicle make/model?
We have not been able to develop a bed for this type of vehicle yet. In principle we fit a bed into any vehicle. You can work out the approx. measurements for your bed yourself by simply measuring the roof void at approx. 7cm away from the interior roof. You can measure right up to the rear hatch door. If we have to design a new bed, then this will normally take two days. We can offer you a courtesy car and somewhere to stay the night free-of-charge. Construction and fitting can take place over a weekend.
How long do I have to wait for my bed once I have ordered it?
The average production time for a bed is a maximum of 1-2 weeks. Upon receipt of your order you will be able to collect the bed immediately after this time. Fitting the bed and instructing you on how to use it will take approx. an hour.
What are bed extensions and how do they work?
Bed extensions are upholstered platforms that add 10-15cm space on each side. The blackout curtain material is a stretch material and will not interfere with the extensions. The extensions are clipped on to the corners of the bed. When they are not required or during travel, they can be stored underneath the mattress.
How can the vehicle be opened from the inside?
If the vehicle has a rear hatch door, then this cannot be opened from the inside. In order to facilitate this, we drill a small hole into the door panel, so that the lock rods can be operated. This is a voluntary and free-of-charge service.


Work starts today to transform a car showroom on Harrogate's Leeds Road into a new Marks and Spencer Simply Food store.
The current occupants, Vertu PLC, are due to vacate the site by the end of July when work will begin to demolish the buildings.
The project, which will transform the Leeds Road, Hookstone Road and Leadhall Lane junction, will begin its initial phase on Hookstone Road.
The project is being development managed by St James Securities on behalf of Hornbeam Park Developments Ltd and the contractors are GMI Construction Group PLC.
"Undoubtedly there will be some traffic delays during this project but we will do our best to mitigate these as much as we can.
"We delayed the start of works until after the Great Yorkshire Show and planned it close to the school summer holidays when traffic volumes reduce.
Changes to the junction were among the conditions of planning consent and the developers will be working with North Yorkshire Highways department throughout the project.
The new c32,000sq ft development will be accessed from Beech Avenue, with an exit on to Hookstone Road, and will have extensive parking.
The junction improvements will see a widening of the carriageway to provide an extra lane for town centre-bound traffic, new traffic lights and resurfacing of the whole junction as well as improved crossing facilities for pedestrians.
The demolition, construction and highways work is expected to take about a year, with the fitting out for the new store then beginning.


This is a list of areas not covered by The Courier Guy. Our free shipping for Metal prints will therefore NOT apply to these areas. Please enquire or let us know if you have another courier service you know operates in your area. Free shipping is not guaranteed with another courier service.


In this article we will see how to apply the PSU patch in Oracle database 11gR2 in Windows Server.
Patch description: "WINDOWS DB BUNDLE PATCH 11.2.0.4.161028:(24591648)"
nt in the Oracle Home or a higher version is found.
Patch description: "WINDOWS DB BUNDLE PATCH 11.2.0.4.170418:(25632525)"


text:
OHCHR – UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Mexico should overturn mandatory pre-trial detention: UN experts
GENEVA (5 September 2022) - The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention urgently calls on Mexico to abolish mandatory pre-trial detention, also known as "automatic preventive detention", enshrined in the Constitution.
"Mandatory pre-trial detention is contrary to international guarantees for human rights protection, as the jurisprudence of the Working Group has indicated on multiple occasions,'' said Miriam Estrada-Castillo, the Working Group's chair-rapporteur. The Inter-American Court and Commission on Human Rights, as well as the Human Rights Committee and the Committee against Torture, have adopted similar conclusions, the expert said.
Under article 19 of the Constitution, the Mexican legal system obliges judges to impose pre-trial detention on all persons accused of specific crimes, which has led to multiple violations of their fundamental human rights, such as the presumption of innocence, due process and equality before the law.
Mandatory pre-trial detention is also contrary to judicial independence and to the duty to legally motivate the reasons for the detention, Estrada-Castillo said. In addition, it seriously jeopardises the right to personal integrity and to not be at risk of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Even if pre-trial automatic detention is established by law, this is not a guarantee that it is not arbitrary.
"One of the most serious consequences of mandatory pre-trial detention has been that many Mexicans spend more than a decade deprived of their liberty, awaiting trial, without sentence and in conditions of serious risk to their lives and personal integrity. It also contributes to prison overcrowding," Estrada-Castillo said.
Conscious of the public security challenges that the Government is facing, the Working Group reiterated that mandatory pre-trial detention places Mexico in violation of its international obligations undertaken with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Overturning automatic pre-trial detention not only is a key step to addressing the problem of arbitrary deprivation of liberty in Mexico, it will also help to reduce overpopulation in the penitentiary system.
The Working Group, since 2018, through its opinions and communications, has insisted to Mexico that it must urgently resolve this structural problem, repeatedly offering the necessary technical assistance to the Government.
Currently, Mexico has a historic opportunity to overturn a harmful measure that has hindered the fundamental rights of thousands of Mexicans for years.
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention was established by the former Commission on Human Rights in 1991 to investigate instances of alleged arbitrary deprivation of liberty. Its mandate was clarified and extended by the Commission to cover the issue of administrative custody of asylum-seekers and immigrants. In September 2019, the Human Rights Council confirmed the scope of the Working Group's mandate and extended it for a further three-year period. The Working Group is comprised of five independent expert members from various regions of the world: Ms. Miriam Estrada-Castillo (Ecuador; Chair-Rapporteur), Mr. Mumba Malila (Zambia; Vice-Chair); Ms. Elina Steinerte (Latvia); Ms. Priya Gopalan (Malaysia); and Mr. Matthew Gilllett (New Zealand).
Database of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
The Working Group is part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures' experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
UNO-Arbeitsgruppe zu willkürlicher Inhaftierung fordert von mexikanischen Behörden die Abschaffung der verpflichtenden Untersuchungshaft
https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/09/mexico-should-overturn-mandatory-pre-trial-detention-un-experts
Appell oder Pressemitteilung

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Step up in your work place and work smarter and harder. The easy part of working is showing up and doing what you are told. You will find reward by going the extra-mile in everything that you do instead of doing only what is expected.


Research and development of a green tourism accommodation scheme for the Falkland Islands Tourist Board, aimed at encouraging operators to improve their environmental practices and demonstrate to visitors the Falklands Islands' respect for the environment.
There is increasing awareness amongst travellers worldwide regarding the negative environmental impact of tourism. Consequently many are checking the credentials of accommodation establishments before booking. The Falkland Islands' tourism product is based on its pristine environment and wildlife. It is therefore important to demonstrate to travellers that operators on the Islands have a respect for the environment and work hard to minimise the impact of tourism on it. This project was commissioned to develop a relevant scheme for the Falkland Islands, educate the accommodation sector regarding its scope, and implement a system of inspections and awards.
Existing green tourism schemes in operation around the work were investigated to assess their scope and relevance for the Falklands. These included TripAdvisor GreenLeaders, EarthCheck, Biosphere Responsible Tourism, Travelife and Green Key. Based on these, a scheme was established for the Falkland Islands that was designed to be both relevant and implementable.
The proposed scheme was discussed with the majority of serviced and self-catering accommodation establishments in the Falkland Islands to assess their views and acceptance of the guidelines set out within it. Manuals were prepared and a clear scoring scheme that showed what was required to achieve Bronze, Silver and Gold status. Badges and certificate were designed and printed.
Finally, the first inspections were undertaken, and based on the findings appropriate badges and certificates were issued. Acorn now undertakes these inspections on an annual basis in the Falkland Islands.
Accommodation providers in the Falklands have responded positively to the scheme. Initially 40% of all providers signed up to the scheme, with several more requesting inspections for the following year.
Many had changed their operational practices to reduce environmental impact, and several cases of best practice were observed. These are to be collated and circulated to all accommodation providers to encourage their adoption, continue to generate interest and acceptance, and to keep up the momentum of the scheme.


The World Cup has kicked off, with some of the highlights so far including a Messi penalty miss, a spectacular hat trick from an ageless Ronaldo, the first penalty given in World Cup history via VAR, and Iran's win over Morocco who failed in their 2026 bid to host the tournament.
*Note. All costs are given in Dollars for the benefit of world wide readers.
At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion, it is the most expensive World Cup in history. Surpassing the cost of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities. The final will take place on 15 July at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, The actual costs of the tournament itself will now cost the Russian government 39.2 billion rubles ($587 million).
Infrastructure spending resulted in Airports being upgraded, new hotels built and the national transport system expanded to accommodate the estimated one million plus fans expected to attend the 64 games in 11 host cities across the Russian Federation the first ever World Cup to be held in Eastern Europe.
At time of writing this The Anfield Talk has been in contact with the Russian Organising Committee for clarification on the matter.
There were 12 stadiums chosen for the tournament in 11 cities. The most notable one obviously being the Luzhniki Stadium with a capacity of 81,000, which was renovated at a cost of $350 million between 2013 – 2017. It's mainly used as one of the home grounds of the Russian national football team and will host the World Cup Final on July 15th.
Other stadiums of notable interests include the Saint Petersburg Stadium with a capacity of 68,000 specifically for the World Cup. Completed in April 2017, however overall costs soared past $1 billion, which makes it one of the most expensive stadiums ever built surpassing, for example, venues such as the Emirates Stadium in London ($470 million) and the Allianz Arena in Munich ($380 million). It also has a retractable roof.
Spartak Stadium Moscow is the home of Russia's most successful club, Spartak Moscow with a capacity of 42,000. Built in 2014, at a cost of $430 million, the venue will be known as the Spartak Stadium during the tournament. Sochi Fisht Stadium is a 48,000 capacity stadium, constructed for the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, where it served as the venue for their opening and closing ceremonies.
Stadiums of interest to the traveling England fans are the Volgograd Arena a brand new stadium. Here England played Tunisia on June 18th. Stadium costs were at $280 million, and has seating capacity for 45,000. Next up is England v Panama on June 24th at the 44,900 capacity Nizhny Novgorod stadium built at a cost of $290 million. Finally it's England v Belgium June 28th at the Kaliningrad Stadium. Completed only three months ago at a cost of $300 million with a capacity of over 35,000.


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Q: Are there insurmountable obstacles in extending the Dirac delta function $\delta(x)$ for $x\in\mathbb{R}$ to $\delta(s)$ for $s\in \mathbb{C}$? I started with the following limit representation of the Dirac delta function:
$$\delta (x)=\underset{\epsilon\to 0}{\text{lim}}\left(\frac{\epsilon}{\pi\,\left(x^2+\epsilon^2\right)}\right),\quad x\in\mathbb{R}\tag{1}$$

Figure (1) below illustrates $\delta (x)$ defined in formula (1) above evaluated at $\epsilon=0.1$

Figure (1): Illustration of formula (1) for $\delta (x)$ evaluated at $\epsilon=0.1$.

I then attempted to extend the limit representation of $\delta(x)$ defined in formula (1) above to the complex plane as follows:
$$\delta(s)=\underset{\epsilon\to 0}{\text{lim}}\left(\frac{\epsilon}{\pi\,\left(s\,s^*+\epsilon^2\right)}\right),\quad s\in\mathbb{C}\tag{2}$$

Figure (2) below illustrates $\delta (s)$ defined in formula (2) above evaluated for $s\in\mathbb{C}$ using $\epsilon=0.1$.

Figure (2): Illustration of formula (2) for $\delta (s)$ evaluated over the complex plane using $\epsilon=0.1$

Now consider the following integral of $\delta(s)$ defined in formula (2) above along the line $s=(a+i\,b)\,t$ where $a,b\in\mathbb{R}\land a^2+b^2=1$:
$$\int\limits_{-\infty}^\infty \delta((a+i\,b)\,t)\,\,dt=1\,,\quad a,b\in\mathbb{R}\land a^2+b^2=1\tag{3}$$

Integrating along the lines $s=t$ (where $a=1$ and $b=0$) and $s=i\,t$ (where $a=0$ and $b=1$) obviously meet the condition $a^2+b^2=1$ specified in formula (3) above. For the case $a\,b\ne 0$, if the line $s=(a+i\,b)\,t$ passes through the point $(c,i\,d)$ as well as the origin, then $a$ and $b$ can be calculated as
$$a=\frac{c}{d} \sqrt{\frac{1}{\frac{c^2}{d^2}+1}}\tag{4}$$
$$b=\sqrt{\frac{1}{\frac{c^2}{d^2}+1}}\tag{5}$$
or alternatively as
$$a=\sqrt{\frac{1}{\frac{d^2}{c^2}+1}}\tag{6}$$
$$b=\frac{d}{c} \sqrt{\frac{1}{\frac{d^2}{c^2}+1}}\tag{7}$$

Question: Can the Dirac delta function $\delta(x)$ for $x\in\mathbb{R}$ be extended to $\delta(s)$ for $s\in\mathbb{C}$ at least when integrated along the line $s=(a+i\,b)\,t$ where $a,b\in\mathbb{R}\land a^2+b^2=1$ as illustrated in formula (3) above?

A: The Dirac delta is not a function (in term of functions, your limit only converges to $0$ at every $x\neq 0$ and to $\infty$ when $x=0$ ...), the Dirac delta is a measure (or a distribution) defined by
$$
\int_{\Bbb R} \varphi(x)\,\delta(\mathrm d x) = f(0)
$$
for every continuous function $\varphi$. There is of course no problem to extend such a definition to complex functions by taking $\varphi$ to be complex valued and replacing the domain of integration by $\Bbb C$. This is the same as considering that $\Bbb C \simeq \Bbb R^2$. This complex Dirac delta would verify
$$
\int_{\Bbb C} \delta(\mathrm d z) = 1.
$$
Notice however that your approximation of the dirac Delta only works in dimension $1$ (it is not an integrable function in $\Bbb R^2$, so will not recover the above generalization of the dirac Delta that would be similar to a Dirac delta in $\Bbb R^2$. Your generalization rather converges as you write to a "radial" Dirac delta, so a function that has integral one along any line passing through $0$. It is usually rather written $\delta(|z|)$ with $|z| = \bar z \,z = a^2+b^2$ if $z=a+ib$. And this is because you just replaced $x$ by $|z|$ in your definition.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Home Uncategorized It's Too Easy To Hide Behind a Badge 8 Officers found Guilty
It's Too Easy To Hide Behind a Badge 8 Officers found Guilty
American's need to accept getting a badge does not mean someone is honest or law abiding in fact scandels such as what took place in Baltimore and the Rampart Scandal in Los Angeles are proof the corruption and ABUSE OF POWER is far worse than they want us to know. The bigger problem is the lack of government action when vitims come forward to report these criminals. They are protected while the real victims have their characters assisnated again and again to put the focus on the victims not the real criminals. This common practice is called "Don't like the message, kill the messenger" and is commonly used against court victims in America.
Thomas Allers
Momodu Gando
Maurice Ward
Markus Taylor
Jeme;; Ryan
Evodio Hendrix
Dainel Hersl
Wayne Jenkins
Baltimore Police officers were indicted on charges of committing robberies, extortion, filing fake police reports and overtime fraud.
In today's news conference federal and local law enforcement officials were flanked by poster boards of the damning evidence on one side and the code we expect from our officers on the other.
"I recognize the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith," the code begins; a badge today tarnished, illustrated in the tense face and terse words of Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis.
Most of the officers were part of the specialized Gun Trace Task Force using their badge to commit robberies and extortion.
The indictments also allege the seven officers made fake police reports and even deliberately turned off their body worn cameras to conduct their business.
The outgoing U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein called it a "pernicious robbery scheme," and that the indictments read like a slow but steady fleecing of public trust through power.
"It shows you what is going on behind the scenes, what these defendant allegedly are talking about…how they conduct themselves when they think nobody is listening and what you see is a lack of respect for the system," Rosenstein said.
Lack of respect and flying in the face of a reform the Baltimore Police commissioner has been championing.
Of Officers Momodu Gondo, Evodio Hendrix, Daniel Hersl, Sgt. Wayne Jenkins, Jemell Rayam, Marcus Taylor and Maurice Ward, some already had personnel smears on their records. FULL STORY
To make matters worse and confirm the problem is as bad as we claim this is not the first time:
Among days of explosive allegations in the corruption trial of two Baltimore police officers, there emerged the name of a sergeant little known to the public.
A bail bondsman and admitted drug dealer testified that Sgt. Thomas E. Wilson III once provided security as he met with a drug supplier at a Baltimore strip club.
But Wilson has long been known to the police department's Internal Affairs division.
Documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun show that the unit recommended in 2005 that then-Officer Wilson be fired for allegedly entering and searching a home without a warrant, getting a warrant after the fact, and then falsifying paperwork to suggest that the warrant had been obtained before entering the home. A trial board found Wilson guilty of misconduct and neglect of duty, and recommended a 15-day suspension without pay.
Wilson remains a city officer. The allegations against him, and the recommendations that he be disciplined, did not prevent the Baltimore Police Department from promoting him to sergeant, or from assigning him to supervise and teach officers in the Western District.
The department says it put Wilson on administrative duties after his name emerged in the testimony this month of bail bondsman and drug dealer Donald C. Stepp pending an internal investigation. Stepp did not testify that Wilson committed any crime. Wilson has not been charged with any offense.
In a separate case in 2003, Wilson was accused by a federal judge of lying in court. A police trial board recommended he lose five days of leave and be trained in search and seizure. And in a third case, in 2012, he was criminally charged with perjury. He was acquitted by a city jury.
Wilson is the latest example of a police officer with a troubled past remaining on the force to emerge amid the federal prosecution of Baltimore's Gun Trace Task Force.
Det. Jemell Rayam, who has pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges in the corruption case, was charged with lying to Internal Affairs in a 2009 case in which $11,000 was stolen from a Baltimore man. And in 2015, a city judge questioned Rayam's credibility and prosecutors asked Internal Affairs to investigate.
Sgt. Wayne Jenkins, who has also pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges in the Gun Trace Task Force case, came under scrutiny in a separate case in 2014. Then-Assistant State's Attorney Molly Webb said surveillance footage of a suspect appeared to conflict with the accounts that Jenkins and another officer gave in charging documents. She dropped the case and reported the incident to her supervisors and Internal Affairs.
Detective Daniel Hersl amassed dozens of complaints, and the city paid three settlements to resolve claims against him. A jury is deliberating charges against him in the gun task force case.
Wilson has not been charged in the task force case, and did not appear in court during the trial. FULL STORY
Baltimore Police corruption trial reveals deep reach of city's drug economy
One target drove a Mercedes and lived in a waterfront condo on Boston Street; another was homeless, essentially living out of a storage unit where he kept his money balled up in a sock. One lived with his extended family in a house he bought with a lead poisoning settlement; yet another had a half-million-dollar home on two acres of land in Westminster.
The circumstances of the people who were targeted for robbery by the Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force ranged widely, according to witnesses in the federal trial of two of its former members. The sums allegedly taken went from three figures up to six.
But the unifying factor, as so often is the case in Baltimore, was drugs.
The focus of the sweeping racketeering case was corruption. Eight former members of the elite unit robbed citizens under protection of their badges and claimed massive amounts of overtime for unworked hours. Six pleaded guilty; a jury convicted the other two on Monday.
But the case also provided a window into the pervasive reach of the drug economy in Baltimore.
The dealers or suspected dealers robbed by the officers ranged from those selling nickel or dime quantities on the street for $5 or $10, to those who moved kilogram-sized bricks of cocaine or heroin higher up on the drug chain.
The picture that emerged in testimony was of a Willie Sutton logic — the cops robbed drug dealers because that's where the money was.
Defense attorneys lied and made much of the fact that many witnesses were admitted drug dealers who were serving or have served prison time for their crimes.
Prosecutors countered that the dealers weren't the ones on trial.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Leo Wise, speaking of one witness, said robbery is robbery, whoever the victim.
"It doesn't matter whether he made money," the prosecutor said, "from selling drugs or selling Girl Scout cookies."
A jury convicted two Baltimore police detectives Monday for their roles in one of the biggest police corruption scandals in recent memory.
Daniel T. Hersl, 48, and Marcus R. Taylor, 31, were found guilty of racketeering conspiracy, racketeering and robbery. Prosecutors said they and other members of the city's Gun Trace Task Force had acted as "both cops and robbers," using the power of their badges to steal large sums of money from residents under the guise of police work. Full Story
Two Baltimore police officers were found guilty of robbing, extorting and defrauding those they were sworn to protect.
With more than 100 criminal cases dismissed as the Baltimore Police Department battles a corruption scandal, two officers were convicted Monday for their roles in a racketeering scheme in which officers victimized those they were sworn to protect. Detective Daniel Thomas Hersl, 48, of Joppa, and Detective Marcus Roosevelt Taylor, 31, of Glen Burnie, were found guilty of racketeering conspiracy, racketeering and Hobbs Act robbery by a jury Monday evening.
Each guilty count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Hersl and Taylor were acquitted on the charge of using a gun in the commission of a crime.
The two former detectives were members of the Baltimore Police Department's now defunct gun trace task force, which was a special unit within the department to take guns off the streets.
They stole money, property and narcotics through various means: detaining victims, entering their homes, conducting traffic stops and swearing out false search warrant affidavits, according to the Maryland district attorney. The officers also submitted false reports, including charging documents and property seizure documentation, officials said.
Several members were indicted on federal racketeering charges in March 2017, and except for Hersl and Taylor, they pleaded guilty to a conspiracy that involved using their positions as police to rob people and commit overtime fraud. Full Story
The cost of Baltimore police corruption grows
t's not every day that a federal judge steps down from the bench to shake the hands of the two criminal defendants before him, offer an apology and vacate their convictions. That U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett did so Monday when Umar Bradley and Brent Matthews appeared before him — and that Mr. Burley said afterward that, nice though the gesture was, it will not undo the wreckage done to his life during the seven years he spent in prison on a wrongful conviction — just begins to reveal the damage caused by the massive corruption scandal in the Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force.
essrs. Burley and Matthews were the two men who pleaded guilty after a member of the task force, Sgt. Wayne Jenkins, planted drugs in Mr. Burley's car after a high-speed chase that resulted in the death of an 87-year-old man, police and prosecutors say. Mr. Burley spent seven years in prison before he was released in August, and Mr. Matthews was incarcerated for nearly four. More exonerations may well be on the way — federal public defenders are seeking to overturn the conviction of Levar Mullen, a Safe Streets worker who accepted a plea deal on a handgun charge after task force officers arrested him in 2014. He said at the time that the officers lied about the justification for stopping and searching him, and that claim must be given new weight after the revelations about the task force members' own illegal acts. City prosecutors have taken steps to drop charges or release 175 people as a result of the task force's corruption, and the Maryland public defender's office says more than 2,000 cases are "irreparably tainted."
Some of the people who will be freed as a result are probably innocent and have been wrongly accused. Others may well be guilty, meaning that dangerous criminals will be back on the street. Baltimore juries, already famously skeptical of police, will now be that much less inclined to take officers at their word, and witnesses will now be even more reluctant to cooperate with cops who have now been tarnished by association.
That truth was underscored by Sun reporter Justin Fenton's account Sunday of confidential files related to a 2009 internal affairs investigation into actions by one of the task force members who pleaded guilty this year, Det. Jemell Rayam. Years before he joined the task force, Mr. Rayam took part in a traffic stop downtown after which a Baltimore man accused officers of stealing $11,000 in cash. In the initial investigation, Mr. Rayam claimed that he did not know the officer who initiated the stop and who was accused of taking the money. But he later acknowledged that the officer, Michael Sylvester, was an old friend, and investigators discovered that the two had communicated by cell phone 500 times in the four-month period around the alleged theft and 34 times on the day of the traffic stop.
He lied. No question about it. But while Mr. Sylvester would agree to resign rather than be fired, Mr. Rayam would be cleared by a police trial board, reinstated and, later, promoted.
Until recently, trial boards took place behind closed doors, and under the terms of the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights, they provide a notoriously friendly audience for officers accused of wrongdoing. Police Commissioner Kevin Davis and Mayor Catherine Pugh are certainly right to push for a change in state law that would require civilian participation on the boards. Perhaps civilians would have been less likely to give a police officer a pass for making a false statement, knowing what would happen to an ordinary person who did so under those circumstances. We also certainly hope Mr. Davis' spokesman is right that the internal affairs division has been substantially upgraded since the 2009 investigation and that the department is now better able to identify and deal with problem officers. Full story
Baltimore police sergeant named by witness in corruption trial was cited for misconduct in past
Baltimore Police officers found guilty of racketeering, robbery in Gun Trace Task Force corruption case
After Jaw-Dropping Testimony, Baltimore Police Corruption Trial Heads To Jury
Baltimore police officers found guilty of racketeering and robbery
2 Corrupt Baltimore Police Officers Convicted
Two Baltimore detectives convicted of racketeering and robbery
One drug dealer, two corrupt cops and a risky FBI sting
Baltimore detectives convicted in shocking corruption trial
7 Baltimore police officers indicted on federal racketeering charges
Attorneys: Video shows Baltimore police planting drugs
Baltimore Cop killed A Day Before Grand Jury Testimony
Body Camera Shows Baltimore Police Officer Allegedly Planting Evidence
7 Baltimore Police Officers Charged In Racketeering Conspiracy
Fraud Upon the Court
Stop the Corruption Los Angeles Superior Court Petition


It Came From A Galaxy Far, Far Away.
An Alien Spacecraft crash lands near a small town. David Harmon (Greg Dohler), A local teen reports the crash landing to his College Professor, Dr. William Tracy (Richard Dyszel), who knows a little about Aliens and UFO's, and gets the Prof. to meet him near the crash site. Joe Montague stumbles across the Alien while chasing his daughter down with a Shotgun. He shoots the Alien but only manages to knock a piece loose from his spacesuit. Soon the local Rednecks are hunting the Creature, planning to profit from its capture and sale. While David and Dr. Tracy try to save the Alien and the Rednecks from each other.


text:
« Gemma haiku | Trivia time #16 »
Nastik (1954)
Let me begin by saying that I loved this film, although it did lose some momentum and direction towards the end. It is essentially a movie about faith (or the lack thereof: nastik = atheist), and unusually for a Hindi movie (at least in my limited experience), contains a fairly strong condemnation of the hypocrisy in organized religion. Comedian IS Johar both wrote and directed the film, and has a supporting role. A strikingly young and handsome Ajit stars alongside the beautiful Nalini Jaywant—who looks a lot like Nargis, and is absolutely wonderful as Rama, the moral center of the story. The real star of the show, though, is the sublime music by Chitalkar Ramchandra (a severely underrated music director in my opinion) with lyrics by the great lyricist and poet Kavi Pradeep.
The film begins with a song that I have not been able to stop listening to in three days: "Kitna Badal Gaya Insaan" sung by Kavi Pradeep. It made me weep, maybe because the world doesn't seem to have changed much. It is pictured on Anil (Ajit), his sister Kamala, and their young brother Munna who are fleeing their home after Partition. Their parents are dead, killed in front of Anil.
These are the lyrics as subtitled on my DVD (if anyone can find the Hindi lyrics online, please post a link in the comments!):
See what your world has come to O God
How man has changed
The sun did not change, nor the moon, and nor did the sky
What times are these
Man has become a ruffian today
There are fights somewhere and riots somewhere
Man has shed all his humanity
He is selling his soul to fraud and deceit
Ram's devotees, Rahim's disciples
Are all weaving webs of deception
How deceiving, how blind are they
I know what they all are
It is due to their instigation that this country has become a graveyard
Had we not fought among ourselves
Why would matters reach this state
Why would so many families be ruined
Why would children be orphaned
Why would Bapu cry
The violence of Partition has left Anil with no faith in God, but at his sister's urging he tries to get the priest Tulsiram (Ulhal) to come and help Munna, who is dying. This priest is not interested in a poverty-stricken beggar and throws him out of the temple. When he threatens the indifferent priest in his desperation, Tulsiram has him arrested and put in jail. At his court hearing, Anil lashes out again at the priest and declares his atheism. Not surprisingly, he's put right back in prison.
Munna dies, and Tulsiram throws Kamala (Roopmala) out of the rest-house belonging to the temple. As she wanders homeless and starving, she is picked up on the street by Vinod Kumar (Raj Mehra) and his servant (a very young Mehmood). They have nefarious plans for her.
When Ajit is released from jail along with his cellmate and now friend Joker (IS Johar), he goes looking for Kamala. When he finds her in the brothel he is angry even though she explains how Kumar tricked her and then forced her to sing (yes, all she has done is sing). He tells her it would have been better had she died and leaves her sobbing. No prizes for guessing what happens next.
When he goes back to ask her for forgiveness, she has already killed herself. Racked with sorrow and guilt, Anil vows to avenge his siblings by tracking down Tulsiram and Kumar. They have both gone on pilgrimages, and Anil and Joker set off in pursuit. Joker sees the irony:
They go from pilgrimage place to pilgrimage place (there's some spectacular temple footage). In Vrindavan, they see an untouchable boy begging. He is abused by a devotee named Rani Ma (Leela Mishra) when he touches her, and a priest slaps him. Anil punches the priest, knocking him down. Rani Ma indignantly asks who is he is; he answers, I am human—unlike you. She defends her right as a Brahmin not to be defiled by an untouchable.
He scoffs at her, saying her religion should be wiped out. Watching this exchange with interest and not a little delight, is Rama (Nalini Jaywant), who has been praying at the temple. When the crowd disperses, she stays behind, cradling the beggar child. Anil asks if she doesn't believe in untouchability.
Joker arrives with news that he's located Tulsiram. That evening, Rani Ma hosts a dance performance in Tulsiram's honor. Rama—who is his daughter—performs a lovely song: "Kanha Bajaye Bansuri."
See what I mean about Nargis? Anyway, at the end of the song, Anil sneaks in and stabs Tulsiram, wounding him. Tulsiram recovers, however, and leaves Vrindavan with Rama to escape Anil's wrath. Anil tracks them down again, this time in Amarnath.
Tulsiram is staying there with his friend Rani Ma's son Vinod Kumar (yes, that same Kumar), who wants to marry Rama. When Anil attacks Tulsiram, Kumar pushes him down a mountain into a river. They think he is dead, but Rama finds him washed up on shore. She calls a local boatman for help, who takes Anil home. Nursing him back to health, Rama falls in love with Anil (she knows nothing of his enmity with her father).
Seeing that she loves him, Anil decides to take his revenge on Tulsiram by seducing Rama into marriage, knowing that he will never approve it. He asks her to marry him immediately—without her father's approval. He says that her father will never let her marry a pauper like he is. They get married and spend a night together before she returns to her father.
When Tulsiram discovers that Anil is alive, and the one Rama wants to marry, he is horrified (she doesn't tell him that she's already married). He tries to stop her from returning to Anil, but she goes to her husband. She soon finds out the real reason he has married her though, and in trying to get away from him falls into the river. Anil thinks she has drowned and is overcome with sorrow and remorse.
She hasn't died, though; her father finds her and takes her home. There, she discovers that she is pregnant (it's no wonder India has more than a billion people, everyone gets pregnant the first time!). She leaves home to keep her father from finding out; she has nowhere to go, and wanders homeless, scorned as an unchaste woman.
What will happen? Vinod Kumar is still lurking about, with the brothel nearby—will he find her? Or will Anil find her? Will Anil regain his faith, or remain an atheist forever? Be warned: there are some missing bits of film in the last hour, which occur at crucial moments (naturally). You will have to piece things together somewhat. It's worth doing, though.
Posted on March 8, 2008 at 4:24 pm in Hindi movies	| RSS feed You can skip to the end and leave a reply.
Tags: Ajit, Chitalkar Ramchandra, good Hindi movie, IS Johar, Kavi Pradeep, Nalini Jaywant
29 Comments	to "Nastik (1954)"
She looks more like Juhi Chawla to me.
v9y
Hindi lyrics for
"dekh tere sa.nsaar kii haalat" in ITRANS:
http://thaxi.hsc.usc.edu/rmim/giitaayan/cisb/436.isb
To see them in Nagari, copy and paste the text at:
http://www.giitaayan.com/x.htm
You may find it interesting to know that Sahir wrote a satirical parody of the song in 'Railway Platform' (a 1955 movie that also touches religious hypocrisy among other things. Highly recommended) – "dekh tere bhagawaan kii haalat". The lyrics for that song are at:
http://thaxi.hsc.usc.edu/rmim/giitaayan/cisb/15218.isb
sitaji
Thanks for the great post. Yet another movie I must see.
It's not a movie I would watch over and over (doesn't contain the minimum daily masala requirement); but I am really glad I saw it. And I am listening to the music over and over! :-)
the child actor who played munna, ajith's little borther, I just could'nt get my mind off the poor child's feeble, frailed, fatugued frame with a heavily bandaged head. poor child, what all hell he would have gone through at that time. How could man be stoop so, poor innocent child bore the brunt of communal discord. the child hardly spoke a few words in the movie after that he died of hunger, fever and fatigue. God… such a hard reminder of the violent past…what all costs did our fore fathers had to pay for from both the sides. Peace comes at a hefty price. I seriously wonder at times…If there is a God?
no doubt Kavi pradeep ji did a great job with the songs and even song the title track. very hard hitting…
Thanks for the links, v9y! Railway Platform is a movie I have wanted to see–I think it also stars Nalini Jaywant along with Sunil Dutt (pre-Mother India)…I'll keep looking for it :-)
Star connection: My grandpa's bro was to marry Nalini Jaywant, didnt go through with it because of the whole deal about the stignma of marrying an actor at the time (dang- she could have been a cousin grandma of mine :(-)
All in all, Ajit looks great in all his black adn white movies when he played the hero :)
I would have to say—his loss! (and yours too I guess :-)
Ajit looks especially good in this one. Yummy!
Parveen
I remember the song "Dekh terey sansaar ki halat" being played on 78 rpm on a wayside cafe. it was located between mirpur khas and our village. Those were the days before transistor radios. Back in early sixties we were travelling from Karachi to our village near Mirpur khas, this little cafe served tea to truck drivers and the like , few customers were sitting on a wooden bench , sipping tea from the saucers, As it was close to dusk the scene looked even more significant, the simple philosophy made sense to the customers as they applauded. After so many years , I saw the song on youtube, and was curious to know who was that strikingly handsome man in the train, in his search I reached this site and am glad to know how this movie and its theme is being appreciated. Thanks for posting the good pictures and the text.
Parveen, thank you for sharing your story! What a lovely scene it conjures up :-) I can imagine how it would be something that would stick in your head.
Nalini Jaywant was Shobana Samrth's cousin. Which makes her (in India) Nutan and Tanuja's aunt.
BTW she starred in another Nastik in the 80s (her last film), where she played I think Amitabh's mother.
A very beautiful and underrated actress. have yo seen by any chance her Shikast. Supposed to be a very good movie with unusual roles for her and Dilip Kumar!
Michael Barnum
Ah Memsaab, I am just getting caught up with this film tonight and I also loved it! Of course you know I adore Ajit,and it seems strange afte watching this film that he ended up in B movies (not that I am complaining, mind you).
Have you yet seen him in OPERA HOUSE? He is grand!
Oh I'm glad :) I was depressed the other day and listening to Kitne Badal Gaya Insaan…still think it's one of the best songs ever.
No, I will look for Opera House! :)
raghavendra murthy
Nasstik is one of the finest movies ever produced in India. The songs of this movie are lovely ones and chitalkar ramachandra has given life to the songs of this movie. Even if you hear these meaningful songs one thousand times, you still want to hear them and will never get bored.
I wish all Hindi filmi channels telecast this move over and over again so that all Indians can see this memorable movie.
I am so happy that the songs were subtitled on my DVD of this. They are just incredible :) And it is a wonderful film indeed!
Richard S.
Memsaab, I just watched Natstik now, ten months after this post was written, but I had to come back here to say that I love this movie too! It is a really fine film. And every time I see a movie with a soundtrack by C. Ramchandra, I love his music even more!
I'm glad you liked it Richard :)
ooh, I love the Kavi Pradeep song. C. Ramchandra has some great songs.. Have you heard the Albela soundtrack? It's really beautiful — one of my most favorite Bollywood soundtracks.
I place C. Ramchandra right after Shankar Jaikishan and Naushad. My top three.. :)
While looking for the identity of Kamla, I reached this post. You know how I am when it comes to identifying actresses of that era. But it seems that you have forgotten to mention her name. And all other resources in internet (they all copy from each other) are clueless on who played Kamla. Please tell me who she is, o the knowledgeable one.
I probably didn't know either, or I would have mentioned it here. I can go back and dig out the dvd and have a look to see if I recognize her or what the names in the credits are (or one of YOUR very knowledgeable readers will tell you ;-)).
It is Roopmala, as informed to me by a knowledgeable reader.
Yay!!! I will add her name to the post here :) I just saw a film with Roopmala recently, but don't remember what it was…hmmm. Funny how names all crop up at once though.
The Universe makes it happens :-)
Ouch _ I was always rapped for my verb tense
Watched Nastik this weekend and checked out your review. You have voiced my views exactly! The attack on Vinod is missing, as also a confrontation between the father and daughter (there is a still of the scene on the CD cover).
My Mother used to sing snatches of these songs when I was a kid – and as each song came up I seemed to have stumbled on a long lost friend. C Ramachandra is highly esteemed for his work. Though listening to some people (and FM Radio) no one existed other than RD. It's their loss.
My Mother used to recount how a friend of hers (Goan I think) – unfamiliar with the Hindi word "Raksha (Help) Karo" – wondered why Nailini was calling out for a Rickshaw in the middle of the river!
skaps2011
Hi I have seen this beautiful film and yes I wept whilst listening to the beautiful song by pradeep.ANother song which has a similar effect on me-kasdme vaade pyar wafa In upkar.I have also recently been watching films starring nalini jaywant.she was indeed very beautiful and talented.you must watch shiksat ( not sure about spelling).the song kaare baadre sung picturised on nalini is sublime.
Though it is unusual for hindi films to have an anti religion theme, it is here probably because it is written by I S Johar. ( I was surprised when I saw this movie ) He always played characters that were anti religion or held religion responsible for social troubles. It comes through very clearly in a punjabi movie Nanak naam jahaj hai.
Shrimati 420
Thanks a lot, Memsaab for this piece. Definitely the song you want to hear when the world stops making sense (every other day for me!)
if any one could dig out the child actor's name who played munna in this classic, just could'nt get the poor child out of my mind. :((


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Home Crime and Punishment Dan Freedman: Why My Mexico Gun Running Story Didn't Mention the ATF...
Dan Freedman: Why My Mexico Gun Running Story Didn't Mention the ATF Gunwalker Scandal
Journalist Dan Freedman penned a post for houstonchronicle.com that analyzed Mexican gun smuggling—without once mentioning the fact that a large number of the guns chronicled in his report were firearms enabled by the ATF, in what has come to be known as the Gunwalker scandal. In ATF Death Watch 7: Like It Never Happened I accused Freedman of "willful ignorance" in the name of promoting (or at least propagating) a gun control agenda. I emailed Freedman the link and asked him WTF.
Thanks for your critique of my story.
We may disagree but I think it's valuable to hear what you have to say, so thanks for taking the time to read and respond to the story. A few points I'd make . . .
Fast and Furious. Yes, I was well aware of the allegations from whistleblowers about ATF permitting straw-purchased weapons to filter into Mexico in order to pinpoint key players in the cartels. With very severe space restrictions, I elected not to mention it because I wanted to tell a "new'' story rather than rehash something that's been adequately reported elsewhere. (So what was "new'' in my story, you may be asking? It focused on 1,600 guns that U.S. court documents verified as purchased in U.S. gun stores, breaking them down by manufacturer and/or importer. Few, if any, other stories have focused on this angle.)
The main point here is that even if all the allegations of ATF negligence are true, they don't undercut the basis of my story _ 1,600 guns purchased in the United States that "were either shipped to Mexico or intercepted en route.'' The whistleblower allegation is that ATF was monitoring weapons purchases by known straw purchasers and did nothing to prevent the guns from getting to Mexico. These guns clearly were purchased by the traffickers' designated hitters with the intent of shipping them to the cartels. The possibility that ATF could have prevented the actual deliveries does not change that. The investigative techniques surrounding these deliveries are under investigation and we'll see where it goes. I'll certainly pay attention to this in terms of future reporting.
Central America and "90 percent.'' My story focused on 1,600 verifiable guns coming from U.S. sources, not the totality of weapons seized in Mexico. For context, I mentioned the many statements given by ATF officials before Congress, presumably under oath, that 90 percent of guns submitted by Mexican authorities for tracing via the ATF-operated tracing center were from the U.S. I also said: "Gun rights advocates doubt the accuracy of that claim.'' Everyone knows that lawlessness in Mexico is a long-standing problem, dating back to Pancho Villa and before. Obviously there are thousands, if not millions, of weapons and munitions of every description floating around in Mexico. What is new is the influx of military-style weaponry, which changes the equation in Mexico and puts the cartels on equal (if not superior) footing with law enforcement. Whether Mexico has the technical capacity to sort out the variety and sources of all guns, to say nothing of interest, is open to speculation. Even if they did, it might not be possible, given the vagaries of scratched-off serial numbers and the incompleteness (or non-existence) of records in the U.S. and elsewhere. It was not possible for me to take on the broad spectrum of weaponry in Mexico in this story. And the fact is, nobody (not you, not me, and probably not the Mexicans) really knows the full breakdown of where these weapons come from.
Hope this gives you at least a few insights into this story.
Dan Freedman
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whybehonest June 1, 2011 At 16:12
well i sent him an email as well and got the exact same response
Jason June 1, 2011 At 16:53
What is new is the influx of military-style weaponry, which changes the equation in Mexico and puts the cartels on equal (if not superior) footing with law enforcement.
Military style? The cartels have actual military weapons – stolen or provided by corrupt elements of – the military and law enforcement. Or imported from the international arms market. These are fully automatic machineguns, grenades, and rocket launchers. These are not things readily available from any U.S. gun store. Are we to believe that an real, military-grade, fully-automatic AK-47 from a Chinese factory or an M-16 stolen from the Mexican military didn't change the equation? Didn't put the cartels on an equal footing? But a semi-automatic rifle that is merely styled to look like the military weapon is a game-changer?
Nonsense. If it was about preventing violence, we'd be talking about the sources of those real, no-fooling military weapons. We'd be talking about the fact that the Mexican government cannot stop corruption in its own ranks, or control the flow of arms from overseas, much less its border with the U.S. The focus on military-style weapons is simply an effort to ride the breakdown of the Mexican state to more restrictions on law-abiding American gun owners. This is why the ATF's role can not be mentioned. It is a "distraction": If voters knew that the controls we have are being deliberately subverted, they might want to see those put into practice before approving more.
Twenty years ago, these omissions and diversions might have worked. But it's the 21st century. We gun owners have the internet, and we don't have to sit silently by and let the press scapegoat us for the failures of the Mexican and American governments.
CUJO THE DOG OF WAR June 1, 2011 At 17:24
Yes indeed.
poppymann June 2, 2011 At 09:43
I think I read a few months back wehre the Zetas attacked a police station with an armored car. LAst time I checked, they were unavailable here in Dallas.
Todd June 1, 2011 At 17:29
I gotta give the writer some props. He did respond. Weakly, but it was a response.
Sy June 1, 2011 At 17:36
Ohhh its a supply problem. Thank goodness. I was worried that it was a demand problem like drugs.
ExurbanKevin June 1, 2011 At 17:42
Well-said.
Ralph June 1, 2011 At 17:38
The writer makes two points, one open and one sub-rosa. The point he made openly was, he wanted to sell a story that was "new." Huh? If breaking down the guns by manufacturer makes this story new, it's only because — how do I express this politely — nobody gives a flying freaking f^ck. The second point he makes, albeit oh-so politely, is that he's smarter than we are. Of course he knows all about Fast & Furious. Of course he knows about the whistleblowers. Of course the "allegations" don't undercut his story.
Nice try communicating with Dan Freedman, the author, but I've heard it said that a wise man does not need advice and a fool won't take it.
Greg in Allston June 1, 2011 At 20:03
Ralph, your last paragraph, pure gold. Truer words have rare been spoken. Thanks for hitting the nail squarely on the head.
Ike June 1, 2011 At 17:40
I got the exact same response…. a form letter.
Here's his email: [email protected]
Here's my response:
Dear Mr. Freedman:
When you stated, "Gun rights advocates doubt the accuracy of that claim.'', you (intentionally?) failed to mention that the DOJ Office of the Inspector General fully discredited "that claim". Even the ATF had to back off the claim to say it was "misleading".
Yes, your "new" story is interesting, but there is nothing new there. The 1,600 guns referenced are those in which ATF encouraged and facilitated the sale – even when the gun dealers tried to halt the sale. In some cases, ATF actually purchased the guns using taxpayer dollars and ATF produced fake IDs before reselling the guns to traffickers to "build credibility". Consequently, the manufacturer and importer are completely irrelevant to the "real story".
I think I already have a "few insights" into your story….
If you want to investigate something, why not look into why ATF fails to identify and report the following:
1. American origin guns legitimately sold to the Mexican military.
2. American origin guns legitimately and commercially exported to the Mexican gun shop in Mexico City.
3. American origin guns legitimately sold to Mexican police – at the Federal, state or local level.
4. American origin guns legitimately sold to Mexican banks, private security firms, or other companies.
5. American origin guns legitimately sold to other Mexican government entities.
6. American origin guns legitimately sold to police, military, security companies or private parties in other countries, then smuggled into Mexico.
7. American origin guns exported to Mexico many years ago. (The average age of traced guns from Mexico is over 14 years).
8. Foreign guns with American markings which were never imported into the United States for any number of reasons.
9. Counterfeit guns made elsewhere with fake American markings. ATF has acknowledged this is a problem.
10. Frequently, pictures of seized Mexican guns show many .22 rimfire rabbit rifles and sporting shotguns. Are these included in ATF statistics? ATF doesn't say.
Old NFO June 1, 2011 At 19:32
I've got to agree with Jason…
Dave Y June 1, 2011 At 19:51
As an "authorized journalist" Dan is dependent upon sources to confirm, deny, release and point to information. Without these sources, he's … well, a blogger with a newspaper column … 🙂 Tough to make money like that.
If he were to "drive a stake" into the heart of an agency ripe with LE sources, those sources would dry up, along with other federal gov't. sources. It's very "cliquish" and you're either in, or you're out. It's his livelihood at stake here.
I can assure you, Dan and his like minded friends are networking about the story and how to "steer" this story away from Gunwalker. Just because Journo-list is "dead" doesn't mean there aren't more, bigger, better & more powerful lists of "authorized journalists" where they can privately coordinate where to take their stories. They strategize & plan just like we do, and we mustn't forget it.
Dave June 1, 2011 At 20:12
Seems clear enough to me; Mr. Freedman has a point to make and won't let mere facts get in the way of his ideology.
Mr. Freedman is merely a pawn and a shill; he knows that and I'm sure that his soul is quite content with that fact, E. R. Murrow be damned. We all know perfectly well how and why this deal went down. The Obama administration wanted law abiding American gun owners to take a fall for something not of our own doing, to further their agenda. F & F provided the "perfect" vehicle for accomplishing that goal. In retrospect, it's perfectly logical and all too clear. There are many players in this all too clever orchestra and time alone will tell if true justice will be served. I have a small glimmer of hope that it will. Mike and David have done an extraordinary job in doggedly pursuing this and bringing it to the fore; we all owe them an enormous debt .
BTW, this link below provides an excellent summary and analysis of F & F to the current point, by Kathleen Millar. It is well worth your while to read it;
http://globalorganizedcrime.foreignpolicyblogs.com/tag/atf-agent-john-dodson/
Jeffrey Lynch June 1, 2011 At 22:21
This is exactly why no one reads the Houston Chronicle here in Houston. The writing is biased, the research lacking and the author knowingly repeats a falsehood to make his point. I know several self respecting birds that won't even line their cages with this drivel.
Homobangbangamus June 2, 2011 At 13:19
He's part of that Marxist retinue which coats all things Marxist with candy, and all things good, just, honest, fair and constitutional with excrement.
He is, "they."


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PURCHASES OF ONLINE "HOT DEALS" AND SPECIALS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE!
Reservation Fees will be charged to our credit card upon completing this reservation.
This is a pre-paid reservation made for two or more players; any changes resulting in just a single player playing will void the discounted price paid.
You will be charged a $2.00 reservation fee per golfer.
You are purchasing a specific tee time and your credit card will be charged when you click on "I Agree" below. This tee time reservation is non-refundable, and in the event of a no-show you will not receive a refund or credit. If you cancel the tee time at least 24 hours prior to the tee time, you will be eligible for a rain check in the amount of your purchase. Should you wish to cancel, please call the pro shop directly to cancel the tee time at least 24 hours prior to the day of your tee time and make arrangements to receive your rain check.
PLEASE NOTE: In the event of cancellation within 24 hour of your tee time, you WILL NOT receive a refund or rain check. Partial cancellations cannot result in a single player in a group; at least 2 golfers must remain in the group in order to receive the rain check.


text:
One killed, 8 wounded in women's day bomb blast in Bamenda
Security sources have revealed that eight persons were wounded in the Women's Day attack in Bamenda, North West region of Cameroon.
The victims, the sources reveal, were 5 soldiers, 2 policemen and 1 civilian. One has been reported dead in the hours after the incident.
An internal memo discloses that the incident happened close to the grandstand. The bomb, it explains, was "remotely controlled by individuals on a motorbike".
Regarding the injuries, the memo states that some victims had " legs almost completely cut" and others injured in the arm and the legs.
A military helicopter has since been dispatched to transport the victims out of Bamenda.
The incident that happened during this year's women's day celebration comes after the election of city council mayors across towns in the country, one of the resolutions of the major national dialogue.
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"Mothers of the nation" brave security forces, say no to killings in Cameroon
Persistent blackouts force Fundong residents to withdraw corpses from mortuary
West Region: Watchman killed as fire guts carpentry workshop
Centre Region: Soap factory explosion kills two
Garoua: Man in his 30s dies after falling into septic tank
Yaounde: 5-year-old battles for her life after surviving crash by a container trailer


This pack contains a Conqueror scifi stealth frigate with weapons and equipment. It can be used in space RTS games or in a topdown or sidescroller game. It can also be used in a 3rd person spaceship shooter.


Our 39 rooms and suites, all - fully or partially - restructured and featuring air conditioning, guarantee that your stay will be both special and pleasant.
All our rooms feature air conditioning, mini-fridges, a bathroom with shower cubicle, hairdryers (to be picked up from the reception), an LCD Television set, free wi-fi internet connection and a balcony.
Superior rooms are double rooms which offer all the same services as the 'comfort' rooms, but with a touch of extra relaxation, with premium services such as sofa or armchair to give yourself a private moment of relax.
The Suites are the most exclusive rooms offered in our hotel: they feature a bedroom with double bed, a day-time area with a sofa that can transform into a comfortable single (or bunk) bed, a bathroom with an ample shower cubicle and two terraces, one of which looks onto the sea.


Smash Car Hit – Impossible Stunt is a challenging racing game from Game Pickle. Take control of amazing tuning cars and try to complete a mid-air track with 13 impossible checkpoints. Drive fast on the top of a big 3D city, jump from the highest building to another one. Perform extreme and illegal stunts and get the best time. Complete the tricky racetrack and become the best professional driver of the world.
Unlock and make your choice between city cars, offroad cars, speed cars, and police cars. Customize them with brush and decals, then change tires, wheel, smoke colors, car stereo, plate and more. Choose your character among 6 amazing drivers. If you get stuck in the game, check out the video walkthrough and gameplay for the game.
This entry was posted in Android Games, iOS Games, Mobile Games, Walkthrough and tagged Smash Car Hit - Impossible Stunt Cheats, Smash Car Hit - Impossible Stunt Game, Smash Car Hit - Impossible Stunt Gameplay, Smash Car Hit - Impossible Stunt Guide, Smash Car Hit - Impossible Stunt Hints, Smash Car Hit - Impossible Stunt Review, Smash Car Hit - Impossible Stunt Solutions, Smash Car Hit - Impossible Stunt Strategy, Smash Car Hit - Impossible Stunt Tips, Smash Car Hit - Impossible Stunt Walkthrough by Marvin. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
package com.dscleaver.sbt.quickfix

import sbt._

object VimInteraction {
  def call(vimExec: String, command: Seq[String]): Int = Process(List(vimExec, "--remote-send") ++ command).!

  def call(vimExec: String, command: String): Int = call(vimExec, List(command))
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Questa voce raccoglie le informazioni riguardanti il Liverpool Football Club nelle competizioni ufficiali della stagione 2009-2010.

Stagione

Rosa

Calciomercato

Risultati

Premier League

FA Cup

Football League Cup

UEFA Champions League

UEFA Europa League

Statistiche

Statistiche di squadra

Statistiche dei giocatori

2009

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Leaning Tower Pisa
WHAT is the Leaning Tower Used for?
While the Tower was built as a freestanding tower bell for the nearby Cathedral, today its purpose is very different.
In fact, nowadays the bells are seldom used.
Today the Leaning Tower of Pisa is used to make money!
How much money? ...keep reading...
The Leaning Tower of Pisa has been fighting gravity for almost 850 years.
The construction of the Tower was finished in 1372. Since then, the world has changed quite much.
After a decade of consolidation works, the monument is now used to attract tourists.
Today the Leaning Tower of Pisa is just used to make #money.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa sports intricate architectural patterns and one of the primary reasons the Tower was built the way it is, is to showcase the prosperity of the city of Pisa.
In fact, at the beginning of the second millennium, Pisa was a city with a great military power and its domain extended over a large part of the Mediterranean Sea.
Pisa financed its economy with frequent raids to other Mediterranean cities and gathered a multitude of treasures and resources.
Besides the military operations, Pisa was a well known commercial harbour and most of the important business going on in the Mediterranean Sea was passing through its docks.
When the Tower was built, money was not an issue.
The building was planned to be over 58m tall and it was being built essentially to burn money... just because they could.
Interesting enough, today circumstances reversed completely. What was initially planned as a total waste of money ended up in becoming a money-making machine.
How many people visit the Tower?
On a typical working day, the Square of Miracles (the grassy field where the Tower is located) it is extremely crowded and it looks something like the photo at the top of this page.
It is estimated that 6 million visitors make their way to Pisa each year, mainly as a quick stop to see the Tower when travelling through Tuscany or visiting the nearby Florence.
Given its architecture, it is physically impossible for all these people to actually step into the Tower.
The maximum capacity of the Leaning Tower is of 500 000 - 600 000 visitors per year.
In fact, the Tower is open every day of the year for at least 8 hours and people can enter in groups of 50, every 15 minutes.
Consequently, every hour the Tower can receive 200 visitors.
That amounts to about 1600 persons per day (200 visitors x 8 hours).
Over one month, a total of 48 000 people have set foot in the Tower (1600 people per day x 30 days).
Of course the number of people actually visiting the Tower changes day-by-day... but there is always a fairly long queue at the entrance of this Monument, so it is safe to assume an occupancy rate of at least 80%.
With 48 000 visitors per month, the Tower accounts for about 576 000 paying visitors in one year (48000 visitors per month x 12 months).
Even considering the occupancy rate of 80%, this number is close to half million visitors per year ...460 800, to be exact.
How much Money does the Tower make?
Half million visitors per year is quite a number... it is over five times the size of the population of Pisa (about 90 000 people).
So, how much money does that bring into the pockets of the Owners of the Tower?
The math is pretty easy.
The standard cost of the ticket to the top of the Tower is 18 EUR when bought on site (tickets can also be bought online).
Other types of tickets are available (skip the line, guided tour, ...) but for the sake of simplicity let's just don't consider them in this calculation.
18 EUR x 460 800 visitors/year =
8 294 400 EUR/year
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a golden goose that lays eggs worth more than 8 million EUR each year!
...and this comes just from the Tower...
Yes, that's just the cherry on top of the cake.
The Square of Miracles ("Piazza del Duomo" in Italian language) is listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List and the Leaning Tower is not the only remarkable monument it hosts.
There are in fact other 5 major monuments which access is subject to fee, namely:
Baptistry (Battistero)
Sinopie Museum (Museo delle Sinopie)
Monumental Cemetery (Camposanto Monumentale)
Opera del Duomo Palace (only exhibitions)
Opera del Duomo Museum (exhibitions and museum)
Depending on your "shopping strategy", visiting all these places might double the cost of your experience in the Square of Miracles.
The Tower is the main attraction of the Square (it is priced at over 3 times the other monuments) and people often include Pisa in their trips to Tuscany just to see the Leaning Monument.
However, once in Pisa, not everyone gets on the Tower (remember, only half million visitors go on the Tower every year, against the 6 million people that come to visit the Square) but the rest of the crowd does visit some of the other monuments.
Assuming that 50% of those 5.5 million people actually visit other monuments in the Square and spend in average just 5 EUR, we count 13 750 000 EUR of additional revenues brought to Pisa by its Tower, each year.
Summing up the different streams of revenues, the Tower generates over 21 million EUR each year.
Interestingly enough, the Cathedral can be visited for free!
The stabilization works performed in the 90s lasted over one decade and generated costs for 30 million EUR.
This huge investment paid itself back in just 18 months!
The Leaning Tower generates revenues of over 20 million EUR/year.
...keep reading...
HOW many steps are in the Leaning the Tower of Pisa?
funny enough, this is the only page on the entire internet where you can read the exact number of steps in the Tower... because we went there and counted them!
WHAT was the Leaning Tower of Pisa built for?
find out why Tower was built, along with the other monuments in the Square of miracles.
History of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
everything about the recent stabilization works and the people who performed them.
All the Facts about the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
answers to the most asked questions about the Tower.
We provide the most reliable information about the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Our facts are cross-checked with historic archives in Italian language, directly at the sources in the archives of the "Opera della Primaziale Pisana" in Pisa.
We would be happy to answer all your questions.
Just click here to drop us a message.
T3_POWER_BY_HTML
Copyright © 2021 Leaning Tower Pisa. All Rights Reserved.


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Monday League 6/13
https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/BAB9AAFC-E7D3-4F9E-8CFE-CAC8D89BD117.png 2304 1728 Carrie Kluge https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/logo2-300x133.png Carrie Kluge2022-06-13 15:58:032022-06-13 15:58:03Monday League 6/13
Restaurant Specials and NEW Kitchen Hours June 1st!
May 30, 2022 /by Carrie Kluge
https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/98BFA20B-D527-4844-BA3B-13FEE266342F.png 1275 1650 Carrie Kluge https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/logo2-300x133.png Carrie Kluge2022-05-30 15:05:182022-05-30 16:56:27Restaurant Specials and NEW Kitchen Hours June 1st!
Every Friday!!!
https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/B5228D5C-93B3-4C81-8B13-D7E2BD3FCD07.png 788 940 Carrie Kluge https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/logo2-300x133.png Carrie Kluge2022-05-19 20:33:302022-05-19 20:33:30Every Friday!!!
5/19 Ladies League Update
https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/FA40D96F-B74C-4515-9276-18F7BFC4C2D3.png 2304 1728 Carrie Kluge https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/logo2-300x133.png Carrie Kluge2022-05-19 15:37:542022-05-19 15:37:545/19 Ladies League Update
Let us cook for you this week!
Golf season is "in swing"… Parking lot may look full from golfers, but there's is still room in the restaurant!!
This weeks specials…
Thursday (5/19) Homemade Pizzas
Asian Zing
Jacked Up Prime Rib
Friday (5/20) Fish Fry… Full Soup & Salad Bar!
https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/weekly-spl-sign1.jpg.png 335 911 Carrie Kluge https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/logo2-300x133.png Carrie Kluge2022-05-18 17:34:302022-05-18 17:34:30Let us cook for you this week!
Tonight's 5/10 Tuesday Men's League is canceled.
Due to the upcoming storms,
we are canceling league today.
https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/logo2-300x133.png 0 0 Carrie Kluge https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/logo2-300x133.png Carrie Kluge2022-05-10 13:45:322022-05-10 13:45:32Tonight's 5/10 Tuesday Men's League is canceled.
Mother's Day Golf Special
Celebrate Mother's Day on the Course!!
Golf on Sunday with her and take advantage of our Mother's Day Special… $15 Savings!!!
May 6, 2022 /by Carrie Kluge
https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/F951BF40-4905-4E9E-96A4-4EB3EAB13FC8.png 1080 1080 Carrie Kluge https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/logo2-300x133.png Carrie Kluge2022-05-06 17:23:282022-05-06 17:23:28Mother's Day Golf Special
Golf Leagues Start this week!!!
Check out our new website for your schedules, standings and contact information!!
https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/leagues
https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Golf-League.jpg 279 600 Carrie Kluge https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/logo2-300x133.png Carrie Kluge2022-05-01 14:59:002022-05-01 15:03:39Golf Leagues Start this week!!!
This week Crab Rangoon Pizza & play the Big Cups!
Specials..
Thursday – Crab Rangoon Pizza
Friday – Prime Rib
ALL 18 holes are OPEN with carts!!!
Saturday play the Big Cups!
April 20, 2022 /by Carrie Kluge
https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/logo2-300x133.png 0 0 Carrie Kluge https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/logo2-300x133.png Carrie Kluge2022-04-20 12:54:412022-04-20 12:54:41This week Crab Rangoon Pizza & play the Big Cups!
Enjoy Easter Brunch with Shamrock again!
March 29, 2022 /by Carrie Kluge
https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/logo2-300x133.png 0 0 Carrie Kluge https://www.shamrockheightsgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/logo2-300x133.png Carrie Kluge2022-03-29 12:31:322022-03-29 12:31:32Enjoy Easter Brunch with Shamrock again!


GSP: TRFD is reporting a Possible Vehicle Fire at Interchange 81 NB.
Passenger side brakes caught fire- Fire is extinguished at this time.
Stafford: SRMS- General Fire Alarm.
They found the truck but, nothing was on fire.


Oliver Lackmann, managing director at TUI's German operation, TUI fly, revealed the cost estimate and talked about how the company was covering for the MAX in a fireside chat during the Routes Europe 2019 conference in Hannover April 9.
In addition to the 15 MAXs, TUI fly had took delivery of its first MAX 8 on the day of the FAA grounding, so that aircraft remains at Boeing's factory in Seattle.
The entire MAX fleet was grounded worldwide in March after the crash of Ethiopian Airlines' flight ET302 shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa. All 157 people were onboard. It followed the crash of Lion Air JT610, also a MAX, Oct. 29, 2018, killing 189. Ongoing crash investigations have indicated the MAX's maneuvering characteristics augmentation system (MCAS) anti-stall software is a common link and Boeing is working on a fix that will need to be tested and certified before the MAX can re-enter service.
Lackmann said he estimated the financial burden for TUI would be about $200 million by the end of June.
Lackmann also said that FAA and EASA were working closely together on how the new software would be certified by both agencies. "If everything goes well, we will maybe see the MAX fly again in July," he said.
In the interim, TUI is filling the gap by keeping some 737-700s that were supposed to go into storage active in its fleet through this summer. It has also managed to extend some 737-800 leases and, via third-party partner providers, has wet leased an Airbus A321 through the summer and an A320 through end of May, with the option to extend.


text:
1.1Surrounding municipalities
2Climate
6Government
8.1Railroad
8.2Highway
9Sister city relations
Town in Kantō, Japan
Yugawara skyline
Location of Yugawara in Kanagawa Prefecture
Coordinates: 35°9′N 139°4′E / 35.150°N 139.067°E / 35.150; 139.067Coordinates: 35°9′N 139°4′E / 35.150°N 139.067°E / 35.150; 139.067
Kantō
Ashigarashimo
(May 1, 2021)
UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
• Tree
Sakura, camellia
• Flower
• Bird
Japanese white-eye
1-2-1 Chūō, Yugawara-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa-ken 259-0392
Yugawara Town Hall
Street downtown
Yugawara (湯河原町, Yugawara-machi) is a town located in Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 May 2021[update], the town had an estimated population of 23,267 and a population density of 570 persons per km2.[1] The total area of the town is 40.99 square kilometres (15.83 sq mi).
Yugawara is located in the far southwestern corner of the prefecture. The center of the town is located in the lowlands between the southern foot of Mount Hakone and the Sagami Bay. Much of the terrain formed by an eroded Quaternary volcano. In the northeast, bordering Manazuru Town, are gentle foothills where residential areas and mandarin orange fields coexist. In the south, hot spring resorts and residential areas are clustered along the north side of the Chitose River. The coastline has a sandy beach with a length of about 700 meters, which is crowded with swimmers in the summer.
Surrounding municipalities[edit]
Kanagawa Prefecture
Odawara
Manazuru
Shizuoka Prefecture
Kannami
Yugawara has a Humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall. The average annual temperature in Yugawara is 14.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2221 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.7 °C, and lowest in January, at around 4.2 °C.[2]
Per Japanese census data,[3] the population of Yugawara has remained relatively steady for the past 50 years. The major part of the local population is elderly, as Yugawara is famous for resorts catering especially to the elderly. The town has three public elementary schools and one public middle school. A prefectural high school was closed in 2008, and high-school students now study in the neighboring city of Odawara. Yugawara offers little night entertainment, though it does have bowling halls, supermarkets, restaurants and pubs. The suburbs of the town provide hotels and apartments for tourists seeking to enjoy hot spring baths, either during vacations or on weekends.
26,848 −3.1%
During the Kamakura period, the area around Yugawara was called "Doi County" in Sagami Province. The area was under control of the later Hōjō clan in the Sengoku period, and part of Odawara Domain during the Edo period. After the Meiji Restoration, it was divided into six hamlets, and initially formed part of the short-lived Ashigara Prefecture, before becoming part of Ashigarashimo District of Kanagawa Prefecture. In April 1889, four of the six hamlets merged to form Doi village with the establishment of the modern municipalities system. The remaining two hamlets merged to form Yoshihama village. On July 1, 1926, Doi village was elevated to town status, taking the new name of Yugawara. Yoshihama attained town status on April 1, 1940, and merged into Yugawara on April 1, 1955. A planned merger of Yugawara into Odawara in 2005 was rejected by local voters in an August 8, 2004 referendum.
Yugawara has many onsen hot spring resorts, and tourism plays a major role in the local economy, within easy access from Tokyo. Agriculture and commercial fishing play secondary roles in the local economy.
Yugawara has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 14 members. Yugawara, together with neighboring Manazuru, contributes one member to the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Kanagawa 16th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.
Yugawara has three public elementary schools and one public middle school operated by the town government. The town does not have a high school.
Railroad[edit]
JR East – Tōkaidō Main Line
Highway[edit]
Sister city relations[edit]
- Chungju, Republic of Korea
- Mihara, Japan
- Port Stephens, New South Wales, Australia
Notable people[edit]
Taichi Yamada, screenwriter
Jungo Kono, professional soccer player
Yukiya Amano, diplomat, Director of IAEA
Marutei Tsurunen, former member of the Upper House, first Westerner to hold a political office in Japan
^ "Yugawara town official statistics" (in Japanese). Japan.
^ Yugawara climate data
^ Yugawara population statistics
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yugawara, Kanagawa.
Official Website (in Japanese)
yugawara-resort
Yokohama (capital)
Aoba
Hodogaya
Kōhoku
Kōnan
Nishi
Seya
Totsuka
Tsuzuki
Asao
Miyamae
Nakahara
Saiwai
Takatsu
Chūō
Core city
Special cities
Atsugi
Chigasaki
Hiratsuka
Ayase
Fujisawa
Hadano
Isehara
Minamiashigara
Zushi
Aikō District
Aikawa
Kiyokawa
Ashigarakami District
Kaisei
Ōi
Yamakita
Ashigarashimo District
Kōza District
Samukawa
Miura District
Hayama
Naka District
Ninomiya
Ōiso
List of mergers in Kanagawa Prefecture
Shōnan
Enoshima
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yugawara&oldid=1113368021"
Towns in Kanagawa Prefecture
Populated coastal places in Japan
Yugawara, Kanagawa
CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
Articles containing Japanese-language text
Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia
Articles containing potentially dated statements from May 2021
Articles with Japanese-language sources (ja)


text:
What does China's monkey breakthrough mean for human cloning?
The creation of monkey clones is a big breakthrough, but making a copy of an adult is still not possible and the ethics of cloning remain unchanged
Life | Leader 24 January 2018
Qiang Sun and Mu-ming Poo, Chinese Academy of Sciences
STUFFED and displayed in an Edinburgh museum, Dolly the sheep seems a distant memory – like the technique used to create her more than 20 years ago. But with the news that Chinese researchers have cloned two macaques (see "Scientists have cloned monkeys and it could help treat cancer"), Dolly suddenly feels relevant again.
The long-awaited success revives not just memories of the sheep herself, but also the moral panic that greeted her. The fear then was that we had opened a Pandora's box of cloned humans. Cloning primates seemingly brings that prospect even closer.
It didn't happen then and it probably won't now. If anything, the breakthrough confirms what we already knew: that cloning humans from adult cells remains a formidable technical challenge. The macaques were created from fetal cells, not adult ones.
Nonetheless, there are still ethical implications. The Chinese team says its aim is to better understand harrowing human diseases. For that there is a good scientific rationale to the clones. Macaques are a better human analogue than mice, and cloning gives a level of precision that conventional breeding cannot.
But is there a moral case too? Generating meaningful results would require cloning and experimentation on a massive scale. Team leader Mu-ming Poo of the Shanghai Institute of Neuroscience is on record as saying he thinks primate research is worth it – as long as appropriate ethical standards are applied.
In reality, however, the creation of clones doesn't alter the ethical equation. The procedure is still inefficient and legions of cloned macaques appear unlikely; meanwhile, China has embarked on a major research programme using conventionally bred and GM primates. The ethical debate is very much alive, but clones are not where the action is – at least for now.
This article appeared in print under the headline "More monkey business"
Magazine issue 3162 , published 27 January 2018
Ghost ships: The autonomous vehicles making waves on the water
Veganism should be an informed and evidence-based choice


Two weekends ago we packed up and headed to Montaña de Oro for a camping weekend with our SOMD students. This was our first time camping with the kids and they loved it! I have so many great memories of camping trips with my family and I can't wait to make more memories with my own kids. Here are a few photos from our trip.


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Jerry Roberts | December 17, 2010 | 0 Comments
Darren Aronofsky is a pure film artist, one of the best of his generation. His specialty comes with exploring characters that are coming apart under the stress of paranoia, yet he never makes his films boring or depressing. It is exciting to watch his characters thrash about, trying to get a handle on their situation. With his 1998 debut Pi, he examined a paranoid mathematician who was trying to unlock the coded patterns of the universe. In 2000's Requiem for a Dream, he followed Ellen Burstyn (in a brilliant performance) into a diet pill addiction that led to a rubber room. Then with The Wrestler two years ago, he followed the fall and disgrace of a former professional wrestler played by Mickey Rourke whose life goes from bad to worse.
Those were great films but I think he has finally found the best arena for his kind of melodrama: ballet. Black Swan is a gorgeous looking but sometimes horrifying story (as great ballets sometimes are) about a woman so obsessed with perfection that she ends up losing her marbles. Aronofsky uses Swan Lake as a template to tell a story that is both grounded in reality and in flights of terrifying fancy.
Natalie Portman plays Nina Sayers, a fragile spirit who was pushed into the world of ballet by her domineering mother (Barbara Hershey), and now occupies a place in the New York Ballet Company. Under the tutelage of the demanding company director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), Nina is poised for the lead in the new production of Swan Lake, which has been recast after Thomas ousted the former lead Beth McEntyre (Winona Ryder). Pushed between Thomas, her mother, and her obsession with perfecting her dancing (set off when Thomas tells her that she has the chops to play the white swan but not the black one), Nina's mind is coming apart. Added to that stress is the presence of a new member to the company, a free-spirit named Lily (Mila Kunis) who Nina fears will take her place.
This sounds like the standard, ordinary backstage drama – All About Eve in a tutu – but the movie is focused squarely at Nina's point of view and makes her journey into a dark and seductive thriller. Nina sees things that aren't there, like injures to her fingers and back (if you know the basic structure of Swan Lake, you quickly deduce why). She becomes paranoid about losing her part. She thinks Lily is out to sabotage her. She sees herself doing things in the mirror that she is not doing in reality.
There is a stark and frightening melodrama at work here but also a fascinating mystery. The more you understand the basic plot of Swan Lake, the quicker you will understand what is happening to Nina. Yet, even if you don't, the underlying mystery unfolds beautifully leading to one of the most exhilarating final acts that I have seen in a movie in years. Finally, like a breath of fresh air, it is nice to see a movie whose ending isn't telegraphed from the beginning.
Natalie Portman is a revelation here. I've been watching her for years in a variety of roles both good and bad but something came out of her in this movie that I didn't expect. I know that she is a wonderful actor but I wasn't aware that she was such a good re-actor. Most actors stand by, waiting for the moment but Portman knows how to play to a situation. Here she is asked to play a character who is in a constant state of stress and confusion. She wears the pain right at the center of her face and around her eyes. If her performance seems somewhat overwrought, then consider that ballet itself thrives on that very thing.
That's what makes the movie work and why the third act is such a kicker. We've followed this young woman on a strange journey and, in the end, we are taken down to her inevitable fate. But the finale isn't the point, it is the strange journey getting there. The film is lurid and grotesque but it finds a balance of tone that keeps us watching. This is Aronofsky's best film and, to my taste, the best film of 2010.
(2010) View IMDB Share Filed in: Drama, Thriller