text:
/*
 * =====================================================================================
 *
 *       Filename:  GlycanSequence.cpp
 *
 *    Description:
 *
 *        Version:  1.0
 *        Created:  05/ 5/2012 10:15:09 PM
 *       Revision:  none
 *       Compiler:  gcc
 *
 *         Author:  Han Hu (HH), hh.earlydays@gmail.com
 *   Organization:  Boston University
 *
 * =====================================================================================
 */

#include <GAGPL/GLYCAN/GlycanSequence.h>
//#include <GAGPL/GLYCAN/MonosaccharideUnitTable.h>
//#include <GAGPL/CHEMISTRY/FunctionalGroupTable.h>
#include <boost/lexical_cast.hpp>
#include <boost/xpressive/xpressive.hpp>
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>

namespace gag
{
	void GlycanSequence::addBranch(Branch& bc)
	{
		glycan_sequence.push_back(bc);
		compo.add(bc.getComposition());
		// Initially, the originmap is set to be the mapping between the branch id and itself.
		originmap.insert(std::make_pair(bc.getBranchID(), bc.getBranchID()));
	}
	void GlycanSequence::addBranchLink(const size_t& re_id, const size_t& nre_id)
	{
		branch_links.insert(BranchMap::value_type(re_id, nre_id));

		// Update composition.
		Branch& bc = (*this).getBranchByID(nre_id);
		Linkage& lk = (*this).getBranchByID(re_id).getLinkages().back();
		bc.getUnitByID(0).removeFunctionalGroup("OH", lk.end);
		//bc.removeModification(0,lk.end,"OH","OH");
		compo.deduct("OH");
	}

	void GlycanSequence::addBranchLinks(const std::set<size_t>& re_ids, const size_t& nre_id)
	{
		BOOST_FOREACH(size_t re_id, re_ids)
		{
			this->addBranchLink(re_id, nre_id);
		}
		// update originmap.
		BranchOrigin::iterator iter1, iter2;
		iter1 = originmap.find(*re_ids.begin());
		iter2 = originmap.find(nre_id);
		iter2->second = iter1->second;

	}
	void GlycanSequence::updateChildrenIDs(const size_t branch_id)
	{
		BranchMap::right_const_iterator right_lower_iter = branch_links.right.lower_bound(branch_id);

		size_t min = branch_id;
		BranchDescendants::const_iterator d_iter = children.find(right_lower_iter->second);

		if(d_iter == children.end())
			min = right_lower_iter->second;
		else
			min = d_iter->second;

		children.insert(std::make_pair(branch_id, min));
	}

	void GlycanSequence::update()
	{
		compo.clear();

		for(std::vector<Branch>::iterator iter = glycan_sequence.begin();
				iter!=glycan_sequence.end(); iter++)
		{
			compo.add(iter->getComposition());
		}

	}

	std::pair<size_t, size_t> GlycanSequence::getDescendantBranchIDs(const size_t& branch_id)
	{
		BranchDescendants::const_iterator d_iter = children.find(branch_id);
		if(d_iter != children.end())
			return std::pair<size_t, size_t>(d_iter->second, branch_id-1);
		else // Leaf branch.
			return std::pair<size_t, size_t>(branch_id, branch_id-1);
	}

	size_t GlycanSequence::getOriginBranchID(const size_t& branch_id)
	{
		BranchOrigin::iterator iter = originmap.find(branch_id);
		if(iter != originmap.end())
			return iter->second;
		else
			return -1;
	}

	Composition GlycanSequence::getSubComposition(const size_t& id1, const size_t& id2)
	{
		Composition sub_compo;
		for(size_t i = id1; i < id2+1; i++)
		{
			sub_compo.add((*this).getBranchByID(i).getComposition());
		}
		return sub_compo;
	}

	Composition GlycanSequence::getSubTreeComposition(const size_t& branch_id)
	{
		std::pair<size_t, size_t>& range = (*this).getDescendantBranchIDs(branch_id);

			return (*this).getSubComposition(range.first, range.second);
	}

	Composition GlycanSequence::getTreeComposition(const size_t& branch_id)
	{
		std::pair<size_t, size_t>& range = (*this).getDescendantBranchIDs(branch_id);

			return (*this).getSubComposition(range.first, range.second+1);
	}

	SequenceCode GlycanSequence::getGAGSequenceCode()
	{
		Branch& bc = glycan_sequence.at(0);

		SequenceCode seq_code;

		for(size_t i = 0; i < bc.getUnitNum(); i++)
		{
			std::string str;
			size_t num = 0;
			std::string symbol = bc.getUnitByID(i).getSymbol();

			FunctionalGroupTable& fgt = FunctionalGroupTable::Instance();
			//FunctionalGroup& fg_ac = fgt.getFunctionalGroupBySymbol("Ac");
			//FunctionalGroup& fg_sulf = fgt.getFunctionalGroupBySymbol("HSO4");
			std::string fg_ac = "Ac"; std::string fg_sulf = "HSO3";

			// Check modification.
			if(symbol == "DeltaGlcA"){
				str = "D";
			} else if(symbol == "GlcA"){
				str = "G";
			} else if(symbol == "GlcN"){
				// Check acetation situation.
				if(bc.getUnitByID(i).containFunctionalGroup(fg_ac, 2))
					str = "A";
				else if(bc.getUnitByID(i).containFunctionalGroup(fg_sulf, 2))
					str = "S";
				else
					str = "H";
			} else if(symbol == "GlcNAc"){
				str = "A";
			}
			if(str == "D" || str == "G") {
				for(size_t j = 0; j < bc.getUnitByID(i).getInternalSites().size(); j++)
				{
					if(bc.getUnitByID(i).containFunctionalGroup(fg_sulf, j))
						num = j;
				}
			} else if(str == "H" || str == "S" || str == "A") {
				for(size_t j = 3; j < bc.getUnitByID(i).getInternalSites().size(); j++)
				{
					if(bc.getUnitByID(i).containFunctionalGroup(fg_sulf, j))
						num += j;
				}
			}
			//cout << "Sequence: " << str << num;
			seq_code.push_back(std::make_pair(str, num));

		}
		return seq_code;
		//cout << endl;
	}

	std::string GlycanSequence::getGAGSequenceCodeString()
	{
		SequenceCode seq_code = this->getGAGSequenceCode();
		std::string seq_str;
		SequenceCode::iterator iter = seq_code.begin();
		for(; iter!=seq_code.end(); iter++)
		{
			seq_str.append(iter->first);
			seq_str.append(boost::lexical_cast<std::string>(iter->second));
		}
		return seq_str;
	}

	void GlycanSequence::initializeModificationSites( const std::string& mod_symbol )
	{
		std::vector<Branch>& branches = this->getBranches();
		for(size_t bc_id=0; bc_id < branches.size(); bc_id++ )
		{
			std::vector<Monosaccharide>& mono_units = branches[bc_id].getGlycanChainUnits();
			for(size_t mono_id = 0; mono_id < mono_units.size(); mono_id++)
			{
				// Notice: just omit the atom information.
				std::vector<size_t> site_ids = mod_assistant.getModificationSetByPosition(mono_units[mono_id], mod_symbol);
				BOOST_FOREACH(size_t& site_id, site_ids)
				{
					mod_assistant.addModification(ModificationPosition(bc_id, mono_id, site_id), mod_symbol, true);
				}
			}
		}
	}

	void GlycanSequence::modifyModificationStatus( const std::string& mod_symbol, const ModificationPosition& pos, int status)
	{
		// Set the status of the rest of modification type on the same position.
		//int new_status;
		//if(status == 0)
		//	new_status = -1;
		//else if(status == 1)
		//	new_status = 1;
		//else if(status == -1)
		//	new_status = -1;

		//// 1. Locate the position of the modification.
		//ModificationByPosition& mod_by_pos = mod_pos_map.getContainer().get<mod_position>();
		//std::pair<ModificationByPosition::iterator, ModificationByPosition::iterator> p = mod_by_pos.equal_range(pos);
		//
		//if(p.first == p.second) {
		//	std::cout << "The specified position is not found for the modification type" << std::endl;
		//}

		//for(ModificationByPosition::iterator iter = p.first; iter!=p.second; iter++)
		//{
		//	// 2.a Update the information.
		//	if(iter->mod_symbol == mod_symbol) {
		//		mod_pos_map.modifyModificationStatus(iter, status); // Do not change the modification type.
		//	} else {
		//		mod_pos_map.modifyModificationStatus(iter, new_status);
		//	}
		//}
		mod_assistant.modifyModificationStatus(mod_symbol, pos, status);
	}

	void GlycanSequence::updateModification( const std::string& mod_symbol, ModificationPosition& pos )
	{
		Monosaccharide& mono = this->getBranchByID(pos.getBranchID()).getUnitByID(pos.getMonosaccharideID());
		mod_assistant.modifyFunctionalGroup(mono, mod_symbol);
		// Update the modification status to unavailable.
		this->modifyModificationStatus(mod_symbol, pos);
		this->getBranchByID(pos.getBranchID()).update();
		this->update();
	}

	void GlycanSequence::updateModification( const std::string& mod_symbol, ModificationPosition& pos, size_t site_id )
	{
		Monosaccharide& mono = this->getBranchByID(pos.getBranchID()).getUnitByID(pos.getMonosaccharideID());
		mod_assistant.modifyFunctionalGroup(mono, mod_symbol, site_id);
		// Update site id.
		pos.site_id = site_id;
		// Update the modification status to unavailable.
		this->modifyModificationStatus(mod_symbol, pos);
		this->getBranchByID(pos.getBranchID()).update();
		this->update();
	}

	void GlycanSequence::buildByGAGComposition( const GlycanComposition& glycan_compo, std::string init_mono)
	{
		Branch bc(0);

		FunctionalGroupTable& fgt = FunctionalGroupTable::Instance();
		std::map<std::string, int>::const_iterator d_iter = glycan_compo.mono_compo.find("DeltaGlcA");
		std::map<std::string, int>::const_iterator glca_iter = glycan_compo.mono_compo.find("GlcA");
		std::map<std::string, int>::const_iterator glcn_iter = glycan_compo.mono_compo.find("GlcN");
		std::map<std::string, int>::const_iterator s_iter = glycan_compo.mod_compo.find("SO3");
		std::map<std::string, int>::const_iterator ac_iter = glycan_compo.mod_compo.find("Ac");

		int dglca_num = d_iter == glycan_compo.mono_compo.end() ? 0 : d_iter->second;
		int glca_num = glca_iter == glycan_compo.mono_compo.end() ? 0 : glca_iter->second;
		int glcn_num = glcn_iter == glycan_compo.mono_compo.end() ? 0 : glcn_iter->second;
		int s_num = s_iter == glycan_compo.mod_compo.end() ? 0 : s_iter->second;
		int ac_num = ac_iter == glycan_compo.mod_compo.end() ? 0 : ac_iter->second;

		std::string init_error = "Please check the configuration of initial monosaccharide unit.";
		std::string num_error = "The number of monosaccharides for each type does not fit the model.";
		std::string sulfur_error = "The number of modifications doesn't fit";

		/* Check if the composition meet GAG requirement. */
		if(dglca_num > 1 || abs(glca_num - glcn_num) > 1) {
			std::cout << num_error << std::endl;
			return;
		}
		if(dglca_num == 1 && init_mono != "GlcA") {
			std::cout << init_error << std::endl;
			return;
		}
		if(ac_num > glcn_num || (ac_num + s_num) > (dglca_num + glca_num + 3 * glcn_num) )
		{
			std::cout << sulfur_error << std::endl;
			return;
		}

		// Decide the sequence.
		int cur_index = 0;

		if(dglca_num == 1) {
			bc.addUnit(fgt.getFunctionalGroupBySymbol("DeltaGlcA"));
			cur_index++;
		}

		if(glca_num == 0 && glcn_num == 0) {
			this->addBranch(bc);
			return;
		}

		std::vector<std::string> units;
		units.push_back("GlcN"); units.push_back("GlcA");

		std::vector<std::string> links;
		links.push_back("beta"); links.push_back("alpha");

		if(init_mono == "GlcA") {
			if(cur_index == 1){
				bc.addLinkage(Linkage(cur_index-1, 1, 4, "alpha"));
			} else {
				std::swap(units[0], units[1]);
				std::swap(links[0], links[1]);
			}
		} else if(init_mono == "GlcN") {

		}

		while(1) {
			for(int i = 0; i < 2; i++) {
				bc.addUnit(fgt.getFunctionalGroupBySymbol(units[i]));
				cur_index++;
				if(cur_index != dglca_num + glca_num + glcn_num) {
					bc.addLinkage(Linkage(cur_index-1, 1, 4, links[i]));
				} else {
					break;
				}
			}
			if(cur_index == dglca_num + glca_num + glcn_num)
				break;
		}

		this->addBranch(bc);

		// add modification information.
		for(std::map<std::string, int>::const_iterator iter = glycan_compo.mod_compo.begin(); iter != glycan_compo.mod_compo.end(); iter++)
			this->initializeModificationSites(iter->first);

		mod_constraint = glycan_compo.mod_compo;

	}

	std::set<std::string> GlycanSequence::getModificationTypes()
	{
		std::set<std::string> mod_types;
		for(std::map<std::string, int>::iterator iter = mod_constraint.begin();
			iter != mod_constraint.end(); iter++)
		{
			mod_types.insert(iter->first);
		}
		return mod_types;
	}

	int GlycanSequence::getModificationConstraint( const std::string& mod_symbol )
	{
		std::map<std::string, int>::iterator iter = mod_constraint.find(mod_symbol);
		if(iter != mod_constraint.end())
			return iter->second;
		else
			return 0;
	}

	ModificationSites GlycanSequence::getModificationSitesBySymbol(const std::string& mod_symbol)
	{
		std::set<ModificationPosition> mod_set;
		// Partial key extract.
		std::pair<ModificationByCompositeKey::iterator, ModificationByCompositeKey::iterator> p = mod_assistant.getModificationContainer().get<mod_compo_key>().equal_range(boost::make_tuple(mod_symbol));

		while(p.first != p.second) {
			mod_set.insert(p.first->mod_pos);
			++p.first;
		}

		return mod_set;
	}

	ModificationSites GlycanSequence::getModificationSitesBySymbol(const std::string& mod_symbol, int status)
	{
		std::set<ModificationPosition> mod_set;
		// Partial key extract.
		std::pair<ModificationByCompositeKey::iterator, ModificationByCompositeKey::iterator> p = mod_assistant.getModificationContainer().get<mod_compo_key>().equal_range(boost::make_tuple(mod_symbol, status));

		while(p.first != p.second) {
			mod_set.insert(p.first->mod_pos);
			++p.first;
		}

		return mod_set;
	}

	void GlycanSequence::printStructure()
	{
		// Iterate over all branches and explore the structure.
		for(std::vector<Branch>::iterator iter = this->getBranches().begin(); iter != this->getBranches().end(); iter++)
		{
			iter->printStructure();
			std::cout << "Children: " << this->getDescendantBranchIDs(iter->getBranchID()).first << "-" << this->getDescendantBranchIDs(iter->getBranchID()).second << std::endl;
		}

		// Print modification information.
		ModificationByPosition& mod_pos_index = this->getModificationSetByPosition();
		ModificationByPosition::iterator mod_iter = mod_pos_index.begin();
		for(; mod_iter != mod_pos_index.end(); mod_iter++)
		{
			std::cout << "Position: ";
			std::cout << mod_iter->mod_pos.getBranchID() << " " << mod_iter->mod_pos.getMonosaccharideID() << " " << mod_iter->mod_pos.site_id << " " << mod_iter->mod_pos.atom << std::endl;

			std::string status;
			if(mod_iter->mod_status == 1)
				status = "Available";
			else if(mod_iter->mod_status == 0)
				status = "Occupied";
			else if(mod_iter->mod_status == -1)
				status = "Unavailable";

			std::cout << "Type: " << mod_iter->mod_symbol << std::endl;
			std::cout << "Status: " << status << std::endl;

		}

	}

	void GlycanSequence::addModification( const std::string& mod_symbol, ModificationPosition& pos )
	{
		Monosaccharide& mono = this->getBranchByID(pos.getBranchID()).getUnitByID(pos.getMonosaccharideID());
		mod_assistant.modifyFunctionalGroup(mono, mod_symbol, pos.site_id);
		this->getBranchByID(pos.getBranchID()).update();
		this->update();
	}

	void GlycanSequence::addModificationConstraint( const std::string& mod_symbol, int number )
	{

		// Insert/Update the records.
		std::map<std::string, int>::iterator mod_iter = mod_constraint.find(mod_symbol);
		if(mod_iter == mod_constraint.end()) // Not found.
			mod_constraint.insert(std::make_pair(mod_symbol, number));
		else // Found: add corresponding composition number.
			mod_iter->second += number;

		// Initialize modification site.
		this->initializeModificationSites(mod_symbol);
	}

  ModificationSites GlycanSequence::getComplementaryModificationSites( const ModificationSites& ms, std::string mod_symbol )
  {
    ModificationSites complete_sites = this->getModificationSitesBySymbol(mod_symbol, 1);
    ModificationSites diff_sites;

    std::set_difference(complete_sites.begin(), complete_sites.end(), ms.begin(), ms.end(), std::inserter(diff_sites, diff_sites.end()));

    return diff_sites;
  }

}


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text:
Home » Programs » U.S. Foreign Policy Colloquium
2018 U.S. Foreign Policy Colloquium
May 29, 2018 to June 1, 2018
Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University, Washington, DC
Seventy-five Chinese Ph.D., M.A., and professional school students from universities across the United States convened in Washington, D.C., for the 2018 U.S. Foreign Policy Colloquium. Participants had the unique opportunity to interact with current and former administration officials, including U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao, as well as members of Congress and representatives from academia, think tanks, media, business, and lobbying groups. Off-site visits to foreign policy-making and/or influencing institutions, such as the National Security Council, U.S. Department of State, and Human Rights Watch, along with a Q&A session with diplomats from the Chinese Embassy, rounded out this comprehensive four-day program. View the full list of speakers and activities, please see the 2018 agenda. Click here to view photos from the program.
2018 FPC SPONSORS
U.S. Foreign Policy Colloquium
The U.S. Foreign Policy Colloquium is an exclusive four-day program designed to provide 75 of the best and brightest Chinese graduate students studying at colleges and universities from across the United States a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the complex forces that shape American foreign policy and inform the U.S.-China relationship.
Photos: 2018 U.S. Foreign Policy Colloquium
FPC 2018 FAQs
FPC 2018 Flyer (English and Chinese)
FPC 2018 Final Agenda
Apply for the 2018 U.S. Foreign Policy Colloquium
National Committee staffers Jessica and Kate want you to apply for the 2018 U.S. Foreign Policy Colloquium, May 29 to June 1 in Washington, D.C.

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3D[FWD], held in Vancouver at the Vancity Theatre on January 24th & 25th, brought together business leaders from a cross-section of industries to explore the impact of 3D technology and emerging 3D concepts and tools.
Emily Carr University of Art +Design with the S3D Centre are thrilled to have organised this event with the International 3D Society, with support from National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP). This event couldn't have been possible without the support of those organizations, and also our friends at Massive Media.
This was the banner event for the recently created Canadian Chapter of the International 3D Society. More information will be available at the Chapter website in mid February. Audio and videos will be hosted there from the event and future events. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Society, please contact us for more information.
Over 130 attendees came to Vancity theatre on the 25th of January to listen to some of the best 3D leaders in the world. We were treated to 4K 3D presentation of content from our speakers thanks to Christie Digital stepping in with a model CP4230 projector. The content was not only in brilliant hi-res 3D, but was BRIGHT! Our fantastic A/V team from Vancity Theatre and Zoom A/V made sure the projector and Dolby 3D system were installed in time, and that all the speaker's presentations flowed without problems.
The most exciting thing Chabin spoke of was that patents for 3DTV, 3D devices and technology are exploding in huge numbers. Companies are certainly looking at 3D and preparing for the future.
The professional community is both excited and hesitant over 3D, this is due to a large amount of mixed information, new information, and brand new technology. Chabin discussed auto stereo as the next movement in the entertainment and consumer landscape. "It has already started, products are being rolled out and content created for them." In regards to the adoption of consumer 3DTV, Chabin said "Whatever TV you buy is going to be 3D ready, price is no longer an issue. Prices are going down and more people are going to have a 3D TV than not within the next couple of years." Chabin stated that their are millions of 3DTVs now in homes around the world, and displayed a graph showing the surge in growth.
It was discussed that commercials in 3D encourage better retention from consumers than repetitive commercials in 2D, and the figure of 40% increase in retention for schoolchildren who watched educational material in 3D (compared to 2D) was presented. Chabin stressed the importance that from architecture to medical, and military to Nano technology, professionals have already been using 3D technology and will need to become familiar to 3D. For example, the Mars Curiosity rover has 2 3D camera systems onboard, and this addition greatly influences the scientists' ability to drive the rover over Mars' terrain. Chabin gave some examples of successful business people that were among the first to embrace and invest in 3D. Steve Jobs was used as an example, having been involved in 3D from the early 2000s.
"You are part of a very, very cool club. When we concise information from our business and organizations, it becomes obvious front he statistics that 3D is considered by consumers to be a premium and enhancement on everyday experiences." "We have come a long way in just a few years, HD and colour TV took triple the time to get where we are today".
Brenner used the example of an S3D Centre staffmember's ongoing project and how it could generate income and reach audiences. "Hire an experience narrator, and have them create a professional delivery." He stated that in many cases, once you study successful campaigns for short form 3D content you may quickly realize they all have the same formula: quick, punchy titles, a subject matter that uses 3D creatively, and a professional delivery of narration and visual effects. It is clear from Brenner's talk that there are many areas we have not been considering when selling 3D content- for example, to 3D technology companies such as LG or Samsung even.
In the Q&As, there was some discussion as to why Canada's distribution model is so much more underdeveloped compared to the USA and UK models. Attendees expressed their concern and not being able to catch the eye of local broadcasters who could consider a 3D initiative. TELUS 3D Optik network was brought up as an example of a network that has a 3D channel, but does not purchase content. Brenner was able to suggest several strategies for how Canadians could market their content to the US networks, while maintaining rights over the content for further use.
Many of the attendees walked away with a broader understanding of how to finance and sell their 3D projects, and Brenner was able to answer some of the most pressing questions from our local media community.
Session 3: PANEL: Telling Your Story in 3D with Adam May, Vision 3; Robert Neuman, Disney; & Joshua Hollander, Pixar | Moderator: Buzz Hays, True Image Co.
We watched clips from Pixar's "Brave", Disney's "Tangled" and a compilation of Vision3′s project to kick off this panel session, with all three being extraordinary in immersiveness and 3D skill. The scene from "Tangled" called 'Lanterns' was the recipient of Scene of the Year at the Society's 2nd Annual 3D Creative Arts Awards, and it was clear how this scene won by a landslide. It had every checklist element of 3D one could wish for 1) good character roundness, 2) 3D that flowed seamlessly between positive and negative parallax and 3) interesting story elements that took advantage of the very nature of 3D.
Neuman entered the industry wondering how 3D could be used as another tool in the cinematographers' tool belt, and what the 3D grammar/language would look like. He created a 3D language for Disney and began working in 3D in "the most organic part of the creative process of the film as we could". "The 3D you see isn't just the literal stereoscopic geometry between the left and right camera, it is often composed of 8 stereo layers that include the characters and environment".
Hollander: "We wanted to resurrect some of our old titles at Pixar, and see what that would look like. As a result we got approval to do "Up" in 3D, and we started an aggressive testing, experimentation, and education campaign in the company. In the beginning we kept the 3D subtle in those early days, and since then as our understanding and sophistication of the medium has increased, we are doing more multi-cam and involved 3D usage".
All four panelists discussed the use of convergence as a subtle tool, and how each of them approaches convergence with interaxial. Neuman states that he looks always at comfort first, and also what the main subject is. He stated that he tracks the viewers natural focus point as close to the screen (converged upon at the screen plane) as possible. May discussed his approach in live action, and how nothing can truly be fixed and 100% controlled on a shoot. But he did state that as a general rule, they try to converge on the furthest point in a room. "It ticks two boxes. When shooting converged, it is an immediate 3D reference on the shoot, but also you still have some level of flexibility in post production". In terms of editing, May explained too that they reduce the depth in faster cut sequences and use depth in a rhythm with the edit pace for the story. He utilizes depth scripting considerably, not too dissimilar to how animated films operate. Hollander explained their influence at Pixar from scientist Archibald Stanley Percival's' philosophy of the 'zone of comfort', and how the ocular system operates with physical space. "We converge on where the audience is focusing, and use negative and positive parallax for emotional impact." Hollander describes a terrific scene from "Up" where 3D is used with colour to create incredible emotional impact on the audience. As the scene progresses, the colour saturates and the 3D depth increases coinciding with edit cuts. This was a terrific example of how 3D not only improves upon, but also in some cases creates an emotional intensity not otherwise possible without 3D.
Hays states "There is a lot to talk about with the creatives on this topic. And sometimes you have to explain this to a non-creative, who isn't as passionate about 3D. 3D should never be an afterthought, because you are not taking into consideration the framing, the depth, the emotional aspects that 3D can create." He went on to say "there are more bad 2D movies than 3D. But 3D is the new kid on the block, so you feel like you can punch him in the gut when you need some validation." Hays promoted experimentation if it is possible prior to a project as a safe place to make errors and figure out what will work with the project. He also explained how directors like Baz Luhrmann and Robert Zemeckis were able to see the potential of 3D to become an intimate and emotional contribution to a story, and add a new level of creativity to the film.
We were able to view some of Vision3's 2012 Olympic indents, which were truly breathtaking in not just 3D, but also shot at high speed for slow motion. We also watched a short by Pixar, called "Night and Day" which takes advantage of 3D in one of the most unique ways yet.
Parallax Films showed some clips from "Blowdown", "Battle Castle", and an upcoming graphic novel they are creating. Cowan stated that "3D in Vancouver has had a bit of a love and hate relationship. As a major production Centre, we were inundated with feature film work that used US 3D crews. Som many people here haven't had their services used even yet." On "Piranha 3DD", Cowan completed all the 3D post production on the film with Technicolor in Vancouver. Ian Herring had great information for the audience about their "Blowdown" structural implosion project in 3D of a major football stadium in Brazil. He spoke to the difficulty and also perfect storm of conditions that led to working with a demolition team for National Geographic, and being able to test their 3D pipelines simultaneously with National Geographic. In their 3D episode of "Blowdown", they had to build actual custom 3D capture systems and also used a Canon 5D beam splitter, many security cameras, and manage to edit the content form these systems seamlessly together. Cowan echoed this by discussed the challenges doing DI and stereo grading on "Piranha 3DD" due to having so many multiple camera systems including Red cameras. He explained their process for making the mixed content balanced not only in colour, but also balanced in stereo.
"Every single frame of that started from 2D," starts Mark Lasoff after their sizzle reel finishes. For the kind of projects Gener8 completes, there is a large VFX component to the film- so Gener8 works not only of converting 2D capture, but also completes VFX shots. Lasoff continues that they get three kinds of films; 1) 2D that needs to be converted to 3D, 2) films shot in native 3D but for cost reasons included 2D with the intent on converting, and 3) native 3D shots that need to be converted due to errors or re-shoots.
Gener8 is composed of some extremely gifted personell. Lasoff himself has won Academy Awards for his VFX work, and Jenkin has worn many hats in this idustry, having also created some of Gener8′s pipelines and software. They have a common goal at Gener8, and Lasoff describes how inside Gener8, they believe the stereographer must be included throughout the process from start to finish. Using their depth assessment process, they continue on to match move of camera, rotoscope, then rotomation. At the very end, they project the frame onto their models. The Gener8 team demonstrated on their proprietary software Stereo Composer this entire process, which eventually ends in final approval to the client. Lasoff continues to state that the entire stereo conversion process is some simultaneously to the VFX pipeline, which is what truly sets Gener8 apart from their competition.
On Prometheus, Gener8 had to match the converted footage to match what the excellent native 3D appeared to be. Most of the work done on this project was to correct occlusion, and it was natural to create depth continuity. Whether converting is more affordable than shooting native 3D is completely debatable at this time (hint: it depends on many variables) but there is one thing very obvious: as they continue to put research and develop into their tools, there is no doubt that Gener8′s process will become even more affordable.
Murray explained how for IMAX before the current 3D revival, their last studio 3D projects were in 1983. The coming of digital 3D created a brand new model for IMAX, and this started with the release of "The Polar Express" in IMAX 3D. Murray explains, "What kept this going were world's fairs and expos. Everyone wanted to showcase the best technology in their pavilion so we would be called to help. Our first world fair was in 1987, in Montreal." These expos provided financing for IMAX to complete more testing and innovation that helped make IMAX the game changer it is today. Murray spoke about how IMAX has evolved dome projection in 3D, and spoke a bit to the incredibly complex process of filming and projecting for dome presentations. On several instances, Murray mentions the dome presentations combined with the incredible CG effects created the closest thing he has seen to virtual reality. Complications around shooting fisheye 3D are what pushed IMAX to create their own 3D system. Murray was involved in the engineering and creation of the first IMAX 3D system- from camera to rig and he describes the issues around finding lenses that allow for an interaxial that is practical. Eventually three of these cameras were built, and Murray's role changed to also include training camera operators to use the 3D systems.
One of the first to be proficient in 3D was Vancouverite Noel Archambault, who died tragically in a place crash while filming "Galapagos: The Enchanted Voyage" in 1998. Archambault had worked on every IMAX 3D film until his death, and Murray states that most of IMAXs original staff was indeed from Vancouver originally, hence Vancouver's rich history in large format 3D. Murray explains what really sets IMAX apart is its ultra immersive experience. "What IMAX is really striving for, is orthostereo experiences. What that means is the cameras are going to shoot parallel, and you shoot with lenses that match as much as possible the perspective the audience will have. You try and match scale and distance in the theatre with what exactly was in front of the camera." IMAX theatre used to be geometrically scaled versions of each other to perfectly match the narrow dimensions needed. Modern theatres are only slightly different now. "Screen plane was never part of our discussion as stenographers. What screen plane was, was just us asking what the audience would be looking at, and what is comfortable for them (inside the stereo pyramid that included the whole theatre)." IMAX often would shoot stereo infinity on their shoots, and having known what the exact scale of the theatre is, IMAX crews are able to understand while shooting exactly what geometry is needed for the audience.
In Murray's opinion, the 3D projects were what truly built IMAX as a company well into the 90′s. IMAX campaigned to create 3D films for blockbusters from 95′ onwards, and Murray was given a budget to collaborate with Mainframe Vancouver to test some stereo 3D for the show "Reboot", which led to IMAX completing some conversion work for some already completed 2D animations. IMAX reinvigorated interest in 3D by demoing some experiments that resulted in production of a The Simpsons / Ants 3D compilation film called "Cyberworld" in 2000. "The Polar Express" came on board immediately after, and the reinvention of IMAX 3D films was born from there. Murray describes the process of training astronauts for IMAX's space films, including the incredible "Hubble 3D". IMAX has become renown for its space films, and after seeing two 4K 3D clips from IMAX's "Hubble 3D", it is certainly easy to see why.
Session 7: Advertising & Marketing in the 3D Space with James Stewart, Geneva Film Co.
"Why 3D? People often ask me. And my answer is always: 3D is better. When people see the same content in 2D and 3D, they always enjoy the 3D content more," starts Stewart for his presentation. He states that he explains a great amount to advertising agencies and producers about what 3D is, and how it can be created. Stewart believes that in many cases, 3D does add to the story, but in other cases doesn't add a thing. The easiest way to explain 3D to someone is: "2D is a painting, and 3D is a sculpture. 2D is a wall, 3D is a window. Sometimes you come into a lot of cynicism when you pitch 3D to advertiser or filmmakers, but you are in good company if you share enthusiasm for 3D." Stewart finsihed that sentence by showing some of the world's most respected companies in film, tv, advertising and media. As to why 3D is becoming popular once again now, Stewart explains that the digital revolution has finally enabled much more creativity and immersion than previous incarnations of 3D. Stewart says regarding 3D conversion that there is a conversion camp, and a native 3D camp in Hollywood that is now starting to collaborate. For Stewart, he claims he is neutral on the subject and sees the value of both in various scenarios. Stewart makes a valid point that with films like "Pina", "Cave of Forgotten Dreams", "Hugo" and "Life of Pi", it can be demonstrated that even those in older demographics have been enjoying 3D. Young people aren't the only ones now that enjoy the medium.
In summary, the event welcomed both veterans from the 3D industries and also those just beginning to imagine how their business could take advantage of 3D. One of the most exciting aspects of both the networking event and the conference was seeing people from cross sections of industry meeting one another and also able to converse with the speakers. The goal of the Canada Chapter of the Society is to create an environment where people can network, enjoy 3D screenings, and learn about the latest developments in 3D. This event is the first of many that will formalize the stereo 3D community, and hopefully continue the tradition of 3D innovation in Canada.
Thank you to all of our speakers, sponsors, and of course the attendees for helping us make an incredible landmark event! Please visit the Chapter Website in February for more information. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, @EmilyCarrS3D and @_MassiveMedia to see the live Tweets of the event and stay up to date with the next events. Again if you wish to become a member, contact us through Twitter, or our direct email.


text:
using System;

namespace WolfreeAlpha
{
	internal static class RandomSingleton
	{
		private static Random rng;

		public static Random Instance
		{
			get { return rng ?? (rng = new Random()); }
		}
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Right off the showroom floor, the Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom V-twin has all the style and attitude of a one-of-a-kind build. With its tall front wheel, drag-style chrome handlebars and low-slung seat, the appearance of this Kawasaki V-twin stands in almost stark contrast to its smooth ride and steadfast reliability. Enjoy the dynamic fusion of hand-built design and production quality with the Vulcan 900 Custom.
If you want big custom cruiser style and impact in an easy to manage middleweight package, you've found it in the VN900 Custom.
The Vulcan 900 Custom is an easy motorcycle to like because it is different from the average cruiser. The bike's custom styling oozes attitude, from its tall front tire to blacked-out mufflers. In addition, the drag-style handlebar, low-slung gunfighter-type seat and forward footpegs put the rider in the perfect position to get the most out of this easy-to-ride, powerful and dependable Kawasaki cruiser.
Kawasaki designers and engineers concentrated on delivering a motorcycle with an appearance typically found only on hand-made custom builds. A massive rear tire, stylish front-end accentuated by a thin 21" cast wheel, and sculpted bodywork are standout features of the Vulcan 900 Custom motorcycle. The front wheel features spokes arranged in pairs, which complements the lightweight appearance of the front-end, while the wide 180mm rear tire on a 15" solid look cast wheel gives the rider the feeling of sitting on a made-to-order motorcycle.
Bridging the visual contrast between the front and rear wheels is a sleek fuel tank. Its flowing lines easily lead the eye along the delicate curves that bring together the highly customized form of this mid-sized cruiser.
Ready for anything, from local streets to interstate highways, the Vulcan 900 Custom motorcycle combines excellent power, easy maneuverability and good looks, making it the cruiser to own.
A disc brake mated to a 21 in 18-spoke wheel and slim forks give the VN900 Custom a classic cruiser stance and reassuring stopping power.
There's only one choice of engine layout for a custom cruiser – a V-twin. This one is liquid-cooled, displaces 903cc and uses precise fuel injection to deliver effortless torque.
Chrome slash-cut stacked silencers define custom style, allowing that unmistakeable V-twin character to come through while meeting stringent Euro III emissions regulations.
Compact yet effective headlight and high rise pull-back bars are pure custom.


text:
Pioneer Easter Drive-In Service Held With Radio Frequency
By The Citizen on April 14, 2020
By: Rebecca Miller
During this worldwide pandemic, everything has to be run through the strainer of "does it fit the guidelines of social distancing, sheltering in place and being essential?" During the week before Easter, which was April 12, 2020, a number of conversations and some quick action on the part of Pioneer Mayor Ed Kidston, a Village Council member, two pastors and their wives, the police department and an I.T. guy brought about an Easter Church Service for area residents to attend.
In a phone interview, Pastor Gene McBride of Pioneer Church of the Nazarene shared the sequence of events. "The idea initially started when my wife, Marianne, was talking with Connie Salisbury who is on the village council.
Connie mentioned it to the mayor and he jumped on it, advancing the idea into action. Mayor Kidston brought the flatbed tractor trailer and the sound equipment that let us broadcast it on radio so people could leave their windows closed," McBride shared.
The service was held on Easter morning at 11 a.m. in the west parking lot at Crommer Park, with Police Chief Tim Livengood and another officer present to help organize the parking and leaving of each vehicle.
Everyone was told ahead of time some specifics which included: 1. No carpooling! Everyone had to be from the same household, 2. They had to stay in their vehicles (with the info to flash their lights and turn on windshield wipers if they had an emergency of any kind in the car and needed help) and 3. They had to keep their windows up.
They were also parked far enough apart by the police. The service was purposely kept to only one half hour.
McBride shared that he heard of a pastor in Union County who wanted to hold a service like this and was not allowed as they were unable to come up with the radio receiving equipment that would have let people hear with their windows closed. "We were all about the safety of the people," he said.
"We want to adhere to the guidance we are being given. We observed everything we were told and were still able to be a blessing and have a gathering. That was the mayor's goal and he went above and beyond to make sure we could do it with all the right equipment. The fact that it could all come together so quickly confirmed to me that it was something we should do."
Anthony Burnett, who works for the village, did the technical set up and put a Cross up on the platform for them. For the service, Pastor Christian Taylor and his wife Nadia were seated together on one end of the rig and Pastor McBride on the other end.
Pastor Taylor of Pioneer United Methodist church and his wife Nadia, who teaches music at the Fayette Opera House during normal times, were the only others who took the "stage" with Pastor McBride. Nadia sang two hymns, unaccompanied, while the two pastors split the speaking time.
McBride opened the service with a welcome and prayer followed by Mrs. Taylor singing the well known hymn "The Old Rugged Cross" to start the first half of the service. The first fifteen minutes were focused on Good Friday and the homily shared by Pastor McBride was based on Isaiah 53:3-6 and verses 10-11a.
Nadia then sang an Easter hymn, "Christ the Lord is Risen Today," and her husband, spoke on the Hope that comes from the Resurrection of Christ, from Luke 24:30-35 which is the account of Jesus walking with the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus. Pastor Taylor then gave the benediction and the three of them waved to those in attendance as they pulled away and headed to their homes. "We couldn't shake hands," McBride said with a chuckle, "so we waved and smiled at them all as they drove away."
(PHOTOS PROVIDED)
The hope was that everyone got the message that "God knows how to redeem suffering," McBride said in the interview. "That has been the guiding thought to help me process what everyone is experiencing through this."
"I do not blame God for this virus, but we are seeing that God is redeeming this time of suffering. Holy Week is about that! It is more poignant this year with what we are globally facing with this virus. As people are going through hard times right now, everything is affected by the pandemic."
"Grieving alone when loved ones die, not being allowed to be with family in the hospital, and other life situations are compounded by isolation. There is an extended impact of this pandemic. We must remember that good things are also coming out of this and …God does know how to redeem suffering."
Rebecca can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The post Pioneer Easter Drive-In Service Held With Radio Frequency appeared first on The Village Reporter.
Published in Local News
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text:
package co.cask.cdap.data2.dataset2;

import com.google.common.base.Objects;

public final class TestObject {
  private final String a;
  private final long b;

  public TestObject(String a, long b) {
    this.a = a;
    this.b = b;
  }

  public String getA() {
    return a;
  }

  public long getB() {
    return b;
  }

  @Override
  public String toString() {
    final StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer("TestObject{");
    sb.append("a='").append(a).append('\'');
    sb.append(", b=").append(b);
    sb.append('}');
    return sb.toString();
  }

  @Override
  public boolean equals(Object o) {
    if (this == o) {
      return true;
    }

    if (o == null || getClass() != o.getClass()) {
      return false;
    }

    TestObject that = (TestObject) o;

    return b == that.b
      && Objects.equal(a, that.a);
  }
}


text:
"America's Got Talent" is all about discovering stars — and sometimes those stars might be sitting right behind you.
It's a lesson judges Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Sofía Vergara learned on Tuesday's episode of the NBC reality competition,
which saw an 11-year-old girl clinch the coveted Golden Buzzer after catching the judges' attention while singing in the studio audience on a commercial break.
Before her seemingly impromptu performance, Madison Taylor Baez opened up about being a fan of "AGT" since she was 4.
"I am the biggest fan there could be of 'America's Got Talent,' and here I am," she said.
But instead of walking onto the stage and auditioning the old-fashioned way, Baez hid in the studio audience, blending in among the fans.
To pass the time during breaks, members of the "AGT" studio audience get the chance to sing into a mic.


Please enhance the character limitation present in dxsearch which is restricts the and wraps the longer lines in attributes ( say dn ) to next line. This makes ldif data inconsistent.
While the LDIF format displayed by dxsearch is actually valid LDIF, it's not a useful format for command line scripts that aren't LDIF savvy.
But does same applies to dxsearch ?
also does ldapsearch comes with ca directory installation ?
DXsearch provides a subset of ldapsearch's (OpenLDAP) functionality. We will review this enhancement request.
CA Directory doesn't ship with ldapsearch, but most Unix distributions ship a version of this tool.
I am working on RHEL servers prominently don't openldap client installed by default may due to some compliance.
I would request you guys to look into this and see if it can help us all, that's why coined this here.


Frequently a lot of knowledge is deposited in CATIA models, in the form of properties, parameters or formulas.
This knowledge can be deleted with one push of a button, without destroying the structure of your models.
CATCommander is a powerful macro – oriented tool for CATIA, which helps you to satisfy the individual customer requirements. You don't have to give up your PLM process chain.
CATIA does not allow the linking of CATDrawings to another part or product, since the UUID is not identical. This restriction does not apply for CAT.DrawingManagment.
CAT.KBL is an interface between electrical and mechanical harness design solutions. CAT.KBL can synchronize the CATIA harness to the electrical wire diagram of ECAD. Preferred ECAD systems are LDORADO by Comsa and ENGINERING BASE by Aucotec.


text:
Home page > 1. IV Online magazine > 2018 > IV521 - June 2018 > Where Is The Rebellion Going?
Where Is The Rebellion Going?
Friday 8 June 2018, by Dan La Botz
The popular rebellion against the dictatorial government of Daniel Ortega, four-time president of Nicaragua, has been going on now for more than a month. And the Ortega government has continued its violent repression. In the last 47 days, it is reported that 104 people have been killed, while some have been arrested or tortured and others have gone missing. In one of the most atrocious events, government snipers fired on the May 30 "Mothers March" led by mothers mourning the murder of their children. Fifteen marchers were killed and scores wounded.
While students throughout the country have played the leading role in the rebellion, farmers, environmentalists, and women's organizations have also been involved. Protest marches by the Nicaraguan people demanding "Peace and Justice"—defined as an end to government violence against the students and the resignation of Ortega—have reached huge proportions, from tens of thousands on numerous occasions to some 500,000—the largest demonstration in Central American history—for the Mothers March. Several groups have now taken up the call for a paro, a national civic strike.
As I have explained in my book What Went Wrong? The Nicaraguan Revolution: A Marxist Analysis (summarized in a recent article), Daniel Ortega began forming alliances with the Nicaraguan business class and with conservative and corrupt politicians after he was voted out of power in 1990. [1] He formed alliance with rightwing governments and eventually succeeded in returning to power as president. Over the next nearly thirty years he became a dictator, making his wife his vice-president and controlling all branches of the government. Now there is a massive popular rebellion against the Ortega dictatorship. I ask here now: What is this rebellion and where is it going? What should be our attitude toward it as Americans on the left?
A Popular Uprising
The current protest movement in Nicaragua clearly has the characteristics of a popular uprising. The movement has its origiins in 2012 when Nicaraguan indigenous peoples, farmers, and environmentalists brought lawsuits against the government's plan to build a transoceanic canal, a project that could have devastating ecological consequences. When the lawsuits failed, those groups began to organize peaceful protests in both urban and rural areas. While most of these numbered in the hundreds, they sometimes involved thousands. Ortega's police and sometimes his Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) party and its youth group's violent armed gangs called turbas attacked the peaceful demonstrators.
When in mid-April the Ortega government announced an increase in taxes for workers' pensions accompanied by a cut in pension benefits, there was a widespread reaction against the reforms. Students at the country's major universities protested, but when attacked returned to their campuses and occupied them. All of the major universities—UNA, UCA, UNI, UPOLI, and UNAN, which enroll some about 100,000 altogether—were shut down and occupied. When the students again marched out to protest peacefully, police and turbas attacked the students while sharpshooters in strategic locations shot and killed some of the protestors. Such government-ordered killings, documented by Nicaraguan and international human rights groups, by the country's newspapers, and by social media - have gone on day after day in Managua and in other cities and towns. [2]
The killings horrified the Nicaraguan people, and a protest movement spread throughout the country. The Catholic Church, business organizations, and some of the students called for negotiations between Ortega and the opposition, but Ortega failed to bargain in good faith and the opposition became increasingly intransigent in its demand for his resignation. With the suspension of the dialogue, protests resumed and so did government violence. The Church then organized marches calling for Peace and Justice that were joined by tens of thousands, but they brought neither of those objectives.
At the moment, things are extremely tense, with a kind of defacto curfew of 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., because of fear of the FSLN youth group and its thugs. Jesuit Father José Alberto Idiáquez, the rector of the Central American University (UCA) in Managua, who had supported the student protestors, has received death threats for his participation in the dialogue. [3] Monseñor Silvio José Báez, the auxiliary bishop of Managua, who has joined the protest movement's marches, has been the victim of a campaign of vilification because of his criticism of the Ortega government's violent repression. The cities of Masaya and of Granada have been assaulted by the police and by armed gangs, public buildings and markets have been burned. The police and gangsters continue to murder students.
Government Claims of Anti-Imperialism and Foreign Intervention
The Ortega government has declared that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is behind the protests, working with the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS), a dissident group that split from the Sandinistas in 1994. This narrative has been taken up by the Cuban government, Venezuelan teleSur news, and by Russian Television (RT). While Latin Americans have every reason to be suspicious of and to fear U.S. intervention in their countries, the popular revolt grew up in Nicaragua among ordinary people concerned about their farms and environment, the social welfare system and women's rights, as well as other issues, and became an anti-government rebellion only when confronted by violent repression against peaceful protestors. This was not a foreign-instigated movement, despite the usual charges of meddling by outside agitators. There is no doubt that the U.S. government will attempt to take advantage of the situation to promote its own agenda, but that does not undermine in any way what began as and continues to be an independent movement.
We should note that while the Ortega government has been an ally of Cuba, Venezuela, and Bolivia and has portrayed itself as anti-imperialist, there has been little or nothing that is truly anti-imperialist about its policies and practices. Ortega's Nicaragua has been deeply involved with the United States government and U.S. business for decades and has cooperated with the United States in many areas: economic, political, and even in terms of policing and the military. Economic domination is, of course, at the heart of the theory of imperialism. As the U.S. State Department's "Nicaragua Page" notes: "The United States is the dominant economic partner for Nicaragua, buying 51 percent of Nicaraguan exports, supplying 32 percent of its imports, providing 20 percent of investment, sending 54 percent of its remittances, and being the origin of 19 percent of its tourists, according to 2017 figures." [4]
One could argue that such trade is inevitable, given Nicaragua's small size and location and the dominant role of the United States in North America and throughout the hemisphere. Be that as it may, trade and investment are essential features of imperialism. Ortega has certainly encouraged U.S. investment, including promotion of Free Trade Zones and maquiladora plants that represent a substantial part of the country's exports, based on workers' low wages. Ortega has worked to prevent strikes and to block the organization of independent labor unions. U.S. and other foreign direct investment currently amounts to 6 percent of GDP.
The law to promote foreign investment (Ley de Promoción de Inversiones Extranjeras), in force since 2000, allows foreign investors in all sectors to hold 100% of capital in businesses. It guarantees the repatriation of capital and profits at any time, as well as fast and efficient compensations if the investor's property is expropriated on the grounds of public interest. The same law also allows investors to choose their arbitration tribunal in case of conflict. [5]
Because of laws like these both the Nicaragua capitalist class and U.S. and other foreign investors have been quite satisfied with Daniel Ortega since he came to power.
U.S. trade has been complemented by U.S. aid. Nicaragua has long been dependent on the United States for economic assistance, receiving billions in economic aid over the last several decades. [6] The U.S. has also provided medical aid at times. [7] The Nicaraguan government has entered into relations with U.S. police agencies as well. The US Drug Enforcement Agency opened an office in Managua in 1997 and the DEA has for many years regularly met with Nicaraguan military and police agencies. Just in March of this year there was a meeting between the Nicaraguan Army and the DEA to discuss their common strategy. The U.S. government has also provided millions of dollars in aid to the Nicaraguan Navy for drug interdiction, [8] and millions in general military aid as well until 2005. [9] When U.S. military aid ceased, Ortega's government turned to the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin for military assistance, and got it. [10] For Ortega, one imperial power is as good as another as long as he stays in power. (One has to find it ironic that the government of a small nation like Nicaragua, which for so long had to resist U.S. imperialism, would ally with Russia, which seized the Crimea and has intervened in the Eastern Ukraine and Syria.)
The point is that there was not and is not anything "anti-imperialist" about Ortega's government, which despite its rhetoric has maintained strong economic and police ties to the United States. Far from being anti-imperialist or anti-United States, Nicaragua has never stopped being part of the American imperial system in Latin America.
Who Leads the Opposition Movement?
We should not be surprised that in a country that effectively has had one-party rule by the Sandinista Front for National Liberation (FSLN), which retained considerable prestige for leading the overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship in 1979, and where that party has controlled social organizations and labor unions, that there has been little opportunity for an effective left opposition to arise. To this should be added the government's long-standing practice of harassing and sometimes physically attacking rival political parties during election periods. The combination of political monopoly and repression created an atmosphere that has inhibited a healthy, democratic political life and especially made difficult the creation of strong opposition groups on the left.
There are a variety of political parties in Nicaragua, but those on the left have failed to find a base, while those on the right have long been utterly corrupt. Two splits from the FSLN, the Sandinista Renovation Movement (MRS), and the Movement for the Rescue of Sandinismo (MPRS), did attempt to build a left opposition. The novelist Sergio Ramírez and the former Comandante Dora María Tellez created the social democratic MRS in 1994, supported by virtually all of the FSLN's legislators at the time. The MRS, however, never succeeded in building a mass base among the country's working people. In 2005, Herty Lewites ran for president and gained significant support, but died suddenly of a heart attack in 2006. The party that Lewites and Victor Tirado had established in 2005, the MPRS, failed to take off and became marginal. Both MRS and MPRS continued throughout the 2000s and 2010s to criticize Ortega and the FSLN government, but they never grew into significant organizations. The Christian Alternative, inspired by the Theology of Liberation, also failed. Other small left parties, Communist, Trotskyist, and Maoist, had small followings and no impact.
Nicaragua's two major conservative opposition parties—the Constitutional Liberal Party and the Independeont Liberal Party—proved capable of building a following and winning elections, but only because they had made political deals with Ortega. However, over time Ortega's FSLN became the dominant conservative party and won support from Nicaragua's bankers and business owners and the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. The Nicaraguan bourgeoisie, finding that Ortega supported its agenda, felt no need to throw its support to opposition political parties. So as this crisis has emerged and developed, there is no political party on the left to provide leadership to the movement, and the remnants of the surviving conservative parties have been utterly corrupted by Ortega and the FSLN as well as their own avarice and lack of scruples.
The Dominant Social Forces under Ortega
Ortega and the FSLN have long had a policy of dominating or destroying the country's popular social organizations. In the revolutionary period of the 1980s the FSLN had created organizations for workers and farmers, students and women, and kept control of most of them for decades. After Ortega and the FSLN lost the 1990 election, the FSLN women's organization AMNLAE broke up, as dissident women created their own feminist movement and a variety of small women's organizations. Ortega and especially his wife and now vice-president Rosario Murillo, who had formed an alliance with the conservative Catholic Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo, launched a ferocious legal and media attack on feminists who supported abortion rights, accusing them of being criminal abortionists inspired by foreign imperialists. Social movements could not flourish in such an atmosphere.
While the social movements languished, various sorts of non-government organizations prospered for a time. Ortega and some other FSLN leaders, when they lost governmental power after 1990, went off and formed NGOs, often launching them with resources that they had simply taken from their former government offices. Most used their NGOs to further their own political and business projects, though some took a genuine interest in social issues. Many U.S. and European foundations and NGOs supported work in Nicaragua around issues of poverty, hunger, homelessness, children's and women's health care, and environmental issues. [11] While these organizations, both religious and secular, often expressed high ideals, fundamentally—with the exception of some of the women's NGOs—they engaged in charity, eschewing any social or political activity for fear of losing the government's permission for their work.
The best-organized and most important social organizations in Nicaraguan then have been the business class and the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has a complicated history in Nicaragua. Allied for centuries with the landowning class and its political parties, it reached a modus vivendi with the Somoza dictatorship and later with the Ortega dictatorship. At the same time the Theology of Liberation of the 1960s and 1970s that called upon the church to take progressive social positions and to maintain a "preferential option for the poor," won over many among the Jesuit order and many other Catholics both religious and lay. Catholic priests joined the FSLN during its heroic struggle against the Somoza dictatorship and continued to support the FSLN through its struggle against the U.S.-backed Contras. But by the 1990s, the Catholic left began to leave the FSLN, critical of Ortega and the party's lack of democracy and diminishing social consciousness. Some formed the political movement called the Christian Alternative, but it was not successful. The priests and professors who continued to believe in the Theology of Liberation often taught in the country's universities, and no doubt their ideals have had some impact on the current generation of students. At the moment, Pope Francis and the Nicaraguan Catholic Church are calling for an end to the violence and for peace and a dialogue between Ortega and the opposition. [12]
The most important social organization in Nicaragua is COSEP (Consejo Superior de la Empresa Privada), the Superior Council for Private Enterprise, an umbrella organization made up of 27 chambers of particular industries. Closely allied with COSEP is AmCham, the American Chamber of Commerce of Nicaragua, part of the American Chambers of Commerce throughout Latin America that promote U.S. investment and trade. COSEP represents the rich and powerful Nicaraguan capitalist class. When the Sandinistas took power in the 1979 revolution, the landowning and industrial capitalist class split into three different groups: 1) some, like Carlos Pellas, today a billionaire, the richest man in Nicaragua, and a friend of Daniel Ortega, remained in Nicaragua; 2) others left Nicaragua, moved to other Central American and Caribbean countries, or moved to Florida, continuing their business operations or entering into new fields; 3) some of those in group #2 supported or even joined the Contras. While in exile, the many in the Nicaraguan bourgeoisie actually got richer, since they was forced to expand its business networks, creating new ties to other banks and corporations.
When Ortega and the FSLN lost power in 1990, the bourgeoisie in exile returned and through the government of President Violeta Chamorro and her son-in-law advisor Antonio Lacayo they gradually recovered most of the property that the government had taken from them. They were back in business. Through the famous piñatas, that is, the FSLN government's two distributions of properties to Ortega and other FSLN leaders, a number of the latter became small time players in the Nicaraguan bourgeoisie. By the 2000s, Ortega and the FSLN had become not only junior partners in the capitalist economy, but also political partners sponsoring pro-business policies in the legislature and through government decrees. There is no doubt that as the crisis began a little more than a month ago, COSEP represented the most significant organized group in the country. When Ortega proposed the social security reform that detonated the rebellion, COSEP was among the first organizations to oppose changes because they would mean higher taxes on business as well as workers.
The students, who took the lead in street protests using social media, have attempted to form a national student council to provide organization and leadership, but this has proven difficult because of the government's violent attacks and the general chaos that exists in much of the country where neighborhoods have barricaded themselves, highways have been blocked, and FSLN gangsters and plain clothes police, together with sharpshooters, arrest, torture, and murder student activists. Some of the students have declared that what is taking place is "a revolution." [13] But while the students have been the heroic leaders of the movement, given the country's history and the current conditions, is it not surprising that they have failed to put forward a political program. So far the demands of the movement remain centered on the resignation of Ortega and Murillo, the restoration of democratic institutions, and social justice. There are no actual proposals for what to do with government institutions, the FSLN party and its leaders, the army and the police, or the economy.
So Where Are Things Now?
We can say that facing off against the government there are now three major forces in Nicaragua: the movement of students, farmers, women and others; COSEP; and the Catholic Church. The Church, now headed by Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, archbishop of Managua, continues to call for peace and dialogue, and despite the massacres has not yet called upon Ortega to resign.
Nicaragua's richest man, Carlos Pellas, and others such as Roberto Zamora of LaFise, one of the country's most important financial institutions, have called for holding early elections. [14] Clearly the bourgeoisie would like a smooth transition to their continued economic dominance of the country.
The recently created Articulación de Movimientos Sociales y Organizaciones de la Sociedad Civil, or the Coordinating Committee of Social Movements, and Organizations of Civil Society, has issued a call for a paro, a National Civic Citizens Strike, with the intention of paralyzing the country and forcing Ortega from office. With the country's streets and highways already blocked and the economy disordered by the events, the paro would represent added pressure, though whether it could force Ortega to resign is an open question.
The United States, which sees an opportunity to impose a still more openly pro-business and pro-United States government on Nicaragua, has via its ambassador Carlos Trujillo declared its opposition to the Ortega dictatorship and called for a date for new elections. [15] Its position is very close to that of COSEP. The U.S. too would like a smooth transition to a new, conservative capitalist government.
The Challenge Facing the Nicaraguan Democratic Movement
The challenge facing the Nicaraguan popular rebellion and the democratic movement at its core is to elaborate a program calling for political democracy and also for social justice in very explicit terms. Parliamentary democracy should be defended, but it must be cleansed of its pervasive corruption, and democracy must be extended to everyday life, to the barrios and to the workplaces where FSLN organizations have repressed people on a daily basis.
A social justice program must include the rejection of the transatlantic canal, the protection of the rural peoples' and indigenous peoples' land, and new agricultural programs to lift the standard of living in the countryside. Workers must have the right to organize independent labor unions and to strike for higher wages, and in the meantime a new democratic government should dramatically raise wages. National property and cooperative property should be protected and more institutions should be collectivized.
Women's rights, children's rights, and the rights of the indigenous, the Black Nicaraguans of the Caribbean coast, and all other groups must be protected and enhanced. The fight for the moment in Nicaragua is for programs of democracy and for social justice, but it is important that the new activists adopt a revolutionary attitude toward capitalism and the capitalist government and become advocates of a genuine socialist society. A program of democracy and social justice could inspire, unite, and advance the movement.
If the current Nicaraguan movement is to be successful, COSEP must be stopped from taking control of the reform process and the United States must be kept from intervening in any way. We in the United States can demand that our government keep its hands off of Nicaraguan and we can in every moral and material way possible offer our support to the democratic movement. The future lies with the young Nicaraguans who have so heroically led this rebellion, and we must be their allies.
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[1] http://newpol.org/content/daniel-ortega-nicaraguas-nov-6-election-and-betrayal-revolution
[2] [Amnesty International's report here: https://www.amnestyusa.org/reports/shoot-to-kill-nicaraguas-strategy-to-suppress-protest/ Find the reports of El Centro Nicaragüense de Derechos Humanos (CENIDH) here: https://www.cenidh.org/ The country's major newspapers are La Prensa https://www.laprensa.com.ni/ and El Nuevo Diario https://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/ and the digital Confidencial https://confidencial.com.ni/ and all have carried detail reports on the violence that clearly indicate the government's responsibility.]
[3] https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2018/06/05/jesuits-denounce-threats-seek-protection-nicaraguan-bishop
[4] https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1850.htm
[5] https://en.portal.santandertrade.com/establish-overseas/nicaragua/investing-3
[6] See reports such as these from the GAO in the 1990s https://www.gao.gov/products/NSIAD-92-203 and from USAID in 2013 https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1862/USAID%20NICARAGUA%20FINAL%20PUBLIC%203.11.14.pdf
[7] http://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/129773/us-military-gives-medical-equipment-to-nicaragua/
[8] See reports such as these from various publications: http://articles.latimes.com/1997-03-05/news/mn-35051_1_drug-traffickers and https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/nicaraguan-navy-little-known-partner-in-us-drug-war/
[9] https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/21/world/americas/us-suspends-military-aid-to-nicaragua.html
[10] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/russia-again-plants-its-flag-in-nicaragua-stirring-fears-in-us-a7676781.html
[11] See for example: http://www.nicaragua-guide.com/helping-out.html
[12] https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-06/pope-francis-nicaragua-peace-appeal.html
[13] https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2018/06/03/suplemento/la-prensa-domingo/2428873-enrieth-martinez-de-la-coalicion-universitaria-esta-es-una-revolucion
[14] https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2018/05/30/politica/2427376-carlos-pellas-solucion-a-crisis-de-nicaragua-pasa-por-adelanto-de-elecciones
[15] https://www.laprensa.com.ni/tag/carlos-trujillo
A state of terror
Nicaragua: The other revolution betrayed
Urgent Communiqué: Nicaraguan government attacks human rights groups, NGOs, media
Faced with Nicaragua's social and political crisis - Solidarity with popular demands and against Ortegista repression!
The scandalous position of the São Paulo forum on Nicaragua
Dan La Botz
Dan La Botz was a founding member of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU). He is the author of Rank-and-File Rebellion: Teamsters for a Democratic Union (1991). He is also a co-editor of New Politics and editor of Mexican Labor News and Analysis.


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Adrian Dellecker
Head of Strategy and Development
Adrian is a political scientist and environmental advocacy expert. Before joining the institute he was Head of Policy and Advocacy in WWF International's Global and Regional Policy Unit.
Anaïk Anthonioz Blanc
Research and Innovation Programme Coordinator (Ad Interim)
Anaïk has a Masters degree in International Peace Studies from the University of Trinity College Dublin, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Geneva. Before joining the institute, Anaïk worked as a communication intern at the United Nations in Geneva and was then a consultant at the CITES Secretariat.
Anca Damerell
Head of Programme, Ad Interim
Anca has a PhD in Geography from the University of Cambridge, a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies, Romania and Université d'Artois, France, and a Master's in Environmental Protection from the University of Edinburgh.
Andrew Thompson
Programme Administrator
Based in Cambridge, UK, Andrew provides administration, logistics, events and general project support to the institute.
Fabio Pianini
Programme Communication Manager
Fabio is a communication and public affairs professional with experience in issue and stakeholder management for multinational energy companies. He is passionate about dialogic practices and their power to enable people to think and move forward together.
Jessica Villat
Head of Communication
Jessica is a communication and sustainability professional with international strategy-building experience, change management skills, and a passion for improving the well-being of nature and people.
Melanie Ryan
Melanie looks to advance conservation and sustainability in ways that incorporate inclusivity, diversity and innovation. An interdisciplinary expert in systems science, sustainability and environment, and collaborative design, her career spans diverse roles and sectors.
Michelle Demateis Schmitt
Project Finance Account Manager
Michelle has over 10 years' experience in project finance, providing financial management, oversight and operational expertise for the effective coordination of WWF projects and programmes.
Richard Gauld
Richard has over 17 years' experience in strategy implementation, operations and performance evaluation in the public and not-for-profit sectors.
Sandrine Jimenez
Logistics and Administrative Coordinator
Sandrine organises travel and events and carries out many other administrative functions, ensuring the smooth running of the Luc Hoffmann Institute.
Meet the advisory council
Back to who we are


Dr. Weeks' Comment: "Oops" is an understatement. All radiologists and oncologist need to remember their primary vow as doctors: Primum non Nocere" "First do no harm".
Want breast cancer? Get synthetic hormones in menopause (progestin in particular – the "near miss"kickoff of progesterone) and get excessive medical imaging studies (CAT scan PET CT, X rays).
ScienceDaily (June 11, 2012) "" A report issued by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) last December reviewed all the available scientific data compiled to date about potential environmental risks of breast cancer — factors such as pesticides, beauty products, household chemicals, and the plastics used to make water bottles.
Commissioned by the breast cancer foundation Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the IOM report concluded that there was not enough data to confirm or rule out that exposure to most of these factors caused breast cancer. However, the report did identify two factors that definitely increased risk: post-menopausal hormone replacement therapy and radiation exposure from medical imaging.
Now, a special article in the journalArchives of Internal Medicine details the findings of the IOM report as they relate to medical imaging and what women can do to minimize their risk of breast cancer.
"The single thing that the IOM highlighted that a woman can do to lower her risk of breast cancer is to avoid unnecessary medical imaging," said Rebecca Smith-Bindman, MD, a professor of radiology and biomedical imaging, epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF, who wrote the article, and who contributed to the IOM report.
While CT scans and other forms of medical imaging have revolutionized medicine and can be life-saving, said Smith-Bindman, women need to engage their doctors in the decision-making process and insist on the necessity and safety of all radiological scans they undergo.
"They should understand the risks and benefits and ask their doctor to explain the risks and benefits," said Smith-Bindman.
Is this scan absolutely necessary?
Is it necessary to do it now?
Are there other, alternative tests?
How can I be sure the test will be done in the safest way possible?
Will having the scan information change the management of my disease?
Can I wait until after seeing a specialist before getting the scan?


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Labor Day Weekend & The Getting Back of Grooves
I know I'm not the only person who thought August sucked. Reports have poured in from all over the globe that yes, the August of 2013 was particularly brutal in all sorts of ways. Yours truly was seeking to get his mojo back, and not having a whole bunch of success. Let's see how that shakes out:
The small matter of diabetes. Generally this was pretty favorable, as I settle into my new official lifestyle. The last week I was working on a solid seven days of healthy sugar levels when bam! my levels Saturday night shot up to 207. The cause? Apparently the stress of performing in my weekly show – that was the only change in my daily routine. For someone who has been acting most of his adult life, this is a daunting development. Frustrated, I had a cheeseburger after the show. The next morning, my fasting sugars were normal.
Wacky. I prefer to take this as a lesson in the magic of cheeseburgers, nature's perfect food.
One thing I did manage when I wasn't ruminating on the heat attempting to kill me and everything around me, was to develop a plan for re-organizing my home office. Yes, because I don't have enough things to occupy my Copious Free Time. This is actually connected to one of the other problems of August, the Not-Watching of Movies.
Oh, I still did, as these infrequent ramblings prove. Just not to the excess or with the zeal of previous months. That most notorious of self-imposed regimens, The List, may not be completed this year. Things change. I change.
"I hate you, Tom Cruise! HATE YOU!!!"
I've done two movie-watching challenges this year, and those have done a number on me. I don't necessarily regret either, but the cost extracted is problematic. I enjoy watching movies, and injecting a definite discipline into that watching kills some of the joy. Probably one of the reasons I never pursued a career as an actual film critic: I want that joy to stay. I've seen too many give in to a gradual souring until all they can do is point out negatives; I respect people who continue their love affair with the movies on a regular basis, and keep their writing fresh and accessible.
So. Just because I haven't been watching movies on a regular basis doesn't mean I stopped acquiring them, either. I now have quite a few movies I am genuinely excited about watching.
Which is why I want to re-organize my office.
My office pretty much arranged itself organically. When we moved into this house twelve years ago, most of the bookshelves found their way into my office, and they got filled. Then filled again. Then the overstock started hitting the floor. Then I added a reading chair. My computer desk has not moved from its corner, where I can look out the window and, if necessary, see who may be approaching the house – the paranoia of my youth has not completely vanished. There is an increasingly narrow path from the door to my desk.
So current plans involve clearing out the piles of electronics and cabling and power sources that have landed in this room over the years. Clearing out the table that holds a TV/DVD player that hasn't worked in ten years. My laserdisc player, which surprisingly, still does. Cataloging and boxing up stacks of books and either clearing a space in an equally chaotic garage to store them, or actually investing in a storage room (not ideal). Unpacking the boxes of DVDs that sit in the center of the room, determining which of them I am never going to watch and getting rid of them, and putting the rest in theoretically cleared bookshelves.
Then: Reorienting the former TV table and the reading chair to face each other. Buying a TV manufactured in this century and (ideally) a region-free Blu-Ray player. Maybe a sound bar, probably not. I still have the Roku that was on the downstairs TV, but I mothballed when we got a Smart TV.
When I bought that TV and its companion Blu-ray, I thought I was being exceptionally sly by making sure the first thing seen on it was Dancing With The Stars, thereby convincing my skeptical wife that it was, indeed, a necessary purchase. In the style of classical tragedy, however, this rebounded on me by ensuring all subsequent broadcasts of Dancing With The Stars had to be watched in HD, and I swear to you that fucking show is on four nights a week.
"And we have PEGGED Freeman's Hate Meter!"
So. I of course rarely buy DVDs anymore, because drool drool Blu-ray slobber giggle. And ergo, I need my own little island of Blu-ray viewing so I can watch these fabulous movies I've been stockpiling, at will.
The real problem with this dream is the amount of work it's going to take, in a schedule that includes my part-time job, the other part-time job, the other other part-time job, and the two ongoing writing projects, not to mention any housework, cooking, or parental duties. I estimate two months before I'm even ready to price TVs (I'm lying, I'm already doing that) and start reaping the benefits of this madness.
But like i said, in the meantime, I managed to watch some movies.
Sometimes your interests in obscure movie subgenres lead you down a darkened alley with whispered promises and then punches you, takes your lunch money and runs away. Actually, that's a pretty fair description of what happens most of the time. That is certainly the case with Vixens of Kung Fu. It's a somewhat legendary grindhouse feature, primarily legendary because for years, it was damn near impossible to see. It's a hardcore sex film with kung fu elements, although the martial arts elements here make David Carradine look like Jet Li possessed by the spirit of Bruce Lee.
Bree Anthony is walking through some autumn woods and gets accosted by three porn actors (One of whom is supposedly Jamie Gillis, though I didn't recognize him). She runs away, but get shot in the back. The three lowlifes then proceed to rape her semi-conscious form while the music changes to bluegrass. About a half-hour later, under the tender lesbian ministrations of a female kung fu master (C.J. Laing), we are told that she was shot with "the gun of anesthesia", which explained the lack of bullet holes and other trauma, I suppose.
So there are some ladies who are Laing's students, who practice some questionable martial arts and meditation that causes smoke to issue from their lady parts. A lanky yellow-clad caucasian monk ventures into their territory, gets waylaid, is declared an unsatisfactory lover and tossed out. He begs another female master – currently disguised as a cook in a Chinese restaurant – to teach him "Golden Dragon Raising Head Kung Fu". Which involves training and masturbating in the woods. There is another showdown, with the Monk and Anthony acrobatically schtupping each other into unconsciousness. Yeah, forget the rapists, I guess they were too expensive to bring back for a vengeance scene.
The Vinegar Syndrome DVD is unbelievably gorgeous – the autumn foliage really pops. Porn, however, is always boring, and there wasn't anything Vinegar Syndrome could do about that. Vixens has its wild moments that raise it slightly above the norm, but there's not enough of it to make it interesting enough for a recommendation.
Hey, remember Jack Reacher? Remember how a lot of people were pissed off that Tom Cruise was playing the main character? Man, that seems like it was so long ago. Long enough that the Blu-ray is cheap, so I bought it, primarily because I was intrigued by the idea of Werner Herzog playing the bad guy.
I haven't read any of the books – and was, in fact, unaware of the character at all – so I didn't have a dog in the Tom Cruise hunt. What I did find was a pretty serviceable, if fairly unoriginal, crime investigation movie that morphs into an action flick as our heroes get closer to the truth.
The plot concerns a sniping incident involving the death of five people, apparently the work of a crazed loner trained in Iraq. His only statement under interrogation is "Get Jack Reacher". Reacher is a former Military policeman who caught the culprit in a similar incident in country – but there are several inconsistencies with the current shooting that stick in his craw. Behind the machinations, of course, is Herzog as a man known only as "The Zeck" – who once gnawed the frostbitten fingers off his own hand in Siberia to prevent gangrene.
Herzog is muted and incredibly creepy as the criminal mastermind. I thought Cruise was fine as Reacher, though, as I said, I have no prior knowledge of the character to color my judgement. The supporting cast is terrific, there are a couple of good fight scenes. Overall, though, you can wait to see this on Netflix.
Over the past year or so, I've watched two movies about Idi Amin. One, Amin: The Rise and Fall, was a somewhat sensationalized docudrama. The second, The Last King of Scotland, was pure fiction with enough basis in fact to make it solid. So somehow I find myself watching Barbet Schroeder's General Idi Amin Dada: A Self-Portrait, which is undeniably the real thing.
Amin granted Schroeder a number of interviews and staged several adoring rallies for the camera. He also gathered together 150 French citizens living in Uganda and threatened to kill them if Schroeder didn't cut three minutes from the movie. Schroeder, of course, did so, and at this point the "Self Portrait" portion of the title came into being, as Schroeder felt it was now totally under Amin's control. After the dictator's deposing, the cuts were restored, and that is the version Criterion rightfully issued.
The cut portions mainly concerned public executions, and a few snippets from a dispassionate narrator mentioning the staged appearances, or pointing out people who would later be found mysteriously dead or vanish altogether. These quite undercut the persona Amin presents otherwise, an affable man of the people, always ready with a joke or a laugh – downright charming, most times. It's surprising Amin didn't want one entire section cut, when he is conferencing with a very critical group of senior physicians, and Schroeder zooms in his face – unhappy, brooding, eyes darting back and forth as if seeking escape – as in that moment he actually looks capable of ordering the death of almost 300,000 of his countrymen. Then he turns on the charm and gets the doctors laughing.
Schroeder ends the movie with that same close-up, and with a bit of narration that Amin did insist be cut; that cut remains, and the moment plays out in powerful silence.
Labor Day I journeyed into town with pal Dave to see an animated movie that he – and a couple of my other friends – did voice talent for a couple of years ago: Last Flight of the Champion. This was apparently the culmination of two brothers' lifelong dream, and by golly they even managed to get a (very) limited theatrical release. There were about seven of us in attendance, and we owned that theater.
The plot isn't new; galactic despot is taking over planets (I guess because he can), and a painfully earnest young turtle guy finds a buried spaceship left over from the last round of galactic despot fighting, the Champion. Yes, turtle – this is a sci-fi universe populated by animal toons alongside humans. The turtle puts together a crew of similarly painfully earnest misfits and flies off to take on Darth Meanie and his armada.
I went into this movie with great misgivings, mainly thinking that there were movies I really wanted to see but couldn't carve out the time, like The Conjuring or You're Next, but here I was walking into a theater to see something that had been described as having computer animation on the level of a local TV commercial.
Well, it wasn't that bad. Pixar has nothing to worry about, but there were some very nice sequences. The characters aren't very detailed (and there are way too many of them), and for some reason the animators, when the script says "Let's hurry!" still has everyone cycle through the same walk animation they've been using the whole time. The script is pretty good, though there are some clunky parts, and the story shows some drastic cutting – but my friends did good work, there's some cleverness in the background details, and overall, it didn't suck. In fact, it was downright painless.
So that's The Last Flight of the Champion. You got kids who like science fiction, it's a safe bet.
"Rated PG for some rude humor." Huh. That means a monkey flings poo. Offscreen. People only talk about it. I don't get the MPAA.
Categories: Life's Rich Pageant, Movies That Do Not Suck, The Wonderful World of Crap . Tags: barbet schroeder, diabetes, general idi amin dada, jack reacher, last flight of the champion, tom cruise, vinegar syndrome, vixens of kung fu, werner herzog . Author: drfreex . Comments: 1 Comment