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Home » Uncategorized » Lennon exhibit comes to town
Lennon exhibit comes to town
by LLOYD CARGO December 9, 2005 April 20, 2021
John Lennon might be one of the most recognizable musicians in the world, but few know that his art was once compared to Pablo Picasso's. Lennon's traveling art exhibit, "So This Is Xmas," opened yesterday in Ann Arbor and will continue through Sunday.
Sarah Royce
Gabe Kleer looks at a drawing by John Lennon at the "So This is Xmas" exhibit yesterday. The exhibit showcases the line-drawing talents of the late Beatle. (JEREMY CHO/Daily)
The free exhibit, located at 217 North Main St., showcases the line-drawing talents of the man who was half of pop music's greatest songwriting team and features videos and music from the legendary Beatle. The exhibit opens just in time for the 25th anniversary of his tragic murder.
"John has a great history with Ann Arbor, and Yoko (Ono, Lennon's widow) specifically wanted us to come to Ann Arbor to commemorate his death," said Rudy Siegal, a planner for the exhibit. "John and Yoko had a really special time in this area."
In 1971, Lennon made an extremely rare, post-Beatles live appearance at Crisler Arena. He and Ono played a benefit concert advocating for the release of local political activist John Sinclair, who had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for selling two joints of marijuana. Lennon performed a song called "John Sinclair," which later appeared on his album Sometime in New York City. The Michigan Supreme Court freed Sinclair three days later.
The exhibit culls more than 100 pieces of Lennon's artwork produced between 1968 and 1980.
"Most of the people that come to the exhibit didn't know he was also an artist, so they are blown away by the volume of pieces we have," Siegal said. "Usually we have (more than) 100 pieces on display, but the amount of artwork is consumable for the masses. Because it's line-drawing, pen-and-ink sketches, even if you are the most high-falutin' art snob, whether you are five or 85, you can enjoy it. If you've never been to a gallery before, you can enjoy it," Siegal said.
Though Lennon never received much recognition for his visual art, he had a unique style that mirrored his more famous musical talents. Simple and succinct, rendered with enthusiasm and speed, Lennon's sketches capture his complex emotions through nothing more than pen and paper.
Still, his artwork has been the subject of controversy. In 1970, London police raided a Lennon exhibition and seized some drawings depicting sex acts. Lennon's defense team produced similar works by Pablo Picasso and argued before a magistrate court that Lennon's work was no more obscene than Picasso's. Some of the seized pieces are on display at "So This Is Xmas."
Beyond their historical significance, Ono said Lennon's art is especially important in light of recent events. "Love was the main theme," she said in a written statement. "It was the main motivation. The main drive. I think that we need a lot of that today. And there's a scarcity of that right now. I'd like to sort of circulate that more in the world, and I think that John's art exhibition is good for that, too."
In 1968, Lennon said, "If art were to redeem man, it could do so only by saving him from the seriousness of life and restoring him to an unexpected boyishness."
So young or old, casual Lennon fan or Beatles obsessive, check out "So This Is Xmas" while you can. Although there is no cover charge, there is a suggested donation of $2, which will go to Dawn Farms, a local rehab and recovery center. Siegal urged those who enjoy the exhibit to be generous. "We are lucky enough in that we are able to raise money for various causes," he said.
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Q: Form Select with Multiple Options (Show another Input when "Others" and any other option selected) I have form where one of the selectors is multiple. One of the options of this selector is "Other", once this is selected extra input shows up to give an option to enter additional information.
Since this is a multiple choice there might be a scenario that user will choose one or more of the options + "other". So the way it is done so far, there is no possibility to choose both, and having extra input to stay ready for use, and this is what I'm after. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!
Already working JsFiddle: https://jsfiddle.net/nitadesign/192yb7ut/11/
HTML:

        SELECT
        <select
        class="form-control other_income" name="other_income" id="other_income" multiple>
            <option value="None">None</option>
            <option value="Employment (PAYE)">Employment (PAYE)</option>
            <option value="Dividends">Dividends</option>
            <option value="Pension Income">Pension Income</option>
            <option value="Property (Rental) Income">Property (Rental) Income</option>
            <option value="Foreign Income">Foreign Income</option>
            <option value="Capital Gains">Capital Gains</option>
            <option value="Other">Other</option>
         </select>

        OTHER
        <input type="text"
        class="form-control other_income_other" name="other_income_other" id="other_income_other">

My JS:

    $(document).on('change', '#other_income', function(e){
        e.preventDefault();
        el = $("#other_income_other_input");
        other_income = this.value;
        if (other_income == "Other") {
            el.show();

        }
        else {
            el.hide();
        }
    });

A: You can check if the state of the option is selected and display the other form based on that:
$("#other_income").on("change", function()
{
    if($(this).find("[value=\"Other\"]").is(":selected") == true)
    $("#other_income_other_input").show();
  else
    $("#other_income_other_input").hide();
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Q: Tensor Flow - MetaGraphDef Protobuf: Difference between node_list and bytes_list in collection_def I'm currently working on Tensor Flow and I need to get a better understanding on how framework Python API serializes the tf.Variables during the saving operation. The model has been saved during a distributed computation (I don't know if this information can be useful).
In order to be clear creating a tf.Variable in this way:
global_step = tf.get_variable(tf.GraphKeys.GLOBAL_STEP, shape=[], dtype=tf.int64, initializer=tf.zeros_initializer(), collections=[tf.GraphKeys.GLOBAL_VARIABLES, tf.GraphKeys.GLOBAL_STEP], use_resource=True)

I get this kind of collection_def inside the protobuf.
collection_def {
  key: "global_step"
  value {
    node_list {
      value: "global_step:0"
    }
  }
}

While if I create a tf.Variable with this line of code:
w = tf.get_variable("foo_weights", dtype=tf.float32, shape=[1, 1], initializer=tf.zeros_initializer, use_resource=True)

I'll get that collection_def inside the protobuf of the model I saved:
collection_def {
  key: "trainable_variables"
  value {
    bytes_list {
      value: "\n\rfoo_weights:0\022\022foo_weights/Assign(\001"
    }
  }
}

Why the first collection_def has a bytes_list while the second one has a node_list ? Which are the difference between these two situations regarding the storing and the restoring of the model?


A porcelain dental bridge is a fixed restorative device used to replace one or more missing teeth. A dental bridge is made up of two crowns and one or more false teeth. The missing tooth, called a pontic, is filled in by the tooth or teeth attached to the bridge. The teeth on each end of the bridge, called the abutment teeth, support the bridge and usually require crowns, which are attached to your own teeth to hold the bridge in place.
When this is done with the artistry of years of experience and training, these teeth look and feel natural, giving you a wonderful smile. At Making You Smile Cosmetic Dental Studio, we use all porcelain bridges to achieve optimum aesthetic results and avoid the metal dark lines that show at the gum line with porcelain/metal bridges.
If you are missing teeth, then a porcelain fixed bridge may be right for you. When you are missing a tooth, the surrounding teeth may start to drift into the gap left between your teeth. This shifting of teeth may lead to changes in your bite, fractured teeth or damaged fillings. It may also lead to jaw pain and possible headaches. A dental bridge can help you avoid these issues, giving you a healthy, natural looking smile.
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So we went downtown and Pusta Krishna takes Prabhupada's card for shots, and he gets the shot and when the man asks him for his name he says, "Bhaktivedanta Swami." And then he asked him for date of birth. So then Pusta Krishna says, "I forgot." And the man said, "You forgot?" Then at that time I'm sitting just two rows up and saying, "Oh, God, we're in trouble now." So all of a sudden I start chanting, "Hare Krishna!" I'm chanting and I'm doing this ecstasy thing. And the guy is looking around, he said, "What's going on?" He says, "You don't remember?" And Pusta Krishna says, "I can't remember anything anymore. It's so confusing, all this chanting, I don't remember anything anymore," and I'm just going on and on and on making a whole scene. Finally the guy said, "Well, when you remember, write it on the card." He said, "Yeah, I sure will." Then we went back and we wrote in 1896. We told Prabhupada what we did, and he was laughing and laughing.


Shortly after the CryptoKitties craze that has gripped the world in the end of last year waned, China's internet giant and most popular search engine Baidu announced the launch of CryptoDogs, Laici Gou, in mainland China.
The goal of the game, which is very similar to Tamagochis or Pokemons, but is played on a blockchain, rather than with cards, is to breed and collect various dogs. Each of them has unique traits, or genes, that produce another unique breed of dog with different traits when bred.
The transactions are recorded on a blockchain ledger. Unlike CryptoKitties, which was played on the Ethereum network and congested it for days, creating a huge backlog and annoying the people using it for other purposes than breeding digital cats, CryptoDogs will be played on a separate blockchain. It is a fork of the Achain public blockchain platform.
Unlike the CryptoKitties, which were purchased with Ether, the digital dogs will be paid for with special credit points generated by Baidu. They will not be exchangeable for fiat currency or other cryptocurrencies, but obtained by using Baidu's products.
Meanwhile, the co-creator of the CryptoKitties Benny Giang told Tech-Node that the Chinese-language version of the digital cats game will launch in mainland China for the Lunar new year in mid-February as a mobile application for iOS and Android.


Reggae artiste Nesbeth is mourning the loss of his sister. The artiste took to Instagram earlier today to announce the news. In the post, he did not disclose the cause of death, however he said she died this morning.
This is the second death of a loved one for the recording artiste. On February 17 this year his wife Ann Marie passed away in a United States hospital.
A number of fans and industry insiders have offered condolences to the artiste via social media.
The news team sought a comment from the artiste but numerous calls to his phone went unanswered.


text:
Camera IconA Kosovo tribunal was set up to handle cases relating to alleged crimes by KLA fighters in 1998-99.
Kosovo war crimes suspect held in Belgium
March 17, 2021 2:36AM
Kosovo war crimes suspect Pjeter Shala has been arrested in Belgium, the Hague-based Kosovo tribunal says.
The Kosovo war crimes court said in a statement that Shala would be detained in Belgium pending his transfer to The Hague but it gave no details on the charges against him.
According to Kosovo media reports, Shala is a former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army and is also known as "the Wolf".
He was also investigated as a potential suspect by the now closed UN-established Yugoslav war crimes court but never charged.
The Kosovo tribunal was set up abroad in 2015 to handle cases relating to alleged atrocities by KLA fighters during and after the revolt against Serbian rule in 1998-99.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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After path-breaking announcements in the field of artificial intelligence, data analytics and other emerging technologies in the year 2018-19, industry insiders had many hopes from this year's interim budget. However, apart from a handful of key announcements, the interim budget for the year 2019-20 left many questions unanswered.
To actualise the ambitious initiative of the National Centre for AI, Goyal announced that the Central Government has identified nine priority areas. Union Minister said, adding compliance procedures and regulatory bottlenecks concerning startups are also being currently looked into. He also added that the Government would be working towards creating a national portal for AI in the current year itself.
Goyal also talked about how India has become the second-largest startup hub of the world. "We are proud of the hard work and innovative ideas of our youth in this sector," he said. Goyal also added that due to this buzzing startup ecosystem, jobs are no longer being created in traditional factories and that job seekers have now become job creators.
Through the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, over 1 crore youth are being trained to help them earn a livelihood, said Goyal. "Youth power has been harnessed through self-employment schemes including MUDRA, Startup India and Stand-up India… The government is proud of the hard work and innovative ideas of our youth," he added.
Goyal also announced that the Government was planning to create 1 lakh digital villages in India over the next five years.
According to the budget documents, the government in this year's budget reduced the allocated amount to ₹25 crore from the revised estimate of ₹28 crore in FY19. The cumulative allocation for the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) was also reduced to ₹5,674.51 crore for 2019-20. Meanwhile, last year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had doubled the allocation on Digital India programme to ₹3,073 crore in 2018-19.
Experts have suggested that due to the upcoming elections, the focus of this year's budget has been shifted from technology and business to education, agriculture and tax reforms for individuals.
So far, the Narendra Modi-led BJP Government has been working towards achieving its commitment towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the help of AI by 2030, as it has the potential to churn out a slew of applications while keeping in mind the quality of approach. Industry insiders were happy so far to see that the Modi-led NDA government has been working towards supporting a tech-driven future. Acting upon these instructions, NITI Aayog had released its AI Strategy, a first-of-its-kind in India, which outlined the scope of research, adoption and commercialisation of AI in India.
Startups have been suffering from a downward trend in funding, even though the startup ecosystem is thriving. Many personalities from this sector were hoping that the Budget would allow them some respite from Angel tax, but this issue was unaddressed during the interim budget.
But looking at the new fund allocation for their ambitious Startup India plan, many have been worried about the Government changing their focus from business and corporates to public welfare. Despite the subtle change in track by the government, industry giants have welcomed the announcement and are feeling optimistic about the adoption of AI and ML at a large scale at the national level.


text:
Home Car News BBC Announces Top Gear Christmas Special Featuring Jeremy Clarkson
BBC Announces Top Gear Christmas Special Featuring Jeremy Clarkson
Brad Anderson
The BBC has announced that at Christmas, it will air a two-part special highlighting Jeremy Clarkson's role with the broadcaster during his time as lead host of Top Gear.
Dubbed 'Top Gear: From A to Z', the special will be narrated by John Bishop and include Top Gear fans revealing some of their very favourite segments of Top Gear throughout its 12-year run in its current format.
During the special, each letter of the alphabet will refer to a different word of phrase of relevance to Clarkson and the show.
It is somewhat surprising to hear that the BBC has decided to produce this special given its soured relationship with the journalist. Nonetheless, we're looking forward to it!
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Our team of professionals who work towards fulfilment of the dreams of specially disabled people include Doctors (including specialist in various related fields), Counsellors, Urologist and Andrologist Physiotherapist, Social workers, Nursing staffs, Dietician and well meaning care takers.
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He was diagnosed as Kocks Spine; he was operated and became a paraplegic wheelchair bound person. Through reference of Sion Hospital he was admitted with us in November 2011.
Our team of Professionals took full charge, through acupuncture and Physiotherapy he was able to walk without support within few months. Our team of Counsellors and Social Workers not only helped him with funds through various Trusts (for his monthly contribution to Health Harmony) but also helped him in total Rehabilitation by sourcing a donor to assist him with a sewing Machine.
With this Health Harmony has not only helped him physically but also achieved our "Motive" of making a difference in people lives through building Self Confidence, total Social, Economic, Emotional and Physical Rehabilitation.
"Uma Sankar today not only living a happy life with his family but also leading an economically stable life".
When he joined us he already was suffering from Depression our primary task was to out of Depression. Our Professional Counsellor took charge of him and through various counselling sessions he was brought back to normal.
Next task in our hand was to bring economic stability in his life, we therefore enrolled him in mobile repair mechanism training, and this was part of the rehabilitation program at Health Harmony. He fared well in this training program & was granted a certificate (recognized by Government of India), this will help him in securing a good job so that he can live a decent lifestyle.
We understand that his father has now agreed to support him to start his own venture (mobile service centre).
We are very proud of our patient Dilawar Khan – Future Business man.
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In such level of Spine tumour it is very rare that patients can walk independently, through our intense exercise regime (Physiotherapy & acupuncture) he has recovered 80% and can walk with assistance of a walking frame.
During his rehabilitation we sourced a donor for a laptop which was given to Shams to enhance his qualification; we enrolled him in the AutoCAD course.
We also assisted Shams in applying to various multinational companies & he has been selected by Eureka Forbes for their call centre as trainee.
Our Counsellors in this case are also counselling his family members & trying to sort out issues with his family to arrive at an amicable solution to their property dispute.
- Acupuncture Treatment weakly twice.
All meals at Health Harmony are as per diet chart recommended by Dieticians.


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text:
Cows of the Jurassic Part of the Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries exhibition
© Kent Stevens, University of Oregon
If sauropods couldn't lift their necks high--as computer models reveal--how did they get enough to eat? We know from fossils that as many as five different types of sauropods may have shared a habitat, and all the enormous animals had to consume lots of plants--perhaps hundreds of kilograms per animal per day. If no one could reach the treetops, where were those meals coming from?
Long legs may hold the answer. Though all sauropods held their necks parallel to the ground, or angled slightly downward, some of the largest sauropods had very long front legs. That means they could graze on plants as high as six meters (about 20 feet).
In contrast, the body design of Apatosaurus and its relative Diplodocus, with shorter front legs than rear, would have made low feeding comfortable. These huge animals, like Jurassic cows, may have grazed peacefully on the tender ferns that flourished along ancient lakes, swamps, and rivers.
Diplodocus Heads
© Michael W. Skrepnick
Nose in the Air
Scientists disagree on the position of the nose openings on Diplodocus. Some argue for a location high on the skull, which would have allowed the animal to breathe while its mouth was under shallow water. Others think the nostrils were closer to the mouth.


A unique evening workshop that combined two important components of the job search: head shots and resume writing.
Photographer Melissa Gallagher came and set up a professional photo shoot for women looking to have an updated head shot.
Lisa Toby, Director of Career Services, Simmons School of Management taught an outstanding workshop on "Job Search Strategies: Tools and Protocols" that pointed out the current ways that employers are looking at resumes.
Lisa came prepared with research she had done with many current health care providers, asking them about what they are seeking in applicants, and what kinds of resumes are getting more attention. She reminded everyone that resumes get a very quick look and it's important to have your resume formatted in the best possible way.
The bottom line is that employers are seeking results-oriented descriptions and metrics on resumes, as opposed to highlighting soft skills.


New York Fashion Week will be sadly bereft of its regularly packed party schedule. Marc Jacobs has canceled his postshow party, one of the most anticipated of the season. Calvin Klein has nixed its usual postshow dinner or party. Reasons for the cancellations are unspecified, but we all probably have a good guess as to why. Earlier this week, we learned Alexander Wang would forgo his typically sweaty night of revelry, not because of the economy, a spokeswoman said, but to bring focus back to the clothes.
So where will Fashion Week attendees show off their evening harem pants and drink away the immense stress brought on by sitting and looking at fabulous clothes all day? Giorgio Armani will celebrate the opening of his giant new Fifth Avenue flagship on February 17 — probably the biggest party this season. Diane Von Furstenberg will host her usual party for friends and family at her studio and Narciso Rodriguez will have his typically casual postshow dinner for friends, family, and editors. Matthew Williamson will also fête the opening of his first U.S. flagship, in the meatpacking district. But all in all, this Fashion Week will be pretty quiet. Indeed, it's hard to celebrate when so many companies are laying people off. We're okay with a few fewer parties. Still, we urge the Champagne companies to still sponsor the shows themselves.


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text:
Louis-Albert Salingré was a French archer who competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. Salingré entered the double York round event in 1908, taking 22nd place with 347 points.  He then competed in the Continental style contest, placing seventh at 215 points.

References

External links
 profile

Year of birth missing
Year of death missing
French male archers
Olympic archers of France
Archers at the 1908 Summer Olympics

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: How does Lucene combine fields and boosting values to generate a score? I followed how Lucene scores a document in this link:
https://lucene.apache.org/core/3_6_2/api/core/org/apache/lucene/search/Similarity.html
but how does Lucene deal with multiple fields and field boosts?  For example, if I have two fields: f1 and f2 and their corresponding field boosts: b1 and b2, would the final score be:
final score = b1*cosine_similarity(f1) + b2*cosine_similarity(f2)

Thanks in advance!

A: cosine-similarity is a function of two parameters. First is the query and the second is the document.
In your case you probably have a boolean query which contains clauses for these two fields. For example, "f1: text OR f2: text". If you look at the scoring formula:
score(q, d) = coord(q,d) * queryNorm(q) * sum[tf(t in d) * idf(t)^2 * t.getBoost() * norm(t,d)]

you see there is an element norm(t, d). This function encapsulates boosts and length factors:
norm(t,d) = doc.getBoost() * lengthNorm * prod[f.getBoost()]

And that f.getBoost() is the boost of the corresponding field.
To summarise it is the simplified score of the query above (suppose tf = 1 and idf = 1/2 for both terms and all boosts other than field boosts are equal to 1):
score("f1: text OR f2: text", "{f1: '... text ...', f2: '... text ...'") = coordAndQueryNormPart * (1 * 1/4 * 1 * f1boost + 1 * 1/4 * 1 * f2boost)

UPD:
I wrote an example which might be helpful. Lucene index here contains two equal documents, but in the first document "f1" field is boosted:
    Directory dir = new RAMDirectory();
    IndexWriterConfig config = new IndexWriterConfig(Version.LUCENE_36, new StandardAnalyzer(Version.LUCENE_36));
    IndexWriter writer = new IndexWriter(dir, config);

    float field1Boost = 2.0f;

    Document doc = new Document();
    Field f1 = new Field("f1", "field text", Field.Store.YES, Field.Index.ANALYZED, Field.TermVector.WITH_POSITIONS_OFFSETS);
    f1.setBoost(field1Boost);
    doc.add(f1);
    doc.add(new Field("f2", "another text", Field.Store.YES, Field.Index.ANALYZED, Field.TermVector.WITH_POSITIONS_OFFSETS));
    writer.addDocument(doc);

    doc = new Document();
    doc.add(new Field("f1", "field text", Field.Store.YES, Field.Index.ANALYZED, Field.TermVector.WITH_POSITIONS_OFFSETS));
    doc.add(new Field("f2", "another text", Field.Store.YES, Field.Index.ANALYZED, Field.TermVector.WITH_POSITIONS_OFFSETS));
    writer.addDocument(doc);
    writer.commit();

    writer.close();

    IndexReader indexReader = IndexReader.open(dir);

    IndexSearcher searcher = new IndexSearcher(indexReader);
    QueryParser parser = new QueryParser(Version.LUCENE_36, "f1", new StandardAnalyzer(Version.LUCENE_36));
    Query query = parser.parse("f1: text OR f2: text");
    TopDocs docs = searcher.search(query, 2);

    float score1 = docs.scoreDocs[0].score;
    float score2 = docs.scoreDocs[1].score;

    float score1check = 0.26274973154067993f * field1Boost + 0.26274973154067993f;
    float score2check = 0.26274973154067993f + 0.26274973154067993f;

    if (Math.abs(score1 - score1check) > 0.00001) throw new RuntimeException();
    if (Math.abs(score2 - score2check) > 0.00001) throw new RuntimeException();

    System.out.println("Score 1 = " + score1 + " ; score 2 = " + score2);


Income inequality is very much in the news. There is no doubt that income inequality and differences in economic status lead to unequal access to justice. Discussion of unequal access and education on causes and solutions is an important role for our Bar Association. But paramount is for us to work to connect all members of our society to access to justice. At our local level, we must do everything we can to ensure that the most vulnerable of our neighbors have the same ability to find justice in the courts as the wealthiest.
In terms of timing, the evidence unequivocally demonstrates that arrestees who post the full amount of bail listed on the Bail Schedule can secure release more quickly than any other category of arrestees. This is true even when an arrestee who posts the full bail amount has been charged with a more serious offense than the indigent arrestee. By way of example only, the Sheriff released on bail within several hours of arrest a person who had been charged in what appeared to be a serious assault case involving an axe and requiring SWAT team management, while an indigent, disabled individual who was also arrested for assault (her "deadly weapon" was a cane) was held in custody for five days because she could not afford the felony bail. There, the assault charge was ultimately reduced to a misdemeanor, and the individual was released on her own recognizance. Consistent with this example, research indicates that individuals charged with serious or violent offenses who are able to secure release usually do so by posting bail.
Given the consequences which flow from an extended duration of pre-arraignment detention, the Court finds the deprivation significant. Accordingly, plaintiffs have shown that the Sheriff, through use of the Bail Schedule, has significantly deprived plaintiffs of their fundamental right to liberty by sole reason of their indigence.
That government hires lawyers to prosecute and defendants who have the money hire lawyers to defend are the strongest indications of the widespread belief that lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries. The right of one charged with crime to counsel may not be deemed fundamental and essential to fair trials in some countries, but it is in ours. From the very beginning, our state and national constitutions and laws have laid great emphasis on procedural and substantive safeguards designed to assure fair trials before impartial tribunals in which every defendant stands equal before the law. This noble ideal cannot be realized if the poor man charged with crime has to face his accusers without a lawyer to assist him.
The logic of the bail reformers equally applies to the right to counsel. Ours is not a wealth-based system of justice. It is a fairness and equality-based system. To deny an indigent the right to appointed counsel and allow a wealthier defendant the benefit of a hired attorney would raise the same issues about wealth-based access to justice as cash bail does. The debate and factual conclusions surrounding bail reform would lead one to the conclusion that the right to counsel for an indigent accused of a criminal offense is safe from challenge or elimination.
Third, our precedents seek to use the Sixth Amendment right to counsel to achieve an end it is not designed to guarantee. The right to counsel is not an assurance of an error-free trial or even a reliable result. It ensures fairness in a single respect: permitting the accused to employ the services of an attorney. The structural protections provided in the Sixth Amendment certainly seek to promote reliable criminal proceedings, but there is no substantive right to a particular level of reliability. In assuming otherwise, our ever-growing right-to-counsel precedents directly conflict with the government's legitimate interest in the finality of criminal judgments. I would proceed with far more caution than the Court has traditionally demonstrated in this area.
The language that Justice Thomas uses strongly suggests his belief that the Constitution cannot allow the government to prevent an accused from employing counsel to assist them, but does not require the government to provide a lawyer to an accused who cannot afford one. This interpretation would create another massive inequity in our criminal justice system between those who have money and those who don't. For all the reasons that the bail reform advocates cite, it would logically follow that the right to an appointed counsel for those who cannot afford to hire their own lawyer is a bedrock right that levels the playing field for those who lack funds.
Failing to provide an indigent individual accused of a crime with appointed counsel would create a justice system based more on access to funds than equal treatment of all. As the makeup of the United States Supreme Court changes, the right to appointed counsel may be another liberty interest that faces elimination. This is yet another urgent reason that it is incumbent upon us as individuals and as an association to do everything we can to preserve and protect equal access to justice, regardless of economic status.


text:
Dose of realism crucial for EMU
ALEXANDRE Lamfalussy specialises in being a party-pooper. It is, afterall, in every central banker's job description. As their representative and spokesman, the president of the European Monetary Institute is required to reassert the importance of economic reality everytime he hears the sirens of political expediency.
Lamfalussy's latest pooping target is the fickle international investor. Since the summer, the expectations of the financial markets have undergone a transformation; from arch sceptics, they are now utterly certain that European economic and monetary union will kick off in less than 800 days.
"Somehow, the financial markets have got themselves into that belief, but they swing from one extreme to another. Two years ago, they thought it was absolutely hopeless. While I am reasonably confident that it will happen, it is not 100% sure," says Lamfalussy, speaking in his 35th-floor office with its panoramic view of Frankfurt.
The man who has headed the precursor to a European Central Bank (ECB) since its inception nearly three years ago is suspicious of the kind of certainty which has narrowed the difference between the long-term interest rates of the EMU front runners to such an extent that they are treated as almost interchangeable.
Many investors have got it into their heads that politics will take precedence over economics when the EMU membership short-list is agreed in March 1998.
They believe that countries which are considered essential to get the single currency under way (ie France) will not be shown the door simply because their budget deficits surpass the now famous target of 3% of national income.
"That is precisely why I am not 100% certain, because I think we must be absolutely sure that the monetary union starts on a viable basis," says Lamfalussy. "This means that you cannot disregard a serious assessment of genuine and sustainable convergence."Just 15 months from now, a Union summit will decide which countries should be allowed to form a single currency bloc on the basis of assessments of economic performance in 1997 – one drawn up by the European Commission and the other by the EMI.
If anybody thinks the EMI will do a rubber-stamping job, they had better think again. Lamfalussy, who will have retired nine months earlier in July 1997 to make way for Nederlandsche Bank President Wim Duisenberg, serves notice that the central bankers will scrutinise the figures rigorously.
The Maastricht Treaty rules make it clear that, during 1997, budget deficits should be reduced to 3% of gross domestic product or less, unless an overshoot is caused by undefined "exceptional" and "temporary" factors, and that public debt should be heading towards 60% of GDP. But this is not everything.
"The treaty also insists on sustainability," says Lamfalussy. "This is a qualitative judgement and therefore, when we sit down and look at the real-life 1997 figures, we will first have to ask whether an exception is acceptable and for what reason, and secondly ask: even if the figures are good for 1997, will this last?
"Even setting aside political considerations, it is not intuitively evident what conclusions we would come to. My recommendation is to stay on the safe side. The single most important factor in making sure that EMU starts off well is to make a good choice of countries."To judge this, the EMI will look at the published budget for 1998. "Good figures for 1998 budgets are no substitute for bad actual figures in 1997, but they can confirm the sustainability of good figures."Lamfalussy is scrupulously careful not to name names, but the message is clear: the bookkeeping tricks performed by the French and Italian governments to get their deficits conveniently below 3% in 1997 will not necessarily do them any good when the crunch comes.
"We will have to look behind the 1997 figures and ask how they were achieved," he warns. "Clearly, if a country has achieved good results because it is beginning to tackle some of its most substantial problems then that is alright, but if it has achieved those figures in a way that does not seem to be sustainable and fails to attack the core of its problems, that is not good."Countries using one-off measures to window-dress their 1997 data should be warned. "If it is a one-off measure which has no future, then we will have to be tough," says Lamfalussy. "We will have no choice because the sustainability criterion will not have been respected."It is the very readiness of this fledgling institution to throw its weight around that has already started to worry the politicians.
When it came up with its design for a new exchange rate system to bind those outside the euro-zone to those inside, the EMI council – made up of all the EU's central bank governors plus Lamfalussy – suggested that those 'outs' which wanted narrow bands should negotiate with the ECB.
This, in the view of several finance ministries, was a flagrant attempt to wrest away powers specifically assigned to them by the Maastricht Treaty.
To look at it more generously, the EMI has certainly managed in its short life to bring swift solutions to problems – such as the new European Monetary System or drafting a blueprint for the transition to the single currency – which would certainly have bedevilled ministers for years.
This ability to act quickly is in the very nature of the EMI, says its president. "Once you have an institution with staff and a tightly working council, it helps. But, more fundamentally, you must remember that central bankers have been working together for a very long time. Before the EMI, the committee of central bank governors had been meeting for 25 years. These people have been relatively stable in their jobs so ensuring continuity," he points out.
"The result of that is that in many respects we have had a convergence already in central banking philosophy and strategies, and even in practices. We have seen a convergence not only in the techniques of policy, but also in thegeneral philosophy oriented towards price stability. Once you have this sort of consensus, it is relatively easy to be efficient because you do not have to question basic principles every single time there is a difference of opinion."Should politicians be scared of this emerging Frankfurt powerhouse?
"I do not believe they should fear that," says Lamfalussy, who maintains there is a simple way for politicians to redress any power imbalance.
"There is clearly a need for strengthening the E, or economic, leg of EMU. The M leg has been well spelled-out in the treaty, but the E leg needs strengthening – not to control the central bank which the ministers will not do – but so that they can become a credible partenaire de dialogue. This means cooperation between governments in the shaping of macro-economic policy. What we need is a good policy mix."Lamfalussy believes the 'stability pact' designed to impose budgetary discipline in a monetary union suggested by the German government goes some way towards addressing this problem, but does not go far enough.
Even once these tough rules have been agreed, it will be possible for a large country to swing from a budget surplus of 2% of GDP to a deficit of 3% without facing the approbrium of fellow pact members.
"That is a 5% shift in GDP! This is something which is bound to have an impact on interest rates and affect the others. The stability pact is there to prevent major slippages and it needs to be there but, within the pact, you still need to have anex ante coordination of policies," he insists.
As he heads for retirement in July, Lamfalussy might be just the right man to explain to governments just how they should deal with what promises to be the world's most powerful central bank.


At the top of Sunday's NFL betting board we find a matchup between 1-1 teams as the Pittsburgh Steelers visit the St. Louis Rams. The Steelers opened the season with a 28-21 loss to the New England Patriots–after which they spent much time boobing about defective headsets and the Patriots 'cheating' despite the fact that the defective audio equipment was the responsibility of the NFL. They recovered the following week to dominate a bumbling San Francisco 49ers team to even their record. The Rams upset the Seattle Seahawks on their home field in the opening week of the season only to take to the road last week and lose badly to the Washington Redskins.
Remember when the Steelers were known for a punishing defense? We're not even talking the 'Steel Curtain' days, but the recent vintage Super Bowl champions. Now, not so much. Things have been bad so far but they're clearly not the shutdown unit so often seen in the Steel City. Ditto the Rams–they've allowed 28 PPG in their first two games. That porous defense by St. Louis negates some of the concern we have about a pedestrian Steeler offensive line that is still trying to compensate for the absence of center Maurkice Powncey. The Rams' defense could be even worse than we're anticipating since they were eviscerated by the Redskins ho-hum offense last week.
Pittsburgh can still put points on the board–Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown are arguably the best QB/WR combination in the league and the team gets suspended running back Le'Von Bell in the lineup this weekend. Steelers have trended strongly 'Over' in non-conference games with 8 of the last 9 contests against the NFC exceeding the total. Likewise, the Rams have gone 'Over' in 6 of their last 8 non-conference affairs. They've also shown a decided 'Over' tendency on their home field with 11 of the last 18 contests (including 6 of the last 8) at home exceeding the total.
We'll look for the undervalued Steelers to 'steal' the outright victory in this game and at this price that's all we need them to do. We'll also look for this game to go 'Over' the total.


text:
Super Mario Maker's Tweaks Are Tiny But Have Huge Potential
Chris Kohler
Mid-level checkpoints and progressive power-ups mean you can create Mario levels closer to the real thing.
Nintendo's rolling out its first content update for Super Mario Maker, the Wii U game that lets you create and share your own Mario levels, on November 4. If you're expecting a huge bonanza of new items and enemies with which to fill your worlds, you may be disappointed, as Nintendo is only adding two new level-design features. But they carry with them momentous potential.
The features are mid-level checkpoints, so you don't have to start from the beginning of a stage if you die, and progressive power-ups---that is, a power-up block that will give you a Super Mushroom if you're tiny Mario and a Fire Flower if you're already Super-sized.
What links these two features, besides the fact that they're probably the most-demanded inclusions from players, is that they've both been a part of Super Mario games stretching all the way back to the very first, and therefore our idea of Mario level design already incorporates those, and it holds us back from being able to create levels that feel like Mario should. Some players have even gone so far as to attempt to implement ersatz "checkpoints" into their levels with varying degrees of success.
Both features will allow players more leeway to balance the difficulty of their levels, which will, I hope, lead to more engaging level designs overall: Without checkpoints or progressive power-ups, many Mario levels tend to either skew towards the too-easy side or the too-hard side. Now you can feel free to make your stage a little trickier, knowing that you can drop a checkpoint in after a particularly tough part.
Motivating players to keep going is important in game design (well, if you want people to finish your game, it is), and a checkpoint is the best motivation of all: If you die after getting 90% of the way through a Mario Maker level, there's a chance you'll get frustrated and just exit the level, rather than doing it all again. But if you've reached a checkpoint, it's like you've got sweat equity that you've already put in, a sunk cost that you don't want to lose---if you quit entirely, your checkpoint progress resets---so you're more likely to keep going and finish the level, then (importantly for Mario Maker designers) give it a thumbs-up star if you liked it.
It's a small update, but it's worth far more than ten new types of Koopa Troopa.
Chris Kohler started writing for WIRED in 2002, and founded WIRED.com's Game|Life channel in 2005. He is the author of the books Power-Up and Retro Gaming Hacks, and co-hosts the Stitcher Award-winning podcast Good Job, Brain!
TopicsMariovideo gamesGame|Life
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The 9th World Congress on Industrial Process Tomography (WCIPT-9) took place from 2nd to 6th September 2018 in Bath, UK hosting the world-wide experts in the field of process tomography. The participating ESRs benefited from exploring new themes in the science and technology of Industrial Process Tomography (IPT) and presented their research projects and results. The Coordinator, Prof. Dr. Uwe Hampel, gave an overview of the TOMOCON project and outlined its importance for research and the IPT community.


Preparing the next generation of technicians to meet the expectations of a highly technological workforce can be a challenge for educators. Often, the demands of teaching within a set curriculum prevent educators from broadening their students' knowledge of workplace requirements because they, themselves, are unfamiliar with those expectations. By exposing educators to business/industry environments, whether it be through educator externships, company visits, visiting lecturer or collaborative work-based projects in the classroom, educators are given the opportunity to infuse some excitement into their classroom(s). Educators who participate in these kinds of professional development programs have an opportunity to not only engage their students in more active learning experiences, but to become part of those experiences themselves.
Since 2005, the RCNGM Educator Externship Program has brought high school, community college and university educators into the workplace for four weeks during the summer so that they can experience for themselves problem based learning in the manufacturing industry. The COT-RCNGM is dedicated to helping educators prepare students for the workforce of the future through exposure to industry technologies and practices that they might not otherwise have.
Not only do these externships give teachers a greater understanding of advanced manufacturing today, but ideally, the program gives added value to participating employers. Through this collaboration, industry representatives have an opportunity to exchange ideas and make a direct impact on how teachers are preparing their students for the workforce.
Bringing relevancy into the classroom and updating educators' skills have been critical goals of the Educator Externship Program. Following their onsite externship experience, externs develop work-based learning curriculum projects that reflect what they learn during their externship. Once these projects are implemented, externs are expected to submit a summary report reflecting results of the implementation of the curriculum projects, impact on student learning, and the teachers' own experiences working at their host companies.
The externship program is administered by The Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA) Education & Workforce Partnership on behalf of the COT-RCNGM. A total of ten educators participate in externships at a manufacturing company tailored to their specific professional development needs each summer.
Encouraging school counselors to introduce students to the idea that manufacturing offers rewarding and upwardly mobile career paths is a goal of the RCNGM. The workshops were designed to give counselors a realistic view of where manufacturing is today and to give them the opportunity to interact with manufacturers. The agendas included a showing of the RCNGM Manufacture Your Future DVDs, overviews of the COT programs, presentations by employers, including young professionals who shared their career stories, and presentations from professors at the respective colleges, giving information about their manufacturing and engineering programs.
Contact us to get involved today!


text:
Love Fashion, Read This, Jackie Mallon, Silk for the Feed Dogs
Culture & Music, Design & Style News, Fashion & Style, Music & The Arts
An Exclusive Interview with Fashion Designer & Author of
Silk for the Feed Dogs, Jackie Mallon
I've started and stopped, typed and deleted this intro for the past … okay I won't say how long and yet it still didn't read right or give what I wanted to say any justice so I'm just going to blurt it out –
I bloody well got an interview with JACKIE MALLON !!!
Right so, that some-what out of my system let me just try string some words to describe Jackie Mallon and how I feel right now before my head explodes – Fashion Designer, Teacher, Giorgio Armani, Beyonce, Lucy Liu, London, Central St. Martins, Milan, New York, Author, Famous, Movie Stars, Music Stars, Designer, Britney Spears, Irish, Famous, Moschino, Silk for the Feed Dog, Novel, Anthropologie, Carrie Bradshaw – Sex in the City, I got an interview with Jackie Mallon, what the f … iddle sticks and holy sugar, I'm seeing Stars … nope that's just an email from Jackie Mallon, cool.
If you understood that, you know why you read this blog.
A few weeks ago the opportunity arose to interview Fashion Designer and Author of Silk for the Feed Dogs, Jackie Mallon. I jumped at the chance, like any sane person with her own blog/website would. I was really delighted to be given the opportunity to chat to Jackie, alas not face to face over a coffee or pint but over this here internet, but Dublin and New York City seem only a stones throw away from each other when emails are bounced back and forth.
Jackie Mallon is a Fashion Designer to the Stars. She's Author to a brilliant first novel but she's also Irish, a County Tyrone girl, from Cookstown to be precise, a place that is known for farming and was known for linen and with no pun intended this makes up the fabric of Jackie Mallon.
The book is a must read for budding Fashion Designers as it gives a behind the scene glimpse into the real world of fashion, for Fashion Designers, who will relate to Jackie's words, trials tribulations and successes and for Fashion Lovers who seek a great read. Having studied an Honours Degree in Fashion Design myself in Belfast, a career I did not pursue or have 'what if's' about but never say never, I found it both insightful, fun and full of 'ah that's what it would've been like' moments.
Here's a taster of what it's all about …
Silk for the Feed Dogs illuminates a world the author knows intimately in a way it hadn't been described before: with thoughtfulness, profundity and humour.
Kat Connelly, innovative designer and introspective daughter of an Irish farmer, is disappointed with her first job in fashion. She copies catwalk looks for a London garmento who is reliant on two things to survive: selfmedication and cheap Chinese production.
Kat feels the lure of a higher aesthetic beckoning and escapes to Milan.
As Italy's imminent smoking ban looms darkly over the land, Kat's personal world lights up: design and beauty are all around, dazzling and seducing, not to mention the overwhelming Italian male libido. She has claimed her slice of the bella vita and with it a sense of belonging she has yearned for since childhood. Of course, the bella vita comes at a price. When Kat is invited into the impenetrable House of Adriani to design their high-profile collection, she throws a cast-iron hierarchy into turmoil. Some will do anything to see her fall …
And here's the interview …
Silk for the Feed Dogs, for some of us in the know, get the title and understand it but for others can you explain …
Feed dogs are the two metal bars with teeth underneath the needleplate of the sewing machine. They are in place to feed the fabric through the machine. But if they get clogged or the tension is wrong they will chew your precious fabric to within an inch of its life. All you'll be left with is a handful of threads. As you can imagine, the fashion industry is riddled with feed dogs of the flesh and blood variety. The silk of this story is the 100% farm-bred, milk-fed, unsuspecting heroine, Kat Connelly, who confronts the feed dogs head on.
You've practically dressed Beyonce, Lucy Liu amongst other red carpet stars, worked with Giorgio Armani and Anthropologie but who in a magical world would you most like to work with (dead or alive) and who would your dream design wearer be?
With this question, you mean business! I'm thinking so hard I've chewed my lower lip to pieces. One easy one springs to mind–I designed for Moschino early in my career and loved it but often wondered what it would have been like to be there when Franco Moschino was alive. He was a balls-to-the-wall force to be reckoned with, and his sense of humour was at the heart of every business decision he made which also got him in a lot of trouble. Models crawled onto the catwalk, they wore paper bags on their heads, all sorts of silliness.
I'd like to dress Alison Goldfrapp as she has a very charismatic and modern way of putting herself together and yet has a look that harks back to the stunning silver screen goddesses of the thirties. I always admired the gorgeous ethereal style of Karen Elson. Now a musician she has unleashed a unique singing style and stage presence––add a guitar to a bohemian dress and I'm sold. I love people who are unafraid to move outside their lane and change the path of their futures. That fearlessness usually comes through in their fashion choices. I'd like to have been involved in Katherine Hepburn's androgynous wide-legged trouser looks and have contributed to the crazy cuteness of Bjork. How's that for variety?
Silk for the Feed Dogs gives an insight into the world of Fashion and in the most Fashion Design driven of cities. You tell it how it is, as the novel is semi autobiographical so with this in mind and as a reflection of your own experience … if you had to do it all again would you choose the cities you chose to study and work in?
I don't think there's any other city to get started in than London. It's so close to Ireland but in the right ways it's far enough away too. Coming from my BA in Belfast, I felt quite sheltered and Central St Martin's woke me up with a slap around the ears, that's for sure! All the museums, interesting shops, remarkable people and fleamarkets and just everyday scenes that catch your eye as you're strolling along the streets make London so inspiring for young creatives. The overheard conversations alone are eyeopening. It's rebellious and questioning and has such a history of art and fashion to draw from. I was hooked from the first day despite not having money to live in any of the pretty parts––although the dodgy parts aren't dodgy anymore since the Olympics.
I had always imagined after college I would move to Paris, never Milan, I spoke French too and not a word of Italian. A friend from St Martin's was there and suggested I give Milan a go, and the rest is history. I'll always harbour a "What if?" about Paris though. Maybe the famous French snobbery would have gotten to me. I prefer to be cursed at in the street then propositioned from a speeding moped which is the Italian way, than to be regarded with the cold aloofness associated with true Parisians.
You mention in your radio interview that Irish greats such as Seamus Heaney and Polly Devlin inspired you as a reader, what Irish person would you consider an inspiration right now?
I'll focus on my two fields, writing and fashion, even though there are a bunch of inspiring Irish people. I mean, Liam Neeson has steered his career at 60 years old into box office gold Hollywood action hero!
Simone Rocha is a graduate of NCAD in Dublin and the MA programme in St Martin's now making big waves in the international fashion industry for her experimental textiles and playful ladylike silhouette. She's part of this new wave of London Fashion Week talent that is attracting attention. I get a kick out of seeing her clothes stocked in the best stores here in NYC. She's the daughter of legendary Dublin-based designer John Rocha so it's in her blood but is a true talent in her own right. Fair play! It's about time Ireland with its wealth of fabric resources and craftsmanship rose up in the style stakes!
Wicklow-born photographer Boo George, touted by W magazine as "fashion photography's next big name" shoots for the best magazines and has a cool refreshing punky point of view that propels him to create hauntingly beautiful images.
I like to read the novels of Tana French who has dual citizenship in the US and Italy but studied in Trinity and considers Dublin home. I enjoy the similarities as I've lived in those countries too. I don't read a lot of crime but love to see the success of Stuart Neville, born in Armagh, slaying US audiences, winning prizes all over the place. A newbie novelist from the same Dublin stable as me, Betimes Books, is David Hogan whose novel The Last Island is a beautiful poignant read. There are so many home-grown inspirations to choose from. What, you wanted just one?
You enjoy going to readings in NYC, where authors and writers read extracts of their work and answer questions about it. Can you choose an extract from your own novel Silk for the Feed Dogs and answer why you chose it.
I chose this extract because it drops you right into the activity of Milan Fashion Week. Through Kat's reactions as she walks through the middle of the frenzy that is engulfing the city, I wanted the reader to vicariously experience it, feel the building excitement…
As the tram rasped along the tracks, a sliver of Jumbotron screen from a half-hidden piazza flashed catwalk images from earlier in the week. I got off at Piazza Cinque Giornate to walk. Traffic was stock-still; drivers sprouted angrily from windows and delivered passionate steering wheel soliloquies while swinging their arms to a chorus of horns. Carabinieri officers blew whistles. Sealed off in the back seat of each cab, exacting-looking women in their early thirties, their hands in laps, eyes downcast, were caressing key pads like the beads of a rosary, utterly remote from the chaos outside. It was the infamous Fashion Week stand-off between locals and out-of-towners.
My stomach had begun to turn. I sympathized with the locals—hadn't they every right to go about their daily business without this upheaval? And the out-of-towners—although it seemed like they just swanned in and created disruption, weren't they just doing their jobs too? Everyone around me, whether sounding off or feigning obliviousness, blaring his horn or cursing under his breath, was authentic. I was the lone imposter streaking through the centre of it, going unnoticed. I was the pretender; the hick who had rolled into town in stolen Chanel and deceived everyone.
But by the end of the day, all would be revealed. I would know and so would everyone else. My three month periodo di prova would be over. It was a common practice to put new designers on trial to see if they understood the aesthetic of the house, the dynamics of the company, the nature of la moda Italiana. Ginevra's comments this morning had touched a nerve. If the show didn't go well, if Rosalba changed her mind, if the reviews were bad, these and any number of other upsets could be blamed on me, for I was the only new element in the equation.
I reached a side street clogged with trucks and equipment. A caravan of rolling racks trundled by carrying four outfits to a carriage, the merest teaser of their exotic colours and textures offered by a transparent plastic window next to the zipper. They were like guests of honour arriving early to a gala, being drawn through grounds that were still being made ready. In the courtyard, I stepped aside to allow a company of men to pass carrying heavy sound equipment. I avoided wriggling ropes and cables underfoot like cracks in the pavement. Farther inside, the DJ was yelling at a sound technician and a photographer from the Corriere Della Sera was taking pictures for the evening edition while people milled, someone handed me an Access All Areas pass, and the music became louder as the DJ ran through the sequence one last time.
The whole city was a stage. Fashion Week was one big show comprised of many smaller ones. I felt a respect for every single player in this ensemble cast, no matter how small his role, no matter how reluctant, from tram drivers whose routes were disrupted to newsstand owners who ordered extra copies of the dailies. I envied the regularity of the gig, their familiarity with it and, most of all, their pure, blinding proximity to the lights, camera, action. After tossing my coat and bag in a backstage locker, I walked into the fray, rolled up my sleeves and, wearing a smile from ear to ear, joined in the preparations for curtain up.
"Everyone into their first outfits now! Not a moment to lose! And where is Svetlana?"
The girls had gone into Hair and Make-up looking like a bunch of high schoolers and emerged as exotic as a herd of giraffe. At the announcement, they responded leisurely at first, loaded eyelids blinking, long necks crooking, gangly limbs knocking. Still without rush, they began to peel off army sweaters, unwind scarves and kick off scuffed boots, their vertebrae bobbing just under the skin like multiple Adam's apples. As the outfits were pieced onto their bodies, they became less like wildlife and more like tribal figures, subjects of a sort of dressing ceremony in which elders draped skins, beads, scarves, feathers and jewels on the clan's youngest, most beautiful members. Adrenaline pulsated in my ears like a drumbeat as I watched them transform into the goddesses from the glossies.
"Find Svetlana," I heard Rosalba growl. "Her agent says she's here." I watched her retreating figure with her overhead choo-choo cloud of smoke and realized the growl had been directed at me. I set off running, in circles at first. How should I know where she is? What information on her whereabouts could I possibly have that Rosalba, the model booker, and the model's own agent didn't? I considered the possibility that Rosalba had gone off me; she was a capricious sort. On a hunch, I pulled open the heavy metal doors to the real world outside. Svetlana was gliding up the pavement in rollerblades with fluorescent wheels and smoking a cigarette, while flirting with three boys who were trying to impress her with their skateboarding tricks.
"There you are," I said, spinning her around on the spot, a giraffe on wheels. "You need to go immediately to Hair and Make-up. You're really late." I clamped the heavy door closed and steered her to the make-up artist who looked at her unmade-up face in horror.
On my way through, I stuck my head out and saw the venue had filled up as journalists and editors took their seats somberly. Many still wore sunglasses. The shoes in the front row reminded me of a coastline of beautiful villas, each one more extravagantly built, more architecturally challenging than the next.
"Agnese! Ana D! Lara! Fucking get in line! Then I need Raquel, Natasha—Svetlana better fucking be here. Listen for your name and get in line! Agnese, Ana D…"
"I'm here, I'm here!" Svetlana whined indignantly from the make-up chair.
The man who inserted one curse word for every three names was red-faced but wore an impeccable grey three-piece suit and carried a clipboard. He had half-dressed models crashing into each other in their panic to react to their names.
"Who is that guy?" I asked Grace, my creative director.
"Oh, that's Martinelli, an old friend of Franco's. Most of the time, he's okay. He does the hiring and firing, contracts, money, all that stuff. He's scary when he has to fire someone, but he's worse backstage at the fashion show. He's been doing it for fifteen years, and every time it's like he's going to have a stroke."
The air was heavy with hairspray. The lights dimmed outside. Rosalba put her finger to her lips and everyone was silent. The file of thirty-five girls—including Svetlana, urging her fingers into a pair of leather gloves—wound around the backstage area. Martinelli stared menacingly. The music began, and we saw on the video screen the heads of everyone in the audience pivot towards the narrow slit that separated our collection from their judgment. Their studied boredom had transformed into something else, a throwing down of the gauntlet: "Go on then, surprise us!"
Finally would you now consider yourself a Fashion Designer who writes novels or a Novelist who is also a Fashion Designer?
Oh, that's another good one. I get a joy from writing that is unlike what I get from designing. But obviously it's easier to make money with my design skills. I want to juggle both. At the moment I'm teaching fashion design in NYC so that's a third option! I still get a thrill out of fashion and love it as an art form but as a business it can be relentless. Writing is the opposite: reflective, meditative, private and satisfies the quieter side to my character. I'm going to plump for equal billing! Fashion Designer/Writer in alphabetical order just like they do in the movies when two major movie stars want top credit.
I mentioned a radio interview above, to listen to it click below
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If you'd like to purchase the Silk for the Feed Dogs, you can do so on Amazon here in Hardback or Kindle Edition for an absolute steal! Seriously she's practically giving it away!
And just so you know I did ask the burning question about novel number two and whether it will be a continuation, have a fashion design theme or have completely different characters … and here's what I was told …
My next novel is entirely different from Silk for the Feed Dogs. Kat and I lived in each other's pockets for the most of five years so by mutual agreement we decided to take a break from each other. Of course, I'll end up missing her. Down the line I wouldn't be against the idea of a sequel.
Want to know EVEN MORE about Jackie Mallon – Check out her Blog here – jackiemallon.com
Tags: Interview
The Life of Stuff and the Groupon City Guide for Dublin
Bevvy of the Week - Jeremiah Weed Kentucky Cider Brew - Ginger
Edwina O'Connor May 6, 2014
What a gorgeous time I had virtually talking to you, Edwina! Thanks for the review. I too wish our chat could have happened over a good pint. I'd find out what to order from your blog first and then head down to the little Dublin hideaway that only you and a select few know about. Next time!
Slainte!
Edwina Elizabeth says:
Thank you Jackie and glad you like the review! I loved the book! Till next time … Slán 🙂
They're Out of this World. An Interview with Le Galaxie
Hope Ur OK Hun xxxx – Exclusive Interview and Competition
An Interview with Slave Zero
An Interview with The iKonics
Edwina O'Connor May 15, 2013


On the Friday before Labor Day, Nathan Hannon told his bosses at Rhode Island's trash agency that he was headed to Westerly in the afternoon to give an elementary school presentation about recycling.
But his supervisors say that they discovered there was no presentation, and Hannon was immediately fired from his $45,000-a-year job as education coordinator for the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation.
That was not the end of the story, however. The termination of the mid-level Resource Recovery employee soon caught the attention of some of the top people in Rhode Island government.
The following week, according to interviews and emails obtained by The Journal, Senate Majority Leader Daniel P. Connors and Tom Coderre, chief of staff to Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, took up Hannon's firing with Governor Carcieri's director of administration, Gary Sasse, and his chief of staff, Brian Stern.
Their concern was not that Hannon get his job back, but that he be allowed to collect unemployment compensation, according to Michael O'Connell, the executive director of Resource Recovery and the man who fired Hannon. Since Hannon was fired for cause, his employer could have challenged his right to collect unemployment benefits.
Hannon is collecting unemployment, according to O'Connell.
Connors says that he brought up Hannon's firing with the governor's chief of staff after receiving a phone call from Hannon's partner - R. David Cruise, a former senator and top Senate aide who is now a Rhode Island traffic-court judge.
Hannon and Cruise live in Cumberland and are good friends with Connors, who represents Cumberland.
Connors and Coderre say they exerted no undue influence on Hannon's behalf, but merely made routine inquiries for a constituent.
"I took the liberty of mentioning [to Stern] that the way he was terminated wasn't real professional," said Connors.
O'Connell says that Hannon was fired for "stealing time." In the weeks leading up to his termination, said O'Connell, Hannon's superiors had grown suspicious about his work habits.
Hannon said that he worked hard expanding Resource Recovery's education outreach. The appointment in Westerly, he said, had been made by a teacher in June, but Hannon thought he had canceled it, he wrote in an e-mail to The Journal Friday.
"As for my efforts to reach out to my friends in the Senate leadership, I believe that to be an overstatement," he wrote.
NATHAN HANNON, 33, says that while he is David Cruise's partner and regularly socializes with senators, he is a teacher, not a politician.
Cruise once worked at Resource Recovery, as legal counsel, leaving in 2003 to become chief of staff to then-Senate President Joseph A. Montalbano - five years before Hannon came to work there. After working as a permanent substitute teacher for several years, Hannon says, he answered a want-ad in The Providence Journal for the job of education coordinator. He was hired in September 2008 by O'Connell, a new executive director who had ruffled political feathers by changing the agency's ways and cleaning house.
Through Cruise, Hannon says, he has become friends and regularly socializes with current and former Senate members. Hannon was formally welcomed to the Senate chamber along with Cruise last year when Cruise was confirmed as a $128,000-a-year traffic judge.
Last September, shortly after Hannon started at Resource Recovery, Cruise e-mailed him a draft of his acceptance speech prior to his swearing-in; then, after Cruise took the bench, he wrote Hannon from court that he had just moved the wife of a State House lobbyist, an old friend, "up to the top of the list for her arraignment."
Hannon says his work at Resource Recovery kept him busy, visiting schools and other places, arranging tours of the Central Landfill, developing and delivering educational resources - all to expand the agency's outreach to promote recycling. He oversaw tour guides and Max Man, the agency's popular superhero character who promotes recycling among children.
"I was always prospecting for new groups and places that might be interested in the facility and in recycling. … I viewed it as a wide-ranging position with the goal of educating as many people as possible about recycling," he wrote in his e-mail to The Journal.
Last July, Hannon says, he received a job review in which his immediate supervisor, Sarah Kite, graded him with twos, threes and fours (out of five).
"She had glowing praise for my performance and I received a pay raise as a result," he wrote in his e-mail. "In the entire year I was there I was never told of any problem with my work."
O'Connell responded that there were no "glowing" comments in the written review, which ranked Hannon "in the bottom half of the [recycling] department," which consists of about 10 people.
In August, one of Hannon's co-workers in the recycling department, Michelle Maher, resigned. Her computer files were deleted. Retrieving the files from the agency's computer server to reconstruct what projects she'd been working on, O'Connell says that supervisors found e-mails that raised questions about Hannon's work habits.
On Sept. 4, the Friday before Labor Day weekend, O'Connell says that he and Hannon's immediate superiors wanted to talk to him about those issues. They had checked his calendar and found an entry that afternoon for a presentation at Dunn's Corner Elementary School in Westerly by Hannon and Max Man.
The day before, Sarah Kite had e-mailed the actor who played Max Man, who e-mailed back that he had nothing booked for Westerly. Then, shortly after 8 Friday morning, the Resource Recovery personnel director e-mailed Hannon to ask whether he could meet that afternoon to discuss recruiting tour guides for the landfill. Hannon responded that he was leaving around 12:30 p.m. for a school presentation in Westerly.
Hannon told The Journal in his e-mail that a teacher in Westerly had called him in June "to save a date" at the beginning of the school year in September for Hannon to provide the teacher with information.
"I saved the date but never confirmed the appointment and I believe that I had canceled it before I was called to the meeting at which I was terminated," he wrote.
Hannon was summoned to the Resource Recovery conference room and fired, then escorted from the agency's headquarters in Johnston.
Hannon says that he walked into a meeting he thought was about tour guides, only to be confronted by O'Connell, Kite and the head of human resources. He said that he was accused of deleting Maher's e-mails and using other people's work. O'Connell says that those were issues of concern that they wanted to discuss with Hannon, but it was the Westerly matter that prompted him to fire Hannon on the spot.
Hannon, says O'Connell, "does not mention lying and falsifying company records as the most important reasons for his termination."
THE DAY AFTER Labor Day, O'Connell says he received a phone call from Gary Sasse, Governor Carcieri's director of administration.
"Boy," O'Connell recalls Sasse telling him. "Have you stirred up a hornet's nest up here in the Senate."
O'Connell said he had no idea what Sasse was talking about. Sasse said that Senate leaders were asking about Hannon's firing, and requested that O'Connell e-mail him a written explanation.
"He said that he had to go over to the Senate and talk to them about this," said O'Connell. "I told him that under no circumstances would we be taking Nathan back."
Sasse also voiced concern, recalls O'Connell, that Hannon's firing might make it harder for Carcieri to win Senate confirmation of his appointees to the dormant Resource Recovery board. After languishing for the past two years, the governor was hoping for a deal soon.
Sasse says he doesn't recall the details of his conversation with O'Connell, but confirms asking about Hannon after receiving an inquiry from Coderre, Paiva Weed's chief of staff.
"Mike presented a perfectly reasonable explanation and I relayed to [Coderre] that this guy was terminated for cause," said Sasse. "I don't recall anything further."
Sasse says he doesn't remember a special meeting on Hannon, but says it could have come up during one of his frequent meetings with Senate leaders on unemployment and other issues.
At The Journal's request, Sasse checked his records and found that O'Connell e-mailed him the details of Hannon's firing shortly before 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8; later that afternoon, at 4:30 p.m., his calendar shows a meeting with Coderre regarding Resource Recovery.
Coderre says that he made "a routine inquiry on behalf of a constituent of Senator Connors."
"That inquiry was related to the termination of Nathan Hannon, who, by the way, believed that his termination was improper and unwarranted," Coderre told The Journal. "Because the matter may be the subject of further litigation, I'm not going to have any further comment."
Connors, a Cumberland Democrat, says that he is longtime friends with Cruise and Hannon, whom he met through Cumberland politics; he considers Cruise a political mentor. In 2004, after Connors crashed his brother's car into a telephone pole late one night after a political fundraiser, he walked a mile and a half to Cruise's and Hannon's house to call the police.
The accident prompted local criticism that the police had failed to administer a Breathalyzer test or charge Connors due to his political connections. Connors said at the time that he had had two beers, but wasn't drunk.
After Hannon was fired from his job at Resource Recovery, Connors says, Cruise called him and raised concerns about how it was handled. Hannon, says Connors, "was very shocked" by his termination.
Cruise declined to comment, e-mailing The Journal: "I believe I am prohibited by the Code of Judicial Conduct from engaging in this type of exchange." But Hannon said, "it is certainly not unusual for [Cruise] to talk to Sen. Connors or other Senators as he does so on a regular basis." Hannon noted that he and Cruise "are both good friends with Sen. Dan Connors."
Connors said that he mentioned Hannon's termination to Stern, Carcieri's chief of staff, after a meeting between Senate leaders and the governor's aides regarding state finances. He told Stern that Hannon's termination had not been handled professionally, but Stern said he knew nothing about it.
Stern, who won Senate confirmation the next day, Sept. 9, to a Superior Court judgeship, did not return repeated calls seeking comment.
Connors says that he recalls no further discussions about Hannon. Nor, he says, has anyone - Hannon, Cruise or the governor's aides - ever told him why Hannon was fired.
"I didn't make any calls or demand a memo or ask to be kept in the loop or that there be a certain resolution," said Connors.
MICHELLE MAHER, Hannon's former co-worker, says that Hannon told her his termination had been discussed by Sasse, Stern, Coderre and Connors. She said that Hannon was concerned that Resource Recovery might block his application for unemployment benefits. Maher e-mailed Sasse on Sept. 9, defending Hannon and criticizing O'Connell, and copied her e-mail to Stern, Coderre and Connors, as well as Hannon. The Journal also received a copy.
O'Connell says that Sasse called him after his conversation with Senate leaders and said "it's all been resolved. Just don't contest Nathan's right to collect unemployment."
Connors and Sasse said they don't recall any discussion about unemployment benefits. But Sasse acknowledged receiving an e-mail the following week, on Sept. 17, from O'Connell, in which O'Connell confirmed that Hannon would be eligible for all benefits, including unemployment compensation, that would go to an employee who left Resource Recovery "in good standing."
"They - whoever Gary was talking to - wanted to make sure that Nathan would get his unemployment," said O'Connell. "Gary wanted me to put it in writing so he could put this thing to bed."
Sasse says that the decision not to contest Hannon's unemployment benefits was O'Connell's.
"I can categorically say that there was no quid pro quo," says Sasse. "If [the Senate leaders] came back and said, 'Pay him a bonus or give him two weeks' vacation he wasn't entitled to,' then that would be ridiculous. But I can't think of anything I would define as special treatment."
Hannon said that he filed for unemployment on Sept. 8, and reported that he had been terminated.
"I was concerned that RIRRC would fight it," he wrote, but labor officials also told him that "if my version of the facts were correct," Resource Recovery could not stop him from collecting unemployment.
Under state eligibility rules, a person must be unemployed "through no fault of his own" to collect benefits, according to Laura Hart, spokeswoman for the state Department of Labor & Training. If an applicant says that he has been fired, the state investigates; the employer has seven business days to respond.
"The burden of proof in these cases is placed on the employer, who must show just cause if a claimant is to be denied," she said.
O'Connell, the Resource Recovery chief, says that he elected not to contest Hannon's application, not because of political pressure, but because it can be difficult to prevail. If an employer challenges a fired employee's right to collect, the matter goes to a state labor hearing.
"But the Senate folks couldn't have known my intentions - in fact, that's what they were concerned about when they called, that he get his unemployment," said O'Connell.


text:
ETHICS OPINION 694: UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF LAW; LAWYER RETAINED BY CORPORATION TO ADVISE CORPORATION'S CLIENTS.
QUESTION NO, 694
TOPIC: UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF LAW; LAWYER RETAINED BY CORPORATION TO ADVISE CORPORATION'S CLIENTS.
DIGEST: IN-HOUSE LAWYER OF REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT COMPANY MAY NOT PARTICIPATE IN ARRANGEMENT WHERE LAWYER'S SERVICES ARE OFFERED TO COMPANY'S CLIENTS IF ARRANGEMENT VIOLATES SECTION 495 OF JUDICIARY LAW; IN-HOUSE LAWYER MUST RETAIN PROFESSIONAL INDEPENDENCE IN REPRESENTING COMPANY'S CLIENTS.
CODE: DR 3-101(A), 5-105(A), (B) & (C), 5-107(A) & (B), 5-108(A), 5-109(A), 7-102(A); EC 5-23, 5-24.
A lawyer has been asked to serve as in-house counsel to XYZ, a real estate management company. The lawyer would prosecute landlord-tenant summary proceedings for XYZ's clients and not actions on behalf of XYZ itself. XYZ would advertise the availability of the lawyer's legal services at discounted rates to XYZ's clients. To the extent that the legal fees paid by XYZ's clients were insufficient to cover the lawyer's salary and expenses, XYZ would pay the shortfal1.
May the lawyer work as XYZ's in-house lawyer under these circumstances?
Many corporations have established departments of in- house lawyers to assist in corporate operations. Hazard & Koniak, The Law and Ethics of Lawyering 903 (1991). The client of an in-house lawyer is the employer-corporation. N.Y. Lawyer's Cede of Professional Responsibility (1990) (the "Code") DR 5- 109(A). Thus, an in-house lawyer may render legal services to the employer-corporation as he or she would to any other client. N.Y. State 84 (1968).
Under the proposed arrangement, however, the in-house lawyer would not render legal services directly to XYZ , but rather to XYZ's clients. Although a lawyer is not prohibited per se from representing a client as part of his or her employment arrangement with a third party, see N.Y. County 627 (1974) (proper for lawyer to be employed by director of institution to represent mentally retarded patients), the proposed arrangement raises various legal and ethical concerns.
Unauthorized Practice of Law
Section 495 of the Judiciary Law provides in pertinent part:
No corporation or voluntary association shall . . . furnish attorneys or counsel, nor . . . assume, use or advertise the title of lawyer or attorney, attorney-at-law, or equivalent terms in any language in such manner as to convey the impression that it is entitled to practice law or to furnish legal advice, services or counsel, nor . . , advertise that either alone or together with or by or through any person whether or not a duly or regularly admitted attorney-at-law, it has, owns, conducts or maintains a law office or an office for the practice of law, or for furnishing legal advice, services or counsel.
N.Y. Jud. Law $ 495(1)(d), (g) & (h) (McKinney 1983).
This Committee generally does not pass on questions of law. It is our opinion, however, that XYZ's advertising or furnishing legal services in the manner proposed would most likely be a violation of Section 495. If the conduct does violate Section 495, the in-house lawyer's participation in the arrangement would be improper. See DR 7-102(A)(7) (lawyer shall not assist client in conduct lawyer knows to be illegal). See also DR 3-101(A) (prohibiting lawyer from aiding nonlawyer in unauthorized practice of law). See generally People by Lefkowitz v. Lawrence Preska Associates, Inc., 90 Misc. 2d 59, 393 N.Y,S.2d 650 (1977) (purpose of § 4 95 is to prohibit interference and possible conflict of interest in the attorney-client relationship); People v. Peoples Trust Co., 180 A.D. 494, 167 N.Y.S 767 (1917) (purpose of § 495 is to prevent corporations from performing legal services through lawyers in their employ and having lawyers owe loyalty primarily to the corporations and not to the client).
Professional Independence on Behalf of XYZ's Clients
Even if the proposed arrangement were to comport with the Judiciary Law, the arrangement would be proper only if the lawyer were able to retain professional independence in representing XYZ's clients. See N.Y. County 627; DR 5-107(B) (prohibiting lawyer whose compensation is paid by third party to permit third party "to direct or regulate his or her professional judgment "); EC 5-23 ("lawyer who is employed by one to represent another must constantly guard against erosion of professional freedom"); EC 5-24 ("lawyer must decline to accept direction of his professional judgment from any layman"). Consequently, the lawyer must not allow XYZ to influence or control his or her representation of XYZ's clients.
Prior to undertaking representation of a client of XYZ, the in-house lawyer would have to obtain the consent of each client after full disclosure of the nature, of, and risks that may arise as a result of, his or her dual role as XYZ's employee and the client's lawyer. DR 5-107(A)(1) (prohibiting lawyer from accepting compensation from any person other than client without informed consent). Upon undertaking the representation of a client of XYZ, the in-house lawyer would owe the same ethical duties to XYZ's client as to XYZ. Thus, the lawyer may not divulge confidences or secrets of either XYZ or XYZ's client without the informed consent of the respective party. See N.Y. State 485 (1978) (improper for legal aid lawyers to divulge client confidences to legal aid board without clients' consent).
As well, if a conflict exists between the interests of XYZ and those of a client of XYZ, the in-house lawyer may not represent the client, DR 5-105(A) & (B), unless "it is obvious that the lawyer can adequately represent the interest of each and if each consents to the representation after full disclosure of the possible effect of such representation on the exercise of the lawyer's independent professional judgment on behalf of each." DR 5-105(C). If such a conflict arises after the lawyer begins representing XYZ's client, the lawyer may not represent either XYZ or XYZ's client without consent of both. DR 5-108(A).
It would be improper for XYZ's in-house lawyer to participate in the proposed arrangement unless the arrangement comports with the Judiciary Law and the lawyer retains professional independence in representing both XYZ and XYZ's clients.