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*actors Archives
Chris Messina & M. Night Shyamalan Devil
Cast: Chris Messina, Logan Marshall-Green, Jenny O'Hara, Bojana Novakovic, Bokeem Woodbine, Geoffrey Arend
Director: John Erick Dowdle
Rated: M
Synopsis: Five strangers in Philadelphia begin their day with the most commonplace of routines. They walk into an office tower and enter an elevator. As they convene into this single place, they are forced to share a confined space with strangers. Nobody acknowledges anybody else. They'll only be together for a few moments. But what appears to be a random occurrence is anything but coincidental when the car becomes stuck. Fate has come calling. Today these strangers will have their secrets revealed, and face a reckoning for their transgressions.
Slowly, methodically, their situation turns from one of mere annoyance to sheer helplessness and abject terror. Terrible things begin to happen to each of them, one by one, and suspicion shifts as to who among the five is making it all happen�until they learn the unspeakable truth: one of them is the Devil himself.
As those on the outside try in vain to free them, the remaining passengers realise that the only way to survive is to confront the very wickedness that has led them to today.
Release Date: 2nd of December, 2010
Chapter One: The Night Chronicles Begin
"Everybody believes in him a little bit.
Even guys like you who pretend they don't."
-Ramirez
Over the years, blockbuster filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan has written down many ideas for stories he imagined to one day turn into movies. As the pages of his notebooks filled, he knew that he couldn't transform all these treatments into screenplays and direct the feature-length films by himself. He says: "You can put your love into all of them and know that you can't direct them all yourself. I decided to take some of these ideas and make them as a series of films by up-and-coming filmmakers and actors."
M. Night Shyamalan partnered with longtime producer Sam Mercer and Media Rights Capital (MRC) to produce The Night Chronicles, a series of films based on his original ideas. In its agreement, MRC agreed to produce several of M. Night Shyamalan's original ideas, and Devil is the first of three films to be made under the banner. M. Night Shyamalan explains: "Devil was the straight up, right-down-the-middle super-scary movie. It was the one that was most on my mind at the time when we decided to create The Night Chronicles."
When asked the inspiration in having fellow artists bring to life his ideas, M. Night Shyamalan laughs: "It could be a benevolent thing, but it's really not. I want to be inspired and pushed and connected to the audience, and it's nice to have younger people who are connected to the heartbeat of what is being felt today. It's great to be in the game, taking risks and having people constantly challenging me; it's a way to stay excited."
M. Night Shyamalan's concept for the film was to explore what would happen if the Devil manipulated and trapped a group of people into the same location and punished them for their wrongdoings. M. Night Shyamalan wanted to explore how the Devil hides among us and brings people with a common thread of wickedness into a situation...and how he systematically tests them before revealing himself.
The filmmaker used the setting of a common office elevator as the location where the cursed five would meet. He explains his rationale: "Normally when you're in an elevator, you don't look at anybody and then the door opens and you leave. But if you get stuck in that confined space, you have to look at everybody and ask, 'Who am I in here with?' Then when the first bad thing happens, all those faces become threatening."
Fellow producer Sam Mercer was drawn to collaborate on Devil because he felt it explores "a story that is familiar to the audience, one with the everyman factor. We all could walk into that elevator, and we could be trapped with six people in it for six hours and have a very emotional experience.
"One of the worst nightmares is being trapped somewhere," he continues. "Think about what you don't want to be trapped in, and that's in an elevator stuck between the 21st and 22nd floors. When the lights go out, the Muzak won't shut off and there's chaos-and then people start dying-that's terrifying. That's what this film is all about: preying upon your fears."
M. Night Shyamalan shares that his interest in creating this series is based on a prolific role model of his own. "Agatha Christie is someone whose stories I aspire to emulate," he says. "I want the audience to see many stories from me that say something about a time in my life or something I believe in. The Night Chronicles has given me that chance."
The Spotlight of Suspicion: Devil Is Developed
For M. Night Shyamalan, the process of choosing the writers and directors for The Night Chronicles became an expanded and comprehensive education in film. As he began his search, he uncovered a trove of talent. He notes: "I was able to watch every cool, scary thriller and horror movie that hasn't come out yet and get to talk to these filmmakers and figure out how they think."
Once the series was established, M. Night Shyamalan searched for a writer to execute the treatment he created: five strangers who are connected by a common thread become stuck in an office-building elevator in Philadelphia. Unfortunately for four of them, one is the Devil himself. Given such a simple, yet chilling, premise, M. Night Shyamalan wanted a screenwriter with the precise sensibility to flesh out his idea and run with it.
He found that voice in Brian Nelson, whose script for director David Slade's provocative Hard Candy helped launch the career of a young actress named Ellen Page. "I loved Brian Nelson's Hard Candy," he commends. "It was brilliantly written, so I hired him as the writer for Devil. He turned my 14-page treatment into a fully developed, exciting screenplay."
Now that the script was written, it was time for M. Night Shyamalan and Sam Mercer to decide on the director for Devil. When word went out that The Night Chronicles was looking for talented new filmmakers to balance human stories with drama and thrills, the company was inundated with submissions.
M. Night Shyamalan recalls the process of selecting brothers John Erick and Drew Dowdle for the project: "I was sent a really disturbing movie called The Poughkeepsie Tapes to watch, and this movie was the first I saw in my new house. It was a terrible decision, because it just scared me so much. I loved the filmmaking in it, and I thought these guys were amazing. I heard they were making another movie, so I begged Screen Gems to show me Quarantine before it came out."
The level of fear the brothers were able to elicit with the thriller astonished him. Told from the perspective of a news crew that is embedded in a cordoned-off Los Angeles apartment in which the tenants have contracted a horrific contagion, the film became a successful new entry in the horror canon.
"I loved Quarantine and felt the combination of these two movies gave the Dowdles the perfect point of view for Devil," M. Night Shyamalan offers. "They're the nicest guys you'll ever meet, have a really good edge, a great sense of humor and they're smart." He adds: "And they're just crazy and deranged enough for the job. When the lights came on I thought, 'These are the guys!'"
Stepping out of the directorial chair he used to oversee such hits as The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs proved to be both "harder and easier" than M. Night Shyamalan expected. He admits: "I'm used to being the sole person on my movies. So it's very healthy to be able to let go. The process is a whole lot easier having complete confidence in the filmmakers I've hired, and it's been fun because I'm learning from other people's strengths."
John and Drew Dowdle collaborated at every stage of development, casting and filming. John Dowdle returns the confidence in his producer: "M. Night Shyamalan's been amazing. He's smart, enthusiastic and he's given us a long leash, which has been a treat. M. Night Shyamalan's a director first and a producer second, so he's giving us the reins a director dreams of. He let us be creative and freaky and encouraged us to have fun. What made it all even better was that we thought the story was perfect for us; like our previous films, it had a lot of reality-style elements."
Drew Dowdle loved the challenge this story presented to continually shift "the spotlight of suspicion" on all of the passengers in the elevator. The audience isn't sure who the Devil is until the final reveal. He reflects: "It's a very rare situation to have your boss challenging you to be more artistic and raise the IQ of the film. He forces us to bring the best we have with every detail and affords us the luxury of a larger-scale production than we've had."
It was crucial to both producers that the Dowdle brothers knew they were coming onto a project in which they wouldn't be micromanaged. Offers M. Night Shyamalan: "Genuinely, I think of them as peers, and we would just talk it out. If there was a difference of opinion, I would articulate mine, and they theirs. It's been an equal playing field. I wanted that equality and stimulation of ideas. I didn't want to dictate. I wanted to learn as much as anybody in this process."
M. Night Shyamalan sums his experience with the duo: "It has been an inspiring experience working with the Dowdles. I have been continually impressed with their vision and creativity throughout the development and casting process. Together, we have found a talented group of actors who we believe will be stars of tomorrow."
The Devil's Meeting: Casting the Supernatural Thriller
The core cast in Devil consists of five characters trapped in an office tower elevator and the anguished Philadelphia police officer and two security guards who are trying to extricate them, only hours after a suicide has paved the way for the Devil's arrival.
For the Dowdle brothers, it was important to find just the right actors, regardless of their professional cache at the time of preproduction. John Dowdle notes: "We cast a wide net and found the best actors for the roles. In the elevator, we had to cast it as a group; it was important to find five very different types of people to bring unique energy and their differences. We realised that each one of these five actors has very different acting styles, and a very different sense of their craft."
Casting these characters was no small task. The roles are closely integrated, and the filmmakers approached each one as part of an ensemble. Fresh faces were desired so that audiences wouldn't have expectations skewed by past signature roles. Hundreds auditioned, and eventually only eight headshots remained.
M. Night Shyamalan sums up the importance of casting: "Devil is the quintessential ensemble cast because the plot of the film is centered around finding out who of the five in the elevator is the title character, so there have to be five people who could all be the lead of the movie�or be killed at any moment. In addition, the three characters on the ground have to be equally compelling. The eight actors we hired all have a parity with each other in terms of acting skill and presence on screen, and they could all be stars of tomorrow."
The core characters trapped in the elevator include:
The salesman (Geoffrey Arend): Confident and cocky in his ability to sell anything to anyone, he is quick with his sarcasm. Unfortunately for him, he is hiding some very wicked secrets of his own.
Old woman (Jenny O'Hara): Tired from watching out for an untrustworthy world, she has a shocking capacity to shamelessly voice her racism. But beneath her petty and fretful exterior, she also has a surprisingly iron will.
The mechanic (Logan Marshall-Green): Physically strong, he works hard but has a chip on his shoulder. He doesn't understand why the world keeps screwing him over every time he tries to put his life together. But as long as he thinks he has a shot at redemption, he'll keep pushing.
The young woman (Bojana Novakovic): A young, slender trophy wife, she is bitter that her biting wit, intelligence and looks haven't gotten her farther than a marriage to a rich CEO who doesn't respect her. But she doesn't let anyone mess with her and is determined to find out who, or what, has bitten her.
The security guard (Bokeem Woodbine): Trim, yet underneath his uniform, it's all muscle. Divorced and with kids, he works in security because it feels like the one place he can command some authority.
The three principal characters trying to get the elevator safely down (and its occupants out) include:
Bowden the homicide detective (Chris Messina): Steady and reliable, Bowden is a consummate professional. His past demons and his need to feel responsible for every death on his watch resulted in heavy drinking. Though six months sober, Bowden is still haunted by the brutal death of his family five years ago.
Ramirez the security guard (Jacob Vargas): A devout Catholic, recent immigrant Ramirez is superstitious and the first to realise the demonic aspects of what is happening in his building. He's trying to convince the others that the images on the security camera are not of this world.
Lustig the security guard (Matt Craven): Bearish and a seasoned ex-Navy man, Lustig finds that working in building security is no challenge. Ramirez's partner, he's hoping to skate through the rest of his working years to retirement.
Director Dowdle discusses the five actors cast to play the characters in the elevator: "Bokeem Woodbine was such a shining star; he has such a unique character to him. He's so singular, and we loved him for the character of the guard. For the mechanic, we had so many people read the scenes aggressively and angrily. Logan Marshall-Green came in, and he was almost whispering; it was such a reversal of anything we had seen that we immediately knew he was the guy for the role. For Geoffrey's character, we wanted to bring some humor to the movie. As you can see in Super Troopers, Geoffrey is hysterical. He adds a wonderful dose of humor and pathos to this film."
To portray the two women trapped alongside the mechanic, salesman and security guard, the team found young Australian actress Bojana Novakovic-a standout in her role in Drag Me to Hell-and veteran character actor Jenny O'Hara. John Dowdle describes the choice of these performers: "Bojana Novakovic is wonderful to look at. She's such a great, intense actor, and she brings so much emotion. Her eyes say so much, and she's such an intense presence, even though in a lot of the film she's quiet. And Jenny O'Hara is always such a delight; she is so fun to work with. Jenny O'Hara has quite a lot of theater background, and she's just a wonderful actor."
Chris Messina was selected to portray the role of Detective Bowden, the Philadelphia cop who is brought in to manage the crisis. Much of the film is seen from his perspective in the security office. We follow along with him as he watches the events unfold from cameras in the elevator. While Bowden can see the five passengers, he cannot hear what they are saying; the reverse is true for the trapped occupants: they are only able to hear Bowden.
The up-and-coming actor has already worked with filmmakers from Woody Allen to Nora Ephron. Of his casting, M. Night Shyamalan recalls: "Chris Messina came in and did a fantastic audition, and everyone thought, 'This guy is amazing!' I had seen him in Vicky Cristina Barcelona and in Julie & Julia, and when I sat with him, I thought, 'This is a leading man.'"
Alongside Chris Messina were security officers Ramirez and Lustig, played by Jacob Vargas and Matt Craven. Director John Dowdle commends: "Chris Messina, Jacob Vargas and Matt Craven were so great together. The three of them had such a natural chemistry that a lot of what I had to do in the security office was just stay out of their way. The three of them were such different types and had such a stronghold on their characters."
Tight Spaces and Reflective Surfaces: Design of Devil
In the fall of 2009 as Devil began production, Stage 4 at Pinewood Toronto Studios provided the ideal location. It afforded the filmmakers the opportunity to build the sets to the exact specifications of the script. John Dowdle offers of the challenges: "We have five characters in an elevator, and one of the rules of filmmaking is the smaller the set, the harder it is."
An M. Night Shyamalan movie not shot in Philadelphia? It must be acknowledged, and here's what he has to say on the subject: "Toronto is a special city for me because it was the first city that I showed my first movie. When I was 21 years old, I made a movie for no money in India. I had just finished it and submitted it to the Toronto International Film Festival, and they said yes and screened it in their festival. I remember flying to Toronto when I was 21 and feeling like this is the greatest city ever. To come back and make the first Night Chronicles here is poetic."
Creating the elevator for Devil was tricky, as much of the supernatural thriller takes place in this small, contained space. The set needed to lend itself to reality, but also offer the audience an area in which they could project their worst fears. The Dowdle brothers credit Cloverfield production designer Martin Whist and his team with achieving just the right balance. It was also important for the filmmakers to give each character a signature scene in the elevator in which the story of Devil would be told from his or her perspective.
Director John Dowdle notes: "The elevator was a completely malleable set. As we shot, we'd pull off the left walls and then pull off the right walls. We could get through the ceiling; we could raise the roof. The mirrors moved so we could angle ourselves out of the shot or angle someone into the shot. It was a giant erector set."
Drew Dowdle explains their creation of a space that would evoke panic among the characters: "It's critical that there's an increasing feeling of claustrophobia in the elevator as the story progresses, so we wanted the smallest elevator we could possibly have that still was within the realm of reality-the dimensions were built to match the characters. For example, the mechanic reaches up and moves the ceiling panel at one critical point in the movie. We built the elevator to his reach height, so he could perfectly reach up and do that. Similarly, when the salesman lays on the floor, it was important that he touch the wall at both ends."
Another interesting production design element was the decision to build the elevator deep, instead of wide like most elevators. The desired effect was reached, and the farther away the five trapped people (and the audience) get from the door, the more buried alive everyone feels. John Dowdle confirms: "Believe me, it does feel awful when you're in that back corner."
As there were few sets on the movie, the ones created had to be impeccable, especially the elevator and the control room. Producer Sam Mercer says: "These sets were deceivingly hard to create. We had to make the elevator familiar-dark enough that when it needed to be scary, it would be. At the same time, we didn't want to over- or under-design the elevator so that it was annoying or distracting. Then you have the world looking in through the eyes of Chris Messina's character in the control room.
"Figuring out how to create that staging-where to put the camera and where to have common angles-was very challenging," Sam Mercer continues. "You want to show the audience the possibility of being trapped and frightened and not come up with a lot of different angles that would make the experience too slick."
Fortunately for the filmmakers, their cast was almost as malleable as the elevator set that was created. Before shooting, the Dowdle brothers asked the actors to stand in front of the elevator to substantiate the wardrobe, hair and makeup decisions that were made by costume designer Erin Benach, key hairstylist Karola Dirnberger and key makeup artist Christine Hart. Offers Drew Dowdle: "It was important to see all the elements together to make sure it felt like a cohesive unit. We wanted nothing that blended in too much with the walls and nothing to stand out too much."
To ensure that the feeling of claustrophobia and terror mounted, every time a setup was designed for the elevator, all five of the actors were asked to be present-even if it was just one actor's solo shot-so that they could continuously feel each other's presence. Though at times taxing, each of the five castmembers trapped in the elevator was game to work in close quarters at long length, and it paid off in their performances.
Even Chris Messina, who is never actually in the elevator during the film, was on set for all elevator shooting. He explains the necessity: "Since the elevator people can hear me from the security office, the Dowdles and I thought it would add realism for me to actually be there to read my lines. Then, when it was time for us to do our on-camera work-mostly from the security office-we're actually responding to the footage from the elevator. It felt very immediate and real."
Drew Dowdle continues: "As people die, there obviously becomes less floor space, so you get the feeling that the walls are closing in even more. The space starts very small but it only gets smaller, as if a waterline is coming up and drowning you."
Legendary cinematographer Tak Fujimoto-in his fourth collaboration with M. Night Shyamalan -went so far as to ask the camera department to wear white lab coats to keep the light reflecting. It was an odd image to see on set, but John Dowdle explains: "If our crew wore their usual black on set, the elevator's mirrored walls would suck up the light. The white lab coats kept the hard light alive by functioning as a bounce card that lit the actors that much better, not distracting them and affecting the mood."
Drew Dowdle echoes his brother's excitement at working with director of photography Fujimoto: "He's amazing. It's a dream come true to work with such an iconic cinematographer who's shot legendary films and who made this film look better than I could have ever hoped."
Audiences watching Devil should expect a roller-coaster ride that also offers a compelling story about taking responsibility for our lives-a message not lost on cast and crew. They tried their best to keep the story a secret during filming; many in fact chose not to read the end of the script until the last possible moment. Of course, there was the odd glimmer of things to come when one caught a glimpse of certain actors' perfectly replicated bodies passing by Almost Human's Robert Hall, who handled the film's makeup effects. Needless to say, most avoided elevators on these days�just to be on the safe side.
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I have following scenario. On my page there are two panels. On left panel, it has two 3 child panels and right panel is a gmap panel. Now, out of those 3 child panel one is a grid panel. I want to move right side gmap panel to left side as a 4th child panel of left panel and display a tab panel on right side.
but unable to add gmap panel as a child panel of left side.
Full code is as follow.
// Generic fields array to use in both store defs.
Hope to see some reply.
alright, I got make it working by making some modification in listener code.
Above is the answer to my problem.
Now if I swap add and remove line of code (which logically seems right as remove and then add other place) as shown below , It would not solve my problem.


#585: Consciousness Hacking & VR: Will immersive tech drive addictions or help us transcend compulsions?
There is a growing backlash against technology being catalyzed by some of the architects of the persuasive habit-forming techniques. The Guardian does a survey of user experience designers and engineers who are taking drastic actions to curtail their personal technology addiction behaviors, and asking some deeper questions about the ethical responsibility of major companies in Silicon Valley to be socially-responsible guardians of the attention economy. Tristan Harris is one of these former persuasive designers who has formed a non-profit called Time Well Spent focused on gathering quantified data for how happy people are using different mobile apps, and Harris shared some data on Sam Harris' podcast that people are happy with 1/3 of the time they've spent on the most popular apps, but that they're unhappy with or regret how they're spending 2/3 of their time.
Most companies are optimizing for duration on their websites, but it's difficult for them to measure the first-person phenomenological experience of that time spent on their site. There are more and more people who feel like they are being manipulated and hooked into forming habits on apps that are designed to reward compulsive behaviors. There's a growing counter movement of consciousness hackers who are trying to take a more mindful and purposeful approach to how they use technology. They're using biosensors to get feedback and insights on their behaviors, and are trying to cultivate more flourishing, well-being, connection, compassion, mental health, and sanity in their lives.
At the Institute of Noetic Science Conference in July, I had a chance to sit down with the founder of Consciousness Hacking Mikey Siegel as well as with Julia Mossbridge, who is the director of the Innovation Lab at the Institute of Noetic Sciences. We talk about transcendence technology, quantified self applications designed for transformation, designing human-aware artificial intelligence optimized for emotional intelligence and cultivating compassion, the matching problem, and the insights of neurophenomenology for combining first person and third person data.


*Don't forget that the RESOLVED photo challenge is active. Submissions close next Tuesday at 9am.
**Photos are me before bed at age 42 and the next day me after a shower at age 43.
I ended my 365 day project. Just couldn't do it right now. I like to fifty sit ups thing. You should also try it with push ups. Also, you look like your de-aging.
Happy Birthday, Kizz :-) I hope it was a good one! Did you use the massage coupon?


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Q: HAXM is not working and emulator runs in emulation mode error in Android studio I'm using Android studio 1.1.0 and still I'm a beginner to Android studio.What I have done is just set a background image and I was trying to run the app but sometimes emulator is not displaying but when I tried to run the app several times emulator was displayed but it only shows the word Android.It is not displaying anything else.I know this question has repeated on stackoverflow but none of them gave me a solution so I posted my question.
and below messages are shown in output window
C:\Users\S_programmer\AppData\Local\Android\sdk2\tools\emulator.exe -netdelay none -netspeed full -avd Nexus_5_API_21_x86
emulator: device fd:640
HAXM is not working and emulator runs in emulation mode
emulator: The memory needed by this AVD exceeds the max specified in your HAXM configuration.
emulator: AVD      RAM size = 1536 MB
emulator: HAXM max RAM size = 1024 MB
emulator: You might want to adjust your AVD RAM size and/or HAXM configuration to run in fast virt mode.
creating window 43 59 329 583
emulator: emulator window was out of view and was recentered
emulator: UpdateChecker: skipped version check

And also my emulator is very slow I have to wait till it comes for about 10 or 15 minutes.How can I fix these errors?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Chartwells School Dining Services brings fresh and innovative concepts to school dining.
This year we will be featuring the Massachusetts Farm to School program, in order to provide the freshest and healthiest fruits & vegetables possible. We will continue to offer "super food" items on our menu each month. A few examples of super food items are carrots, apples and yogurt.
We will also offer Premium Upscale menu itemsin addition to as well as all of our students favorites. We survey our students annually and modify our offerings as a result. We also feature Chef to Table - a live cooking concept that features our culinary corporate chefs as well as our own in house culinary experts.
Students can pay into their account through the on-line payment system. Students and staff can make pre-payments to their accounts by cash or check. These payments can be made in the cafeteria snack bar area between 7:00 am and 10:00 am.
The entire staff and I look forward to serving you. We welcome your comments, concerns, and feedback and if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
If funding the account by check or cash, please bring the payment to the snack bar area between the hours of 7:00 am and 10:00 am for pre-payment on your account. No deposits may be made during lunch periods.
Students also have the option of purchasing their lunch daily using cash at the register.
Please click here to see the current menu!


Pretty, polished, and just a little bit playful, this vintage-inspired dress flatters with its a-line silhouette and illusion detailing on the decolletage and sleeves. Embroidered floral embellishments add an elegant flourish.
Pretty, polished, and just a little bit playful, this vintage-inspired dress flatters with its a-line silhouette and illusion detailing on the decolletage and sleeves. Embroidered floral embellishments and a satin ribbon add an elegant flourish.
Linden Dress is rated 4.7 out of 5 by 3.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Anonymous from Elegant dress for Mother of the Groom Looking to find the perfect dress for my son's June wedding, I searched for months through so many matronly frocks designed for women of a certain age. So delighted with the Linden dress. There's a lot to like-lovely blue grey color, thick lace, fully lined, fitted top with built-in cups, elbow length sleeves, and a flared skirt that falls well below the knees. Size 10 was just right for me (5'8' and 140 lbs). Thought the ribbon sash was a little flimsy, but overall a well-made, beautiful dress.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Anonymous from Elegant and beautifully detailed I wore this dress when my husband and I eloped in a park in London. It was so perfect for the occasion. The fit was comfortable and spot on (no alterations) at 5'10" and 160 lbs, the size 10 was spot on. The lace details are even more gorgeous in person. The quality of the fabric is incredible for the price. I love my dress so much. No spanx required!
Rated 4 out of 5 by Anonymous from good last minute wedding dress My husband and I decided to get married and gave everyone a weeks notice, crazy I know. This meant my dress options were incredibly limited, I am 5'1 and about 135 pounds with a 34ddd bust so I can't just pick any dress and somehow find a way to make it work. I went with this option (blush and navy blue) in store because it hits the model mid calf and I figured as someone with my stature, it would hit my ankles. Sure enough it did, the fit was decent for getting it four days before my wedding and I know if I had time, getting altered would have truly made it my dream gown. The most personal issue I had is the bust size, I had to go braless because the back lace went down too deep and a bra, even strapless would be visible. With a 34ddd it was awkward but overall unnoticeable. The upper back was super loose too. The worst part however is that the gown came with a very cheap bright pink ribbon that was supposed to be the silk looking one on the photo. When I told the store associate about how the cheap ribbon ruined the gown she said I could go to Michaels craft store and get a different one. The blush also isn't mauve blush, it's actual baby pink blush. Overall good gown for our super last minute wedding, and it wasn't expensive at all.


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soundoffstyled
The Fire Within
January 10, 2017 by soundoff
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Shara (5'9", size 2) is styled wearing our size small badass idol full zip hoodie in black.
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We fear and love fire. When controlled and managed, it provides comforting heat in the winter, delivers a warming glow on top of a birthday cake, and sparks the many engines that we depend on daily. Yet, even the smallest fire can be stoked and fanned, rapidly unleashing tremendous amounts of heat and energy with limitless destruction.
Our design and styling inspiration this month comes from an icon whose life is symbolized by fire, the original badass, Joan of Arc. A fifteenth century teenage girl who became a warrior and a heroine. A girl so passionate in her beliefs, she was able to garner a royal decree to lead legions of French men into war against England. Her words mattered—with them she set off a firestorm that changed the outcome of the Hundred Years' War. Her passions though were ultimately extinguished by actual fire that engulfed her as she was burned at the stake by male English capturers fearful of her wrath.
We all have had dreams and aspirations that were countered by stereotypes, rules, and expectations. Boys don't play with dolls. Girls can't box. A woman can't be CEO. But society's limitations can't keep these dreams from continuing to live within us. This month we celebrate the internal fire that ignites us to turn dreams into reality. The fire that is fueled when family, friends, employers, and even our nation's leadership endorse opinions, viewpoints, and policies that threaten human rights, equality, and opportunity for all citizens—regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religion.
While we honor Joan of Arc as our iconic badass, we also acknowledge and recognize contemporary icons like Laverne Cox, Sonia Sotomayor, Jessie Williams, Janelle Monae, Serena Williams, Ellen DeGeneres, Shonda Rhimes, Common, Laila Ali, Tim Cook, Hillary Clinton, and Barack and Michelle Obama, who refuse to let their authentic voice or aspirations be squelched by naysayers or societal prescribed stereotypes.
In the end, the voice of truth and justice, which may not be appreciated at the time, tends to become honored and celebrated. Centuries after being burned at the stake as a witch and heretic through coerced confession, Joan of Arc was canonized as a saint and still today maintains an undeniable, inspiring spirit.
If what you see happening around you or to you doesn't reflect the life you want for yourself, your family, your friends, or your nation, do you stand on the sidelines or, like Joan, do you join in the fight?
"You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world's problems at once but don't ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own." – Michelle Obama
Editorial: Daryl Sneed, Drew Ferguson, Natasha Goburdhun
Editor: Suzanne Claussen
Photography: Bret Grafton
Models/Agency: Shara & Taylor/Factor Chosen Chicago
HMU: Andrea Samuels
Styling: William Martinez
Athleisure – The New Streetwear
At The Crossroads, The Problem Is Choice

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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text:
Sat 14 Sep, 00:00 Rosey
Our event at Dewsbury Town Hall was our fourth visit and one we couldn't wait to begin with its majestic clock tower been the most prominent spectacle you see as you drive down the hill towards Dewsbury. This imposing grade 2 listed building is full of original stained glass windows, wood panelling, beautiful columns and ornate ceilings. The Town Hall contains an intimate 700 seat concert hall, spectacular function and meeting rooms, plus it also contains the Old Court Room. With all this in the forefront of our minds and it was an exciting drive as we spoke of what may happen at this grandest of Town halls. Unfortunately we had to dispense with our customary walk around the building due to the immense size and many rooms and corridors of Dewsbury Town Hall. We decided to do a large group vigil in the theatre room with our fearless ghost hunters sat all around the theatre room. As we called out Michael and Barbara both claimed to have heard ghostly voices from within the stage area and Jonathon said that he had heard tapping from behind him. With ghost like shadows also been seen by many ghost hunters we decided to break up into smaller groups and investigate Dewsbury Town Hall. Both Jez and Gaz spoke of how they made ghostly contact with a little spirit girl on the Ouija board in the police cells called Loo, who claimed to have passed over to spirit aged 6 years old, and that she had died in a fire on that site, but it was not clear if it was in the town hall or on the land or buildings before the Town hall had been built. Coincidentally Jez commented the he had communicated with her before on a previous visit. Gaz and Jez also spoke of many a ghost hunter mentioning that they had feelings of being oppressed and sadness in the cells. Also while under the stage In the dressing room with Lesley and Treena a number of guests attempted scrying where the results impressed our ghost hunters said that their features had changed and one lady stated that she had morphed into the face of a male with a more prominent nose, forehead and what seemed like a moustache. Lesley also recorded that in a vigil on the top floor they heard loud tapping on the table in response to the questions the group asked. In the cells they witnessed slight table movement, and some k2 activity however the most impressive part of night was when a bell, Rosey had thrown earlier, rolled out of nowhere towards the group and simultaneously the k2 began to spike into activity. The most sobering thought of this incident is that Lesley, Treena and none of the ghost hunters were anywhere near the bell at all. A number of guests heard strange noises and whistles through the sound enhancers and also a massive temperature drop in courtroom was noticed in which many guests experienced and then the temperature returned to normal. Sam and Rosey both spoke of how they saw light and heard sound anomalies which many a ghost hunter in their group experienced on the stage as well as glass activity. During a Ouija session in the cells a loud bang emanated from the end room and on investigation a heavy black sack containing what felt like heavy material had appeared two feet away from where it had been placed with other bags this shocked the whole group as no one had been in the room was this the activity of a playful poltergeist spirit in the cells. Sam mentioned that in two vigils both different groups of investigators all experienced some fantastic table activity and glass work too. Stuart spoke of how in one of the chambers on the top floor and the robing room two groups of ghost hunters experienced table tipping and in the cells a group of ghost hunters made ghostly contact with the spirit of a former police officer by the name of Ian. In the cells the K2 was spiking on request to questions asked by the group. Also incarnate voices were heard in the theatre and on the top floor as well. With such a variety of paranormal activity reported by all team leaders Dewsbury Town hall certainly provided plenty of food for thought for our ghost hunters.


Johannes Brahms' Second Symphony is often seen as his "Pastoral", a sunny piece written in a happy summer at the Wörthersee. But underneath the surface, there is subtext of pain and unfulfilled love, as shown by two of his own songs that are quoted in the piece.
The first is the second theme of the first movement of Brahms 2, which is a version of the "Wiegenlied" op. 49/4.
"Guten Abend, gut Nacht" is dedicated and written for the birth of the second child of Bertha Faber. But the "Wiegenlied" is not just a lullaby, but also a hidden declaration of love to Bertha. Brahms met her in 1859, before she was married, and fell in love with the young girl. Here is the story (including some other facts about Brahms, brothels and his parents) as told by Tom Allen and the canadians at CBC.
Then, in the end of the first movement, he quotes another song (in the woodwind) that speaks about unattainable love: "Es liebt sich so lieblich im Lenze" op. 71/1, written just before the Second Symphony.
The text of this song by Heinrich Heine is about a shepherdess who sits at a river weaving wreaths. She sees a horseman riding by, they greet each other. But he rides away into the distance and she is left alone, weeping, and throws her wreaths in to the river.
fern flattert die Feder des Hutes.
Love, longing and the song of the Nightingale (in the sense of Heinrich Heine) are part of the "dark wings" which Brahms wrote about to Vinzenz Lachner. And these dark wings are also present in the Second Symphony, which is a much more personal piece than the First. Even though it was written under a bright summer sky in 1877, he could still not get rid of the clouds inside himself.
We play Brahms 2nd symphony this Friday and Sunday with the Orquestra Sinfonica do Porto Casa da Musica at Casa da Musica in Porto.
Older PostThe Casa da Musica 2018 season. Bruckner, Mozart and Georg Friedrich Haas.


Notes: Bethany, of course, is once again the sane and sensible Hawke.
Notes: Carver has no sense of smell. He should not be allowed to handle leftovers.
Notes: When food fails, it's time to bargain with whiskey.
Notes: Cormac decides to go the traditional Dalish food route. Unfortunately, Fenris is the least elfy elf in all of Thedas.
Warnings: Shirtless elf, who in Thedas doesn't like chocolate!?
Notes: Anton Hawke has a habit of bribing Fenris with apple tarts. But, what came before the tarts?
Notes: Okay, yes, now it's two chapters. More of the same, pretty much. They're charming. They're sweet. They're both complete dicks.
Notes: Post-Tranquility. Cormac Hawke hasn't heard from Anders in a few days, and he's worried. Never mind that he barely knows the guy, that was a shitheap of unfortunate events and every mage's nightmare. He finds Anders doing a terrible impression of 'just fine'.


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Joana Heidrich (* 2. Oktober 1991 in Zürich) ist eine Schweizer Beachvolleyball- und ehemalige Volleyballspielerin. Mit Anouk Vergé-Dépré wurde sie 2020 Europameisterin und gewann 2021 für die Schweiz die Bronzemedaille bei den Olympischen Spielen in Tokio.

Karriere Beach
Heidrich wurde 2007 Schweizer Meisterin der Altersklasse U18. 2009 hatte sie ihren ersten internationalen Auftritt mit Marlen Brunner beim Satellite-Turnier in Vaduz. Bei der U20-Europameisterschaft in Griechenland wurde sie mit Tanja Goricanec Neunte. Mit Brunner spielte sie erst ein Masters-Turnier in Blackpool und eine Woche an gleicher Stelle die Junioren-Weltmeisterschaft, bei der das Duo den neunten Platz erreichte. Auf der FIVB World Tour 2010 spielten Heidrich zusammen mit Isabelle Forrer ihre ersten Grand Slams in Gstaad, Klagenfurt und Stare Jabłonki sowie die Kristiansand Open. Bei der U23-Europameisterschaft in Kos belegte sie mit Brunner den 19. Platz. Zur Junioren-WM in Alanya trat sie mit Goricanec an und wurde Fünfte. Für ihre Leistungen wurde sie mit dem Swiss Volley Award in der Kategorie "Youngster of the Year 2010" ausgezeichnet.

2011 spielte Heidrich zunächst mit Karin Trüssel. Dann gewann sie auf der nationalen Coop-Beachtour mit Romana Kayser das Turnier in Zug und erreichte in Winterthur das Finale. International spielte sie die Grand Slams in Gstaad mit Brunner und in Stare Jabłonki mit Forrer. In Porto erreichte sie mit Goricanec den vierten Rang bei der U23-EM. Bei den Den Haag Open schied sie mit Kayser früh aus. Anschliessend fuhr sie mit der damals erst 16-jährigen Nina Betschart zur U21-Weltmeisterschaft nach Halifax und gewann im Finale gegen die Kanadierinnen Altomare/Humana-Paredes den Titel. Von der Sporthilfe wurden Heidrich/Betschart zum "Nachwuchsteam des Jahres 2011" gekürt. 2012 spielte Heidrich auf der World Tour mit Kayser. Das Duo wurde beim Grand Slam in Gstaad Neunter. Mit Muriel Grässli gewann Heidrich das Satellite-Turnier in Vaduz. Heidrich/Kayser belegten den siebten Rang beim Masters-Turnier in Warna. Bei der Schweizer Meisterschaft unterlagen sie erst im Finale gegen Isabelle Forrer und Anouk Vergé-Dépré. Zum Jahresende kam Heidrich bei den Bang Saen Open mit Betschart auf den neunten Rang.

2013 bildete sie ein neues Duo mit Nadine Zumkehr. Auf der World Tour wurden sie Neunte bei den Fuzhou Open und dem Grand Slam in Corrientes. Beim Masters in Baden erreichten sie das Finale und beim Grand Slam in Rom schafften sie es bis ins Viertelfinale und wurden Fünfte. In Stare Jabłonki nahmen sie an der Weltmeisterschaft 2013 teil. Sie starteten mit einem Sieg gegen ihre nationalen Kontrahentinnen Kayser/Grässli in die Vorrunde und kamen als Gruppenzweite weiter. In der ersten KO-Runde mussten sie sich dem brasilianischen Duo Maestrini/Seixas geschlagen geben. Bei den folgenden Grand Slams in Gstaad und Long Beach belegten sie jeweils den neunten Platz. Die Schweizer Meisterschaft beendeten sie auf dem vierten Rang.

Zu Beginn der Saison 2014 erreichten Heidrich/Zumkehr das Finale des Coop-Turniers in Zürich. Bei der Europameisterschaft 2014 in Quartu Sant'Elena kamen sie als Gruppenzweite der Vorrunde weiter und mussten sich schliesslich im Achtelfinale den Tschechinnen Kolocová/Sluková geschlagen geben. Auf der World Tour gelangen ihnen zwei fünfte Plätze in Gstaad und Den Haag und drei neunte Plätze bei weiteren Grand Slams. Beim CEV-Masters in Biel/Bienne wurden sie ebenfalls Fünfte. Wenige Tage später wurden sie in Bern mit einem Sieg im Endspiel gegen Forrer/Vergé-Dépré Schweizer Meisterinnen.

Bei der World Tour 2015 erreichten Heidrich/Zumkehr neunte Plätze bei den Luzern Open und den Major-Turnieren in Poreč und Stavanger. Drei Grand Slam beendeten sie jeweils auf dem 17. Rang. Die WM in den Niederlanden verlief für sie weniger erfolgreich. Sie verfolgen das Auftaktspiel gegen Forrer/Vergé-Dépré und schieden dann als einer der schlechteren Gruppendritten nach der Vorrunde aus. Nach einem neunten Platz beim Grand Slam in Yokohama nahmen sie an der EM in Klagenfurt teil. Dort gelangten sie als Gruppenzweiter bis ins Achtelfinale, das sie gegen die neuen Europameisterinnen Ludwig/Walkenhorst verloren. Wenig später gewannen Heidrich/Zumkehr das Masters-Turnier in Biel/Bienne im Finale gegen Forrer/Vergé-Dépré. Nach dem neunten Platz beim Grand Slam in Olsztyn wurden sie Dritte der Sotschi Open. Dann gewannen sie das Finale der Xiamen Open gegen die Argentinierinnen Gallay/Klug und feierten damit ihren ersten Turniersieg im Rahmen der World Tour.

Die World Tour 2016 begann für das Schweizer Duo mit zwei 17. Plätzen, bevor sie bei den Vitória Open Fünfte wurden. Dann gewannen sie das Coop-Turnier in Zürich im Finale gegen Betschart/Hüberli. Bei den Open-Turnieren in Xiamen und Fuzhou wurden sie Fünfte und Dritte. Anschliessend gelang ihnen mit einem Sieg im Endspiel der Sotschi Open gegen die Spanierinnen Liliana/Baquerizo der zweite Turniersieg auf der World Tour. Mit dem fünften Rang in Moskau gab es ein weiteres Top-Ten-Ergebnis. Bei der EM in Biel/Bienne gewannen Heidrich/Zumkehr ihre Vorrundengruppe, verloren dann jedoch das Achtelfinale gegen Hermannová/Sluková im Tiebreak. Nach einigen weniger erfolgreichen Major-Turnieren erreichten sie in Klagenfurt das Endspiel, in dem sich die deutschen Europameisterinnen Ludwig/Walkenhorst durchsetzten. Als zweitbestes Schweizer Team der Olympia-Rangliste qualifizierten sich Heidrich/Zumkehr für die Olympischen Spiele in Rio de Janeiro. Dort gelangten sie als Gruppenzweite der Vorrunde bis ins Viertelfinale, das sie im Tiebreak gegen die Brasilianerinnen Larissa/Talita verloren. Damit beendeten sie das Turnier auf dem fünften Rang. Beim FIVB Saisonfinale in Toronto verloren Heidrich/Zumkehr im Endspiel gegen die Olympiasiegerinnen Ludwig/Walkenhorst mit 0:2. Im Oktober 2016 wurde Heidrich als "Most Improved Player" der FIVB World Tour ausgezeichnet.

Seit 2017 spielt Heidrich mit Anouk Vergé-Dépré, deren ehemalige Partnerin Isabelle Forrer wie auch Nadine Zumkehr Ende 2016 den Rücktritt gab. Heidrich/Vergé-Dépré hatte eine erfolgreiche erste Saison, gewann Silber beim FIVB 4-Sterneturnier in Holland und erreichte mehrere Male hintereinander das Viertelfinale auf den 5-Sterneturnieren der Beach Major Series. Heidrich/Vergé-Dépré spielte sich an der WM in Wien ins Achtelfinale, wo sie gegen das brasilianische Tandem Larissa/Talita das Nachsehen hatten. Am Ende der Saison erspielte sich Heidrich/Vergé-Dépré am World Tour Finale einen fünften Rang und gewann den Schweizermeistertitel gegen Betschart/Hüberli. Die beste Schweizer Platzierung auf der Weltrangliste erreichen Heidrich/Vergé-Dépré mit #7.

2018 gewann Heidrich/Vergé-Dépré beim 4-Sterneturnier in Itapema Silber. Das Team musste die Saison jedoch nach der ersten Hälfte wegen eines Bandscheibenvorfalls von Joana Heidrich beenden. Nach dem Turnier in Gstaad unterzog sich Joana Heidrich einem operationellen Eingriff.

Zwar starteten Heidrich/Vergé-Dépré 2019 mit einem Top 10 Resultat in die Saison, fanden aber lange nicht den Rhythmus. Erst kurz vor der Weltmeisterschaft in Hamburg fand das Duo zurück zu regelmässigen Achtelfinal Resultaten. In Hamburg gewann Heidrich/Vergé-Dépré die Gruppe und rückte ins Achtelfinal vor. Dort behielt aber das australische Duo Clancy/Artacho del Solar im dritten Satz die Oberhand. Bei der Europameisterschaft in Moskau stiess Heidrich/Vergé-Dépré bis ins Halbfinale vor und beendete das Turnier auf dem 4. Rang. Die Woche danach gelang dem Duo den grossen Coup, sie gewannen das 4-Sterneturnier gegen das brasilianische Duo Talita/Lima und feierten somit ihren ersten World Tour Sieg in der neuen Konstellation. An der Schweizermeisterschaft in Bern hatte Heidrich/Vergé-Dépré im Finale gegen Betschart/Hüberli im dritten Satz das Nachsehen. Bei den Rom Beach Finals beendete das Tandem die Saison auf dem 4. Rang nach einem spannenden Spiel gegen Ana Patricia/Rebecca aus Brasilien. Heidrich/ Vergé-Dépré befindet sich nach der Saison 2019 auf Rang 12 des Olympia Rankings und Platz 11 des World Rankings.

Im Juli 2020 gewannen Heidrich/Vergé-Dépré in Düsseldorf das erste Turnier der deutschen Comdirect Beach Tour 2020. Bei der Beachvolleyball-Europameisterschaft im September in Jūrmala gewannen die Schweizerinnen im Endspiel mit 2:1 gegen das deutsche Duo Kim Behrens und Cinja Tillmann.

Nachdem Heidrich im Frühling 2021 an COVID-19 erkrankt war und Heidrich/Vergé-Dépré deshalb weniger Turniere bestreiten konnten, gewann das Duo bei den Olympischen Spielen in Tokio im August 2021 die Bronzemedaille. Sie setzten sich gegen die Lettinnen Graudiņa/Kravčenoka in zwei Sätzen durch. Beim FIVB Saisonfinale in Cagliari wurden sie Siebte. Auf der neugeschaffenen World Beach Pro Tour 2022 hatten Heidrich/Vergé-Dépré ausnahmslos Top-Ten-Ergebnisse. Bei der Weltmeisterschaft 2022 in Rom verletzte sich Heidrich im Spiel um Platz drei gegen das deutsche Duo Müller/Tillmann schwer an der Schulter, sodass die beiden Schweizerinnen nach dem Spielabbruch auf dem vierten Platz landeten. In der Folge musste sie sich einer Schulter-Operation unterziehen und fällt für mehrere Monate aus.

Karriere Halle
Heidrich war zu Beginn ihrer Karriere auch als Volleyballerin in der Halle aktiv. Zunächst spielte sie bei Züri Unterland. Von 2008 bis 2011 stand sie beim Erstligisten VC Kanti Schaffhausen unter Vertrag. In der Spielzeit 2008/09 wurde die Mittelblockerin mit ihrem Team Pokalsiegerin und Vizemeisterin der Schweiz und erreichte das Viertelfinale im CEV-Pokal. Am Saisonende 2011 half sie noch kurz bei Neuchâtel Université Club Volleyball aus.  2012 hatte sie noch ein Engagement beim TSV Düdingen.

Privates
Joana Heidrichs Brüder Florian und Adrian spielen ebenfalls Volleyball und Beachvolleyball. Sie wuchs im Weiler Gerlisberg bei Kloten auf. Sie wohnt in Kloten und in Bern. Seit 2019 ist sie mit dem Eishockeyprofispieler Stefan Mäder liiert.

Weblinks

 Website Heidrich/Vergé-Dépré

 Finalspiel Moskau 2019 (YouTube)
 Beachvolleyball Lightshow (YouTube)
 Provil bei Volleybox

Einzelnachweise

Beachvolleyballspieler (Schweiz)
Olympiateilnehmer (Schweiz)
Teilnehmer der Olympischen Sommerspiele 2016
Teilnehmer der Olympischen Sommerspiele 2020
Europameister (Beachvolleyball)
Schweizer Meister (Beachvolleyball)
Volleyballspieler (Schweiz)
Schweizer Pokalsieger (Volleyball)
Schweizer
Geboren 1991
Frau

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
ANDREW BOSTOM: EGYPTIAN-ISLAMO-NAZISM OMAR AMIN VON LEERS……..
Andrew Bostom ISLAMOFASCISM
Take it away Andy, no one does exposing of the totalitarian links between Fascism and Islam better than you. KGS
Egyptian Islamo-Nazism and "Omar Amin" Von Leers
Posted By Andrew Bostom On May 30, 2011
[1] "Omar Amin" von Leers: The Nazi Who Found a Haven in Egypt and Embraced a More Potent Ideology to Destroy the Judeo-Christian West—Islamic Jihad
Cross-posted at The American Thinker [2]
Wednesday May 25, 2001 a group of Egyptians, led by founding member Emad Abdel Sattar proclaimed [3]the establishment of "a contemporary frame of reference" Nazi Party.
Sattar reportedly stated [3] that the party, whose founding deputy is a former military official, would bring together prominent figures from Egyptian society, and vest all powers in a "carefully selected" president.
The Egyptian Leftist publication Al-Masry Al-Youm, at its English website, further contends [3] the Nazi party operated clandestinely during the Mubarak regime which had prevented party leaders from carrying out their activities in the open. Two Facebook pages which appeared [3] recently under the title of "the Egyptian Nazi Party," may confirm the party's public emergence since Mubarak was deposed.
Whether or not the inchoate new Egyptian Nazi Party, operating within a "modern framework," becomes a significant political force, Nazism and its ugly resonance with the country's Muslim masses, has a prolonged, disturbing legacy in Egypt.
Aribert Ferdinand Heim, was a member of Hitler's Waffen-SS, and a psychopathic "medical doctor" whocommitted [4] the most heinous atrocities at the Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen and Mauthausen concentration camps, including: the performance of operations on prisoners without anesthesia; removing organs from healthy inmates, who were then left then to die on the operating table; injecting poison, including gasoline, into the hearts of others; and taking the skull of at least one victim as a "souvenir."
As revealed in this February 4/5, 2009 New York Times story [4], Heim, like many Nazi war criminals, lived safely in Egypt, perhaps for up to three decades, following his flight from Europe in 1962.
A dusty briefcase with rusted buckles, sitting nearly forgotten in storage here in Cairo, hid the truth behind Dr. Heim's flight to the Middle East. Obtained by The New York Times and the German television station ZDF from members of the Doma family, proprietors of the hotel here where Dr. Heim resided, the files in the briefcase tell the story of his life, and death, in Egypt.
Josef Kohl, a former inmate at Mauthausen, gave the following testimony [4] regarding Heim to a United States war crimes investigating team on Jan. 18, 1946, less than a year after the German surrender.
Dr. Heim had a habit of looking into inmates' mouths to determine whether their teeth were in impeccable condition. If this were the case, he would kill the prisoner with an injection, cut his head off, leave it to cook in the crematorium for hours, until all the flesh was stripped from the naked skull and prepare the skull for himself and his friends as a decoration for their desks.
During 1979, Heim (who died on Aug. 10, 1992, according [5] to his son and the death certificate), wrote aletter [5] to the German magazine Spiegel, after the publication of a report about his war-crimes case. Whether he ever sent the letter, which was found in his files (along with numerous others were "written in meticulous cursive style in German or English") is unclear. According to the Times report [5],
the letter…accused Simon Wiesenthal, who was interned at Mauthausen, of being "the one who invented these atrocities." Dr. Heim went on to discuss what he called Israeli massacres of Palestinians, and added that "the Jewish Khazar, Zionist lobby of the U.S. were the first ones who in 1933 declared war against Hitler's Germany." The Turkic ethnic group the Khazars were a recurring theme for Dr. Heim, who kept himself busy in Cairo, researching a paper he wrote in English and German, decrying the possibility of anti-Semitism owing to the fact, he said, that most Jews were not Semitic in ethnic origin.
Heim converted to Islam (in his case, at the Cairo mosque of Sunni Islam's foremost religious teaching institution, Al Azhar), becoming "known to locals" as Tarek Hussein Farid. Apparently, Heim, aka, Dr. Death, became a devout Muslim [5], "maintained the discipline to walk some 15 miles each day through the busy streets of Egypt's capital…to the world-renowned Al Azhar mosque", and bonded with his Muslim neighbors, who knew him as "Uncle" Tarek Hussein Farid.
He formed close bonds with his neighbors, including the Doma family, which ran the Kasr el Madina hotel, where Dr. Heim lived the last decade before his death. Mahmoud Doma, whose father owned the establishment, said Dr. Heim spoke Arabic, English and French, in addition to German. Mr. Doma said his neighbor read and studied the Koran, including a copy in German that the Domas had ordered for him. Mahmoud Doma, 38, became emotional when talking about the man he knew as Uncle Tarek, whom he described giving him books and encouraging him to study. "He was like a father. He loved me and I loved him."
He recalled how Uncle Tarek bought rackets and set up a tennis net on the hotel roof, where he and his siblings played with the German Muslim until sundown. But by 1990, Dr. Heim's good health began to fail him and he was diagnosed with cancer.
Thus Heim epitomized scores of other Nazis, who found safe haven in Egypt, most importantly, the pious Muslim jihadist and Nazi ideologue, Johannes "Omar Amin" von Leers. Historian Bat Ye'or has described this phenomenon, as follows (here [6], pp.154-55):
…they lived under false names and worked in anti-Zionist propaganda centers, such as the Institute for the Study of Zionism, which was founded in Cairo, in 1955. Its director, Alfred Zingler (alias Mahmoud Saleh), worked together with Dr. Johannes von Leers (d. 1965, alias Omar Amin), who had been a specialist on the "Jewish Question" in Josef Goebbels' propaganda department. Zingler's main assistants were Dr. Werner Witschale and Hans Appler (Saleh Shafar), who had also served on the staff of Goebbels' ministry, as well as Louis Heiden. Heiden was the editor of one of the many Arabic versions of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and of a translation of Hitler's Mein Kampf into Arabic. In 1955, the Cairo Egyptian special services for anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist propaganda hired Appler.
Other Nazis settled in Egypt as well. Most of them worked with the Egyptian government as advisers on anti-Zionist propaganda or assisted with the organization of police forces or as military trainers in Palestinian terrorist camps. In 1957, according to Frankfurter Illustrierte [August 25, 1957], the number of Nazis in Egypt was two thousand. [emphasis added] Erich Altern (Ali Bella), the chief of the Jewish section of the Gestapo in occupied Galicia [Eastern Central Europe, between Poland and Ukraine] during the war, escaped to Egypt in the early 1950s, where he served as a military instructor in the Palestinian camps. [Standartenfuhrer (an SS regiment leader)] Baumann (Ali Ben Khader), who had collaborated in the extermination of Jews in the Warsaw ghetto and went into hiding, became a military specialist in Egypt for the army of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
The pervasive impact of this ugly mentality is perhaps best illustrated by then Colonel Anwar El-Sadat's 1953 "Letter to Hitler". When, in September, 1953 several news agency reports were circulated claiming that Hitler was still alive, the Cairo weekly Al Musawwar, posed this question to a number of Egyptian personalities, including Sadat: "If you wished to send Hitler a personal letter, what would you write to him?" In response, Sadat wrote the following, published September 18, 1953: (here [6], p. 155 )
My dear Hitler,
I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart. Even if you appear to have been defeated, in reality you are the victor. You succeeded in creating dissensions between Churchill, the old man, and his allies, the Sons of Satan. [emphasis added] Germany will win because her existence is necessary to preserve the world balance. Germany will be reborn in spite of the Western and Eastern powers. There will be no peace unless Germany once again becomes what she was. The West, as well as the East, will pay for her rehabilitation—whether they like it or not. Both sides will invest a great deal of money and effort in Germany in order to have her on their side, which is of great benefit to Germany. So much for the present and the future. As for the past, I think you made mistakes, like too many battlefronts and the shortsightedness of Ribbentrop vis-a vis the experienced British diplomacy. But your trust in your country and people will atone for those blunders. We will not be surprised if you appear again in Germany or if a new Hitler rises up in your wake. [emphasis added]
Almost 40 years ago (1973/74) Bat Ye'or [6] published a remarkably prescient analysis of the Islamic antisemitism and resurgent jihadism [7] in her native Egypt, being packaged for dissemination throughout the Muslim world. The primary, core Antisemitic and jihadist motifs were Islamic, derived from Islam's foundational texts, on to which European, especially Nazi elements were grafted.
Nazi academic and propagandist of extermination Johannes von Leers' [6] writings and personal career trajectory — as a favored contributor in Goebbels' propaganda ministry, to his eventual adoption of Islam (as Omar Amin von Leers) while working as an anti-Western, and antisemitic/anti-Zionist propagandist under Nasser's regime from the mid-1950s, until his death in 1965 — represents the apotheosis of this convergence of jihad, Islamic antisemitism, and racist, Nazi antisemitism, described by Bat Ye'or.
Upon his arrival in Egypt in 1956, it was the jihadist and Nazi ally, Hajj Amin el-Husseini, former Mufti of Jerusalem, who welcomed von Leers, stating, "We are grateful to you for having come here to resume the struggle against the powers of darkness incarnated by international Judaism." The ex-Mufti oversaw von Leers' formal conversion to Islam, and remained one of his confidants. And von Leers described the origins of the Muslim "forename," Omar Amin, that he adopted as part of his conversion to Islam in a November, 1957 letter to American Nazi H. Keith Thompson [8],
I myself have embraced Islam and accepted the new forename Omar Amin, Omar according to the great Caliph Omar who was a grim enemy of the Jews, Amin in honor of my friend Hajj Amin el Husseini, the Grand Mufti.
Already in essays published during 1938 and 1942, the first dating back almost two decades before his conversion to Islam while in Egypt, von Leers produced analyses focused primarily on Muhammad's interactions with the Jews of Medina. These essays reveal his pious reverence for Islam and its prophet, and a thorough understanding of the sacralized Islamic sources for this narrative, i.e., the Koran, hadith, and sira. which is entirely consistent with standard Muslim apologetics.
Von Leers' 1942 essay [6] simultaneously extols the "model" of oppression the Jews experienced under Islamic suzerainty, and the nobility of Muhammad, Islam, and the contemporary Muslims of the World War II era, foreshadowing his own conversion to Islam just over a decade later. And even earlier, in a 1938 essay, von Leers sympathized with, "the leading role of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem in the Arabians' battles against the Jewish invasion in Palestine." Von Leers observes that to the pious Muslim,
…the Jew is an enemy, not simply an 'unbeliever' who might perhaps be converted or, despite the fact that he does not belong to Islam, might still be a person of some estimation. Rather, the Jew is the predestined opponent of the Muslim, one who desired to bring down the work of the Prophet.
Von Leers, for example, offers [6] this reverent summary characterization of Muhammad's activities in Mecca, and later Medina, which is entirely consistent with standard Muslim apologetics:
[Mecca] For years Muhammad sought in Mecca to succeed with his preaching that there was only one God, the sole, all-merciful king of Judgment Day. He opposed to the Christian Trinity the unity of God, rejected the Christian doctrine of original sin and salvation, and instead gave every believer as a guiding principle the complete fulfillment of the commands of the righteous, given by a compassionate and just God, before whom every individual person had to account for his acts.
[Medina] September 622 he left Mecca for Medina, where he took up residence. Here he encountered the Jewish problem for the first time. He believed in the victorious power of good in the world, he was firmly convinced that the religion of the one and only God, with its easy, practical, reasonable, basic laws for human life was nothing other than the original religion. He wanted to take mankind out of the current turmoil and lead it toward the original, clear vision of God. But since he had to deal with people who had been influenced by both Christianity and Judaism, he said that it was the religion in which Abraham (Ibrahim) had already believed, andwhich Christ and Moses had proclaimed, only each time it had been distorted by human beings. He said that this had been revealed anew to him by God. He wanted to make the path easy to follow for both Christians and Jews; thus at first he allowed his followers to pray facing toward Jerusalem. He repeatedly emphasized that he only wanted to purify the existing religions, to establish the restored, newly revealed faith. At the same time he was a skilled statesman. When the Arab tribes were unified, theJews became a minority in Medina. Muhammad provided them with a kind of protectorate agreement: they were to retain their administration and their forms of worship, help the faithful defend the city, not ally themselves with Muhammad's opponents, and contribute to the faithful's wars. The Jews could have been satisfied with this. But they began a general hate campaign against Islam, which proclaimed a pure conception of God.
Citing [6] (or referring to) the relevant foundational text sources (i.e., Qur'an 13:36; 8:55–58; 59:1–15; the sira and canonical hadith descriptions of the fate of individual Jews such as Abu Afak and Ka'b ibn Ashraf and the Jewish tribes Banu Qaynuqa, Banu Nadir, Banu Qurayzah, as well as the Jews of the Khaybar oasis), von Leers chronicles Muhammad's successful campaigns that vanquished these Jews, killing and dispersing them, "or at most allow[ing] them to remain in certain places if they paid a poll tax." Von Leers further describes [6] the accounts (from the hadith, and, more elaborately, the sira) of Muhammad's poisoning by a Khaybar Jewess, and also notes the canonical hadith that records Caliph Umar's rationale for his putative expulsion from northern Arabia of those remaining Jews who survived Muhammad's earlier campaigns:
On his deathbed Mohammed is supposed to have said: "There must not be two religions in Arabia." One of his successors, the caliph Omar, resolutely drove the Jews out of Arabia.
And von Leers even invokes [6] the apocalyptic canonical hadith that forty-six years later became the keystone of Hamas's 1988 charter [9] sanctioning a jihad genocide against the Jewish State of Israel:
Ibn Huraira even communicates to us the following assertion of the great man of God: "Judgment Day will come only when the Moslems have inflicted an annihilating defeat on the Jews, when every stone and every tree behind which a Jew has hidden says to believers: "Behind me stands a Jew, smite him."
Von Leers's 1942 essay concludes [6] by simultaneously extolling the "model" of oppression the Jews experienced under Islamic suzerainty and the nobility of Muhammad, Islam, and the contemporary Muslims of the World War II era, foreshadowing his own conversion to Islam just over a decade later:
They [the Jews] were subjected to a very restrictive and oppressive special regulation that completely crippled Jewish activities. All reporters of the time when the Islamic lands still completely obeyed their own laws agree that the Jews were particularly despised. . . .
Mohammed's opposition to the Jews undoubtedly had an effect—oriental Jewry was completely paralyzed by Islam. Its back was broken.
Oriental Jewry has played almost no role in Judaism's massive rise to power over the last two centuries. Scorned, the Jews vegetated in the dirty alleys of the mellah, and were subject to a special regulation that did not allow them to profiteer, as they did in Europe, or even to receive stolen goods, but instead kept them fearful and under pressure. Had the rest of the world adopted a similar method, today we would have no Jewish question—and here we must absolutely note that there were also Islamic rulers, among them especially the Spanish caliphs of the House of Muawiyah, who did not adhere to Islam's traditional hostility to Jews—to their own disadvantage. However, as a religion Islam has performed the immortal service of preventing the Jews from carrying out their threatened conquest of Arabia and of defeating the dreadful doctrine of Jehovah through a pure faith that opened the way to higher culture for many peoples and gave them an education and humane training, so that still today a Moslem who takes his religion seriously is one of the most worthy phenomena in this world in turmoil.
Seven decades ago, University of Notre Dame historian Waldemar Gurian, and Protestant theologian Karl Barth, each elucidated the profound attraction of Islam for a hardcore Nazi ideologue such as von Leers—which also underpins the subsequent Islamic-Nazi symbiosis so evident in post World War II Egypt.
Gurian, a refugee, who witnessed first hand the Communist and Fascist totalitarian movements in Europe, concluded (circa 1945 [10]) that Hitler, in a manner analogous to the 7th century precedent of Muhammad, had been the simplifier of German nationalism.
A fanatical simplifier who appeared as the unifier of various German traditions in the service of simple national aims and who was seen by many differing German groups — even by some people outside Germany — as the fulfiller of their wishes and sharer of their beliefs, with some distortions and exaggerations — such, as long as he had success, was Adolf Hitler.
Based upon the same clear understandings, and devoid of our era's dulling, politically correct constraints, Karl Barth [from [11], The Church and the Political Problem of Our Day] had offered this warning, published in 1939:
Participation in this life, according to it the only worthy and blessed life, is what National Socialism, as a political experiment, promises to those who will of their own accord share in this experiment. And now it becomes understandable why, at the point where it meets with resistance, it can only crush and kill — with the might and right which belongs to Divinity! Islam of old as we know proceeded in this way. It is impossible to understand National Socialism unless we see it in fact as a new Islam [emphasis in original], its myth as a new Allah, and Hitler as this new Allah's Prophet
Investigative journalist John Roy Carlson's 1948-1950 interviews [12] of Arab Muslim religious and political leaders provide consummate independent validation of these Western assessments. Perhaps most revealing were the candid observations of Aboul Saud, whom Carlson described as a "pleasant English-speaking member of the Arab League Office." Aboul Saud explained to Carlson that Islam was an authoritarian religio-political creed which encompassed all of a Muslim's spiritual and temporal existence. He stated plainly,
You might describe Mohammedanism as a religious form of State Socialism…The Koran give the State the right to nationalize industry, distribute land, or expropriate the right to nationalize industry, distribute land, or expropriate property. It grants the ruler of the State unlimited powers, so long as he does not go against the Koran. The Koran is our personal as well as our political constitution.
And after interviewing Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna himself, who "preached the doctrine of the Koran in one hand and the sword in the other," Carlson observed [12]:
It became clear to me why the average Egyptian worshipped the use of force. Terror was synonymous with power! This was one reason why most Egyptians, regardless of class or calling had admired Nazi Germany. It helped explain the sensational growth of the Ikhwan el Muslimin [Muslim Brotherhood]
However, as Brynjar Lia's 1998 analysis [13] of the Muslim Brotherhood's formative years (1928-1942) points out,
…al-Banna was anxious to distance himself from the aggressive chauvinism and racism that flourished in several countries in the 1930s, and rejected racial theories as utterly incompatible with Islam. In fact, the Muslim Brothers used to make fun of the Young Egypt Party (Misr al-Fatah) which they saw as trying to imitate the German Nazis.
Lia acknowledges [13] how Al-Banna's and the Muslim Brotherhood's vision remained steadfastly Islamic—hence its deep resonance with the timeless aspiration of the Muslim masses to establish a transnational Muslim Caliphate via jihad [7].
Quoting the Qur'anic verse [2:193] "And fight them till sedition is no more, and the faith is God's," the Muslim Brothers urged their fellow Muslims to restore the bygone greatness of Islam, and to re-establish the Islamic empire…[T]het even called for the restoration of "former Islamic colonies" in Andalus (Spain), southern Italy, Sicily, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean islands…When they did express admiration of certain aspects of Nazism or Fascism, it was usually in the context of demonstrating that the Europeans had implemented some of "the principles of Islam," such as modest dress code, encouragement of early marriage, a strong patriotism, and a military jihad spirit.
Remarkably concordant views on jihad [7] were expressed by von Leers during the same era, prior to his formal conversion to Islam. I was able to obtain (from the Russian State Military Archive of captured Nazi documents), and have translated from the original German, an unpublished ~ 6000 word essay Leers' wrote during World War II (apparently in 1942), entitled, "Philosophies of Peace and War in Islam."
Disingenuously ignoring the explicit imperial designs of jihad—to subjugate all of mankind under Islamic Law, as detailed with lucidity in the Koran, sunna, and a millennial continuum of Muslim jurisprudence—von Leers provides this hagiographic overview of Islam's bellicose institution for global conquest, linked to his condemnation of Western European Christendom:
For quite a long time, however, the great colonial powers have been using treaties between themselves and smaller nations merely as a mutual means of help, that is, until one nation has become stronger than the other in its leadership and its means of war. The Qur'an intends and demands that treaties be established upon the bases of justice and equal rights of access, without ulterior motives or underhanded intentions – otherwise, there will never be peace upon the earth.
Leers amplifies this traditional Muslim apologetic in his assessment of the Koranic injunction—verse 9:29—for timeless jihad against Judeo-Christian societies.
"Fight those who believe not in God and the Last Day and do not forbid what God and His Messenger have forbidden — such men as practice not the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book — until they pay the tribute out of hand and have been humbled" (9:29, Arberry translation). One must therefore fight against those who possess the Book and who threaten the land and life of the Muslims, who oppress the people or want to convert the Muslims to their faith. This enemy, when defeated, must pay tribute….This payment, therefore, is not a "payment of reparations" in the European sense, by which the enemy is completely ruined.
Predictably, Leers also highlights this traditional Koranic statement of Jewish perfidy in relation to wartime treaties. But again, Leers "exegesis" on Koran 8:55 is entirely consistent with the gloss on this verse in the seminal, mainstream Koranic commentary Tafsir al-Jalalayn [14] which maintains that 8:55 refers specifically to the Jewish tribe Banu Qurayza.
The Qur'an considered the Jews, who never remained true to the treaties they made with the Prophet, to be lower than cattle. It says concerning them, " Surely the worst of beasts in God's sight are the unbelievers, who will not believe, those of them with whom thou hast made compact, then they break their compact every time, not being godfearing" (8:55-56, Arberry translation)
Until his death in 1965, von Leers remained unrepentant about the annihilationist policies towards the Jews he helped advance serving Hitler's Reich. Indeed he was convinced of the righteousness of the Nazi war against the Jews, and as a pious Muslim convert, von Leers viewed the Middle East as the succeeding battleground to seal the fate of world Jewry. His public evolution over the course of three decades illustrates starkly the shared centrality to these totalitarianisms — both modern and ancient — of the Jews as "first and last enemy" motif.
Over fifty years later ignorance, denial, and delusion have engendered the sorry state of public understanding of this most ominous conversion of hatreds, by all its potential non-Muslim victims, not only Jews. This lack of understanding is little advanced by the spate of contemporary analyses which seek "Nazi roots" of the cataclysmic September 11, 2001 acts of jihad terrorism, and see Nazism as having "introduced" antisemitism to an otherwise "tolerant", even philosemitic Islamic world beginning in the 1930s. Awkwardly forced, and ahistorical, these analyses realign the Nazi cart in front of the Islamic steed which has driven [6] both global jihadism and Islamic antisemitism, since the 7th century advent of the Muslim creed, particularly during the last decade of Muhammad's life.
Finally, an October 1957 US intelligence report on von Leers' writing and activities for Egypt and the Arab League confirmed his complete adoption of the triumphal Muslim worldview, desirous of nothing less than the destruction of Judeo-Christian civilization by jihad [7] (#382 [15]):
He [Dr. Omar Amin von Leers] is becoming more and more a religious zealot, even to the extent of advocating an expansion of Islam in Europe in order to bring about stronger unity through a common religion. This expansion he believes can come not only from contact with the Arabs in the Near East and Africa but with Islamic elements in the USSR. The results he envisions as the formation of a political bloc against which neither East nor West could prevail
The so-called "Arab Spring" has unleashed jihadis [7]t forces—most notably within Egypt itself [16]—pious Muslim convert "Omar Amin" von Leers long ago foresaw, and cherished. Those who wish to preserve our uniquely Western heritage of freedom must not ignore, or worse still, delusively re-interpret this existential threat.
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Small Dish, Deep Decline
OTT growth can't come fast enough for U.S. satellite-TV sector
Mike Farrell
Customer erosion has come to U.S. satellite TV in a big way. And though the two main players — DirecTV and Dish Network — have tried to soften the blow with their own over-the-top services, they are still getting bruised.
Comcast's $31 billion bid for U.K. satellite giant Sky has again put a spotlight on the domestic satellite-TV business. Adding to the surprise over Comcast's move was a perception of satellite TV's decline here, unlike their counterparts across the pond.
For years, Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen has been the poster boy for satellite TV losses. Over the past five years, Dish has lost a whopping 3 million subscribers and, according to Ergen, that decline does not appear to be letting up. Dish's pioneering OTT service — Sling TV launched in 2015 — is also beginning to show signs of slowing down.
Dish revealed customer numbers for Sling TV for the first time along with fourth-quarter results: the OTT service ended 2017 with 2.2 million subscribers, up 47% for the year. That was better than expected; some analysts had estimated Sling TV had about 1.8 million customers. Dish's satellite results, though, were stark. Dish finished 2017 with 11.03 million satellite TV customers, 3 million less than the 14.1 million it had in 2013 and 3.1 million behind 2010, its peak subscriber year.
Headed to 'Less than Zero?'
MoffettNathanson principal and senior analyst Craig Moffett estimated Dish's satellite subscribers are declining at a rate of 8.8% per year and cash flow is falling at a 21.5% clip.
"One doesn't often value businesses declining that quickly," Moffett wrote in a research note, saying an argument can be made for valuing Dish's satellite business at less than zero.
In the past, Moffett noted, revenue hits from Dish subscriber losses were outpaced by price increases and by declines in subscriber acquisition costs. "That phase is now over as well," he wrote.
Barclays media analyst Kannan Venkateshwar said, "Overall, these results are likely to underline the need for Dish to make a pivot away from the DBS business sooner rather than later, especially given that incremental subs clearly are coming in at lower margins and even the pace of growth of these subs is slowing.
"It is tough to believe that 2018 will change any of these trend lines, given multiple new competitors like YouTube TV and Hulu," Venkateshwar added.
Ergen has not been shy about satellite's decline — for years, he has said the business is maturing — and he was no less candid on a conference call with analysts to discuss Q4 results.
"There's nothing new on the video business, other than what we've been saying for the last five years, which is the video business is going to change," Ergen said.
Dish's new CEO — 23-year company veteran Erik Carlson, named to the position earlier this year — is cognizant of the decline but still sees some growth left in the old business.
Related: Sling TV Shakes Up Top Management
"We don't have the growth dynamics that we had in early years, but we still see some opportunity," Carlson said on Dish's fourth-quarter conference call with analysts, adding that the core satellite business continues to be the "engine that's funding our future."
Carlson said Dish has spent the past two and a half years improving its subscriber mix, focusing on keeping and acquiring long-term profitable customers. But just how long-term remains to be seen.
Dish's cash-flow margins have shrunk over the past three years, from 20.9% in 2015 to 17.1% in 2017. Pivotal Research Group CEO and senior media & communications analyst Jeff Wlodarczak said the margin decline is mostly due to shrinking revenue, down about 5% in 2017, and Sling TV's margins are thin in part because of the startup nature of the business. Still, Wlodarczak gave Sling credit for containing programming costs — he estimated they were up about 3% for the OTT service last year. Exerting further margin pressure is Dish's plan to build out wireless licenses in an IoT network that will cost up to $1 billion by March 2020.
"I don't expect margins to grow anytime soon," Wlodarczak said. "In the end the [satellite TV] business is effectively a declining annuity that still throws off a decent amount of cash."
Still, the subscriber declines appear to be accelerating. Adding to the pressure is the proliferation of OTT services that have come on the scene since Sling TV launched. In the past year alone, Hulu launched its Hulu Live OTT service, offering 50-plus channels for $39.99 per month, followed by YouTube TV, fubo TV and Philo. That's on top of existing services like Sony PlayStation Vue, Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Channels.
Watch MCN: vMVPDs by the Numbers
Other Options on Offer
Per Moffett, Dish reached its subscriber peak in the first quarter of 2010, finishing the period with 14.3 million customers. It ended 2010 at 14.1 million customers and see-sawed between losses and gains for the next two years, losing 166,000 customers in 2011, adding 89,000 in 2012, adding 1,000 in 2013 and losing 79,000 in 2014.
Subscriber rolls started to fall off a cliff beginning in 2015 — the year Sling TV launched — when Dish lost 607,000 satellite TV subscribers. Those losses doubled to 1.27 million in 2016 and tempered slightly in 2017, with a loss of 995,000 satellite-TV customers.
Satellite declines shouldn't come as a surprise, and both Dish and DirecTV have been preparing for that eventuality for years. OTT services like Sling TV and DirecTV Now were supposed to take up the slack. For a moment, they did. Including Sling TV numbers in the mix, Dish lost just 82,000 customers in 2015 and 392,000 in 2016. The growth of those flanking services has begun to slow down, though.
Sling TV added 526,000 customers in 2015 and 878,000 in 2016, per Dish's financial statements. In 2017, that growth slowed to 711,000 — a 47% increase over the prior year, but given 2016's 141% gain, a slowdown just the same.
Part of the reason is churn, or the disconnect rate, is high at Sling TV: It was 3.09% in Q4, according to Moffett's estimates, compared with 1.78% for the satellite business. Ergen blamed some of the volatility on customers switching services month to month to get better deals, and on those who sign up for a service just to watch a specific event and then drop their subscriptions the next month.
"One of the big factors that I don't think is recognized totally by everyone is [OTT] is somewhat seasonal," Ergen said on the Q4 call, adding that customers often sign on to view a specific event — mainly sports — taking advantage of a one-month free offer and then canceling when the promotion expires. "One-month churn is particularly high in the industry because people come in and out as a matter of convenience and can move around."
That could mean that Sling TV and other OTT providers see a customer surge in March, just in time for the NCAA men's college basketball tournament (March Madness), which begins March 13 and runs through April 2.
Related: Virtual MVPDs Growing 'Like Weeds,' Analyst Says
In addition, Ergen said hardware promotions from providers allow customers more flexibility to move around.
"I'm sure there are some college kids who are going a year and never paying a dime for multichannel TV and getting lifetime HBO from AT&T," Ergen said, adding that pricing discipline is inevitable. "People aren't suicidal out there in a capitalist society."
That discipline won't necessarily come from Dish. During the media portion of the conference call, Dish executive vice president and group president of Sling TV Warren Schlichting said Sling has no intention of eliminating its one-month promotions.
"We like where we are," Schlichting said. "We feel like it really puts the onus on us to provide value."
Growth Engine Has Cooled
Dish might be in the hot seat as the bulk of overall satellite losses have been attributed to the Colorado company. But it is not the only satellite-TV provider (or wired pay TV provider, for that matter) to see subscriber rolls decline. DirecTV, once the growth engine of the satellite sector, had its first full year of customer losses under new parent AT&T in 2017, shedding 554,000 net subscribers. That compares with a gain of 1.23 million customers just one year earlier. DirecTV lost about 550,000 customers in 2015, but gained them back as AT&T's U-verse TV subscribers migrated to the satellite TV service.
AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson told analysts during its Q4 conference call that losses have been expected at the satellite unit ever since the telco purchased the company for $48.5 billion in 2015.
"Since the day we bought DirecTV, we assumed that traditional linear video would be in a declining mode since that's kind of the nature of it," Stephenson said on the call. "OTT and the ability to consume video on mobile devices, we believed would be the trend and the way where things went. We wanted to be in the leadership position and facilitating that kind of consumption of premium video on mobile devices. And we have been in the leadership position in that."
The key was DirecTV Now, the virtual MVPD service AT&T officially launched on Nov. 30, 2016. DirecTV Now was supposed to take up the slack for losses at DirecTV and wireline offering U-verse TV.
Initially, the strategy worked. U-verse TV subscribers were first encouraged to switch to DirecTV service, and later to DirecTV Now, and a lot of them did. U-verse customers fell precipitously, dropping from 5.6 million in 2015 to 3.6 million at the end of 2017.
"I think if AT&T had not been 'encouraging' consumers to swap to DirecTV, satellite TV additions would be far more negative," Wlodarczak said, adding that consumers focus on data service first and video second.
Cable years ago established itself as the broadband leader: It accounted for 100% of net broadband additions again in 2017. Wlodarczak said consumers looking for a reliable broadband service stop at cable first and quickly learn they can get lower prices if they bundle broadband with video. But even that hasn't stemmed the bleeding: Cable operators lost 79,000 customers in Q4 and 780,000 for the full year.
Breaking Down the OTT Subs
Stephenson said AT&T firmly believes that it has the product — DirecTV Now — to drive subscriber growth over the next few years.
"We would expect to continue to grow video customers, with our DirecTV Now [product] outpacing our linear customer counts in the sense of net additions," Stephenson said on the analyst call, adding that customer additions are evenly split between cord-nevers and cord-cutters/shavers. "We still haven't seen a dramatic uptick in customers that are shifting from our full-value product to DirecTV Now, but we continue to watch that carefully and continue to come up with different ways to make sure we can prove that and track that."
Nobody believes satellite service is going away tomorrow. For many rural customers — between 10 million and 15 million homes — it is the only reliable way to access broadcast and pay TV content. But subscriber erosion is here, and even with skinnier bundles and promotional offerings, it is likely to stay.
"I think it is going to get a lot worse for satellite TV," Wlodarczak said.
has again put a spotlight on the domestic satellite-TV business. Adding to the surprise over Comcast's move was a perception of satellite TV's decline here, unlike their counterparts across the pond.
"I think it is going to get a lot worse for satellite TV," Wlodarczak said.Subscribe for full article
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Return to: Illustrated Alaska Timeline - Follow the history of Alaska from the 1700s to 2006 through images from the Alaska Digital Archives.
Fur seal rookery, watercolor on paper, by Henry Wood Elliott, 1846-1930. University of Alaska Museum of the North.