text:
New: The Last Dermatologist to the Poor
What may be the last dermatologist to Oakland's poor happens to be my dermatologist, as well. That this is the case says something about us both, but I'd rather cover his story. -more-
What may be the last dermatologist to Oakland's poor happens to be my dermatologist, as well. That this is the case says something about us both, but I'd rather cover his story. -more-
A student group at the University of California at Berkeley took to a campus plaza this morning to protest the student government's proposal to ban Salvation Army donation bins on campus. -more-
A motorcyclist who was killed in a collision with another car in Berkeley on Wednesday has been identified by the Alameda County coroner's bureau as 32-year-old Stephan Jarjisian. -more-
I worked for 27 years at the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) and then finished my career at the new UC campus in Merced. So I think I know a little about what goes on, or at least what should go on. UCOP sets overall policy, but the campuses plan and propose projects, UCOP reviews, and the regents approve. Two terrible things have happened to UC this year: the design of an absurdly ugly and unnecessary logo that some have compared to a flushing toilet and the revelations about the huge and unpaid debt for the Cal football stadium. And both problems I would submit are a result of UCOP malfeasance. -more-
On Thursday, Berkeley's Fair Campaign Practices Commission (FCPC) will consider possible violations of the Berkeley Election Reform Act by Berkeley Tenants United For Fairness (TUFF) rent board candidates. -more-
Writers on economics have been talking since the election about why the "fiscal cliff" metaphor is misleading. Alternative metaphors have been offered like the fiscal hill, fiscal curb, and fiscal showdown, as if one metaphor could easily be replaced by another that makes more sense of the real situation. But none of the alternatives has stuck, nor has the fiscal cliff metaphor been abandoned. Why? Why do some metaphors have far more staying power than others, even when they give a misleading picture of a crucial national issue? -more-
The presence of an elderly, out-of-town man with flowing white beard and eccentric bright red clothing who brought a chair and sat for hours on the sidewalk adjacent to Berkeley's Downtown BART station did not deter scores of excited children and adults from flocking to the plaza on a rainy Friday evening for a festive event—the ceremonial lighting of a holiday tree by the Downtown Berkeley Association. -more-
Berkeley officials said today that more than 900 people who were taken to hospitals by Berkeley Fire Department crews may have had their personal information stolen by an identity theft ring.
City officials said their ambulance-billing vendor, Advanced Data Processing Inc., which is based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., told them that they learned in October that patient information of some of the city's ambulance customers was inappropriately accessed by one of their employees in conjunction with a scheme to commit identity theft. -more-
The day after Black Friday demonstrations of workers and supporters in front of hundreds of Walmart stores across the US., a fire killed 112 workers making clothes for Walmart at the Tazreen Fashions factory in Bangladesh. This was the most recent of several such factory fires, leading to the deaths of another 500 young women. -more-
Police have identified a woman on a bicycle who was fatally shot in Berkeley late Tuesday night. -more-
An Albany man was arrested after crashing a car into a Berkeley liquor store on Tuesday night, a Berkeley police spokeswoman said. -more-
A woman on a bicycle was fatally shot in Berkeley late Tuesday night, police said this morning. -more-
Building off of Rhode Island's community effort, a coalition of West Coast organizations is working with Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) to introduce a Homeless Persons' Bill of Rights and Fairness Act today.
The bill's author, Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, said, "We need to stop criminalizing the behavior of people who have nowhere else to turn. People who are in need of mental health services or who have lost their jobs and their homes are being told, 'Move along or go to jail.' The Homeless Persons' Bill of Rights begins to give us a framework for appropriate approaches to protecting our communities and those who are vulnerable."
"From the Ugly Laws of the mid-19th century—which made it a crime to have a visible disability in public—through the anti-Okie law of the Great Depression—which made it a crime for poor people to enter the state—up through the present, state and local governments have used unjust laws to punish or conceal poor people," said Paul Boden, Organizing Director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP). "But as long as these laws have existed, there's been resistance. We're introducing this bill of rights because we believe that the time has come to address the wrongs and most importantly stop them from ever happening again." -more-
A public hearing on the draft environmental impact report (DEIR) of the Aquatic Park Improvement Program (APIP) will be held on Wednesday evening December 12 from 7 to 8:30 at the James Kenney Center (2nd floor), 1720 Eighth Street.
Testimony will become part of the CEQA record with all questions to be answered by the consultant (Atkins) in the final EIR. The report is technical, but not impenetrable to those familiar with the Park and its problems. The APIP is mostly a hydrology project aimed at improving water quality through increased circulation and faster flushing of storm water runoff through the lagoons, the latter purpose being the more controversial.
Interested persons are invited to join a free walk on Sunday, December 9 that will leave the Waterside Café at 84 Bolivar Drive promptly at 11 AM, circling the Park clockwise, and ending at 1 PM at the Touchdown Plaza in front of the new Dona Spring Animal Shelter. The walk will be led by Mark Liolios (Aquatic Park EGRET) and Toni Mester (CESP), who will point out relevant features of the Park and explain the APIP proposals. Birders can enjoy watching the winter arrivals. Although the forecast is for bright and breezy weather, the ground is saturated from recent rains; participants should wear sturdy footwear and bring a water bottle. The Café will be open for coffee. Dogs are welcome but must be on leash. No reservations are required; just show up at the Café before 11 AM. -more-
In solidarity with Save the Post Office Coalition's action at 11:30 AM on Tuesday, December 4, participants of Occupy Bay Area United (OBAU) are staging an overnight occupation of Blum Capital Partners, at 909 Montgomery Street, starting at 4 pm Monday, December 3rd. -more-
Save our Post Office!
There will be a rally on Tuesday, Dec. 4th at 11:30 at the offices of Richard Blum, 909 Montgomery, San Francisco.
Towns and cities throughout the entire country are losing their historic post office buildings that were built with public monies. The giant real estate company CBRE advises the U.S. Postal Service on what post offices to sell and then profits as the listing agent. UC regent Richard Blum is the chairman of CBRE. Blum is married to California Senator Dianne Feinstein.
On Tuesday, December 4th. at 11:30 a.m. those of us outraged by this theft will meet at Richard Blum's office, Blum Capital, 909 Montgomery (and Pacific) to Rally and then March to Senator Diane Feinstein's office, 1 Post Street at Market Street. -more-
It is time for America to disarm, both at home and abroad. Since we have only 5% of the world's population and 50% of military expenditures, we can safely reduce our military budget by 90%. This will free up money for health care and vast reconstruction of our crumbling infrastructure. We can withdraw from our eight-hundred military bases located in one-hundred foreign countries. -more-
Freedom of information is supposed to represent transparency in the political process. But it brings with it an opaqueness. Development and urban improvement are supposed to represent "progress," but when they represent a top-down process that minimizes people's participation, that progress brings with it a regress.
The context for this rumination is a small set of short streets at the corner of Shattuck and Rose. Some local residents have approached the city manager and a couple of councilmembers with requests of information about plans and policies for this quaint little area. Some requests were met, others not. But it seems there were some secret, or at least unpublicized meetings last September between the city manager and the North Shattuck BID, to start changing the Shattuck-Rose neighborhood a bit.
Two questions lurk over the process of information requests from government, like buzzards on a bare tree limb, looking down at what will possibly be their next meal. The first is, did the government officials send all that they had that would fulfill the request, or was something withheld, for whatever reason, like evidence withheld by the police from the defense in a trial? Second, why do we have to go through this request process at all? Why isn't the information on all policy matters overtly present already, in the name of transparency? -more-
The protracted labor dispute between Sutter and the nurses is now seriously jeopardizing patient safety. I hope the Planet does some investigative reporting into this situation. Sutter is seriously trying to destroy this hospital and break the nurses. I saw first hand the effects of nursing shortages over the weekend and watched the amazing few nurses on the oncology floor scramble to manage all the patients under untenable conditions. -more-
Editor's Note: The latest issue of the Pepper Spray Times is now available.
You can view it absolutely free of charge by clicking here . You can print it out to give to your friends.
Grace Underpressure has been producing it for many years now, even before the Berkeley Daily Planet started distributing it, most of the time without being paid, and now we'd like you to show your appreciation by using the button below to send her money. -more-
It's the time of year when many who follow religious traditions, particularly those which arose in the deserts of what Europeans call the Middle East, organize celebrations based on their long history. The approaching winter solstice, the date when the day is shortest and the night is longest, has a lot to do with it. Europeans, particularly northern Europeans in the Christian lineage, need a lot of cheering up this time of year, what with the dark days and all.
But this year there are dark days in the Middle East as well. Angry clouds are on the horizon in many places, most prominently Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Israel. -more-
Here's a new entry in the Branding of Berkeley saga. It's a wordless evocation of every sentimental cliche beloved of Old Blues, content-free as befits the brave new world of commercialization of what used to be a respected institution of higher learning. -more-
It seems that many Planet subscribers (people who've asked to get reminder letters with links to interesting updates) are confused by our abandonment of the Friday deadline schedule. Thanks, everyone, for letting us know. Some have made suggestions for changes, but unfortunately these seem to involve more work, not less. It's a good guess that readers who haven't joined the mailing list are also confused. -more-
Under the new plan, not much here yet . But don't forget to use the "Previous Issue" button at the top of the pages to check on everything posted in the last couple of weeks. -more-
As America completes an eventful political year, it's increasingly apparent that many members of the Republican Party have lost their senses. December 4th brought PPP polling that revealed, "49% of GOP voters nationally say they think that ACORN stole the election for President Obama," despite the fact ACORN disbanded in 2010. That same day 38 Republican Senators blocked passage of the "UN Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities," erroneously believing the treaty would allow the UN to dictate US law. -more-
Most persons who have a mental illness are in treatment of some kind. This allows most of us to live with some amount of normality, and to do many of the things that so-called "normal" people do. Because of this, it can be hard for others to understand that we have a psychiatric condition when, for the most part, we are acting normally as well as appropriately. -more-
The Massachusetts ballot initiative to give terminally ill, mentally competent adults with six months or less to live the freedom to obtain a prescription for aid in dying was defeated. The right to be at liberty to die should have been an election issue everywhere. -more-
When I was a child, it was common in large cities to see men carrying hand-written signs that proclaimed, "The end of the world is coming." These days most doomsayers have blogs, but quite a few are Washington pundits who prophesy, "The fiscal cliff is coming." It's clear that "taxmageddon" is a disaster if Congress does nothing. Nonetheless, the crisis offers progressives three opportunities. -more-
Anxiety attacks are common for people with a major mental illness including when not part of the diagnosis. Some people with mental illness believe that they have a mixture of mental illnesses, e.g.; a little bit of everything. Their symptoms do not fit neatly into one or two categories. This is not uncommon and it may be related to being medicated. Anxiety can put a damper into a person's activities. If it is allowed to, anxiety will quickly grow into a giant specter and will take over large parts of a person's life. Anxiety seems to feed on its own energy. -more-
There is increasing sentiment in the U.S. Senate to end or reform the filibuster. Supposedly, all seven of the newly elected senators and newly elected independent Angus King of Maine have pledged support for changing the Senate's filibuster rule. Presently, as we have seen in the last sessions of Congress, a 41-vote minority of Republican senators has effectively bottled up or killed legislation. -more-
From the ice-bound passes of the Hindu Kush to the blazing heat of the Karakum Desert, Central Asia is a sub-continent steeped in illusion. For more than two millennia conquerors have been lured by the mirage that it is a gateway to immense wealth: China to the east, India to the south, Persia to the west, and to the north, the riches of the Caspian basin. Greeks, Persians, Arabs, Mongols, British, and Soviets have all come and gone, leaving behind little more than forgotten graveyards and the detritus of war.
Americans and our NATO allies are next.
It is a cliché that Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires, but a cliché doesn't mean something is not true, just that it is repeated over and over again until the phrase becomes numbing. It is a tragedy that the US was "numb" to that particular platitude, although we have company. In the past 175 years England has invaded Afghanistan four times. -more-
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, 68 percent of Americans acknowledge, "Global warming is at least a somewhat serious problem." Nonetheless, it's unlikely that Washington has the political will to mobilize America to combat global warming. This grim reality is reminiscent of the beginning of World War II, when the US dithered for 21 months until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor forced us to act. -more-
Becoming diagnosed with schizophrenia hurts. Just prior to the diagnosis, a person with mental illness very likely had an episode of psychosis that caused them to be diagnosed. An episode of full-blown psychosis is nothing to sneeze at-it is usually a horrible experience. Being told that you are mentally ill and that you will probably have this problem for the rest of your life adds insult to injury. -more-
The 29th Annual Telegraph Ave Holiday St. Fair is scheduled for 6 days this year: Friday, Dec. 14th and Saturday, Dec.15th; Sunday, Dec.16th and Saturday, Dec.22nd; Sunday, Dec.23rd and Monday ,Dec.24th -more-
"Don't analyze it. If you take it apart, you might not be able to put it back together." So Vera Simpson's wry advice on life to her brazen young "protege," nightclub entertainer Joey Evans, the Joey of the title of Rodgers & Hart's masterful, knowing 1940 musical, 'Pal Joey,' staged as a splendid piano-accompanied, full costume, well-choreographed revival by 42nd Moon--just through this weekend. -more-
Sick of having merchant associations run target-the-homeless campaigns under the guise of creating a "welcoming" downtown? Feel like singing? At noon on Sunday, December 16th at the BART plaza (Shattuck @ Center, Berkeley) we're going to have an anti-Downtown Berkeley Association Christmas caroling gathering - songbooks provided- for about half an hour. Dickens Fair attire optional, instruments welcome, and here's a sample: -more-
"Children of the Night! What music they make!"
Count Dracula has exulted in those words to his querulous guest Jonathan Harker, upon hearing wolves howl near daybreak, whether in Bram Stoker's original novel or Bela Lugosi's performances as The Count on Broadway and in Tod Browning's movie ... but no version of 'Dracula' I know of has such a musical undertow as Inferno Theatre's original take on the story, now playing at the historic Arts & Crafts-designed South Berkeley Community Church.
Thursday night, December 6, at 8, Berkeley Symphony will perform "The Rebels," another eclectic pick of compositions that spans the modern history of the orchestra, as Joana Carneiro's been wont to program ... but this one with an unusual local twist, featuring Gyorgi Ligeti's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, with Shai Wosner as soloist, with Robert Schumann's Symphony No. 2--and Invisible Skyline by Berkeley native Dylan Mattingly, the world premiere of a Symphony commission. -more-
"Whenever you get near the human race, there are layers and layers of nonsense." -more-
This weekend, Ragged Wing Ensemble is premiering a new series of short performances by members of that talented group, Fierce Play ... -more-
The Berkeley Community Chorus & Orchestra will perform three all-Mozart concerts in December under the direction of Music Director Ming Luke. The concerts are free and open to the public.
BCCO will perform the Great Mass in C minor, K. 427; Symphony No. 29 in A major, K. 201; and Ave Verum Corpus, K. 618. The concerts will be Sunday, Dec. 2, at 4:30 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St., Berkeley; Saturday, Dec. 15, at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall on the UC Berkeley Campus; and Sunday, Dec. 16, at 4:30 p.m. at Hertz Hall. -more-
While it's a secular institution and also largely shuts down during the Christmas / New Year's week, the UC Berkeley campus does have sources of winter holiday gifts and cheer. Several of them come at the end of November / beginning of December. Here's a short overview. -more-
University Press Books welcomes Seth Rosenfeld for a discussion of his new book, Subversives: The FBI's War on Student Radicals and Reagan's Rise to Power at the Musical Offering Cafe .on Monday, December 3rd, from 6:30-7:30,with a book signing to follow, at 2430 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. -more-
We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray 12-12-2012
Berkeley Goes Berserkeley Once Again 11-30-2012
Social Notes from All Over 12-15-2012
Just Keep Checking This Space 12-13-2012
There's More 11-30-2012
Odd Bodkins: Holidaze (Cartoon) By Dan O'Neill 12-04-2012
Odd Bodkins: A Beginning (Cartoon) By Dan O'Neill 12-02-2012
Disarm America By James Sayre 12-16-2012
New: Freedom of Information and its Loopholes By Steve Martinot 12-09-2012
Problems at Alta Bates By Linda Diamond 12-09-2012
December Pepper Spray Times By Grace Underpressure 12-02-2012
New: The Last Dermatologist to the Poor By Ted Friedman 12-14-2012
Berkeley Students Protest Move to Ban on Salvation Army on Campus By Sasha Lekach (BCN) 12-13-2012
New: Motorcyclist Killed in Berkeley Crash Identified By Bay City News 12-13-2012
New: The University of California's Two Big Mistakes: The New Logo and the Berkeley Stadium (Opinion) By Christopher Adams 12-12-2012
New: FCPC Meeting to Discuss Possible Violations by Landlord-Financed TUFF Rent Board Candidates By Rob Wrenn 12-12-2012
Why It's Hard to Replace the 'Fiscal Cliff' Metaphor By George Lakoff 12-04-2012
Berkeley DBA Sidewalk Santa Rings in the Holidays By Steven Finacom 12-03-2012
New: Berkeley: More than 900 Ambulance Users May Have Had Data Stolen By Jeff Shuttleworth (BCN) 12-01-2012
Who's Responsible for the Fire That Killed 112 Garment Workers? (Opinion) By David Bacon, Progressive Media Project 12-01-2012
New: Bicyclist Shot in Berkeley Identified By Bay City News 12-05-2012
Car Crashes into Berkeley Store By Sasha Lekach (BCN) 12-05-2012
Woman on Bicycle Shot to Death on Derby Street in Berkeley By Bay City News 12-05-2012
Press Release: Homeless Person's Bill of Rights and Fairness Act Introduced to Assembly 12-04-2012
Public Hearing and Walk Will Focus on Aquatic Park by Toni Mester 12-07-2012
Occupy Bay Area Takes Over Richard Blum's Corporation in San Francisco Tonight to Protest Sale of Post Offices 12-03-2012
Press Release: Save our Post Office! Rally on Tuesday, Dec. 4th at 11:30 From Dave Welsh, Save the Berkeley Post Office 11-30-2012
New: THE PUBLIC EYE: American Politics: I'm With Crazy By Bob Burnett 12-14-2012
New: ON MENTAL ILLNESS: An Invisible Disability By Jack Bragen 12-14-2012
New: SENIOR POWER "P-A-D is appropriate" By Helen Rippier Wheeler 12-09-2012
THE PUBLIC EYE: The Fiscal Cliff: Three Opportunities By Bob Burnett 12-09-2012
New: ON MENTAL ILLNESS:Anxiety Revisted, Again By Jack Bragen 12-07-2012
ECLECTIC RANT: Ending the U.S. Senate's Filibuster Rule By Ralph E. Stone 12-07-2012
Dispatches From The Edge:Four More Years: Central & South Asia By Conn Hallinan 12-01-2012
THE PUBLIC EYE:Global Climate Change: Preparing for World War III By Bob Burnett 11-30-2012
ON MENTAL ILLNESS:Dealing with a Diagnosis By Jack Bragen 11-30-2012
New: Telegraph Ave Holiday Street Fair Is Back 12-15-2012
New: Musical Theater Review: Splendid Revival of 'Pal Joey' by 42nd Street Moon--this weekend only By Ken Bullock 12-14-2012
Occupy Your Merchant Association By Carol Denney 12-12-2012
Theater Review: Inferno Theatre's Original 'Dracula' at Historic South Berkeley Community Church By Ken Bullock 12-05-2012
AROUND AND ABOUT MUSIC: Berkeley Symphony This Thursday--"The Rebels"--Ligeti, Robert Schumann ... & Berkeley's Dylan Mattingly By Ken Bullock 12-05-2012
Theater Review: 'Wilder Times'—four short plays by Thornton Wilder—at the Aurora By Ken Bullock 12-03-2012
Around & About Theater: 'Fierce Play' Series by Ragged Wing Ensemble By Ken Bullock 12-03-2012
Press Release: Berkeley Community Chorus & Orchestra Performs All-Mozart Concerts From Elaine Hooker 11-30-2012
UC Berkeley Holiday Offerings By Steven Finacom 11-30-2012
Press Release: Seth Rosenfeld Will Discuss "Subversives" on Monday in Berkeley 11-30-2012


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Gaia is a space telescope, or rather, two space telescopes. Its telescopes involve ten mirrors of different shapes and sizes to collect, focus and direct light into Gaia's science instruments for detection.
Each telescope has a large primary mirror with a collecting area of about 0.7 m^2. These have a rectangular shape to make the most efficient use of the limited space inside the spacecraft. Although these are small mirrors compared with many ground-based telescopes, Gaia has the supreme advantage of observing from space, where there is no atmospheric disturbance to blur the images.
Gaia is just 3.5 m across (excluding the sunshade, which is about 10 m across). Three curved mirrors and three flat mirrors focus and repeatedly fold the light over a total distance of 35 m before it reaches the detectors.
Each of Gaia's three science instruments uses a set of digital detectors – charged coupled devices (CCDs) – to record the starlight falling onto them. Together Gaia's CCDs make the largest focal plane ever flown to space, a total of one billion pixels covering an area of 0.38 m^2.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Bewildering World of Fitness
March 31, 2014 - Tony DiCosta
If we had to choose one word that characterizes all the fitness options available to us, that one word might well be: Bewildering. From high-intensity programs that would leave a Navy Seal gasping for breath to the "muscle-stim" waist belt that promises to deliver a 6-pack of abs while you lounge on your couch watching TV there is certainly a wide range of meticulously marketed fitness options. In my work as a personal trainer and a consultant to gym owners I interact with many of the finest fitness professionals in the business. Here is what I have found: The best among them all firmly believe that their type of exercise is the ultimate, most beneficial form. Honestly, that is what you should expect them to think; to be really good at what they do they have to be passionate about it. From the Zumba teacher in the group fitness room to the cycling instructor in the spinning studio to the personal trainer in the weight room; they will all tell you that you need to be following their program. So what is an over-40 individual looking to begin a fitness program (or upgrade a present one) to do? (That's a very reasonable question, don't you think?) Let's consider a few facts before attempting to answer.
1. What are your goals? Before you set out to navigate the overflowing fitness marketplace you have to decide what it is that you want to achieve. If you simply have the short-tem goal of dropping 15 pounds for your 25th class reunion, then burning a lot of calories would be a priority. But if you are looking to improve your health and look better for the rest of your life you have a different kind of goal; one that needs to include a number of factors.
2. Research is increasingly showing some surprising results regarding the health benefits of different forms of training. For example: A woman may not realize that resistance training with weights or machines is one of the best ways of combating osteoporosis (not to mention looking better in everything from a sleeveless top to a (gasp!) bathing suit. A man may not have known that flexibility training can effectively combat household and on-the-job injuries (or help him break his personal best on the golf course).
3. Practicality enters into the equation on all levels. Hopefully, by the time you progress into your middle and golden years you will have already recognized that you cannot "have it all." For most of us there just isn't enough time.
So where does that leave us? With over 40 years of experience in the fitness field my recommendations can be relied upon (you have to trust somebody) when I tell you that there are three elements that a well-rounded exercise plan will include: (1) Flexibility Training to keep you injury-free and limber at home and on the job; (2) "Cardio" (aerobics) to keep your heart strong and assist in weight control; (3) Strength Training (for both men and women) to combat the "muscle wasting" effect of aging and regain muscle tone and fullness as well as the muscular endurance that will make day-to-day living a lot easier (and let you look years younger). "How," you might ask, "do I go about including each of those elements in the time I have available?" Well, that is a topic I will cover in upcoming columns. But I would love to hear from readers regarding what you consider to be your #1 fitness priority.
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STEM Education Center
The National Governor's Association recently noted:
"America's economic growth in the 21st century will be driven by our nation's ability to generate ideas and translate them into innovative products and services. A strong consensus is emerging among scientific, business, and education leaders that America's ability to innovate and compete in the global marketplace is directly tied to the ability of our public schools to adequately prepare all of our children in STEM."
The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education Center at Saint Xavier University's Orland Park campus is funded through a congressionally-directed grant. This initiative is aimed at strengthening the quality of STEM education in public and private schools in the south suburbs of the Chicago metropolitan area.


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Recent Posts
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
New available fabrics
Posted by Winkydinks
I've been stocking a piece from my new fabrics every now and then, but here they are all together (click photo to enlarge). Look for them soon in my updated "pick your style" listings. I'll be replacing some of my discontinued/clearance items, and low remaining quantity fabrics with these. As always, since these are listed in my fabric album, they are available for custom orders too. Many look great with other trim options as well!
As I make up custom orders and in-stock items with my fabrics, I make room in my small storage space to get new fabrics. I'm always on the lookout for cute things - but I only buy limited quantities, so when they're gone...they're gone....!
Happy diapering!


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Property Developer Perth Discount
Property Developer Perth Discount
Aug 10 2013, 11:03 AM
Post #1
Maximum Perth Enthusiast
Group: Admin
Posts: 858
Joined: 17-May 04
From: Perth
Member No.: 2
A Perth property developer who is willing to offer 20% discount on the last three apartments in a prime East Perth development. It is currently under construction and is already competitively priced in the market - with the discount you can pick up a 1 bed apartment with 2 car bays for $340,000!!!! At that price it will be cash flow positive upon completion as well.
This Perth property developer needs a little help with their equity position in this property development and therefore would require you to pay in full for the apartment now. This could be from equity in your home, your self managed super fund or just straight cash!
If this might suit you and you would like more information please contact me.
Ben, Skype "Perth-", Western Australia
|Lo-Fi Version
|Time is now: 14th July 2020 - 04:34 AM


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General supplies for sanitary-ware industry and innovative solutions to improve production processes, increasing cost efficiency and reducing enviromental impact.
Full range of accessories and technical products specifically developed for sanitary-ware fastening, inlet & outlet water connection and aesthetic finishing.
Advanced materials for thermal insulation in steel, hot rolling, foundry, aluminium, brick, cement, glass, incineration, petrochemical and engineering.
Back to Top
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Headquarters: Via Quartaccio, 1
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tel +39.0722.214.171.124 - fax +39.07126.96.36.199 - email email@example.com


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Jensen Atwood, Darryl Stephens and Christian Vincent show some skin in this video shot behind-the-scenes at the production of Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom.
Duane Cramer, the ridiculously talented photographer, lenses the still photos and the poster for the much-anticipated theatrical sequel to the cult series. "It's definitely an extraordinary shoot," Cramer says. "You have two black gay men getting married in a full length feature film that will be released nationally. The timing is right. It's all about love. It's all about showing the world ... black same gender loving people deserve to be married like anyone else."
Duane Cramer lensed the final covers of Clik, the new multimedia "Power of Us" public awareness campaign for the National Black Justice Coalition, and, the "Sex Issue" cover editorial of The Advocate that featured Rod 2.0 boyfriend-to-be Daniel Norell.
Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom is reportedly scheduled for an October release. There has been little press and no national distributor has been announced.
Exclusive: Behind the Scenes Video [After Elton]
You May Have Missed ...
Noah's Arc Has Sailed [R20]
Deal or No Deal? [R20]
Darryl Stephens on the "Out 100" [R20]
Jensen Atwood: The CLIK Interview [R20]
A Very Beautiful Darryl Stephens [R20]
Darryl Stephens in "Boy Culture" [R20]
Darryl's "Boy Culture" [R20]
A Conversation with Darryl Stephens [R20]
Rodney Chester: I'm STILL NOT Gay!" [R20]
Beyond the Sassy Sidekicks? [After Elton]
What Does the Future Hold for Noah's Arc? [After Elton]
TV's Most Influential Gay Sex Scenes [After Elton]
The Many Faces of Rodney Chester [Keith Boykin]
A Conversation with Keith Boykin [R20]
Patrik-Ian Polk in "Genre" [R20]
Hamilton Cobb: Big Deal Playing Gay [R20]
Uno Dos TREY [R20]
"Honey, I'm Home!" [R20]
DVD Review: "Noah's Arc" [R20]
Patrik-Ian Polk in "Genre" [R20]


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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Increases in fasting blood sugar levels are often seen in patients starting niacin, sometimes to a level that suggests new onset of type 2 diabetes.
However, data from a secondary analysis of a large randomized controlled trial suggest that glucose elevation with niacin is largely a transient phenomenon lasting several months, "just as the well-known skin flushing with niacin is transient over a similar time period," Dr. John Guyton, director of the Duke Lipid Clinic, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, told Reuters Health by email.
The analysis, reported in a paper online February 14 in Diabetes Care, also suggests that glucose elevation with niacin often resolves on its own without the need for specific treatment.
"Niacin, an effective agent for treating dyslipidemia, increases fasting glucose and reduces insulin sensitivity via mechanisms that remain unclear," Dr. Guyton and colleagues note in their paper.
The original trial involved 942 hyperlipidemic patients, who were randomly assigned to ezetimibe/simvastatin (E/S:10/20 mg) alone or with extended-release niacin initiated at 0.5 g/day and increased by 0.5 g every 4 weeks up to 2 g/day over 64 weeks. (See Reuters Health story of March 4, 2010). The secondary analysis looked specifically at the effect of niacin on fasting glucose and new-onset diabetes over 64 weeks.
The researchers report that during the first 24 weeks of treatment, new-onset diabetes occurred more often in patients treated with E/S plus niacin than in those treated with E/S alone (4.4% vs 1.3%; p=0.033). Twenty-five of 28 new-diabetes diagnoses in the E/S+N group occurred by 24 weeks.
During 24 to 64 weeks, an additional 0.5% of patients treated with E/S plus niacin and 1.7% of those treated with E/S developed diabetes (p=0.11).
Overall, Dr. Guyton told Reuters Health, the frequency of new-onset diabetes for the E/S plus niacin group at 64 weeks was only "marginally higher" than that for the E/S group (3.5% vs 2.6%; p=0.66); 1.4% of those taking niacin vs 0.4% of those not taking niacin transiently met criteria for diabetes and then remitted (p=0.46)
"Health care providers may decide to stop niacin on the basis of elevated glucose, despite the usefulness of niacin in improving the lipid profile," Dr. Guyton commented. Yet, according to this analysis, "the risk for new-onset diabetes with niacin use is less than previously thought. Even when fasting glucose rises above 125 mg/dL after starting niacin, it may decline over the next few months without specific treatment," he said.
"Consistent with guidelines, niacin is a reasonable option to treat dyslipidemia in patients with or at risk for diabetes, but risk/benefit should be weighed, and glucose should be checked periodically," the investigators conclude in their paper.
They also note that the incidence rates for diabetes in the study are "somewhat exaggerated" due to frequent fasting glucose sampling (11 times in 64 weeks) compared with fasting glucose monitoring in clinical practice.
They also note that the temporal pattern found in the study may help explain apparently contradictory results in past studies. "Niacin induced hyperglycemia was prominent in studies of short duration (2–12 weeks) and/or at high niacin doses of 3 to 4.5 g/day, whereas longer-term studies at lower doses (3 g or less) showed only modest or statistically nonsignificant effects. Likewise, insulin resistance was found in 2-week niacin studies, whereas a 4-month study showed no such evidence."
The study was funded by Merck/Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of ezetimibe/simvastatin. Dr. Guyton has received educational and research grants from Merck and other pharmaceutical companies, including Abbott Laboratories, the manufacturer of extended-release niacin. A complete list of author disclosures can be found with the original article.
Effect of Extended-Release Niacin on New-Onset Diabetes Among Hyperlipidemic Patients Treated With Ezetimibe/Simvastatin in a Randomized Controlled Trial
Diabetes Care, 2012


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When we fail at something important to us, whether in relationships, at school, or at work, it can be very painful. These experiences can threaten the very core of who we think we are and who we want to be.
To cope with failure, we often turn to self-protective strategies. We rationalize what happened so that it places us in a more positive light, we blame other people, and we discount the importance of the event. These strategies may make us feel better about ourselves in the short term, but they are less likely to help us improve or avoid repeating our mistakes in the future. Research shows that people who have an overly inflated view of their performance on an academic task show decrements in subsequent motivation and performance, compared to people who view themselves more realistically. It makes sense: if you already think you're great, it may feel like there's no need to put the effort into improving yourself.


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I want to see what music player people use!
sorry i forgot about rhythmbox ;-(
xine for me
well i use bmp, because it is quite light and still has the feutures I want
http://www.linuxportalen.com -> Linux Help portal for Linux and ArchLinux (in swedish)
Dell Inspiron 8500
Kernel 2.6.14-archck1 (selfcompiled)
Enlightenment 17
Right now, Rhythmbox, even though it has... issues. I just can't seem to get rid of GStreamer, so I suppose I might as well keep it for now.
sorry i forgot about rhythmbox ;-(
added it
usually use xmms
I use Rhythmbox regardless of the small issue with advancing in a track while it is playing. I like how the playlists are available on the side. The library feature is not important to me, but I have not seen another music player that handles playlists the same way that does not have a library so oh well.
In the past, I have used XMMS, BMP, and MPD. So far, none of them beats Rhythmbox. Also, BMP has a much better UI than XMMS.
xmms. Its all I need.
Ehh? BMP is the same UI as XMMS last I checked, only GTK2.
Actually MPD all the way. But I like xmms2. Especially comparing memory footprint is impressive. Also that you can add musicfiles from anywhere is very nice so you can easily get a quickly downloded single played w/o much hassle.
But gmpc is still a rocking frontend. We need such a thing for xmms2...
using the gtk'ified xmms (aka bmp)
xfmedia at the moment - 0.8.0 is another step in the right direction......
Ehh? BMP is the same UI as XMMS last I checked, only GTK2.
No, there are many differences in things such as the preferences dialogue and its various sections.
btw xmms doesn't use gtk2. it uses gtk1
btw xmms doesn't use gtk2. it uses gtk1
Everyone knows that AFAIK.
I use amarok, but not KDE. I use XFCE currently.
Amarok all the way. Why? Because.
Rhythmbox. It kinda makes sense to keep track of your music in a single application, rather than in a filebrowser, and Rhythmbox is, as an iTunes clone, quite useful for this. I've tried Muine as well, but it doesn't really allow custom playlists (not based on albums).
I'm keeping an eye out on Sonance as well. The current version from CVS looks cool, but doesn't work that well unfortunately.
mpd with mpc ncmpc or mpcstick, and xmms.
MPD and GMPC, once again. MPD rocks.
(Yep, I managed to get the right playback speed...)
xmms with a gui - madplay/ogg123/moosic/mp3blaster without.
Music players drive me up a wall. Rule 1 is no Knome deps. That blows out a lot. Rule 2 is play everything I throw at it and play it well. xmms does that better than most though some stuff has to go through mplayer when its really weird. Rule 3 is to have a *single damn window that performs music library functions*!
Rule 1 and 3 just don't get along. I hate GTK apps because of the lack of font anti-aliasing and I only know of one xft hack and I've been there, done that, and threw away the t-shirt. I know there are GTK2 forks of xmms but there's always something wrong with them - something that reminds me I'm not actually using xmms.
So basically, I'm stuck with xmms because everything else is worse. And the only problem with xmms is it's a GTK multi-window app with no real library.
In Knome both juk and rhythmbox are minimally acceptable but Knome is not. And amarok is the current rave but it's overblown, invasive, and buggy in my (just my! no flames!) experience.
Maybe you'd like something like PyMP... It's a frontend for MPlayer, and seems to be designed with music in mind rather than movies. I've tried to make a PKGBUILD for it a few times, but it uses a text file with the prefix in it instead of ./configure, so I got sort of stuck... :oops: I figure I should have tried using echo or something, maybe I'll get working on it again at some point...


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For as long as the pioneers have lived in the Old West, rodeos have been a staple.
This month, the Wet Mountain Valley Saddle Club will host its 67th annual Westcliffe Stampede from July 19-21.
Earlier in the week, the Custer County Fair takes place from July 15-20, featuring 4-H projects and many open entries.
The fund continues with the Rubber Check Race, where two teams ride their horses before transferring to ATVs, followed by the big finish on wheelbarrows July 19.
The day begins with the Westcliffe Rotary serving a pancake breakfast at 7 a.m. July 20 in the Westcliffe School parking lot, followed by the Westcliffe Stampede Parade at 10 a.m. in downtown area and rodeo performances July 20 and 21.
New this year, the Saddle Club will host a dance Friday and Saturday on the rodeo grounds in Westcliffe.
On July 21, the fun continues with Cowboy Church bright and early along with a final performance of the CPRA Rodeo, as well as a Slack Rodeo.
For more information, visit wmvsaddleclub.org.


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The newest science fiction thriller to come to AC, is Steins;Gate.. It gained a lot of popularity since its release and I'm sure many of you will enjoy it.
The microwave is a time machine. Okarin proved it. The self-anointed mad scientist nuked bananas into some gelatinous version of the future. Or maybe it was the past. Doesn't matter. No one thought he could do it, but he did it anyway. He sent text messages through time to people he knew. To his friends. Some of them female. Pretty. He should have been more careful. He should have stopped. Tampering with the time-space continuum attracts unwelcome attention. Clandestine organizations of nefarious origins take notice. SERN. Always watching. Okarin knows; he can feel their eyes. That's why he started the top secret Future Gadget Lab. To stop them. You should join. We get to wear lab coats, and it's dangerous. Danger is exciting because it's deadly. The microwave is a time machine.


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How to Make Hand-Rolled Couscous, from NY Shuk at Haven's Kitchen
Yesterday, we introduced you to couscous champions Ron and Leetal Arazi, whose NY Shuk can be found Saturdays at Smorgasburg. Last Friday, the couple taught their first ever cooking class, though you wouldn't have known, given how natural it came to them.
The evening was hosted by the surprisingly homey Haven's Kitchen, an appropriate place as any for the Arazis. The theme? A Friday night Shabbat dinner, as celebrated by the Moroccan half of Ron's family, with a menu including roasted leg of lamb, a tabbelouh salad, matisha masheewya, and hand-rolled couscous.
"Cooking the food we cook here, it has a completely different meaning than in Israel, where it's your everyday food," Leetal told me. "That's the beauty and exactly what we're trying to bring: that everyday life from there to here."
Ron and Leetal wanted to share more than recipes: their class was about honoring the proud culinary tradition of an everyday foodstuff—couscous—and encouraging students to bring it into their lives. They emphasized getting the most out of simple ingredients through proper technique: "Not everybody can go to the farmers' market and buy tomatoes at $5 a pound," Ron said. "That's why it's important to know how to cook the ingredients you can buy to get the most out of them."
Making good on his words, Ron spent time emphasizing the significance of handling spices properly, softening onions before caramelizing them, and the superiority of roasted beets. But the focus was our lesson in making couscous by hand, a process that lasted the entire class (though not all of it active time). After kicking off the evening with introductions and a crash course in an ouzu cocktail, they got right into "the art of couscous." But don't be mistaken. Ron and Leetal aren't doing this for show.
"The bottom line is, if there wasn't as big of a difference from the box[ed couscous and homemade] as there is, we wouldn't make it," Leetal said to me. "We're not doing this just because we want to say we're doing it from scratch. It's not about that. It's because the experience is completely different."
Ron and Leetal suggest using a wide, flat bowl for making couscous, as it makes rolling the pasta easier. You begin by sprinkling water over semolina, coarse durum wheat middlings also used for dried pasta, and then rolling it in a circle.
For 10 people they recommend 800 grams of semolina. After steaming the couscous will increase 35 to 40% in mass. Their recipe purposefully doesn't specify how much water you need, although Ron does suggest a ratio of 1-2 cups of water for every 1500 grams of semolina. From the beginning to end of the class, Ron stressed the vital importance of trusting your intuition when making the couscous. He instructed students to use their hands to feel if it was ready for the couscousiere, and to smell it while steaming. For him, recipes are guidelines. Ingredients change with geography and seasons, and it's important to be able to adapt.
See the full process in the slideshow »
"You sprinkle and you roll until you get the feeling that you have these tiny balls of semolina clumping together," Ron explained. "I don't know exactly how to measure it, but you can feel that the semolina has enough moisture and it's ready to be steamed."
Once the couscous was put into the couscousiere for steaming, students were set to doctoring ingredients for the night's side salads. Some peeled beets while others chopped walnuts; one student was tasked with stirring the couscous. Lamb was pulled from the oven, and a flame was lit under a pan for the tanzeya, a Moroccan stew of dried fruit and roasted almonds.
Throughout the night, Ron was clear to remind everyone not to take what he says as doctrine. His Moroccan-born mother never used olive oil in her kitchen, for instance. Likewise, couscous is made differently, and with different ingredients, depending on where you travel. In some places the rolled couscous is sieved before steaming; in West Africa, it may be made with pearl millet.
They're won't judge if you don't have the time to make your own couscous. "Everyone says it's always better to be fresh," Ron said. "Let's get real. If you're the only one cooking, you need to take it down a notch."
But Ron and Leetal are gunning for you to try it at home. "If one person from the class shared this experience with their family and friends? "Mission accomplished."
The full class in the slideshow »
In July, the pair will return to Haven's Kitchen with a second class focused on the Jewish cooking of Lebanon, where Ron's father hails from.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Highlights: Visit New Orleans (French Quarter), Baton Rouge (Louisiana State Capitol), Lacassine (Bayou Rum).
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|3430 Hwy 6, Sugar Land, TX 77478 (99 Ranch Market - Sugar Land, TX)
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|9999 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX 77036 (Chinatown Houston - Houston)
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Regardless of reason, cancellations result in costly charges from our travel and hotel providers covering penalties and fees incurred by canceling confirmed and pending bookings. Therefore, cancellation penalties and or fees will apply. Time of cancellation will be determined when notice is received and confirmed by our office. Notice of cancellation must be made directly to TakeTours by email or through web mail at Contact Us .
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We reserves the right to cancel or re-schedule any tour departure in accordance with operating requirements or circumstances beyond its control. If cancellation is made any time prior to departure* of the tour, TakeTours' only liability will be to refund to the passenger the amount it has received for the tour booking. We will try to re-book the same or similar tour.. Please note that we are not liable for any cancellation penalties incurred on any other travel arrangements including air tickets purchased separately from customers.
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For many, a visit to the Getzen factory has been both entertaining and educational. A rare chance to see the inner workings of an instrument manufacturer and to see exactly what goes into building some of the best instruments available today. Unfortunately, a factory visit and tour cannot be a reality for every person that wants one. The next best thing is a virtual website tour.
Here you can venture inside the Getzen Company. There is a detailed account of the company's founding and continued growth in the History section. An informative collection of production videos showing the most interesting steps and processes used to build each and every top quality Getzen instrument in Factory Videos demonstrates the incredible amount of labor and skill required to do what we do best. For those wishing to get their hands on copies of the unparalleled high resolution instrument photos contained on Getzen.com, a full listing is contained on the Product Photos page as well as a great collection of downloadable, original Getzen instrument wallpapers in the Wallpaper section. Finally, If you're interested in seeing who else is playing a Getzen instrument you can check the list of musicians, bios, and interviews of those on the Getzen team in the Getzen Artists pages.
Serial Numbers Listing
Show Shots
Getzen Staff


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On The Flip Side
This story appears in the January 1998 issue of Business Start-Ups magazine. Subscribe »
Real estate consultant George Allen calls it "the most underutilized marketing tool in American enterprise." Is it the Internet? Human billboards? Actually, it's something virtually every business already has.
It's the back of your business card--and it's just waiting to be called into action. Allen, whose Indianapolis-based company, GFA Management, specializes in the development and operation of manufactured home communities, prints a loan amortization chart and a return-on-investment formula on the flip side of his business card. This makes Allen's card so indispensable that recipients rarely throw it away. "A lot of people have told me the only two cards they carry are theirs and mine," Allen says.
Bravo, but what if you're not in real estate? Allen, who plans to write a book on the subject, recommends the following:
- a useful chart, or graph;
- a calendar;
- a map of your location;
- a product photo;
- a memorable quote;
- a coupon;
- your mission statement; or
- a glossary of industry terms.
Gayle Sato Stodder covers entrepreneurship for various publications. She lives and works in Redondo Beach, California.
Follow The Lead
Your marketing efforts have led your clients to water: Sales leads are plentiful. What next? If yours is like many companies, says M.H. "Mac" McIntosh, founder of The Mac McIntosh Co. Inc., a Redondo Beach, California, sales and marketing firm, too many of those leads go to waste.
How? "Salespeople tend to concentrate on the leads most likely to buy now," says McIntosh. "They don't want to spend time on the longer-term [leads]."
According to a study by McIntosh's firm, 72 percent of buyers in the manufacturing sector take more than six months to buy--and 47 percent take more than a year. If your salespeople are neglecting longer-term prospects, they're wasting marketing dollars.
McIntosh urges entrepreneurs to make inquiries to their own companies incognito, then track the results. Do you receive the information you requested? Does your company follow up? Also, make the same request of your competitors and compare. [For more investigation strategies, see "Guerrilla Marketing," December 1997.]
You can improve your company's marketing by examining your procedures to qualify leads, optimizing the flow of leads and establishing better programs to stay in touch with prospects. McIntosh also performs a service called a "sales lead audit," designed to show companies where their programs fall flat--and how to coax prospects into finally taking that drink.
Tricks Of The Trade
Ready And Waiting
What's better than picking up your adoring children after a long day at day care? Try the adoring children plus a steaming hot dinner. This was the premise behind Parents Night Off, a promotion cooked up by three Avon, Ohio-area entrepreneurs--Wayne Jablonski of True Connections concierge service, Jody Samanich of Diamond Child day-care center and Jim DePaul of the Savannah Bar & Grille.
The concept was simple: Parents dropped off their dinner orders with the kids and found their meals--and kids--waiting for them in the evening.
The real benefit of Parents Night Off was its promotional value. "It helped introduce people to Jim's restaurant, and it provided Jody with a way to enhance her day-care service," Jablonski says. "And I was able to pick up leads by talking to [parents] during deliveries." The trio also got a fair amount of press, including stories in Cleveland magazine and the Cleveland newspaper Plain Dealer, as well as local TV coverage.
After several months, Parents Night Off was phased out, but similar future plans are in the works.
"With a service like mine, print ads and conventional marketing aren't very effective," Jablonski says. "But if I talk with people one-on-one, invariably someone says `Hey, I can use that service.' And if I can help my business clients in the process of networking, that's a win for everyone."
Contact Sources
GFA Management Inc., P.O. Box 47024, Indianapolis, IN 46247, (317) 888-7156
The Mac McIntosh Co. Inc., (310) 376-1221, http://www.salesleadexperts.com
Savannah Bar & Grille, (440) 892-2266
True Connections, (800) 937-6217


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Does that make Palin a poor man's Selig?
Bud Selig. One of the worst baseball commissioners or the worst? Discuss amongst yourselves. Only a man who has the hubris to continue in his position after the steroid scandal could possibly have given us Monday night's bizarre reading of the rules. Hey, here's an idea for you. If the weather is so crappy it's going to be hard to get the game in and there's a possibility of a suspension or a shortened game, DON'T PLAY THE F&%$ING GAME! Wait a day. What else is going on in the baseball world that makes it absolutely necessary to play the game that night? And if you have enough authority to circumvent the rules, why not go whole hog and unilaterally postpone the game?
This is the difference between George W. Bush and Bud Selig. They both think they're "The Decider" but only one of them has the will to actually go through with it. People may not agree with W and his decisions but at least he made them while they still counted. Selig is a poor man's W, a John McCain, if you will:
And that's where we stand, dear readers. The World Series and this baseball season could be over this evening. And the election could be over by this time next week (barring any Florida or Ohio based shenanigans). But unlike Bud Selig, we can make a decision and that's why we'll still be here for you tomorrow, next week and for as long as it takes.


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New Inscribed Properties (1994)
New Inscribed Properties
Cultural properties
Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains
Criteria: (i)(ii)(vi)
The palaces and temples which form the nucleus of this group of secular and religious buildings exemplify the architectural and artistic achievements of China's Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Situated in the scenic valleys and on the slopes of the Wudang mountains in Hubei Province, the site, which was built as an organized complex during the Ming dynasty (14th–17th centuries), contains Taoist buildings from as early as the 7th century. It represents the highest standards of Chinese art and architecture over a period of nearly 1,000 years.
Church of the Ascension, Kolomenskoye
Russian Federation
Criteria: (ii)
The Church of the Ascension was built in 1532 on the imperial estate of Kolomenskoye, near Moscow, to celebrate the birth of the prince who was to become Tsar Ivan IV ('the Terrible'). One of the earliest examples of a traditional wooden tent-roofed church on a stone and brick substructure, it had a great influence on the development of Russian ecclesiastical architecture.
City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and Fortifications
Criteria: (iv)
Because of its strategic position, Luxembourg was, from the 16th century until 1867, when its walls were dismantled, one of Europe's greatest fortified sites. It was repeatedly reinforced as it passed from one great European power to another: the Holy Roman Emperors, the House of Burgundy, the Habsburgs, the French and Spanish kings, and finally the Prussians. Until their partial demolition, the fortifications were a fine example of military architecture spanning several centuries.
City of Safranbolu
Criteria: (ii)(iv)(v)
From the 13th century to the advent of the railway in the early 20th century, Safranbolu was an important caravan station on the main East–West trade route. The Old Mosque, Old Bath and Süleyman Pasha Medrese were built in 1322. During its apogee in the 17th century, Safranbolu's architecture influenced urban development throughout much of the Ottoman Empire.
Collegiate Church, Castle and Old Town of Quedlinburg
Criteria: (iv)
Quedlinburg, in the Land of Sachsen-Anhalt, was a capital of the East Franconian German Empire at the time of the Saxonian-Ottonian ruling dynasty. It has been a prosperous trading town since the Middle Ages. The number and high quality of the timber-framed buildings make Quedlinburg an exceptional example of a medieval European town. The Collegiate Church of St Servatius is one of the masterpieces of Romanesque architecture.
Earliest 16th-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatepetl
Criteria: (ii)(iv)
These 14 monasteries stand on the slopes of Popocatepetl, to the south-east of Mexico City. They are in an excellent state of conservation and are good examples of the architectural style adopted by the first missionaries – Franciscans, Dominicans and Augustinians – who converted the indigenous populations to Christianity in the early 16th century. They also represent an example of a new architectural concept in which open spaces are of renewed importance. The influence of this style is felt throughout the Mexican territory and even beyond its borders.
Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities)
Criteria: (ii)(iv)
Built in A.D. 794 on the model of the capitals of ancient China, Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan from its foundation until the middle of the 19th century. As the centre of Japanese culture for more than 1,000 years, Kyoto illustrates the development of Japanese wooden architecture, particularly religious architecture, and the art of Japanese gardens, which has influenced landscape gardening the world over.
Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Palpa
Criteria: (i)(iii)(iv)
Located in the arid Peruvian coastal plain, some 400 km south of Lima, the geoglyphs of Nasca and the pampas of Jumana cover about 450 km2 . These lines, which were scratched on the surface of the ground between 500 B.C. and A.D. 500, are among archaeology's greatest enigmas because of their quantity, nature, size and continuity. The geoglyphs depict living creatures, stylized plants and imaginary beings, as well as geometric figures several kilometres long. They are believed to have had ritual astronomical functions.
Mountain Resort and its Outlying Temples, Chengde
Criteria: (ii)(iv)
The Mountain Resort (the Qing dynasty's summer palace), in Hebei Province, was built between 1703 and 1792. It is a vast complex of palaces and administrative and ceremonial buildings. Temples of various architectural styles and imperial gardens blend harmoniously into a landscape of lakes, pastureland and forests. In addition to its aesthetic interest, the Mountain Resort is a rare historic vestige of the final development of feudal society in China.
Petäjävesi Old Church
Criteria: (iv)
Petäjävesi Old Church, in central Finland, was built of logs between 1763 and 1765. This Lutheran country church is a typical example of an architectural tradition that is unique to eastern Scandinavia. It combines the Renaissance conception of a centrally planned church with older forms deriving from Gothic groin vaults.
Pilgrimage Church of St John of Nepomuk at Zelená Hora
Criteria: (iv)
This pilgrimage church, built in honour of St John of Nepomuk, stands at Zelená Hora, not far from Ždár nad Sázavou in Moravia. Constructed at the beginning of the 18th century on a star-shaped plan, it is the most unusual work by the great architect Jan Blazej Santini, whose highly original style falls between neo-Gothic and Baroque.
Rock Carvings in Tanum
Criteria: (i)(iii)(iv)
The rock carvings in Tanum, in the north of Bohuslän, are a unique artistic achievement not only for their rich and varied motifs (depictions of humans and animals, weapons, boats and other subjects) but also for their cultural and chronological unity. They reveal the life and beliefs of people in Europe during the Bronze Age and are remarkable for their large numbers and outstanding quality.
Criteria: (ii)(iv)
This Stockholm cemetery was created between 1917 and 1920 by two young architects, Asplund and Lewerentz, on the site of former gravel pits overgrown with pine trees. The design blends vegetation and architectural elements, taking advantage of irregularities in the site to create a landscape that is finely adapted to its function. It has had a profound influence in many countries of the world.
Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu
Criteria: (i)(iv)(vi)
The temple, cemetery and family mansion of Confucius, the great philosopher, politician and educator of the 6th–5th centuries B.C., are located at Qufu, in Shandong Province. Built to commemorate him in 478 B.C., the temple has been destroyed and reconstructed over the centuries; today it comprises more than 100 buildings. The cemetery contains Confucius' tomb and the remains of more than 100,000 of his descendants. The small house of the Kong family developed into a gigantic aristocratic residence, of which 152 buildings remain. The Qufu complex of monuments has retained its outstanding artistic and historic character due to the devotion of successive Chinese emperors over more than 2,000 years.
Völklingen Ironworks
Criteria: (ii)(iv)
The ironworks, which cover some 6 ha, dominate the city of Völklingen. Although they have recently gone out of production, they are the only intact example, in the whole of western Europe and North America, of an integrated ironworks that was built and equipped in the 19th and 20th centuries and has remained intact.
New Inscribed Properties
Natural properties
Arabian Oryx Sanctuary
Criteria: (x)
The Arabian Oryx Sanctuary is an area within the Central Desert and Coastal Hills biogeographical regions of Oman. Seasonal fogs and dews support a unique desert ecosystem whose diverse flora includes several endemic plants. Its rare fauna includes the first free-ranging herd of Arabian oryx since the global extinction of the species in the wild in 1972 and its reintroduction here in 1982. The only wild breeding sites in Arabia of the endangered houbara bustard, a species of wader, are also to be found, as well as Nubian ibex, Arabian wolves, honey badgers, caracals and the largest wild population of Arabian gazelle.
Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh / Naracoorte)
Criteria: (viii)(ix)
Riversleigh and Naracoorte, situated in the north and south respectively of eastern Australia, are among the world's 10 greatest fossil sites. They are a superb illustration of the key stages of evolution of Australia's unique fauna.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Criteria: (vii)(x)
Located in south-western Uganda, at the junction of the plain and mountain forests, Bwindi Park covers 32,000 ha and is known for its exceptional biodiversity, with more than 160 species of trees and over 100 species of ferns. Many types of birds and butterflies can also be found there, as well as many endangered species, including the mountain gorilla.
Canaima National Park
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
Criteria: (vii)(viii)(ix)(x)
Canaima National Park is spread over 3 million ha in south-eastern Venezuela along the border between Guyana and Brazil. Roughly 65% of the park is covered by table mountain (tepui) formations. The tepuis constitute a unique biogeological entity and are of great geological interest. The sheer cliffs and waterfalls, including the world's highest (1,000 m), form a spectacular landscape.
Los Katíos National Park
Criteria: (ix)(x)
Extending over 72,000 ha in north-western Colombia, Los Katios National Park comprises low hills, forests and humid plains. An exceptional biological diversity is found in the park, which is home to many threatened animal species, as well as many endemic plants.
Rwenzori Mountains National Park
Criteria: (vii)(x)
The Rwenzori Mountains National Park covers nearly 100,000 ha in western Uganda and comprises the main part of the Rwenzori mountain chain, which includes Africa's third highest peak (Mount Margherita: 5,109 m). The region's glaciers, waterfalls and lakes make it one of Africa's most beautiful alpine areas. The park has many natural habitats of endangered species and a rich and unusual flora comprising, among other species, the giant heather.
Significant modifications to the boundaries
Cultural properties
Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada
Criteria: (i)(iii)(iv)
Rising above the modern lower town, the Alhambra and the Albaycín, situated on two adjacent hills, form the medieval part of Granada. To the east of the Alhambra fortress and residence are the magnificent gardens of the Generalife, the former rural residence of the emirs who ruled this part of Spain in the 13th and 14th centuries. The residential district of the Albaycín is a rich repository of Moorish vernacular architecture, into which the traditional Andalusian architecture blends harmoniously.
City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto
Criteria: (i)(ii)
Founded in the 2nd century B.C. in northern Italy, Vicenza prospered under Venetian rule from the early 15th to the end of the 18th century. The work of Andrea Palladio (1508–80), based on a detailed study of classical Roman architecture, gives the city its unique appearance. Palladio's urban buildings, as well as his villas, scattered throughout the Veneto region, had a decisive influence on the development of architecture. His work inspired a distinct architectural style known as Palladian, which spread to England and other European countries, and also to North America.
Gelati Monastery
Criteria: (iv)
Founded in 1106 in the west of Georgia, the Monastery of Gelati is a masterpiece of the Golden Age of medieval Georgia, a period of political strength and economic growth between the 11th and 13th centuries. It is characterized by the facades of smoothly hewn large blocks, balanced proportions and blind arches for exterior decoration. The Gelati monastery, one of the largest medieval Orthodox monasteries, was also a centre of science and education and the Academy it housed was one of the most important centres of culture in ancient Georgia.
Historic Centre of Cordoba
Criteria: (i)(ii)(iii)(iv)
Cordoba's period of greatest glory began in the 8th century after the Moorish conquest, when some 300 mosques and innumerable palaces and public buildings were built to rival the splendours of Constantinople, Damascus and Baghdad. In the 13th century, under Ferdinand III, the Saint, Cordoba's Great Mosque was turned into a cathedral and new defensive structures, particularly the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos and the Torre Fortaleza de la Calahorra, were erected.
Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa
Criteria: (i)(iv)(vi)
The Potala Palace, winter palace of the Dalai Lama since the 7th century, symbolizes Tibetan Buddhism and its central role in the traditional administration of Tibet. The complex, comprising the White and Red Palaces with their ancillary buildings, is built on Red Mountain in the centre of Lhasa Valley, at an altitude of 3,700m. Also founded in the 7th century, the Jokhang Temple Monastery is an exceptional Buddhist religious complex. Norbulingka, the Dalai Lama's former summer palace, constructed in the 18th century, is a masterpiece of Tibetan art. The beauty and originality of the architecture of these three sites, their rich ornamentation and harmonious integration in a striking landscape, add to their historic and religious interest.
Significant modifications to the boundaries
Natural properties
Doñana National Park
Criteria: (vii)(ix)(x)
Doñana National Park in Andalusia occupies the right bank of the Guadalquivir river at its estuary on the Atlantic Ocean. It is notable for the great diversity of its biotopes, especially lagoons, marshlands, fixed and mobile dunes, scrub woodland and maquis. It is home to five threatened bird species. It is one of the largest heronries in the Mediterranean region and is the wintering site for more than 500,000 water fowl each year.
Gondwana Rainforests of Australia
Criteria: (viii)(ix)(x)
This site, comprising several protected areas, is situated predominantly along the Great Escarpment on Australia's east coast. The outstanding geological features displayed around shield volcanic craters and the high number of rare and threatened rainforest species are of international significance for science and conservation.
Ha Long Bay
Viet Nam
Criteria: (vii)(viii)
Ha Long Bay, in the Gulf of Tonkin, includes some 1,600 islands and islets, forming a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars. Because of their precipitous nature, most of the islands are uninhabited and unaffected by a human presence. The site's outstanding scenic beauty is complemented by its great biological interest.
Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek
, United States of America
Criteria: (vii)(viii)(ix)(x)
These parks comprise an impressive complex of glaciers and high peaks on both sides of the border between Canada (Yukon Territory and British Columbia) and the United States (Alaska). The spectacular natural landscapes are home to many grizzly bears, caribou and Dall's sheep. The site contains the largest non-polar icefield in the world.
Significant modifications to the boundaries
Mixed property
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
Criteria: (v)(vi)(vii)(viii)
This park, formerly called Uluru (Ayers Rock – Mount Olga) National Park, features spectacular geological formations that dominate the vast red sandy plain of central Australia. Uluru, an immense monolith, and Kata Tjuta, the rock domes located west of Uluru, form part of the traditional belief system of one of the oldest human societies in the world. The traditional owners of Uluru-Kata Tjuta are the Anangu Aboriginal people.
Other year
2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978
News (5)
- Two cultural sites added to UNESCO's World Heritage List 07-Jul-2019
- Six cultural sites added to UNESCO's World Heritage List 07-Jul-2019
- Seven cultural sites inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List 06-Jul-2019
- Five sites inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List 05-Jul-2019
- World Heritage Committee to meet in Baku (Azerbaijan) to examine inscription of new sites on World Heritage List 21-Jun-2019


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15 December 2011
In the secret history of the Talking Heads & the founding generation of New York punk rock — whenever that was — one of the biggest ones may have been that David Byrne was actually a crooner, always was. Check out this video from the first show of theirs attended by Seymour Stein, the founder of the label that made them famous.
And read more about it at NPR. Or don't.
Posted by Alec Hanley Bemis
Tags: David Byrne, Punk Rock, Seymour Stein, Talking Heads, The Problem With Nostalgia
19 July 2011
Above is a video that I hope serves as the candied sweetness that draws you into reading the rest of this post. It's a TED talk from British-born, Los Angeles-based educational theorist Ken Robinson. It's brilliant and funny and the version I'm embedding has been viewed over two million times, so I think it's safe to say that people like it.
It embodies the excitement I've felt recently for exploring a life outside of the Arts, a life that values the application of the Arts in day-to-day life more than Art for Arts sake. You see, the deeper I get into the world of music, the less faith I have for the Arts as a freestanding institution; the more disturbed I get by the way it often engages people merely as entertainment or spectacle or a means to status. Which is not to say I am against spectacles, or entertainment, or status. (Well, okay, status makes me queasy.)
But I digress…
Sometimes these qualities are called for. And I am fascinated by the distractions which Art can offer, in the way that anyone would be fascinated by a car crash at the side of the road. But increasingly I care more about making Art as a process, about the way it engages people free of its role as entertainment.
I'm writing here to share a few strands that have reinforced that view. The first one is rather slow. (Note: The embed has been behaving a bit tetchily — so here's a direct link if it doesn't appear embedded in the body of this post.)
For those entirely deprived of web video, it's a 60 Minutes segment about El Sistema, Venezuela's much vaunted music education program for the public schools. There's something lacking in this mini-documentary. 60 Minutes's storytelling style is a bit pat, almost too effective. It greases over the bumps, or the notion of what a program like El Sistema may be competing against for funding. For that let's turn to this passage from a 2009 blog entry by David Byrne, wherein he recounts an awkward conversation he had with Portugal's senator for culture.
Going deeper, even that quote fails to get across what art's lasting effects on a child can be, though it's more effective than the 60 Minutes style visual is.
Watching children playing in unison, though powerful, is only the half of it. It displays the external view of arts education — children on display! — but it does not x-ray the internal view.
What I'm not sure any representation can do justice to is the lasting effects art (small "a") can have on children. That has to be seen to be believed. And by see it I don't mean on a screen. About two months ago, I had the profound experience of getting to see art & kids together in the flesh…
Let me rewind a bit: Around 2008 I got involved with a New York organization called the Manhattan New Music Project as a member of their board of directors. The organization sends working artists into the New York City public schools and a short time ago (somewhat ashemedly for the first time!) I actually paid visit to a classroom, in this case, a school in District 75, a citywide district that focuses on special education. You probably haven't heard about it unless you have a friend or family member who is touched by their efforts (I sure hadn't) so here is a summary:
The music being played in this class was not classical, not pop, not jazz. It was something simpler — rhythm sticks, a spacey circular drone on a boombox. The goal was not to train the children to learn about the Western canon, or get them to play "Chopsticks."
Rather the goal for most of these kids was to, over the course of a semester, learn to make eye-contact, to connect to another human, to use art to not only slow themselves down but, more interestingly, to slow down the teachers instructing them. It's easy to forget that children are not workers. They need to learn and absorb and develop at their own pace.
I spent a solid portion of my hour or two in the class holding back tears.
So let me end this post by returning to culture. About one month back, driving around upstate New York, I ended up spending a few hours one afternoon on the campus of Bard College where I saw yet another temple to the Arts, Frank Gehry's imposing Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.
It was a bit magical running into this temple in the middle of nowhere. But it didn't quite match the magic of those kids in a classroom. And I had to wonder why I tend to find myself more in temples of culture than in classrooms of wonder. And while I don't think one needs to choose one or the other in an absolute sense, I do think it's worth realizing that spending more time with one than the other does represent a choice.
And now, for a relieving rimshot to break up the mood.
PS – As an aside that brings us back to where we started, there was a recent complication with the idea of bringing El Sistema to the United States. If you watch the 60 Minutes piece to the end, you'll hear an administrator for Venezuela's El Sistema say the program could easily translate to the United States. But, in fact, after a high-profile kick-off that began with founder Jose Abreu winning the TED Prize (natch!), El Sistema USA has had well-documented issues, including the loss of fiscal sponsor, the New England Conservatory. This NPR piece points to the simple issue of competition for resources — El Sistema offers for free to kids what NEC wants to charge for.
(Image of children playing via El Sistema USA.)
Posted by Alec Hanley Bemis
Tags: 60 Minutes, David Byrne, Disney Hall, District 75, El Sistema, Frank Gehry, Gustavo Dudamel, Jose Abreu, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Manhattan New Music Project, MNMP, Sir Ken Robinson, TED, The Arts, The Community Function, The Problem With Glamour, The Problem With the Avant Garde
26 November 2009
Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Today is my favorite of all holidays. If you ignore the whole set of associations with native American genocide it is, quite literally just an occasion to say thanks — a kind of non-denominational, all-inclusive moment of grace.
Even the food is pretty good.
Which brings me to the picture of Stud Turkey, my collaborative entry to Todo Mundo's annual turkey-shaped Jell-O® Mold competition. (Todo Mundo is David Byrne's independent record label, though the studio also produces his art & book projects.) My co-chief (who deserves most of the credit) & I (who does not) won second prize for this chocolate panna cotta concoction, infused with cheap bourbon & covered in powdered chocolate and those edible silver ball things that one used to find on cupcakes more often before mercury poisoning. In handing over our award it was described as "A cogent commentary on the current state of the music industry." Our only thought was that it looked like leather jacket that an Eagles fan from Albuquerque might wear for a night out.
We happened to think even more of our non-placing entry, Gilty Pleasure, a bacon infused panna cotta turkey covered in gold leaf. In the judging, it was referred to as the Damien Hirst of turkeys which, while accurate, goes to show the need to control your own context. We thought of it more as part two of a diptych about 80s rock'n'roll. (Gold records, et. al.)
You can read more on the non-blog of Todo Mundo's art director Danielle Spencer or the coverage on The New Yorker's blog — including details on the awe-inspiring first prize winner, a burger-shaped entry by David Hunter. He definitely got my vote.
Posted by Alec Hanley Bemis
Tags: Danielle Spencer, David Byrne, Food, Panna Cotta, The Problem With Glamour, Todo Mundo, Turkey


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Democracy Hangs by a Thread
How good is a draft constitution that contains many positive articles, when a not insignificant element of the political landscape was excluded from the constitutional assembly and while the police state rages out on the streets?
This is the question that Egyptians must now ask themselves after the constitutional assembly voted on the 247 articles that will now go to a referendum.
Many of the articles look good on paper, with one important exception: The Egyptian military has ensured that its role in politics has been enshrined in the draft document. For the next eight years at least, the military will decide on who fills the post of defence minister.
Muslim Brotherhood shunned
The process through which the draft came about was even more problematic. Of all the political forces represented in the country, it was the movement that held power until the military putsch five months ago, the Muslim Brotherhood, that was completely excluded. With this constitution, Egyptian society was certainly not picked up from the point at which it now finds itself. It does not reflect any social consensus.
In a bid to push it through by hook or by crook, a police state has taken shape comparable with the one in place during the Mubarak era. A new restrictive right to demonstrate and right of assembly is doing the usual and has for some time now been applied not against the Muslim Brotherhood, but also against any dissent by secular Tahrir activists. And ironically by those who claim to have come to power through mass demonstrations against the Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi.
At present, no one in Egypt is really able to explain how on earth a referendum on the constitution, as well as presidential and parliamentary elections can be expected to take place in this sort of climate.
The timetable for a democratic transition has now been put down on paper, but the military and police are standing guard at the station and controlling the points, to ensure that the train does not travel against their will in a direction that deviates from the predetermined route.
Karim El-Gawhary
© Qantara.de 2013
Translated from the German by Nina Coon
Editor: Lewis Gropp/Qantara.de
Comments for this article: Democracy Hangs by a Thread
There are people; they don't get it, until now. The Muslim brotherhood was not kept out of the political scene, the brotherhood itself didn't want a part in the new government, on the contrary, they wanted it all or nothing, they wanted to rule alone. Where is the democratic ideal? On the other hand, why take a party into government which threatens shameless in public, to destroy the whole country and Sinai? And for the moment and near future Egypt needs first stability, which can never be accomplished while there are always violent demonstrations (Egyptians are not able to demonstrate peacefully, except the secular Tahrir activists). For this Egypt's security forces are very much needed, like it or not. And by the way, the restrictive right to demonstrate is practiced in all democratic countries all over the world.Margarete Hablas04.12.2013 | 09:17 Uhr
Lieber Herr El-Gawhary zu Ihrer Beurteilung halte ich fest: 1. Das Wesen der Demokratie ist der Kompromiss. Das hatten die Muslimbrueder nach gewonnener Wahl nicht verstanden, 2. Die Uebernahme der Macht durch die Armee wurde daher von weiten Teilen der Bevoelkerung begruesst und entspricht nicht der Definition eines Putsches, 3. bei einer in Demokratie nicht geuebten Bevoelkerung bedarf es einer Institution, die fuer geordnete Verhaeltnisse und einen zumindest partiellen Rechtsstaat sorgt. Diese Rolle kann die Armee als einzige hierchische und professionelle Organisation erfolgreich ausueben: eben diese Aufgabe hat sie nach Atatuerk durch Jahrzehnte bin der Tuerkei auch bewaeltigt. .Eugen Spannocchi05.12.2013 | 12:16 Uhr


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Winter escape to Morocco with the main goal of avoiding everything cold, dreary and european. The part about skipping the cold didn´t quite work out though.
Route: Ryanair flight to Fès, bus to Essaouira via Casablanca, then passing Agadir, on to Tafraoute, joining an organised tour to see the Anti-Atlas and Sahara, then going back to Fès via Ouarzazate.
Bluest skies over the Mellah of Fès. This used to be the jewish quarter, but the majority of moroccan jews either emigrated to Israel or moved to the newer parts of town.
Nowadays the population in the Mellah is muslim.
Leather tannery in the Medina. Only natural ingredients are used, as another overeager salesman assures us, like pidgeon excrement and chalk. It smells like rotting flesh.
Much tastier: Thé a la mente. Green tea, fresh mint leaves, and sugar chunks the size of oranges.
Essaouira back alley, trying to find some food that isn´t tajine or couscous. I´m not sure what we had, but it might have been bowel soup. At least we went somewhere that wasn´t listed in the Lonely Planet!
Oasis near Tafraoute, spectacular mountain backdrop, turquoise water, date palms, there were even frogs. Conclusion: Some things are too pretty to draw.
I didn´t see much of Zagora, except this view from the hotel terrace. It´s also a very dusty place.
Ouarzazate´s Medina.