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Life couldn't get much harder for eight year old Sapna from India. Her dad died when she was just a baby and her mother is too sick to work…
Life couldn't get much harder for eight year old Sapna from India. Her dad died when she was just a baby and her mother is too sick to work, so her family are struggling to survive.
At the age of five, just as Sapna should have been taking her first tentative steps into primary school, she started her daily grind - scavenging around the local market, collecting discarded vegetables to sell. She works extremely long hours to earn a very meagre sum, but it's what it takes to put food on the table and keep a roof over her head.
Her family's survival is dependent on the little money she brings home and, because Sapna works such long hours, it's difficult to get the education she needs to escape the poverty trap. Thankfully, she is now being helped by a special project called Butterflies.
The project has given Sapna the chance to get an education around her working hours, so now she's learning to read and write. The project also runs a secure children's bank where she can keep any money she earns that isn't spent on food, bills or medicine for her mum. It's not much, but over time, these small deposits are building up and will be the key to unlocking a far brighter future for Sapna.
Children's Development Bank, India
There are millions of children across the world struggling to survive on city streets. Living alone, they're forced to do almost anything to scrape together enough money to get through each day. Many of them have severe health problems and are at constant risk of abuse.
They try desperately to earn money as porters, scrap pickers, street vendors, shoe shiners or shop helpers. But sadly, this leaves them very susceptible to muggings by older people living on the streets.
Thankfully, Comic Relief funds a whole range of projects that offer vital help and support to these extremely vulnerable children.
One such project is called Butterflies. It's run by a hugely dynamic organisation that enables street children to save what little money they earn in a safe Children's Development Bank. The banks even pay a small amount of interest, so that slowly, but surely, children can begin to work their way out of poverty.
The project also provides children with an informal education, which is the single most important tool they need to transform their lives. Some children are even reunited with their families and helped to live away from the dangers of the streets.
Butterflies has been enormously successful and now supports street children across India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Nepal.Donate now
Thirteen year old Simeon from Birmingham has had to grow up incredibly fast since his mum, Trudy, became very unwell with two debilitating muscle conditions…
Thirteen-year-old Simeon from Birmingham has had to grow up incredibly fast since his mum, Trudy, became very unwell with two debilitating muscle conditions.
Trudy's illness means it's exceptionally hard for her to move around and she needs help to do daily tasks, like preparing meals, shopping for food and taking her medication.
Seeing his mum in physical pain breaks Simeon's heart. At times he feels helpless, but he's actually the thread that holds his family together. He helps with all the household chores and has little spare time for himself.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel. A special project means he now has a chance to meet friends, take part in fun activities and receive counselling. He gets his childhood back for a few precious hours each week and receives help to juggle all the responsibilities in his young life.
Action for Children
For the tens of thousands of children and young people who care for a sick relative at home, life can be incredibly tough. In fact, research has shown that young boys who care for a poorly family member are particularly at risk of leaving school without any formal qualifications. This is because they don't have the time to keep up with their homework. With so many responsibilities to juggle, schoolwork often has to come lower down on their list of priorities.
Action for Children (Birmingham Young Carers) works with young boys, providing them with one-to-one support, help with their homework and a much-needed break from their caring duties. This gives these vulnerable children time to enjoy their childhood, enables them to thrive at school and means they have the opportunity to become confident and successful adults.Donate now
Despite her name, ten-year-old Joy wasn't a happy child. How could she be when she lived in grinding poverty, with no chance to escape the hardship she faced?…
Despite her name, ten-year-old Joy wasn't a happy child. How could she be when she lived in grinding poverty, with no chance to escape the hardship she faced?
While she should have been at school, she spent her days digging through a vegetable patch, trying to find food for her family.
Her dad was on a desperate mission to find work, but he often returned home exhausted and empty handed, knowing his kids would have to go another night without food.
Things seemed hopeless for Joy and her family, but, thankfully, a special Comic Relief funded project was there to give them a helping hand.
Joy's father received a small loan to start growing tomatoes and onions to sell. Before long his business began to thrive, he paid back the loan and could even afford to send Joy to school.
Now she can get the skills and knowledge she needs to build a far better life and free herself from the terrible grip of poverty.
The Busoga Association
Millions of children live in slums across the world. For them, life is beyond tough.
Each day can be a struggle for survival as they have no access to the everyday things that are so easily taken for granted, like clean water, good sanitation and basic health care.
In Jinja, a sprawling urban slum in Uganda, men, women and children live in squalid conditions with very few opportunities to improve their lives. The Busoga Association is a great project that aims to help thousands of people living there. It supports families to find better housing, get work to make ends meet and have access to basic health care too.
By helping parents to earn a living, their children's lives can change drastically as a result. Rather than staying at home or working long hours to help their families get by, the children can go to school and start to build a life free from poverty.Donate now
Not so long ago, ten year old Connor was just a shadow of the boy he's now become. He was being bullied at school and he'd regularly come home in tears…
Not so long ago, ten year old Connor was just a shadow of the boy he's now become. He was being bullied at school after struggling to learn as quickly as the other children and he'd regularly come home in tears. His confidence was shattered and he couldn't see how things would ever improve.
To make matters worse, Connor lives in a very deprived area of inner city Manchester where violent gangs control the streets. With very few ways to escape the crime and fear, Connor's future looked bleak.
Thankfully, Connor discovered the Moss Side Fire Station Amateur Boxing Club, which gave him the chance to shine. At the club, he could focus his energy on learning to box and getting fit. The coaches soon spotted his talent for the sport and his confidence has now soared.
The children who are part of the project are far less likely to get caught up in the violence that surrounds them. This is because when they start to believe they can achieve great things, they also begin to work towards a much brighter future.
Moss Side Firestation Boxing Club
In the UK, there are thousands of children and young people growing up in inner-city communities. With few opportunities to develop, learn new skills and channel their energies, many get incredibly frustrated and feel like they have no chance to improve their lives.
Moss Side Fire Station Amateur Boxing Club was established in 2008 by fire fighters living and working in Moss Side, a disadvantaged inner-city area of Manchester that suffers from severe social problems, poverty and gun crime.
This innovative project helps children in the area find ways to get involved in fun, constructive activities so that they don't get caught up in the dangerous world in which they're surrounded.
The club is dedicated to tackling the problems in the local community and giving children and young people the chance to do something positive with their time. Through their boxing training, they learn vital life skills and the values of discipline and respect, which will help set them up for a far more optimistic life.Donate now
Fourteen-year-old Geanyne has known nothing but grinding poverty all her young life. For as long as she can remember, her family have had no choice but to work…
Fourteen-year-old Geanyne has known nothing but grinding poverty all her young life. For as long as she can remember, her family have had no choice but to work on a stinking landfill site. In fact, they've had to live there too.
Every morning, Geanyne would step out of her house in Recife, Brazil, straight onto a vast dump to collect bottles and cans to sell. It's all she could do to scrape together enough money to survive. The work was back breaking, but essential to buy food, clothes and medicine for the youngest children at home.
Geanyne's mother knows that her lack of education means she can't give her children the life they deserve. She's been desperate for them to go to school, but if they didn't work, the family simply couldn't make ends meet.
Thankfully though, Geanyne has found help through a special project called Passage House – an amazing centre that supports children who live on the streets or work in hazardous conditions.
There, she receives food, medicine, access to a hot shower and, crucially, the chance to learn to read and write. She no longer has to spend her days scouring through discarded waste either – the project has enabled her family to get a government grant to live in a house that's far more safe and secure.
Passage House has not only helped Geanyne get her childhood back, but has given her a future too.
Passage House, Brazil
It's estimated that around 7 million children are living on the streets of Brazil. With their parents too poor to care for them, or having fled abuse at home, many of these street children are living unimaginably tough lives despite being so young.
Living in extreme poverty on the streets, they are often malnourished, physically unwell and emotionally scarred. They don't have access to clean water or decent toilet facilities and they struggle to survive.
As they grow up, these children don't get an education or learn the skills they need to get good jobs when they're older and so their situation goes from bad to worse. The girls are particularly at risk of abuse and being forced into dangerous work but there is very little support available to them.
Passage House is a project that provides a safe haven for vulnerable children, especially girls, who face grave danger on the streets of Recife, Brazil. They're given decent food, health care and a lot of love and emotional support. Without this help, they'd be completely alone in the world with no one to look after them, feed them or give them a safe place to sleep at night.
Through counselling, care and training, Passage House aims to turn children's lives around so they can look forward to far happier futures.Donate now
Rohit comes from a small village in Bihar, which is one of the poorest states in India. He lived with his parents and brothers and helped his father on the farm.…
Rohit comes from a small village in Bihar, which is one of the poorest states in India. He lived with his parents and brothers and helped his father on the farm. Rohit's father was very violent towards him, beating his son with bricks or sticks or whatever he could get his hands on. In one of the worst incidents Rohit's father locked him in a room and beat him so badly that he hurt his collar bone and right arm. Rohit had no option but to run away, so one day he borrowed a bike and cycled to the train station, where he took a train to a city called Gorakhpur. He lived in the station for a month and survived by selling water near a temple. One of the children that Rohit met told him that there were projects that helped street children in Delhi, so he decided to make the long journey there.
He arrived in Delhi alone and terrified. He had no money and knew no-one in the huge and scary city. After being harassed by policemen he walked until he met some other street children and spent the night with them. He soon got a job at a tea stall, and spent the nights sleeping on the pavement next to the stall. Rohit was frightened because he knew street children were sometimes snatched from the streets in the middle of the night. He also lived in fear of the police who would constantly harass and sometimes beat street children, often stealing from them and demanding bribes.
Rohit lived like this for 6 months, until one day he met some Butterflies outreach workers in a park. He went to a night shelter and was given a safe place to sleep. With encouragement, Rohit also returned to school where, 2 years later, and with help from the Butterflies staff, he is now thriving – scoring 98% in a recent test!
Rohit also became very involved with the Children's Development Bank, run by Butterflies, where he deposits and saves the money he earns from part-time jobs. Saving his money is really important to Rohit as he will need it to help him achieve his dream of becoming a doctor, and opening a hospital in his home village. Rohit also used to be a child volunteer manager at one of the branches and works really hard to try and encourage other children to put their money into the bank so that nobody is able to take it away from them. Rohit knows that it is essential to get a good education and the Butterflies project has given him the chance to escape the dangers of a life on the street, and the hope of a safe and secure future.
Butterflies: Children's Development Bank
The grant from Comic Relief to Butterflies enables them to run a bank for street children, which gives them a safe place to store their money. The project also provides children with important life skills which helps them focus on the future. The bank's committee is made up of street children who are mentored and supported to make decisions about who to lend money to, so it also teaches them to be responsible with their money.Donate now
"It's not hard to look after the children" says 16 year old Harjjara quietly, "because I am their elder sister".…
"It's not hard to look after the children" says 16 year old Harjjara quietly, "because I am their elder sister"
Yet the stove, sitting cold and unused in the families' one roomed shack, reveals a different story. There is no food to cook with today. Hajjara has two HIV positive sisters who must take their medicine on empty stomachs leaving them weak and exhausted.
Hajjara's words are a brave front. There is nothing easy about her situation.
Feeding the family is a daily struggle and some days there is just no food at all.
Not only is Hajjara dealing with the loss of both parents to AIDS, Hajjara is bringing up four of her younger siblings all on her own. Oruzia is just six years old. They look to her for everything.
'It's very difficult for them to the medicine when there is no food. It makes you feel ill," explains Hajjara. "There is no money to buy soap so our clothes are dirty, and I feel embarrassed to take my sisters to the hospital when they look so bad."
The younger siblings happily continue to play, seemingly unaware of their plight, but the strain of coping hangs heavily on Hajjira's small frame.
Hajjara has been caring for her brothers and sisters since she was thirteen. Her mother left two small shacks from which they earn a little rent from tenants, but it's never enough. The children cannot afford school fees and without an education it's a struggle for Hajjara to find work that will put food on the table.
Luckily the children are not completely alone. Yudaya, a volunteer community worker from Nacwola, a Comic Relief funded project, is on hand to offer guidance.
"I feel so happy when Yudaya comes to visit" says Hajjara. "She brings us food, sometimes clothes and she guides us. She tells us to keep the house clean, to be hard working and to take our medicine. She comforts the children when they are crying and makes us feel better. We don't feel so alone."
"The children are good children" says Yudaya "but their situation is desperate. It pains me to see them living like this. We are doing what we can to make things better for them."
Nacwola is working to find organisations that could help the children go to school and get Hajjara some vocational training, so she can begin to earn some decent cash to support herself and her family. They are also trying to make contact with the childrens' grandmother so they can make a Memory Book, a book that records all the details of their parents' lives so the children have vital information about their property and family history so they can plan for the future.
It is estimated that by 2010, 20 million children living in Africa will have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. The toll on children is especially great when parents and guardians do not prepare children for the future before they die.
In 1997 a Ugandan organisation of HIV-positive women set up something called 'The Memory Project' to help parents prepare their children for an uncertain future.
The prejudice and stigma surrounding HIV & AIDS has led to culture of silence, which means that children and young people don't know how to get support when their parents die from the disease. They feel lost and alone and are not at all prepared to cope with their loss.
The National Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (NACWOLA) is a Ugandan national NGO with a membership of over 40,000 women living with HIV/AIDS, which employs 7 people (5 women). HIV positive women set up NACWOLA and in 1997 the first memory book was produced.
This project aims to give parents the confidence and skills to disclose their HIV status to children and to plan for the future of the family. Crucial advice and guidance is given on writing wills and writing 'memory books'.
Memory books are scrapbooks of memories, photos, poems and family histories so that children can carry them into adult life. Compiling the book provides a framework to help parents and children work together to save vital information about the family's background.
The books explore and chart details of their origins, their clan, the family history, lifestyle, culture and beliefs, as well as their own early years. With this tool, children will better understand the past and be stronger to face the future.
There is recognition that younger siblings need additional care and emotional support through the difficult period of parents and older siblings becoming HIV positive. The project is developing ways to bring young and old together to discuss what is often a difficult and taboo subject, and helping older children to strengthen their coping skills.
This particular grant aims to reach almost 6,000 families and over 17,000-orphaned children across East Africa.
Comic Relief has awarded £2,872,969 to Healthlink Worldwide to support its work in Africa and some of the poorest countries in the world. We have awarded two grants of £1,000,000 and £116,333 for their work with NACWOLA in supporting vulnerable children and orphans with the memory book project.Donate now
Under the glare of the midday sun Francis reveals his prize possession - an old exercise book.…
Under the glare of the midday sun Francis reveals his prize possession – an old exercise book.
He gently turns the handful of pages, which are almost transparent from wear, and exposes the careful hand writing and addition sums that form the tapestry of his precious memories of school.
But Francis is not an old man recalling his youth; he is a 10-year-old boy desperate to learn. School should not be a distant memory for Francis – it should be an everyday reality.
Yet poverty, aggravated by war, has stopped him from getting schooling.
Clutching the book's flimsy cover, which he has wrapped in newspaper to protect, Francis said: "I used to go to school but I stopped because my uncle couldn't afford it. If I could have one wish it would be to have books and pens so I could write and go to school again."
Francis had to drop out of school last year after his uncle, Walter, struggled to pay for the materials he would need.
Francis's mother, Walter's sister died from HIV and his father went missing. Walter has been caring for Francis since he was a baby.
Walter has four other children and the conflict in Northern Uganda has robbed him of his livelihood. This had left the entire family living a hand-to-mouth existence.
Walter said: "If it wasn't for the war our home and family would be stronger. The rebels killed my brother and they destroyed our hut and land. After the attack on our village we had to move to the camp.
"The camp wasn't safe either. A few times the rebels entered and attacked. Each time I had to grab Francis and my other children and run into the bush to save them."
But Francis almost lost this small amount of protection when Walter was abducted by rebel group Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).
Walter was captive for two weeks before he managed to escape when he saw an opportunity after the militia men ordered him to keep watch for the Ugandan military.
After that the family moved to a large camp before being moved to a smaller one where they have been for the past four years.
Francis and his family are still waiting to return to their original village but they can't go until they rebuild their old hut and their vegetable garden, which was burnt by hunters, grows back.
Walter hopes this will happen in a year, but until then he farms in other vegetable gardens which are a two kilometer walk from their camp. Francis often helps his uncle grow and harvest the maize the family consumes.
Francis's responsibilities also include fetching water, looking after his baby cousin and taking maize to be milled.
Although Francis likes farming, he knows that's not where his future lies and his desperation to study is apparent.
He said: "I want to study and go to secondary level and after that I would like to train and become a driver because then I could earn money. Money is important because it can help you to buy utensils, books and other things.
"My happiest memory was when my uncle asked someone else to look after the baby and I could go to school."
"If I could change one thing in the world I would make sure all children in Uganda could get books and pens so they could go to school."
Walter admits that education is important for Francis but poverty means he is struggling to send the little boy to school.
Walter said: "I cannot afford educational materials for Francis. Sometimes I come home and I see Francis has been crying because he couldn't go to school.
"I know that if he studies and succeeds in education he will be able to support himself and his family. If he doesn't go to school he will have no future. I didn't get an education but I try to look after the children. I try to make sure I can look after them if they are sick or get food for them. I hope to get Francis go back to school soon."
War Child
Up to 80% of the population in some of the most war-torn districts of northern Uganda have been badly affected by years of conflict. This has led to large numbers of people being displaced from their homes. Children feel the impact of this most keenly and have experienced an array of violence, abuse and neglect often leading to them being stigmatized. Their education has been disrupted and many are orphaned. Often children were also abducted by armed groups and have been through traumatic experiences.
This project provides much needed support to 1200 socially excluded children to attend primary school. It has also enabled 240 older children to receive vocational training and young mothers to study and learn new skills to improve their ability to support and protect themselves.Donate now
As Gemma turns 11 she's not thinking about birthday parties or presents - she's thinking about looking after her little sister and brother..…
As Gemma turns 11 she's not thinking about birthday parties or presents – she's thinking about looking after her little sister and brother. That's because little sister Megan, 8, is recovering from Leukaemia and little brother Oscar, 5, has curvature of the spine meaning he has to have regular operations.
Gemma is the only able bodied sibling and the family faced further tragedy when her youngest brother George died just hours after being born.
On a day-to-day level Gemma does all she can to help her mum at home. But the bigger picture is that her caring role has meant she's had to grow up quicker than some of her peers.
Gemma said: "It can be quite hard at home, my mum has to take my brother to hospital a lot and when she is away I often have to get the meals for me. My little brother can get hurt or bruised easily so I try to make sure he doesn't get hurt if there are other kids around. I also make sure he is in a comfortable position. I watch TV or play with my brother and sister to help make sure mum isn't too stressed."
Gemma gets her own chance to have a break when she comes to the sessions run by Gloucestershire Young Carers. And despite the obvious challenges Gemma faces at home she is still thinking of the situation other young carers face.
She said: "Coming here helps me to get away from the problems at home. When I started coming here I realised there were other people like me. I wasn't the only one. Before when I was at school I thought I was the only one. I have also learned that there are people who have had bigger losses than me. There are other kids who have lost a mum or a dad. I haven't been in that position."
Gemma's mum Yolanda says the project has helped Gemma to open up about the challenges she has at home.
Yolanda said: "Gemma helps me in so many ways. It's the little things, like if I stood at the school gates with Oscar she will make sure no other children bump into him as they run out. She notices little things that I might not and helps her brother and sister."
"Since coming here (Gloucestershire Young Carers) Gemma has been able to open up to people. She can share her experience as all children like to do. I think it's really important to her. She met a child who had a sister with Leukaemia and she came home and said 'mum we are like two peas in a pod'. Every Monday evening she is really excited to be coming to young carers."
Currently a new Comic Relief grant is being spent on a group of young carers – aged 8-11, who meet every week at a community centre in the UK. Here they are encouraged to take part in group activities such as making crafts, playing games or eating pizza. The evenings give the young people a crucial break from their duties at home and help them make friends with other kids in a similar situation to themselves.Donate now
About flying start
Flying Start is our global charity partnership with Comic Relief. It was launched on 30th June 2010 and aims to transform the lives of some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children around the world. We want to give these children a flying start in life, so they can look forward to a much brighter future.
Click on a child to read their story.
Donate now
Donate online now with just a few clicks. You can also donate your spare change on-board any BA flight or give unwanted currency to Travelex at UK airports.
Where Comic Relief are helping
Comic Relief supports projects in the UK, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Through Flying Start, we'll be raising money for a number of these projects that have been set up to help vulnerable children.
We're particularly pleased that we'll be able to build on our long-standing commitment to community investment in the countries in which we operate.
For more information about Comic Relief's projects visit www.comicrelief.com.
Click here to find out more about British Airway's community investment.
How Your Money Helps
All donations received from the public through Flying Start will go directly to transforming children's lives. In fact, we aim to raise up to £6 million by 2013 to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of children living in the UK and in some of the poorest countries across the world.
We want to create lasting change by giving children and their families the chance to start supporting themselves. We want to make sure that children have a chance to enjoy their childhood, whether that's by giving them a break from caring for sick family members, supporting their education or helping children living on city streets to break free from poverty.
For more information on how your money helps visit www.comicrelief.com
How to donate
We collect donations on-board all our flights.
At the Airport
Visit Travelex at any UK airport.
It just takes a few clicks.Donate now


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Ranchito Avenue Elementary School
Panorama City, CA 91402
About This School
A school's Academic Performance Index (API) is a scale that ranges from 200 to 1000 and is calculated from the school's performance in the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program. The state has set 800 as the API target for all schools to meet.
Ranchito Avenue Elementary School had an API growth score of 809 in 2012. California uses the Academic Performance Index (API) to measure annual school performance and year-to-year improvement. Ranchito Avenue Elementary School's 2012 base score was 808 and the school did meet its 2012 school-wide growth target.
In 2010, Ranchito Avenue Elementary School had 23 students for every full-time equivalent teacher. The California average is 24 students per full-time equivalent teacher.
Student Ethnicity (2011)
Students (2011)
Students Per Teacher (2010)
Female/Male (2011)
Subsidized Lunch (2011)
District Spending (2010)
Grade 2 Math Performance
Ranchito Avenue Elementary School Reviews
Ranchito is a small campus school, this is one of the reasons why I am happy my children attends this school. Another is the close relationship the school community has with one another. I am happy to have found this school because as a parent I feel that my are children are in a safe learning environment. The staff are all excellent, the Principal is fair and the Parent Center has improved their involvement with the parents. Thank you Ranchito for providing excellent care and learning.
Ranchito Avenue Elementary School PhotosThere are no photos for this school yet. Be the first to add a photo.
Washington Virtual Academies
Tuition-free online school for Washington students.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Next Big Thing? Eureka Park Inside Innovation
January 05, 2014
It was about three years ago when Karl Susman started sketching out his idea on a cocktail napkin. The longtime insurance man and his wife of 21 years were having what he calls "a friendly debate" (about what, he can't remember anymore). But what did stick with this entrepreneur was the "aha" moment that resulted from this conversation. He would use the personal experience to help forge a foundation for the website now known as YouAskAnyone.com. "It's not an Ask.com," says Susman. "It's not a Yahoo Answers either." He describes the concept behind YouAskAnyone.com a little like Digg, "but hopefully...
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Here's what's being talked about today in pop culture:
• If you're still in mourning over the end of "30 Rock," grief counselors are standing by online. [Vulture, The Huffington Post]
• Sure, you're going to see it during the Super Bowl — but if you can't wait, the "World War Z" trailer is online. [Entertainment Weekly]
• Ed Koch, the irascible former mayor of New York, died this morning at the age of 88. [CNN]


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Pacnet History
With the 8 January 2008 operational merger and rebranding of Asia Netcom and Pacific Internet, we have created Asia's leading communications provider with the largest regional footprint and the region's most extensive submarine cable infrastructure.
Pacnet is all about Asia
Against a backdrop of explosive economic growth and increasing bandwidth demand in Asia is Pacnet, the region's leading communications provider, formed from the operational merger of Asia Netcom and Pacific Internet.
The former Asia Netcom has its roots in Asia Global Crossing's $2 billion investment in building a next-generation subsea cable network, EAC, to connect key markets in Asia. In 2003, the company was bought by a consortium led by China Netcom. With industry-leading growth and an unsurpassed portfolio of enterprise and carrier solutions, Asia Netcom was sold to Connect Holdings, in 2006. Connect Holdings is a private investor group comprising of Ashmore Investment Management Limited, Spinnaker Capital Limited and Clearwater Capital Partners.
In 2007, Asia Netcom merged with C2C, another cable network owned by the same investor group, to create the region's largest submarine cable network EAC-C2C.
The former Pacific Internet Limited was the leading telco-independent Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the Asia Pacific region. The company delivered a comprehensive suite of Internet data, voice and video services to corporate business and consumer customers. Pacific Internet started in 1989 as TechNet, the research and development network of the National University of Singapore. In 1999, the company listed on NASDAQ and continued to expand its footprint into Australia, Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia.
In 2007, Connect Holdings acquired majority of the shares of Pacific Internet, after which, Pacific Internet was delisted from NASDAQ. Connect Holdings was renamed Pacnet Limited in 2008 and completed the acquisition of the remaining shares of Pacific Internet in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Following the launch of Pacnet in 2008, the company has continued to grow aggressively throughout Asia.
In 2008, Pacnet expanded its presence in China through the formation of Pacnet Business Solutions (China), the first foreign-owned telecommunications equity joint venture in China with a license to offer IP VPN services to major cities across the country. That year, the company also announced its investment into its first trans-Pacific cable infrastructure EAC Pacific, which connects to its pan-Asia cable network EAC-C2C in Japan and enhances Asia to US connectivity.
Pacnet established its first Point of Presence (PoP) in Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City in 2009. That year, the company also launched its new global customer service center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The new global customer service center features a state-of-the-art multimedia-enabled platform and provides 24 x 7 x 365 customer service in multiple languages.
In 2010, Pacnet obtained a Network Service Provider (NSP) license from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), paving the way for future expansion into Malaysia. Shortly after that, Pacnet, through its joint venture Pacific Internet India Pvt. Ltd. (Pacnet India), obtained National Long Distance (NLD) and International Long Distance (ILD) licenses from the Department of Telecommunications of India, setting the stage for providing businesses in India broader access to Pacnet's suite of advanced telecommunications solutions.
Since the end of 2010, Pacnet has made strategic investments into expanding its data center capabilities by building advanced CloudSpace data center facilities with high-speed connectivity to Pacnet's networks to complement its existing DataSpace data center facilities. Pacnet's first CloudSpace data center, HKCS1, was launched in Hong Kong in November 2010, and this was soon followed by the launch of its Singapore CloudSpace data center, SGCS1, later that month. In February 2011, the company unveiled its new Sydney CloudSpace data center, SYCS1. These facilities have been complemented by its fourth and most advanced CloudSpace data center, HKCS2, in March 2012.
Pacnet also launched its content delivery network solution, Asia's most extensive CDN deployment by a telecommunications service provider utilizing its wholly-owned network and hosting infrastructure, in 2011. Pacnet continues to grow its data center and content delivery capabilities in anticipation of Asia's growing digital appetite.
In October 2012, Pacnet announced its transformation strategy to enter a new phase of accelerated growth and improved profitability. This includes developing an exclusive focus on the carrier and enterprise markets and a greater focus on utilizing its data center and network infrastructure assets to introduce new value added services.
History of Asia Netcom
Asia Netcom (ANC) has its roots in Asia Global Crossing (AGC), a venture by Global Crossing, Microsoft and Softbank. The three technology giants got together in 1999 and spent about $2 billion to build a next-generation cable system – EAC – to connect together all the key Asian markets.
AGC was subsequently listed on NASDAQ in 2000 and enjoyed some favor with investors during the height of the tech run in the late 90s. AGC moved its listing from NASDAQ to NYSE in 2001. Following the dotcom crash, Asia Global Crossing filed for bankruptcy protection and declared that it needed additional funding to continue operations. In 2002, AGC was delisted from NYSE.
AGC's assets soon attracted a consortium led by China Netcom (CNC), the second largest fixed line operator in China, and included Newbridge Capital and Softbank Asia Infrastructure Fund, who formed ANC and bought the assets for $120 million.
It was also in 2002 that ANC enhanced its carrier-focused sales model with an industry-leading Enterprise portfolio. Leveraging its strategic network assets, ANC provided a comprehensive portfolio of city-to-city connectivity, data communications and IP-based solutions and services to enterprises, ISPs and carrier customers, with a focus on the Asia Pacific region.
In late 2003, CNC took full control of ANC, which became its wholly-owned subsidiary. ANC became part of the CNC's public listing in 2004 on NYSE and SEHK, which raised some $1.14 billion.
In 2006, CNC sold ANC to Connect Holdings Ltd., an investor group consisting of Ashmore Investment Management Limited, Spinnaker Capital Limited and Clearwater Capital Partners at $402 million.
The year 2007 saw the completion of the operational merger of ANC's EAC and C2C, another submarine cable network owned by the investor group – creating the region's most extensive submarine cable network measuring 36,800 km.
History of Pacific Internet
Pacific Internet was the largest telco-independent Internet Service Provider by geographic reach, in the Asia Pacific region.
It started in 1989 as TechNet, a research and development computer network for use by academia at the National University of Singapore.
In 1995, a Singapore conglomerate Sembawang Group, planned the introduction of Internet access in Singapore and the region after noting the significant progress made in the US in this industry. It established SembMedia, which eventually purchased TechNet and commercialized its services in September 1995 with the launch of Pacific Internet Corporation Pte. Ltd. in Singapore.
The following year, the group expanded into Hong Kong via an acquisition and in 1997, commenced its Philippines operations through a local partner and eventually acquired an equity stake in its local partner a year later.
Pacific Internet launched its initial public offering of shares on NASDAQ on 5 February 1999 at a price of $17 per share and was one of a handful of Singapore-based companies to have listed on the NASDAQ.
Further down south, Pacific Internet started its Australian operations with the acquisition of two ISPs in 1999. By 2000, further acquisitions of Australian ISPs brought Pacific Internet into six major cities in Australia.
Pacific Internet India, a joint venture unit of Pacific Internet Ltd., was launched in 1999, and subsequently expanded into major Indian cities.
The year 2000 marked Pacific Internet's foray into Thailand, where it made another acquisition and started its Thailand operations.
In 2002, Pacific Internet set up operations in Malaysia, giving the telco a direct presence in seven countries in the Asia Pacific region, with more than 30 Points of Presence in these markets.


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Assassin's Creed 3 trailer shows off naval warfare
Ubisoft announced the Assassin's Creed 3 naval combat at E3, but saved a more cinematic look for today at Gamescom. A new trailer mans the riggings and swashes the buckles, giving us a nice long look at the war taking place just off the coast of the Colonies.
Check out the trailer below to see cannon fire, sword-fighting crewmen, and one very angry captain.
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John Lennon Letters
By John Lennon
Hardback (other formats)
Our price: £20.00
You save: £5.00
In stock, usually despatched within 24 hours.
Publisher's comments
By Neil McCormick
11:33AM BST 10 Oct 2012
At last, evidence of the childhood burgeoning of John Lennon's genius can be revealed. Perfectly reproduced on page 25 of this hefty, handsomely mounted, beautifully printed, lovingly curated tome, the journalist and official Beatles biographer Hunter Davies has unearthed an early example of Lennon's writing, from "around 1955", demonstrating his nascent gift for coruscating honesty and emotional directness. Less than 20 words long, written with a red crayon in capital letters, the message reads: "HARRY I HAVE TAKEN DAVIDS BIKE I WILL RETURN IT TOMORROW (SO AS NOT TO BREAK INTO THE £1)".
Fortunately, Davies is on hand to shed light on this cryptic prose poem, revealing that the young Lennon "often went to visit his aunt Harriet, who lived nearby in a house called The Cottage, to play with his cousins Liela and David. On this occasion he seems to have gone off on David's bike, presumably to save money on a bus fare."
Well, I'm glad that's been cleared up.
This book is beyond parody. There can be no argument that Lennon was one of the most iconic and culturally significant figures of the 20th century, a status based on 23 albums made with the Beatles, Yoko Ono and solo. Since his untimely death in 1980, public fascination has led to an industry of posthumous releases and pseudo-forensic examination of everything he ever touched, rather like poring over the bones of a saint in search of religious revelation. As we get further from the creative source, each new addition to the growing heap of branded Lennon memorabilia has the effect of diminishing rather than expanding our sense of the artist. Typically for products endorsed by Yoko Ono, this book has a luxurious sheen that would complement any coffee table, but its contents reveal that the bottom of the barrel has been well and truly scraped clean.
In a self-justifying introduction, Davies claims that he has "rather expanded the definition of the word letter", but what he has actually done is reduce it to compensate for an absence of any missives of substance. This book should be renamed "The John Lennon Post-it notes". No piece of paper bearing evidence of his hand is deemed too trivial to include, so that chapters covering the more reclusive years up to his death are filled with hastily scribbled lists of jobs left for various domestic personnel, subsequently numbered, titled and pretentiously annotated by Davies. Letter 264: List for Rosa, 1979 starts "MiLK (3 cartons) ORANGES GRAPENUTS (NOT FLAKES)" and continues in this fashion for several lines. The contrast between the serious presentation and triteness of the content only serves to make the subject look silly.
There are actual letters, many addressed to family members and close friends, written fast and unselfconsciously in a light-hearted style, full of surreal nonsense frequently pertaining to insignificant matters lost in the mists of time, so that all that is left are non sequiturs, baffling in-jokes and badly spelt puns (Lennon's spelling is atrocious). Nevertheless, you can hear Lennon's voice coming through loud and clear and it is not a particularly attractive one. He is frequently defensive, aggressive, paranoid, bossy, sarcastic and self-justifying, particularly in work-related scribbles reacting to perceived criticism or imagined slights against Yoko. He can also be kind, apologetic and funny in a lunatic, Goonish fashion, with the
self-mockery to wonder (in a typically nonsensical letter to the Beatles publicist Derek Taylor) "how come us genious's's are so dumb?"
Almost anything of serious interest to Beatles scholars has been seen before, including impressively besotted early love letters to his first wife, Cynthia Powell, which contrast rather sadly with terse post-divorce notes later in life. Among the most telling is a self-pitying letter in 1965 describing his loneliness on tour, in which he says, "between the laughs there is such a drop – I mean there seems no in-between feelings".
Lennon's inner world was one of extremes, yet only one letter among the 285 sheds any light on how he mined that for creativity. It is a rambling, depressed, nihilistically defiant letter to art-school friend and former Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe, composed in 1961 but demonstrating a poetic savagery that wouldn't be heard in his songwriting for another five years. "I usually write like this and forget about it but if I post it it's like a little piece of my secret self in the hands of someone miles away," Lennon tells his friend.
But the secret self this book reveals is no secret at all. Lennon chose to explore his volatile nature in music, not in correspondence, and all these scribblings offer are shallow, shadowy glimpses of his familiar contradictions. What do we really learn about Lennon from nearly 400 pages of annotated private correspondence? Well, he couldn't spell. He liked to doodle. And he had way too much spare time on his hands.
Trade review
Book Details
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Guardian review
the guardian Wed 10 October 2012
"Fifty Years of the Rolling Stones", "Fifty Years of 007", "Fifty Years of the Beatles" as a 49 year-old I feel a little resentful of the latest round of anniversaries. They might as well write: "Hey, something really exciting and important happened here and you just (but only just) missed it. Ha, ha." If there is no future any more, then at least we can celebrate anniversaries. The fact that a particular number of years has passed since an event appears to confer on it a certain gravitas and significance. (Though I'm sure I saw an advert for a Pretty Things reunion concert a couple of years ago that proclaimed "43 years since the release of SF Sorrow" or something similar.) We are children of the echo. Born just after some kind of explosion, and doomed to spend our lives working backwards to try and get as close as we can to the moment of that Big Bang. Now, a cosmologist will tell you that he knows what was happening in the universe a trillionth of a second after the big bang but he still can't explain the bang itself. And so it is for the commited Beatles-ologist just how did those four lads come to "shake the world"? And shake it so hard? Will we ever know?
Maybe this might help to clear things up: The John Lennon Letters, put together by Hunter Davies, the guy who wrote the very first Beatles biography (which came out ages ago like, you know, when they still existed). The earliest letter dates from 1951, the last from 1980. Everything happened between those dates Hamburg, Beatlemania, Ed Sullivan, the Maharishi, Bagism, "Imagine", you name it and Lennon found the time to write letters about it? Awesome! Well not quite.
To be fair to Davies, he does admit in his introduction that he has "rather expanded the definition of the word 'letter'". This still does not quite prepare the reader for gems such as "Degs, No Fucking George, Yer Cunt, Jack" (letter 238: Memo to Derek) or "Fred, Lights in kitchen (bulbs), Honey Candy, Kitchen Air Con is 'On Heat' (Something Wrong), Cabbage, Grape-oil (ask where), Onions, Peas (NB the Korean Shop Shells Them!), Sesame Oil, Tomatoes, Berries, Yoghurt, Hamburger Meat (for the cat!)" (letter 255: Domestic list for Fred). The Post-It Notes of John Lennon, anyone? I like mundane reality you could say it's my specialist subject but there's no getting away from the fact that the second of those two examples is a shopping list. Are we really so bereft of new ideas that we now wish to study the equivalent of someone's Ocado profile?
A clue may lie in the sources that Davies has used for this book: in the main the letters came not from their original recipients, but from private collectors who had acquired them at auction. In the years since they were written, these communications have turned from scraps of paper into banknotes. They are valuable objects. Hence each is represented by a photo of it accompanied by a transcription of its contents. The photo of the artefact is just as important as what it actually says (maybe more so). The photo is saying: "Look at this this piece of paper is worth thousands of pounds! A famous person once touched it!" And perhaps that message is more important than the wording of the letter itself. It's a book of religious relics rather than some form of autobiography. Or maybe it's just a posh version of a Sotheby's catalogue.
Am I being too harsh? Let me get one thing straight: I love the Beatles. I haven't named any kids after them but I still really love them. They were the first group that I was ever properly aware of. In my early teens I would sometimes stay in and listen to the radio all day in the hope that I would catch a song by them that I'd never heard before and be able to tape it on my radio-cassette player. When I bought a new turntable last week, I took along my copy of Abbey Road to do a listening test. It was essential to me that that record would sound good on whatever I bought. But the whole point of the Beatles is that they were ordinary. Four working-class boys from Liverpool who showed that not only could they create art that stood comparison with that produced by "the establishment" they could create art that pissed all over it. From the ranks of the supposedly uncouth, unwashed barbarians came the greatest creative force of the 20th century. It wasn't meant to be that way. It wasn't officially sanctioned. But it happened and that gave countless others from similar backgrounds the nerve to try it themselves. Their effect on music and society at large is incalculable. I am so the target-audience for this book that it hurts but something feels wrong.
Britpop (I can scarcely believe that I typed that word of my own free will) perhaps comes in useful for once at this point. People of my generation felt this obscure pang this feeling that we'd somehow missed out on something amazing. So we tried to make it happen again but exactly the same. You cannot do a karaoke version of a social revolution (good fun trying though). What changed in the interim? Why was Br**pop doomed to failure? Too many factors to go into here, but one was: too much information. Too much reverence. Wearing the same clothes and taking the same drugs will not make us into Beatles. It will make us fat and ill. And books like this (along with many others, I admit) are what make that mistake possible. The Beatles didn't know they were the Beatles. The Beatles didn't have a plan or a blueprint to follow. They followed their impulses and vague hunches and somehow left a legacy of 213 songs with scarcely a dud among them. That's all the information you need, really. But now that relatively modest body of work has been overshadowed by all the "previously unseen" and "the making-of" nonsense that becomes necessary if you want to flog people the same thing year after year.
We elevate people to the status of heroes in order to let ourselves off the hook: "I'm just a mere mortal I could never even dream of doing something like that." Lennon himself always seemed at pains to deflate any such high opinions of himself: what he would make of this book, I can only guess. The letters show an ordinary human being doing ordinary things: writing lists, sending postcards, enquiring after relatives. Why is that interesting? Because that person has now achieved demigod status. Is that a good thing? I dunno good singer, though. Pretty good songwriter too, as it goes
You, Hunter Davies, are just doing your job. I read it from cover to cover and will probably give it as a Christmas present. We, the children of the echo, should get a life. We, the children of the echo, should know better. Time to move on. Imagine that.
Jarvis Cocker's Mother, Brother, Lover: Selected Lyrics is published by Faber.


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Might anyone here recognize what this message says exactly? If you do, can you translate it for me? I get the impression that the person who typed this message on my item page is mocking me. But that's a hunch for now.
Here's the message:
Sat?n alacakt?m ama örnekde inceledim contact form çal??m?yor e?er al?rsam çal???r m? sa?lam olarak?
Sounds like turkish language… but the special characters are not shown.. Using google translate the only logical sentence was "working contact form, but with examples?"
Hi Aw_Shucks..
The message says…:
"I was about to buy it but the contact form doesn't work on the preview , will it work from my server if I buy it..?"
I hope this helps
Ah. It helps very much in fact. Thank you, Bedros. And I know now that I was not being mocked. Its just that sentence didn't translate well when I tried a few different translators. Thanks, I appreciate it.


text:
DETROIT (WKZO) -- The proposed 85-million dollar agreement reached between the City of Detroit and two banks has not been finalized.
The loan to pay off a pension debt deal with UBS and Bank of America was reportedly agreed upon weeks ago. However, an attorney for the City of Detroit told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Rhodes a final agreement has not been drafted only a "term sheet."
Rhodes was not happy about the news but was assured a final agreement is close. The judge earlier rejected to other proposals to pay off the debt.


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If you are a Persephone reader this might be your most ideal room ever:
the bed with its quilt, the table, the view, the lampshades, the sense of beauty and order, the flowers. Oh it's perfection. And since it's by Mary Elwell, this painting (called Bedroom, Bar House, Beverley 1935) which is where she lived, so perhaps it is her bedroom, has revived our longing to go to Beverley and see all the Elwells in the Art Gallery. Indeed, maybe we should have a Persephone event there. We must do some research…
Although the holidays are alas well and truly over, the weather in London has been warm and sunny, the geraniums are blooming away colourfully outside the shop and there is a feeling of anticipation and new beginnings in the air – well, maybe that's imaginary, but certainly life at Persephone never stands still. We are about to start trying to turn the new Classic edition of The Home-Maker into Stoner ie. a bestseller, the new Biannually goes to the printer in three weeks (can that be true…) and then in October we publish the three Autumn books: another Dorothy Whipple novel, a novel about the aftershock of the First World War, and a cookery book with illustrations by Eric Ravilious.
Does anyone remember us raving about Daisy Boulton when she was in the RC Sherriff play The White Carnation? Well, now she is in Shakespeare in Love and we do urge you to go and see it (though the tickets are horribly expensive: you could buy six Persephone books for the same price!) Also there are another few days to watch the excellent The Great War: The People's Story on ITV in which the suffragette and actress Kate Parry Frye (whose diary has been edited and published by Elizabeth Crawford, we sell it in the shop) is played by Romola Garai..
Kendra Wilson wrote a piece in the new Vogue about Bloomsbury: 'Bloomsbury is back. Did it ever go away? Some of us have always lived by the values of Bloomsbury and talk of it in the present tense: a Bloomsbury person is an artist, writer or maker. A child of Bloomsbury is unlikely to become an accountant,' Do we hear the words Wilcox and Schlegel (Howards End) echoing in the air – because of course the 'creatives' depend on the accountants even if they like to pretend differently. We often talk about this with girls who come to us for work experience: that when they leave university they are going to have to decide whether to do the 'milk round' (interviews) in order to become a lawyer, a civil servant – or an accountant – or hope to get work experience and then a job in something arty and go the Margaret Schlegel route. (We assume they do not want to become doctors or teachers etc. etc. or they would not be spending a week with us.) But if they choose something arty then they will never be able to buy Vogue, let alone the clothes in Vogue. But as the article says: 'A wooden ladle is even lovelier with the knowledge that it has been turned by a forester in East Sussex, using a horse-powered lather.' So the solution is to become the forester.
All this is on our minds because next week we are interviewing to try and find two interns, one for October and one for November. The idea is that a week or a month in the shop gives the young a good insight into where they want to go from there (indeed whether to go the Wilcox or Schlegel route), while we have an extra pair of hands to call on; the downside for us is that we have to think about keeping them occupied since there are so many things newbies can't do, for example, it takes days to learn the intricacies of the data base, and you can't just pick up the phone robotically to talk to a Persephone customer, you have to know the books and be able to enthuse about them. However, the dozens of interns who have come to us over the years have, we think, enjoyed themselves and learnt a lot in the process. (Because it's so hard to assess from a brief interview if someone would like it at Persephone, in preparation we have been looking at companies like this one http://www.internwise.co.uk/about/ and this (which place interns); the most important bit of advice on what and what not to do seems to be that it's all in the first 30 seconds. Gosh.
There was a excellent leader in the Guardian about public libraries saying that Norway's vision (they are incredibly enlightened about libraries in Norway) 'as an essential part of a functioning literate nation was lost here before we realised it was gone.' But to reverse things 'would require a government committed to a vision of human flourishing that was wider and deeper than the hellish paradise of a global shopping mall'. Hear hear.
Do read this: Jane Martinson's 10 lessons I've learned from being Guardian women's editor. Every 'lesson' is thought-provoking. There was an obituary in the Telegraph of Marjorie Seldon, the daughter of Wilfred Willets, the real-life Wilfred in Wilfred and Eileen. This is what it said: Born Audrey Marjorie Willett on October 15 1919, she had a difficult upbringing in the shadow of the First World War. Her father, Wilfred , had been shot in the head at Ypres in December 1914 while tending to one of his men in no-man's-land, cutting short a promising career as a doctor. His life was saved when his young wife, Eileen, travelled by special permit to the base hospital in France to bring him back to England after the doctors had given up on him — a story retold by Jonathan Smith in his novel Wilfred and Eileen. The experience of growing up with a melancholic and incapacitated father affected Marjorie profoundly. Wilfred sought solace in Communism, driving a wedge between him and his close friend Henry Williamson, author of Tarka the Otter, who moved sharply to the Right.'
Finally, we need your help. In 1880 a photograph was taken of students at Newnham College, Cambridge.
On the right at the front is a young woman who is labeled (on the back of the photo) 'Louisa Plant'. But surely it is Amy Levy? Does anyone have a view? Or does anyone know someone whose ancestor was Louisa Plant (she died young and in mysterious circumstances) who could prove that this is not Louisa?
Nicola Beauman
59 Lambs Conduit Street


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Sources for Study of Black Soldiers in the Rhineland in the Weimar Republic
Marion Deshmukh
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
(703) 993-2149
e: firstname.lastname@example.com
Submitted by: Michael Kater (email@example.com)
The best article I know on the subject is by Sally Marks, "Black Watch on the Rhine: A Study in Propaganda, Prejudice and Prurience," European Studies Review 13 (1983), 297-334. George L. Mosse has written on several aspects of this issue in various of his publications, but I do not know of a full-scale monograph on this very important topic. I have a little bit on this in my Different Drummers book, as far as popular culture was concerned. In Germany, Reiner Pommerin has written about it from a medical-eugenic point of view in his book, "STERILISIERUNG DER RHEINLANDBASTARDE": DAS SCHICKSAL EINER FARBIGEN DEUTSCHEN MINDERHEIT," 1918-1937, Düsseldorf: Droste, 1979. More literature there and in Marks.
Michael H. Kater
York University
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Submitted by: Raffael Scheck (firstname.lastname@example.com)
The German government, supported by most Reichstag parties, filed a complaint with the League of Nations in reaction to some cases of rape and murder by France's African occupation troops. I do not know why Alain Locke as an American citizen wrote this report, but the United States probably were interested in the allegations because American troops occupied a neighboring Rhineland zone. The German charges were exaggerated and blind to the fact that the Africans behaved better than the soldiers from France.
I think the most useful source for your friend is an article by Gisela Lebzelter: "Die 'Schwarze Schmach': Vorurteile - Propaganda - Mythos." In Geschichte und Gesellschaft 11 (1 1985): 37-58.
To find about about the French rationale for employing colonial troops in Germany I recommend Marc Michel, "Colonisation et défense nationale. Le Général Mangin et la force noire." In Guerres mondiales et conflits contemporains 37 (145 1987): 27-44.
Easy to read with a dictionary is Th. J. Hooning, "De 'Zwarte Smaad' en zijn gevolgen." Spiegel Historiael 17 (1 1982): 8-12. Rainer Pommerin published a book on the sterilization of mixed-race children from the Rhineland (Sterilisierung der Rheinlandbastarde. Das Schicksal einer farbigen Minderheit 1918-1937. Duesseldorf: 1979.).
Raffael Scheck, Colby College
Submitted by: Michael Kater (email@example.com)
A poststcript to my earlier note, in view of Raffael Scheck's recent posting: "African" soldiers stationed in the Rhineland area by the French would have meant Senegalese (who, if I recall corerectly, according to some treaty clauses, were not supposed to be there). In fact, the proportion of "black" soldiers among the occupying French was very small, many of those actually not being Senegalese at all, but darkish Arabs from Morocco, etc. A considerable percentage was from French-ruled Indochina, which would have made them look more like the Chinese. It was a point purposely ignored by Nazi propagandists, who, like Hitler in his speeches of the time, acted as if they were all Blacks from Africa bent on raping German girls and women. Just another ploy by the Nazis to gain power.
Michael H. Kater
York University
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Submitted by: Gerhard Weinberg (email@example.com)
There is a book by Reiner Pommerin and there was an article by Sally Marks in the Journal of Modern History or the Journal of Contemporary History, both with lots of notes to the very extensive literature on this subject.
Gerhard Weinberg
Submitted by: Gerald R. Kleinfeld (firstname.lastname@example.com)
There is also an article on black soldiers in the Rhineland in the GERMAN
STUDIES REVIEW in 1978.
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Hosting Happy Holidays: Simpler Ways to Entertain the Masses
Happy and Relaxed Holidays
As you dress your home in twinkling lights, and package gifts with color-coordinated gift wrap, are you also planning a menu and sending invitations to friends and family? Whether you're looking forward to hosting the holidays—or are just the next name on the family roster—learn some important tips for creating the happiest (and most relaxed!) of holiday get-togethers (no matter what the holiday!).
Preparation Tips
As hard as it may be to believe while trying to master the art of souffle, with a bit of forethought it is possible to successfully host without feeling as though you need a holiday to recover from your holiday. These tips for advance preparation can go a long way during the celebration season.
Pre-Plan the Menu: When putting together your menu, instead of choosing myriad recipes, which may need to be concocted and cooked two hours prior to hitting the table, choose at least a few dishes to make ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze until needed. Also, be sure to consider the cooking time and temperature requirement of each of your dishes; you don't want to plan a menu with four dishes needing to be baked concurrently—or all at once—at varying degrees.
Create a Checklist: Devise a to-do list for up to one month ahead of your gathering's date. This checklist should include tasks that can be completed in advance such as pressing linens, making place cards, or organizing decorations. If you stagger your tasks, you won't be stuck doing it all at the last minute, which would leave you far too exhausted to enjoy the get together. Be sure to add to your schedule any food preparation that can be done a few days prior as well. Many recipes—particularly desserts—can be made and stored in the refrigerator for a week or more. Making them ahead of time will leave you with less to conquer on party day.
Multi-task: This is really the key word for the holiday season. Do it as much as possible—even if it means utilizing a bit of outside help. The holidays are a great time to make use of a local food service. This way, while you're trying to dig the tree skirt out of a black hole in the attic, someone else is picking out the perfect box of clementines. While you may pay a little more overall for the convenience, do not forget that your time and sanity have value as well.
Enlist Outside Help: Consider hiring a cleaning service to come the day before the gathering. Task them with the chores you least enjoy: sanitizing bathrooms, dusting, and/or scrubbing hardwood floors. Warning: Be sure to schedule this service well in advance—chances are many busy moms will have the same idea.
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The "Bigfoot" Pro 1-V Bass Drum Pedal is an advanced design pedal, designed by drummers, that is sure to satisfy the individual needs of any drummer under any playing conditions!
Please note: The BIGFOOT only differs from the standard Pro1-V in that it has one solid 13 inch footboard hinged at the end rather than having a heel block. The BIGFOOT design is also called a "longboard", "heel-less" or "solid footboard". For most people this is not a requirement for a style or technique but is, in fact, just personal preference.
TRICK Percussion states about the Pro 1-V bass drum pedal that "When we began designing the Pro 1-V we wanted to build a pedal unlike anything ever made, with never-before-seen features that are truly useful to today's drummers. Even for Trick, where innovation is the norm, the result of that design process was nothing short of revolutionary. To begin with, the Pro 1-V isn't comprised of cast metal parts assembled with screws, hinges, and springs that can be found in any hardware store. It's a high-tech combination of precision-machined components created on the latest state-of-the-art CNC equipment. "
But as advanced as it is, the Pro 1-V wasn't designed by engineers. It was designed by drummers, with an eye toward serving other drummers better than any pedal has ever done before. The result is a pedal that is so responsive, so smooth, and so infinitely adjustable that it's sure to satisfy the individual needs of any drummer under any playing conditions.
Unique (and revolutionary!) features of the Pro 1-V BIGFOOT Bass Drum Pedal include:
• Compression Spring Technology - Virtually every pedal on the planet uses an expansion spring that stretches when the footboard is depressed. When that spring "snaps back," it brings the beater back from the bass drum head. The problem with this design is that springs like these can stretch out over time, reducing the pedal's response and speed. They can also break at the most inopportune times. The Pro 1-V features an internally housed compression spring which has the ability to cycle faster and utilize energy more efficiently than expansion springs can. With the Pro 1-V's compression spring and profiled cam follower (another industry first), you will feel less spring-tension build-up as the beater approaches the head. This is just one of the reasons why the Pro 1-V feels smoother, faster, and more responsive than any other pedal ever made.
• Player-Friendly On-The-Fly Adjustment - Adjusting the spring tension on most bass drum pedals is an imprecise and inconvenient process of either removing the pedal from the drum, or getting down on one's hands and knees to fiddle with nuts and knobs. The Pro 1-V's spring tension is easily adjustable by means of a knurled dial conveniently located on the upper portion of the main housing. And by "convenient," we mean that the dial can be comfortably reached and adjusted while you're playing, allowing you to literally "dial in" the perfect tension setting. This innovative feature is so original, it's patented!
• Independent Split-Cam System - The Pro 1-V's adjustment capabilities aren't restricted to its spring tension. The pedal also features a fully independent split cam that lets you infinitely adjust the beater position independently from the drive cam angle, with a 360-degree range of smooth yet solid settings. The attitude and attack of the pedal can thus be changed in seconds (and a printed memory gauge helps you lock in your setting). This system also allows for immediate conversion of the Pro 1-V into an upward-striking cocktail-kit pedal, or into a trigger pedal for electronic percussion systems.
• Stroke Adjustment Cluster - This patented three-position cluster is an integral part of the sophisticated geometry at work on the Pro 1-V. It provides separate adjustments for the footboard angle as well as the pedal's action, throw, and overall feel.
• Heavy-Duty Baseplate - And when we say "heavy-duty," we mean it. The Pro 1-V baseplate is machined from solid billet aluminum. Though light in weight, it's much stronger than the thin stamped-metal plates found on many petals. With a tensile strength certified to withstand over 12,000 pounds per square inch, this baseplate provides a sturdy foundation for the other high-tech components of the Pro 1-V.
• Hi-Tech Footboard - How can a footboard be "high-tech?" It starts by being milled from solid billet aluminum that is fracture-tested to 12,000 PSI. Then the footboard is attached to the heel plate using a pressed-fit, hardened solid-steel pin. Attaching the two components this way is much sturdier and more reliable than using a hinge, with fewer moving parts that could break down over time.
• Universally Adjustable Beaters - Far beyond the traditional felt or composite beaters, the TRICK patented Pro 1-V beaters can quickly and easily be moved to any height along their titanium shafts, using only a standard drum key. Once there, the angle of the beater can also be adjusted to maximize the amount of surface area striking the drumhead and producing the fullest possible sound. Hard and soft change-out surface options are included with the beaters (which are also sold separately).
• Slide-Trac/Rapid Release Hoop Clamp - No pedal is ideal if it can't be put on a bass drum easily and if it doesn't stay there securely while being played. The multi-purpose Slide-Trac Rapid Release Hoop Clamp lets you simply press down on a spring-loaded lever, slide the pedal onto the bass drum hoop, and release. No more fumbling with wing nuts or drumkey bolts. When it's time to pack up, simply squeeze down on the lever to disengage the clamp, remove the pedal, and hit the road! But don't think a lever-action clamp lacks security on the hoop. That's where the Slide-Trac feature comes in. It's designed to fit snugly and perfectly on any brand of bass drum hoop, regardless of width or thickness. Its patented design includes three memory set-screws that permit you to pre-set the clamp to fit your hoop size and the distance from the head, for fast set-up and tear down time after time.
Put all of these features together and you have an amazing bass drum pedal!
Get your TRICK "Bigfoot" Pro 1-V Bass Drum Pedal from Sam Ash Direct today, with fast, free shipping at the guaranteed lowest price. Sam Ash Direct gives you the security of more than 86 years of experience, 24/7 customer support and the Sam Ash Direct 45 day return and 60 day price protection policy. You cannot go wrong!
|Pro 1-V
|Other Features
|Solid, heel-less footboard