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Strangers by Yamada – Japanese Literature Challenge
Strangers by Yamada (1987) French title: Présences d'un été. Translated by Annick Laurent
I read Strangers by Yamada in January for Japanese Literature Challenge. I'm lucky that Meredith extended the reading time up to March. My late billet is still in. Phew!
Strangers is set in Tokyo, during a summer in the 1980s. Harada, a rather famous TV scriptwriter, is forty-seven, recently divorced and has moved into an apartment in an office complex. The building empties at night and he thinks he's the only one actually living in this tower. He's estranged from his grownup son, his parents are dead and he doesn't have many friends. In other words, he's lonely.
Two things happen during that summer. First, he meets Kei, an accountant who lives in the building too. He thought he was alone there after working hours but he's not, he has a neighbor. They soon get acquainted and start an affair.
Then, feeling a bit off-kilter after his divorce, struggling a little to adapt to his newfound singlehood, Harada decides to go back to Asakusa, the Tokyo neighborhood he grew up in. He wants to see his childhood house again. When he arrives there, he meets with the new tenants, who look a lot like his long dead parents and welcome him into their home.
How will Harada's relationship with Kei evolve? Who are the people who live in his childhood home? Harada is a middle-aged man who has to reassess his life after his divorce. His career is successful but not totally fulfilling. His marriage fell apart and he has no contact with his son. He feels adrift and tries to go back to his roots and to find comfort in Kei. I enjoyed the novel's nostalgic tone and the blanket of melancholy that settles on Harada's shoulders. He wants to go back to a happy place and looks for it in his childhood memories. But how destructive is it?
Telling more would spoil the novel for potential readers, so I won't go further in its description. I'll just say that the ending was a surprise and that it's not the kind of books I usually read but I liked it anyway. Yamada describes Tokyo with fondness and the city becomes an important part of this atmospheric story. Harada's visits to Asakusa, the descriptions of the area, its shops and restaurants give a good vision of the neighborhood, a foot in the past, and a foot in the present. And the story progresses towards a strange ending.
Highly recommended.
The Weight of Secrets by Aki Shimazaki – Lovely
The Weight of Secrets by Aki Shimazaki (1999-2004) Original French title: Le poids des secrets.
Aki Shimazaki was born in 1961 in Japan. She emigrated to Canada in 1981, first living in Vancouver and Toronto before moving to Montreal in 1991. In 1995, she started to learn French and in 1999, she published her first novella. In French, her third language. I'm in awe.
The Weight of Secrets is her debut series and the original title is Le poids des secrets. It is a five-petal flower book. Each novella is a petal and the reader is like a little bee, going from one petal to the other, seeing part of the flower from a character's point of view at different periods in time. After visiting the five petals, the reader has a global view of the history of two families who seem to live parallel lives but actually have open and hidden interconnections. It is the shared destinies of a woman, Yukiko and Yukio, born in Tokyo in the early 1930s and both living in Nagasaki in 1945 and survivors of the atomic bombing.
Each volume has a Japanese title, a name of flower or of an animal symbolic of this specific view on the story.
The first book is Tsubaki, (camélias/camellias), a flower symbolic of happy times for Yukio and Yukiko.
The second book is Hamaguri, a shellfish with a shell in two halves. It is a children's game to have a bag of shells and try to find the exact other half to one shell. It is a symbol of a key person missing in the characters' lives.
The third book is Tsubame (hirondelle/swallow). It is the nickname of a Catholic priest who plays a capital part in the story. He's a swallow as he's always dressed in a black-and-white cloth. In French we say that one swallow doesn't bring back Spring but this man does, he brings life and hope after hard times.
The fourth book is Wasurenagusa (myosotis/forget-me-not). It belongs to Yukio's father who was in Manchuria during WWII and separated from his family.
The fifth book is Hotaru (lucioles/fireflies), a way to symbolize dangerous attractions.
I'm aware that you still have no clue about the story. The truth is, I don't want to give details about the characters. All you need to know is that it's set in Japan, that it involves characters crushed by historical events like the 1923 earthquake in Tokyo and the subsequent massacre of Korean immigrants or the 1945 atomic bombing in Nagasaki. It is about racism against the Korean community and about the Japanese definition of what is proper or not. It tells the impact of customs on individual lives when they cannot meet society's expectations. It's the story of two beings who had a special bond, one they didn't get to explore because their parents kept too many secrets and how they missed out. It's the stories of two adults who healed each other and had a good life together, despite their own secrets and failures.
We go back and forth in time, we change of narrators and we unravel each character's reasons to keep something or some part of themselves hidden. We only see people who do as best they can given the circumstances they are in. From one book to the other, we get a clearer picture of the characters' lives and how some of the secrets get revealed to the next generation and how some die with the person. Each character has something they don't know about their origins.
It's written in a simple and lovely language and I wanted to know more after each volume. My favorite volumes were Tsubame and Wasurenagusa. I absolutely loved this series and I highly recommend it. If you pick it up, do not read the blurbs of the books, there are way too many spoilers in them and you want to keep the magic intact.
I don't know if it's a Japanese or a Canadian book. I've seen it in the Japanese section of my bookstore. I certainly thought it was Japanese until I wondered who was the translator, discovered there was none and started to research Aki Shimazaki. It's difficult to qualify it. Its language is French but certainly not the French from Québec. Shimazaki's native language probably left some marks in her way to think and write in French. It's a Japanese book for its setting, its characters, its themes and its background culture. So, I don't know, I'll let you make your own mind about it but I feel privileged. I got to read a Japanese book in my native language.
Now the sad news and the ranting part. Sadly, it's a Translation Tragedy. It's published in Québec, it was a great success in the francophone world and it's easy to read. And yet, it's not available in English. Is there not an anglophone Canadian publisher to translate it into English? Like for Bonheur d'occasion by Gabrielle Roy, I really don't understand how it's possible that such books are not available in the country's two official languages.
Good thing for readers who speak French, it's a perfect way to practice reading in French. The books are short, the style is simple (short sentences, no very complicated words) and the story gripping.
I Am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki
I Am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki (1905) French title: Je suis un chat. Translated by Jean Cholley.
Disclaimer: I read I Am a Cat in French and will use the French transcription of Japanese names. It may be different from the one in English translation. I translated the quotes from the French and let the original French for readers who can read it and enjoy the professional translation from the Japanese.
|L'étude des humains ne peut progresser si on ne choisit pas un moment où ils ont des ennuis. A l'ordinaire, les hommes sont justes des hommes : ils présentent un spectacle banal et sans intérêt. Mais quand ils ont des ennuis, toute cette banalité fermente et se soulève par la grâce de quelque fonction mystérieuse, et on voit alors se produire soudainement un peu partout des événements étranges, bizarres, insolites, inimaginables, en un mot des choses qui sont d'un grand intérêt pour nous, les chats.
|The study of human nature cannot progress if one doesn't choose moments where men are in trouble. Usually, men are just men. They play a trite and uninteresting show. But when they're in trouble, all this triteness ferments and lifts itself by some sort of mysterious feature. One can suddenly witness all kinds of strange, bizarre and unbelievable things. And these things are of great interest for us, cats.
Natsume Sōseki (1867-1916) is a Japanese writer. He spent three years in England, spoke English very well and had a good knowledge of British literature. He was a teacher of English literature in Tokyo. He lived during the Meiji era (1868-1912). At the time, Japan stopped being an isolated country and opened to the world. It resulted in a lot of changes in politics, in economy, in mores and touched the whole society. It was a major change and it is important to have it in mind while reading Natsume Sōseki.
In I Am a Cat, the narrator is an unnamed feline and it is a first-person narration. This device reminded me of Lettres persanes by Montesquieu who used Persans characters to question the French society. They wrote letters to each other and could wonder at customs, point out ridicules and inconsistences without being offensive. They had the right to be puzzled, they were foreigners. The same thing happens here with the cat. He portrays his master and his family and friends and relates the life in this house in a neighborhood in Tokyo. Natsume Sōseki gives a vivid description of a cat's mind. Our furry narrator explains how he shows affection to his master to be fed and how he enjoys walks in the garden, naps in the sun. He relates the sensitive politics between the cat population of the quartier. There's a hilarious passage where he retells his first attempt at catching mice. As a reader, you really feel like you're looking at life through cat's eyes. He has a smart mouth and doesn't refrain from using it to mock humans like here:
|Un miroir est un alambic à vanité et en même temps un stérilisateur d'orgueil. Aucun objet n'excite plus un imbécile qui se tient devant lui avec la tête pleine de suffisance. Les deux bons tiers des malheurs qui restent dans l'histoire, malheurs soufferts par des orgueilleux qui se sont trop vite crus supérieurs, et malheurs infligés à leurs victimes, sont dus aux miroirs.
|A mirror is a vanity still and at the same time a pride sterilizer. No other object gets an imbecile as worked up just by standing in front of it, their head full of self-importance. A solid two-thirds of the tragedies that remained in history are due to mirrors, both the tragedies suffered by proud people who thought themselves as superior and the tragedies inflicted to their victims.
There are a lot of other examples. In addition to ironic thoughts about humans, the cat-narrator tends to think out of the box, as you can see here:
|On peut croire qu'il y a une grande différence entre tomber et descendre mais elle n'est pas aussi importante qu'on le pense. Descendre, c'est ralentir une chute, et tomber, c'est accélérer une descente, voilà tout.
|One may think there is a big difference between falling and going down but it's not as obvious as one thinks. Going down is slowing down a fall and falling down is accelerating a go down, that's all.
That was for the atmosphere. Time to describe a bit more the household that took on this kitten.
Our little friend lives in Professor Kushami's house. He's married and has three daughters, all under 10 years old. His house is where his friends Meitei and Kagetsu gather. They talk about all and nothing. According to the cat, Kushami is rather ridiculous. He's not a very good husband and he doesn't care much about his daughters. He's surrounded with books and seems to be barely average as a teacher. I Am a Cat is a comedy of manners, it could be a theatre play because everything is centered in the house. Kushami probably shares traits with Natsume Sōseki. Like Kushami, he was an English teacher and had chronic stomach aches—he died of stomach ulcer. It is true that there are a lot of laughable things about Kushami. But he's also someone who doesn't gamble, cheat on his wife or bends to the will of others. He's not interested in money and would rather cling to his principles and his dignity than give in to powerful and wealthy neighbors. I loved reading about the decoration of the house, the display of the rooms, the kitchen, the dishes, politeness and all kinds of details about life in Japan at the time. My edition included useful but noninvasive footnotes.
Kushami's woes with his wife, neighbors or friends are described in such a funny tone that I laughed a lot. Marriage is a target in I Am a Cat. The author and Kushami are not too fond of the institution which is more a necessary burden than a love match. And our cat observes:
|Ce couple a abandonné le caractère fastidieux des bonnes manières avant sa première année de mariage ; c'est un couple super-marié.
|This couple has abandoned all fussy good manners before their first year of marriage ended. They're a super-married couple.
Not exactly a glowing advertising for the institution. Natsume Sōseki uses comedy to amuse the reader but he still reflects on human nature. The cat-narrator compares humans and cats.
|Le monde est plein de gens qui agissent mal tout en se croyant dans leur bon droit. Ils sont convaincus de leur innocence, ce qui part d'une candeur plaisante mais la candeur n'a jamais supprimé une réalité gênante.
|The world is full of people who behave badly while believing they're in their good right. They are convinced of their innocence, which stems from a pleasant candidness but candidness has never made an embarrassing reality vanish.
Natsume Sōseki was born with the Meiji era and he observes the transformations of the Japanese society. I Am a Cat includes lots of thoughts about the rapid changes in the society. It impacts every area of life: relationships between men and women become less formal, Western ways of doing business become the norm. New hobbies appear. I knew that baseball was a popular sport in Japan and I thought it dated back to WWII and the occupation of Japan by American troops. Actually, Japanese people started to play baseball during the Meiji era. All things Western were fashionable and the prerequisite was "West is the best" and this bothered Natsume Sōseki. Even if he's open to Western culture, he criticizes the blind acceptance of Western ways.
|La civilisation occidentale est peut-être progressive, agressive, mais en fin de compte, c'est une civilisation faite par des gens qui passent leur vie dans l'insatisfaction. La civilisation japonaise ne cherche pas la satisfaction en changeant autre chose que l'homme lui-même. Là où elle diffère profondément de l'occidentale, c'est en ce qu'elle s'est développée sur la grande assertion qu'il ne faut pas changer fondamentalement les conditions de l'environnement. Si les relations entre parents et enfants ne sont pas les meilleures, notre civilisation ne tente pas de retrouver l'harmonie en changeant ces relations, comme le font les Européens. Elle tient que ces relations ne peuvent pas être altérées, et elle recherche un moyen pour restaurer la sérénité à l'intérieur de ces relations. Il en va de même entre mari et femme, maître et serviteur, guerrier et marchand, et également dans la nature. Si une montagne empêche d'aller dans le pays voisin, au lieu de raser cette montagne, on s'arrange pour ne pas avoir à aller dans ce pays. On cultive un sentiment qui puisse donner satisfaction de ne pas franchir la montagne. Et c'est pourquoi les adeptes du zen et du confucianisme sont certainement ceux qui comprennent le mieux cette question dans le fond. On peut être tout-puissant sans que le monde tourne comme on veut, on ne peut ni empêcher le soleil de se coucher, ni renverser le cours de la rivière Kamo. On n'a de pouvoir que sur son esprit.
|Western civilization may be progressive and aggressive but in the end, it's a civilization built by people who spend their life dissatisfied. Japanese civilization does not seek satisfaction other than by changing men themselves. The biggest difference with the Western civilization is that the Japanese civilization grew on the assertion that the environment cannot be changed. If the relationships between parents and children are not ideal, our civilization does not look for harmony in changing the relationships like Europeans do. It considers that these relationships cannot be altered and it searches for a way to restore serenity inside these relations. It is the same for relations between men and women, master and servant, warrior and merchant and even in nature. If a mountain prevents you from walking to the neighboring country, the Japanese will arrange not to have to go to this country. They will cultivate a state of mind that finds satisfaction in not getting over the mountain. This is why the adepts of Zen and Confucianism are probably the ones who understand this matter the best. One can be the most powerful person on Earth but the world still won't bend to their wishes. One cannot prevent the sun from setting, change the course of the River Kamo. One has only power over their own mind.
This quote is fascinating when you think it dates back to 1905. Not all the flaws of our Western civilization come from the landslide of consumer society. The roots were there before mass consumption and globalization. The part about the mountain reminded me of our visit to Bluff, Utah. The Mormons who founded this community used dynamite to carve their way through the mountain and arrive there. It's called the Hole in the Rock trail. It baffled Native Americans that humans could destroy nature like this. It would have baffled their Japanese contemporaries as well.
I Am a Cat is an excellent read because it is multilayered. It's funny, with an unusual narrator and under the lightness, there's a real purpose to decipher a rapidly changing society. I Am a Cat is the perfect example of why we should read translations. I know that the Japanese language is far from the French and a lot of wordplays were probably lost in translation. But I don't mind. It's good enough in French and style is not everything. I Am a Cat allowed me to learn about Japan and its culture. Reading familiar things about human nature reminds us that whatever the culture we have things in common.
Highly recommended.
Natsume Sōseki died on December 9th, 1916. It is a coincidence but this billet will be my way to celebrate the centenary of his death. Jacqui recently reviewed The Gate. The atmosphere seems different, more melancholic. Her excellent review is here. Many thanks to Tony who recommended this in the first place.
PS: A word for French readers. I have the paper edition of Je suis un chat and it's printed in a very small font. It's available in e-book so I would recommend that version.
Coffee and arsenic
Salvation of a Saint by Keigo Higashino (2008) French title: Un café maison.
I don't remember where I've discovered Keigo Higashino although I'm sure it's through a book blog. Anyway. This is my contribution to Tony's January in Japan and guess what, there's an article about Higashino just here.
Salvation of a Saint is a crime fiction novel set in Tokyo. It opens on a repudiation scene between Ayane and her husband Yoshitaka. They've been married for a year and since Avaye isn't pregnant yet, Yoshitaka is leaving her. He had told her beforehand that he would leave her if a baby wasn't on its way during the first year of their marriage. I guess it's a new way to envision the proverbial biological clock. Now he's found someone else, and that someone else is already pregnant. The chapter ends with Ayane thinking "I love you very deeply. What you just told me broke my heart. Now I want you to die too."
This happens just before they expect guests for diner. Classy guy, this Yoshitaka. They invited the Mashibas and Hiromi Wakayama, Ayane's employee. This diner is a subtle form of torture for Ayane since the Mashibas recently had a baby.
The morning after diner, Ayane leaves Tokyo for a few days to visit her family in Sapporo. This trip wasn't scheduled but it's understandable given the circumstances. Yoshitaka stays behind, sees his mistress and she'll be the one to find him dead in his apartment. He was poisoned by arsenic-laced coffee.
The police arrive on the scene and the inspector Kusanagi is in charge of the investigation. He's drawn to Ayane and in the eye of his young colleague Kaoru Utsumi, he's too quick to write her off from the list of suspects. She thinks he's blinded by his attraction to Ayane. To keep the investigation on track, she seeks the help of a scientist, Yukawa. He has already helped the police before and he's friend with Kusagani. Kaoru wants to figure out how the arsenic arrived in Yoshitaka's coffee and if Ayane could have poisoned her husband at distance.
That's all I'll say about the plot. Salvation of a Saint is well-crafted. I wanted to know if and how Ayane had killed her husband. The police dig into Yoshitaka's life and past relationships attempting to get to know the victim. The picture is not pretty. He looks down on women. They're either a means to sexual fun or a living oven for baking his future babies. It's hard to feel sorry for the guy's death, especially when you're a woman. In this book, Higashino doesn't give a good image of the Japanese society when it comes to women. Here they are wombs or obedient wives. Kaoru has a hard time working with Kusanagi who tends to dismiss her suggestions and analysis. It's hard to be female in this police department.
The plot has several twists and turns and the relationships between the characters are muddy sometimes. Yoshitaka is certainly not a saint but Ayane seemed quite creepy to me as well. Her reactions to events are off. She never reacts the way the reader expects and she appears to be cold. She's not really likeable either. I also rejoiced in Yukawa's participation to the investigation. It brought fresh air and a bit of craziness in the novel. The dynamics in the investigation team was interesting to follow just as it was fun to read about his scientific experiments to find out if and how Ayane could have scheduled the poisoning.
Salvation of a Saint is a classic crime fiction novel with strong plot and intriguing characters. I liked it a lot and had a great time reading it. The English title must reflect the original since I've seen the same one in other languages. I can understand why the French title is different: Le salut d'un saint isn't a good title from a marketing point of view. It's confusing since salut means hello and salvation. And I suspect that such a title with religious connotation would be a put off for French readers except if it's on a book by a pulp fiction writer or by San Antonio.
Great reading time.
You'll be on probation your entire life
On Parole by Akira Yoshimura 1988. French title: Liberté conditionnelle. Translated from the Japanese by Rose-Marie Makino-Fayolle.
I intended to read On Parole for Tony's January in Japan but I didn't finish it on time and February flew by and the billet is still to write. Oh, well, c'est la vie!
On Parole is my second book by Akira Yoshimura. I've already read La Jeune Fille suppliciée sur une étagère / Le Sourire de pierre which left me perplexed but certain to have met with a great writer, which On Parole confirms.
Shiro Kikutani has been in prison for fifteen years when he's released on parole. The novel starts with Kukutani's departure from prison. Kikutani has been released because of his good conduct but also thanks to Akiyama who is willing to hire him when he goes out. So, it is all set for Kikutani: he will work at Akiyama's chicken farm. During the first months, Kikytani is under the responsibility of Kiyoura, who runs a free home for ex-convicts. Kiyoura takes Kikutani under his wing to help him readapt to life outside of prison. They go shopping, they take the bus and the train and later he assists him with his search for an apartment. After Kikutani has left the ex-convict home for his own apartment, he's transferred from Kiyoura's care to Takebayashi's. Takebayashi is doing pro bono work as an ex-convict counsellor and Kikutani must visit him regularly at home. In French on parole is liberté conditionnelle or conditional freedom. We also use liberté surveillée for probation. Literally, it means freedom under surveillance. I think it reflects well Kikutani's position in life. His freedom is conditional: he must respect the rules of probation.
We are in Kikutani's mind and we discover what brought him to prison in the first place. He walked into his wife sleeping with someone else and he killed her on the spot, wounded her lover and killed the lover's mother by setting the house on fire. We follow Kikutani through his journey back to normal life. Except his life isn't normal. He's on parole for life as he has been sentenced to life imprisonment. He has to visit Takebayashi, can't leave Tokyo without his consent and must report regularly to the authorities. Kiyoura explains to him that since the longest sentence possible is twenty years of imprisonment, if he behaves properly for ten years, he can ask for grace and be totally free again. Although Kikutani is grateful to be out of prison, he also resents that his freedom is not full.
In the beginning, his everyday life is a struggle. Yoshimura describes well how even the smallest tasks are a challenge. For example, Kiyoura recommends that he chooses a low cost hairdresser because they work quicker and are less likely to engage him into small talk. And small talk and banal questions put Kikutani in a spot. Work at the chicken farm is tough but Kikutani holds on and get used to his new schedule and new environment. His body has to readapt to softer conditions: there is no central heating in prison and he's used to marching instead of walking. Life has changed outside and he's a bit frightened by crowds everywhere.
Kikutani is lonely. His brother avoids him, his parents are dead and he has lost his former friends. He can't go back to his home town. He used to be a teacher there and the scandal was too big for him to move back there. He stays alone with his thoughts and doesn't share anything too personal with Takebayashi either. We realise that he's been released but he hasn't atoned for his actions and he still doesn't regret killing his wife. He's sorry for the lover's mother but not for his reaction upon finding his wife in her lover's arms.
|Les longs mois qu'il avait passés en prison à lutter contre l'horrible souvenir et ruminer l'idée que son acte était inévitable avaient exacerbé ses sentiments. Le juge qui avait prononcé la sentence devait compter sur son incarcération pour qu'il regrette son geste, mais il ne regrettait rien, bien au contraire. Cependant, le temps avait adouci ses souvenirs en les estompant, de sorte qu'il ne s'énervait pratiquement plus jamais. C'était le seul soulagement qu'il lui était donné de ressentir, et il ne voulait pas remuer tout cela maintenant.
|The long months he has spent in prison, fighting against horrible memories and brooding over the idea that his deed had been inevitable had sharpened his feelings. The judge who had sentenced him probably expected that his being in prison would make him regret his bad actions, but he didn't regret anything, quite the opposite. However, time had soothed his memories by blurring them and now he hardly ever got angry anymore. It was the only relief he could experience and he didn't want to stir all this now.My translation from the French.Please don't judge Yoshimura's style upon this.
From society's point of view, it's a bit chilling. The system has him under surveillance but he never gets real counselling. He's on the loose and he's not reformed. Although I acknowledged his struggle, I never really empathised with him. There's something cold in this man and I felt apprehensive, wondering what kind of drama he was heading to. Through Kikutani's individual story, I also had the feeling that Yoshimura was criticising a system which seems to coach ex-convicts very well but doesn't in the end because it doesn't take their mental state of mind into consideration. They take practicalities into account and the fact that they are estranged from society but they assume that calm and hardworking means well-balanced.
Yoshimura's style is precise, not much adorned and leaves us with a good vision of Kikutani's routine and state-of-mind. The construction of the novel is excellent, from one chapter to the other, we discover Kikutani's past, his thoughts and the net of surveillance set by the Japanese State. We also see the tempest of emotions brewing under his calm composure and I was looking forward to know the ending. On Parole shows that the border between Noir and literary fiction is a thin one, at least for me. We have the same ingredients as in a Noir novel: a murder, a man in a struggling position, fighting against his past and trying to start anew. His wife proved to be his femme fatale. There's also a feeling of doom.
On Parole is a multi-facetted book and I can only recommend it.
My Father's Journal by Jirô Taniguchi
Le journal de mon père by Jirô Taniguchi. 1995 Not available in English, I think.
After reading Max's entry about a graphic novel, Richard Stark's Parker by Darwyn Cooke, I remembered that the Japanese graphic novel Le Journal de mon père had been sitting on my shelf for a few years. I decided to read it for January in Japan and let's say it right away, this is the Japanese book I enjoyed the most, apart from South of the Border, West of the Sun.
Yochan lives in Tokyo when his sister calls to tell him that their father is dead. She's still living in their home town Tottori. Yochan hasn't been back for 15 years and, pushed by his wife, he decides to attend the wake which takes place the night before the funeral. The whole family is there and he gets reacquainted with them. It's the opportunity for him to remember his childhood.
The family's life was changed after the great fire which destroyed half of Tottori in 1952. Two-third of the city had been touched by the fire, which made more than 21000 casualties. Yochan's father was a hairdresser and he lost his shop during the catastrophe. His wife's parents lend him money to start again but he doesn't like accepting a loan from them as they suspected that he married their daughter for her money. As a consequence, he starts working like a maniac to pay them back as soon as possible and this attitude will cost him his marriage. His wife meets someone else, follows her lover and leaves her children behind. For Yochan, this is the moment when he disconnected himself from his family. He resented his father for not keeping his wife, for separating him from his mom and he grew up with the idea of leaving his hometown. That's what he did. He left to study in Tôkyô and only came back once.
Taniguchi relates how Yochan slowly starts to understand his father and realizes that he never knew him, that he probably misjudged him and that he was beloved in his community. He also recreates the life in a Japanese town in the 1950s: the small shops and factories, the American soldiers and their food, the family businesses.
I really had a great time reading this graphic novel. It's 270 pages long. The pictures are all black and white and beautiful. Each chapter starts with a one page image and then the story is told in a succession of images with dialogues or descriptions like a voice over. The characters don't look Japanese, especially since they have Western eyes, like in mangas. The graphic form was a good medium to access Japanese culture. Things that are common and probably not described or explained in a novel are "given to see" in a manga. I looked at the clothes, the houses, the funeral, the city streets with interest. (Call me naïve if you want, but that's what I did) I found the clothes interesting: some characters wear traditional Japanese clothes when others like Yochan and his wife wear Western clothes. His sister is more traditional: pictures of her marriage, she's in traditional Japanese wedding gown. Picture of Yochan's wedding, his bride is in a Western dress.
Taniguchi conveys a lot of emotions in his drawings and the accompanying narration. He shows us Yochan's childhood memories, his feelings as an adult who hears things about his father that he never imagined.
This story is partly autobiographical. Taniguchi comes from Tottori and has also spent many years away from his hometowns, his family and friends before coming back after a childhood friend had contacted him. For me, this is totally incredible. The idea of living in the same country as my family, only distant by one hour by plane and not visiting for more than a decade is unimaginable. I would never never do that and my parents would never accept it. They would play the guilt card until I give in and come to visit, or send a plane ticket or I'd see them coming to me, unannounced to see how I am or where I live. Different culture, I suppose.
It's difficult to review a graphic novel, I hope I encouraged you to discover Taniguchi. As odd coincidences tend to multiply, there is an article about France and mangas in this week's Courrier International. (A weekly paper that publishes articles from foreign newspapers in a French translation) Originally published in The Asahi Shimbum, this article explains how mangas are widespread in France and how it became fashionable in the 1980s thanks to cartoons on TV. I don't know how it was in other countries but we watched A LOT of Japanese cartoons in France when I was little. It's true you have shelves of mangas in bookstores. I've never tried any, simply because I didn't know where to start but the article mentions several of them and I'm tempted to try. Unfortunately, I'm on a book buying ban. Sigh. This is so frustrating.
N*P by Banana Yoshimoto. 1990
I bought this book after reading a review about The Lake by Yoshimoto book at Tony's blog. N*P's blurb seemed appealing and I was trying to explore Japanese literature, so I thought, "Why not?"
|Ce que je savais de Tarao Sakase, cet auteur assez quelconque installé aux Etats-Unis, c'est qu'il avait, au cours d'une vie tout aussi quelconque, écrit un grand nombre de nouvelles.Qu'il s'était suicidé à l'âge de quarante-huit ans.Qu'il avait eu deux enfants avec une femme sont il s'était ensuite séparé.
Que ses nouvelles, réunies en un recueil, avaient connu un bref succès aux Etats-Unis.
Le titre de ce livre ? N*P
L'ouvrage se composait de quatre-vingt-dix-sept nouvelles.
|What I knew about Tarao Takase, this average writer settled in the USA, it's that he had, during his average life, written a lot of short-stories.That he committed suicide at 48.That he had two children with a woman whom he later divorced.
That his short-stories, gathered in a collection, had had a brief success in the USA.
The title of this collection? N*P
The book included ninety-seven short-stories.
(My akuyaku. It's Japanese lit, I have the right to use it)
Kazami is our narrator in this novel. When she was in high-school, she was in a relationship with Shôji, an older man and the translator of Sakase's ninety-eighth short-story. Shôji never completed the translation as he committed suicide. Kazami was at a party with Shôji when she first saw Otohiko and Saki, Sakase's children. She didn't speak to them, though.
Five years later, Kazami stumbles upon Otohiko in a Tôkyô street and they start a conversation. He remembers her and one thing leading to another, she befriends with him and his sister as well. Later she will meet Sui, Otohiko's lover and also step-sister. They have the same father and discovered it after they started their relationship. The plot gravitates around these three young people, Otohiko, Sui and Saki and their unbreakable linked created by their father and his 98th short-story. It's hard to describe this novel without giving too much away.
Kazami is like a means to make the story move forward and also a convenient narrator. She's involved too, in a way, through her love story with Shôji. The story is original but the abundance of weird coincidences is a bit too much for a contemporary novel. I enjoyed the description of Tôkyô in the summer, the way the atmosphere, the light, the weather penetrate the characters and influence their actions and their moods. They seem to be attuned to the outside world. Like in a Murakami novel, there's a bridge between Japan and the Western world: Takase used to live in the USA, Otohiko, Saki and Sui are just back from Boston, Kazami is a translator from English to Japanese, just like her mother and her former lover. The story is also a bit marked by Fate like a Greek tragedy, or perhaps it is only this fortuitous incest that reminded me of Oedipus. (Although here, it's between siblings)
I finished reading this book a couple of weeks ago and I struggle to remember it. Not good. Yoshimoto's style is erratic. Sometimes she's really good and sometimes, it's a bit laboured. I don't have quotes, which isn't a good sign for me. I liked it but not more.
So far I have a limited experience with Japanese literature and to be honest, I'm still waiting for the book that will make me swoon and want to run to the closest book store to buy it to all my friends. OK, I loved South Of the Border, West Of the Sun by Haruki Murakami but it's so westernised that it doesn't count. I enjoyed Kafka on the Shore, couldn't finish The Wind-up Bird Chronicles and didn't like Norwegian Wood. I remember nothing of the Kawataba I've read and I was horrified by the Fumio Niwa. I thought that Yoshimura was good but I missed too much of it because I don't know enough about Japanese culture. And as there are no introductions of any kind in French books, I don't make any progress in that field. So it's becoming quite frustrating. Truly I enjoyed the descriptions of nature and the quality of the style. They're all gifted writers but still, nothing got me past the clinical appraisal of the style. My emotions weren't involved. So now, after this mild encounter with Banana Yoshimoto, I'm thinking about reading the books I have on the shelf (I Am a Cat by Soseki, On Parole by Yoshimura and Strangers by Yamada.) and then giving up on Japanese literature.
This one is my first contribution to Tony's January in Japan.


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As the nation heads into a presidential election year, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and other Democrats in Pennsylvania will find themselves in the middle of a political maelstrom.
It could exceed 2016 when President Donald Trump became the first Republican to win the state since 1988.
Before that, there's still the matter of governing. That includes dealing with the aftermath of Trump's orders for a drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, and the Iranian shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet that killed 176 on board amid an Iranian attack on U.S. military bases in Iraq.
The governing also includes a Senate impeachment trial for the president and acting on his new trade deal with Canada and Mexico.
Each issue will likely influence the election.
On Friday, Casey, the third-term senator from Scranton, visited his hometown and Wilkes-Barre to meet with newly elected leaders, including Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti and Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown, and offered them his help. In between meetings, he sat down with The Times-Tribune to discuss issues facing the country.
At the time of the interview, U.S. and allied officials had claimed to have intelligence linking missiles fired by Iranian military forces to the downing of a Ukrainian jetliner. Iran later took responsibility for the incident, claiming it was unintentional and blaming human error.
When asked if he thought if heightened tensions between the United States and Iran contributed to the plane being shot down, Casey said he didn't have enough information to say.
In discussing the American drone strike that killed Soleimani, he said, "It's rather easy to point to taking out someone like that and the harm that he (Soleimani) caused. But I hope the president also considered not just the upside of doing it but what were the downsides. What impact does it have on the security of the region? What impact does it have on our national security?"
The following is a transcript of the rest of the interview, edited for length and conciseness.
Q: You commended the president's decision to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement
in 2017.
You weren't sure about the renegotiated deal that came out. There's now a deal that (Democrats) worked on. How do you feel about that?
CASEY: I commended him for initiating the negotiations. I've been very critical of what they produced. They produced a renegotiation which was a corporate, only-a-right-wing-Republican-could-love kind of agreement. ... Because of good Democratic work ... you had a totally different agreement that I believe I can support. ... Because of those labor provisions, enforcement provisions, environmental provisions, we can begin to say that we're moving in the direction of leveling the playing field so that our workers and our companies aren't undermined in these trade deals.
Q: We now have specific articles of impeachment. Where do you stand on these specific articles?
CASEY: I've got to consider the evidentiary record the House developed. ... So I've been through a lot of that already, I still have more work to do on it and then to consider other evidence that might be part of a trial, meaning any witnesses. ... Is it a really radical position to say a trial has witnesses? The (President Bill) Clinton (impeachment) trial had three witnesses in a much less complicated fact pattern. It didn't involve national security data, it didn't involve appropriations, it didn't involve pressuring a foreign government.
Q: There's a recent federal appeals court ruling (declaring) the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act (unconstitutional). What does that mean for the future of the law?
CASEY: I think one piece of good news here is we have an election for president coming up and for Congress and that will focus the attention of the American people again on health care. And my party better do a good job of focusing the attention of the American people on health care. ... It's fine to have a debate about some other new ideas, but our first priority has to be focusing on what I see as the three existential threats to health care. Number one is this lawsuit (on the mandate). ... Number two is the sabotage (of the Affordable Care Act) this administration has engaged in from literally day one. ... The third threat to health care (is)
the proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, proposed by the administration and supported by every Republican in Congress. ... $2.3 trillion in cuts. ... which means that hospitals in Lackawanna County and a lot of counties will close if they cut it by that much ... lose health care and lots of people will lose jobs. Remember, 1.1 million Pennsylvanians got health care because of this legislation. ... It's the official position of the Republican Party to eliminate Medicaid expansion. ... It's the official position of the Republican Party to support this lawsuit. It's the official position of the Republican Party to support the sabotage.
Q: The economy is, by I think most measures, in good shape. In fact, there was a Bureau of Labor Statistics report that said lower wage earners saw their wages rise faster than wealthier wage earners for the first time ever. Doesn't this make a really good argument for (President) Donald Trump and why would anyone vote against
(him) if the economy is going so well?
CASEY: Well, if you look at it, there's not much wage growth when you factor in costs. There's a difference between wage growth and real wage growth. Ask a lot of families, has the cost of childcare come down in the last couple of years? I don't think so. Has the cost of prescription drugs come down in the last couple of years? I don't think so. ... I thought the president was going to come and get rid of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and he was going to invent something that would be a lot better. And costs would go down, your coverage would be great, nobody would lose coverage. That was a lot of fiction. ... The cost of college tuition. I thought he was going to lower costs. Costs are not down much and that just eats away at all, most of, if not all of the wage growth. ... When you compare the 35 roughly months of (growth in) the Obama administration, and the comparable time period under President Trump, the monthly job numbers are higher under Obama than under President Trump. ... As President Obama, working with Democrats like me, got the car out of the ditch it was in ... and got the car rambling down the road, President Trump just grabbed that steering wheel and he's kept his hands on it. ... President Obama did the hard work.
Contact the writer:
@BorysBlogTT on Twitter

subset: commoncrawl


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Peter Georgescu's story -- as a refugee, political prisoner and later, the CEO of an iconic American company -- has shaped his views on capitalism. What does Georgescu think needs to be done to fix capitalism in the U.S.? And where do socialist ideas fit into his view?
Listen to "Talking Socialism With a CEO Who Endured Harsh Communist Rule" on Spreaker.


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The People's Committee of Quang Ninh Province has ordered that tour boats operating on Ha Long Bay be painted white in order to renew their image following the bay's designation as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. Most boat operators, however, are opposed to the decision.
Under the provincial order, 500 tour boats operating on the bay must be repainted white and fit with a brown sail (if the boat uses a sail) before April 30. Dragon boats can be painted with a dragon head in traditional colours. Boats which fail to comply will lose their permission to operate on Ha Long Bay.
"The decision helps the State better control the services being offered, particularly to tourists who stay overnight on the bay," said a representative of the province's transport authority. "We aim to build an international trademark for tourism in Quang Ninh Province. This also helps give a new image to the boats and the bay."
Opposing the decision, the Ha Long Yatch Association has submitted a petition to the People's Committee.
The association director, Doan Van Dung, said that white boats will cause the bay to lose its characteristic beauty and the oriental image created by the current brown colour of the boats.
"The white colour is only fit for a large iron ship or yatch," said Bai Tho Transport Company director Pham Van Hoa. "When we paint a wooden boat white, the white colour will soon change."
Boat operators argue that white and other colours once existed on the bay but were replaced naturally because they were not suited to the characteristics of wooden boats. The image of brown boats was finally chosen and became the trademark of Ha Long Bay tourism.
"Foreign tourists have been always impressed with the brown and black colours of the boats on the bay, which are imbued with Vietnamese cultural identity," said the deputy director of the Vietsky Travel Company, Dao Hong Thuong. "That's why we shouldn't copy foreign cruise ships and require the boats to be white."
But it is the huge cost of repainting the boats that is most causing boat owners to balk at the new policy.
"It will cost 30-40 billion VND (1.5-2 million USD) to paint all the boats," said Dung. "Before it announced this decision, the province should have sought the opinions of tourists and travel companies."
According to association statistics, among the 500 boats operating on the bay are 350 small boats offering cruises by the hour and 150 larger boats on which tourists can stay overnight.
"It takes about 20 days to repaint a big boat and 10 days for a little boat. It will be very difficult to finish all of the repainting in time because this is the busiest time for foreign tourism," said Binh Minh Tourism and Trade Company director Nguyen Dang Bay. "Many boats are 60-70 percent booked for the period from January to April. It will have a negative impact on the prestige of the tourism services in Ha Long Bay."
January to April is also the season of damp, drizzly weather, making it further difficult to paint boats during this time, Bay said.
"If, after all, we must change the colour of the boats, we ask the province to assist us in financing the work and fixing a longer deadline," he added.


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You are here
Marine Corps Marathon
- Overview
- Details Visit Website View Map
On the last Sunday in October, cheer and be inspired as 30,000 runners participate in "The People's Marathon." For details, visit marinemarathon.com.
Metro Station
Rosslyn, Smithsonian
PO Box 188
Quantico, VA 22134DC Metro Area
(800) RUN-USMCWebsite


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"But, a good solution solves many problems. The other major driver of health and a major social determinative of health is whether people have jobs or not. So, the healthy food financing initiative and the California Fresh Works fund is an effort to create more and better employment for people who don't have access to it. It addresses health from that factor too. It is what we call a co-benefit—improving access to quality food and increasing well-paying jobs for people who often don't have access to good jobs."
A Few Questions
There is a lot to like about this project, but it also raises questions. For example, will the Northgate Gonzalez pay a living wage for its workers, or will it copy the business model used by a certain big block retailer and many fast food chains that cover labor costs with employee canned food drives and government subsidies in the form of food stamps and Medicaid?
"For this project, every job [pays a] fulltime, living wage in accordance with LA City's Living Wage Ordinance and with benefits—health, dental, vision, 401k," Solomon says.
If the demand is so great, why is a subsidy needed? Why hasn't the free market responded?
John Commins is a content specialist and online news editor for HealthLeaders, a Simplify Compliance brand.


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Avoid excessive, unreasonable enthusiasm. Extreme effusion backfires. For example, statements such as "I love 19th century British literature so much that I feel that I live in the 19th century" or "I AM Nietzsche" or "I live and breathe sea urchins" suggest possible psychosis, not reasonable enthusiasm....which I think casts doubt on the deservedness of Stanford's reputation — at least if "I live and breathe sea urchins" is something an undergrad there actually wrote, once.
November 18, 2009
As my thesis-writing winds down this week, fellowship application–writing winds up (sigh), and in preparation I've been doing a bit of light Googling to try and get a handle on the form (Trimburphiles, read: "rhetorical situation"). I particularly enjoyed this tip from a document I found on Stanford's website:
Posted by Andrew at 20:11
2 comments:
- RachelP said...
Perhaps it was something a rejected applicant wrote!
- November 18, 2009 9:09 PM
- Claire said...
never use the word Triumburphiles ever again
now I have to wash my eyeballs
- November 19, 2009 11:52 PM


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Today's selection of articles from Kotaku's reader-run community: Kreia's Conundrums - Titles And Functions • Spacemon: A Pokemon TRPG: Blueshift - Chapter 18: Bittersweet Reunion • Jumping For Moons And Feelin' Groovy In Super Mario Odyssey • E3 Speculation Spectacular Sound Off
You're reading TAY, Kotaku's community-run blog. TAY is written by and for Kotaku readers like you. We write about games, art, culture and everything in between. Want to write with us? Check out the Beginner's Guide to TAY and join in.
Follow us here.


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Twin Bridges Thunder received a silver medal after five hard fought matches on November 3, 2018.
The Sarnia club was extraordinarily represented at the season opening OVA Trillium White A – 15U Girls Provincial Cup tournament, hosted by the Chatham Ballhawks at Chatham Kent Secondary School.
During this tournament, Twin Bridges Thunder played hard, going undefeated for four matches (25-20/25-4, 25-20/25-14, 25-9/25-20, 25-10/25-18), losing their 5th match (20-25/25-21).
Front row from left: Emily Kzyonsek, Melia Langeveld (of Wallaceburg), Ali Coulbeck, Allison Furlan. Back row from left: Kyle Martin (Head Coach), Adam Armstrong (Coach), Gabby Landry, Ashley Blackburn, Sydney Moraal, Peter West (Coach), Keira West, Jessica Brazeau, Melissa Bennett (Coach).


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The highly anticipated fighting game, Street Fighter V, the fifth installment of the popular Street Fighter franchise from Capcom, is out now at leading video game retailers across… Continue reading
Category: News
Is this the real life or is it just fantasy because the Suicide Squad trailer that just got released is every bit as insane and epic as the villainous… Continue reading
Comic book publication giant, Marvel, today released the ominous teaser hinting that someone in the expansive Marvel Universe will be "Dead No More". Unfortunately, no details have yet… Continue reading
Marvel's darker, grittier take on the Man Without Fear will grace our screens again with the release of Daredevil: season 2 on March 18, 2016, as announced by… Continue reading
Gaming fans, particularly Hideo Kojima fans, can today celebrate the announcement of Kojima Productions' partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment Inc ("SCE") to develop its first ever, PS4 exclusive,… Continue reading
2016 is shaping up to be an epic year with the superhero genre taking a more twisted, darker turn. Rising to popularity over a decade ago, the superhero genre traditionally… Continue reading
90s kids rejoice! Your favourite Nickelodeon programmes are being brought back to life for all you cool kids to relive the good ol' days. Nickelodeon has teased the… Continue reading


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Metal Road | KCET
Metal Road
For decades, thousands of Navajos worked the railroads, maintaining the trans-continental network. Metal Road explores the dynamics of livelihood, family, and the railroads through the lens of a Navajo trackman.
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In the 1950s, Giant Rock became a UFO airport, according to George Van Tassel, who claimed to be contacted by aliens there.KCET Original
On the May 22 edition of the Reporter Roundup, KPCC reporters discuss rising unemployment numbers, COVID-19 deaths and changes in traffic patterns on some of L.A.'s streets.KCET Original
On the May 21 edition of the Reporter Roundup, KPCC reporters examine the role race plays in nursing home deaths, news on the SAT and ACT tests and reducing the prison population to slow down COVID-19's spread.KCET Original
"Shetland" star Douglas Henshall sits down with KCET's Nic Cha Kim to talk about the new series.KCET Original
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"Mother of the Earth" takes a look at Hayedeh Shirzadi and her husband's attempts to put an end to the dumping and burial of urban garbage in their city.
Huell visits the Oasis Camel Dairy east of San Diego where he gets to milk a camel and learns about camel milk products.
The southwestern Ontario city of Windsor has always lived in the shadow of its big American neighbour, Detroit, only 3.6 kilometres away.
When a prize-winning scientist is found murdered on the same night the man intent on murdering Henry Fisher escapes police custody, Phryne must put all misgivings aside to protect her father.


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Despite how it feels, with the most recent presidential election still fresh on our minds, all around the country and right here in the Tar Heel State, it's business as usual for local politics! And that means, believe it or not, we have local elections coming up in just a few days.
Here at Southern Neighbor, we care deeply about keeping our community informed and active. It is in that spirit that we have put together this handy voter guide for the upcoming 2017 municipal elections in each town in our readership.
First things first, check to make sure your voter registration is up to date. After you've done that, ensure that you're aware what your polling place is so you don't face any obstacles on Election Day.
In the case that your information is not in the system, or not listed properly, on Nov. 7, please keep in mind that you still have a right to cast a provisional ballot. What this means is you will be allowed to fill out a voter registration/change form and vote a ballot. This provisional ballot will be examined by the county board to determine if it can be counted. Also keep in mind that if you have moved and show up to the wrong location on Election Day, you will simply be transferred to the correct precinct, and will not have to vote provisionally.
If you plan to be out of town on Election Day, but still wish to cast a ballot in the municipal elections, you're not out of luck! North Carolina law allows you to cast an absentee ballot by mail. The necessary forms are available to be picked up in person at the Board of Elections office, and for download on their website. After completing the forms, you must mail it to the Board, and please keep in mind that it must be postmarked by Election Day.
For voters who may have trouble physically getting out of their vehicles and into the polling location, there are options available to you as well. North Carolina allows curbside voting, meaning if you are unable to physically get out of your vehicle and into the polling place, you will be allowed to vote from your vehicle. If you might have a hard time getting around physical barriers around the ballot box itself, just let a poll worker know and they will rearrange the space to accommodate your needs.
Audio narrations of ballots are available for people with visual impairments. Counties that utilize paper ballots will have magnifying devices to aid voters in viewing their sheets.
If you'd like to volunteer making polling places more accessible for voters who require accommodations and do not have a family member present to assist them, you can sign up with the Board of Elections to be part of the Multipartisan Assistance Team.
If you'd like to work as a general poll worker and help operate a polling location, please contact your local elections board in order to sign up as an election official. If you're a high school student and will be 17 years of age by Election Day, you may qualify to sign up as a student election assistant!
In terms of bringing photo identification to the polls, please keep in mind that North Carolina's voter ID laws have changed. In general, if you have voted before, you will not need to present a photo ID in order to vote. First-time voters may be required to provide documentation to confirm their identity and address, but unlike in past elections, the law now does not require all voters to provide photo ID to be able to vote in person.
Without further ado, here are the candidates running in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough and Pittsboro in the 2017 municipal elections.
Chapel Hill:
Mayor: Pam Hemminger
Town Council (4 seats): Allen Buansi, Hongbin Gu, Ed Harrison, Maria Palmer, Rachel Schaevitz, Carl Schuler, Karen Stegman.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education (4 seats): James Barrett, Joal Broun, Ryan Brummond, Calvin Deutschbein, Amy Fowler,Kim Talikoff, Mary Ann Wolf
Mayor: Tom Stevens, Cindy Talisman.
Town Commissioners (2 seats): Kathleen Ferguson, Jennifer Weaver.
Mayor: Mike Benson, Lydia Lavelle.
Board of Aldermen (4 seats): Paul Clark, Barbara Foushee, Jacquelyn Gist, Randee Haven-O'Donnell, Sammy Slade.
Mayor: Cynthia Perry
Board of Commissioners (2 seats): Pamela Baldwin, Michael Fiocco, Alexander Kast, Cabell Regan.


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I have a very important deadline tomorrow, hence it's the perfect time to do a blog post for Doug's Archaeology Blogging Carnival. Last year I took part in a series of posts about the purpose of blogging. This time the theme is Grand Challenges facing archaeology, specifically the participant's archaeology. In my case of course this is geoarchaeology. It's a good theme for me, as it's something I've been reflecting on a lot recently. I am writing a paper on investigating 'use of space', and multi-proxy approaches in archaeology. It's half review, half critique, and is turning into a bit of a monster. What follows is some of the central thoughts I am discussing in that paper, so actually any comments and feedback would be much appreciated!
One of the major challenges that I see facing geoarchaeology, is the integration of data from different scales. How do we use data collected for example at the microscale (such as geochemical patterning of floors, sediment micromorphology), and link this back to activities and processes at larger scales? I first started thinking about this over a decade ago, during my PhD, in relation to the landscape surrounding Catalhoyuk. There has been a long running idea (though recently this is changing), that the land surrounding Catalhoyuk was a big marshy swamp. This was based on a series of sediment cores that identified 'backswamp' deposits. One problem I always had with this was how we extrapolate from a small number of cores, to what is a very large landscape. How representative are these cores - are they telling us about the wider landscape, or something very localised?
This got me thinking about sample sizes in general. When studying individual skeletons (as an example), how many do we need to look at before we can make generalisations about the population? And when we are studying buildings, how many buildings do we need to study to understand the patterns of use of space within a settlement? At Catalhoyuk we have seen an impressive suite of science applied to building floors, in an attempt to reconstruct activity patterns. This has included thin section micromorphology, microartefact patterning
and geochemical analyses, phytoliths and starch, alongside artefact
studies, macrobotanical and zooarchaeological analysis. In order to understand activity, it is important that we look at all of these lines of evidence together. An activity does not always (often?) leave a single material trace. The integration of different lines of evidence is what is meant by multi-proxy archaeology. The potential of a multi-proxy approach is that it provides a more
complete characterisation of the material record, and thus focuses the range of
possible interpretations (in theory!). By bringing together multiple lines of evidence, we
can better define specific activities which produce an 'assemblage' of signals.
But how do we do this in reality? Samples and data are collected by different specialists at different scales, and though it may seem easy enough to go back and compare data afterwards, it can be surprisingly difficult. Micromorphology for example can rarely be directly integrated with microartefact patterning. Whilst microartefacts represent cumulative deposition (palimpsests of activity), micromorphology looks at single (or close to single) events sequentially. For multi-proxy archaeology to work properly, samples must be collected together, and analysed together (ideally with the same aims). In theory, the reflexive methodology that was proposed for Catalhoyuk is supposed to overcome this problem. Rather than looking at different categories of material in isolation, a reflexive methodology 'keeps finds in their context'. But again, how? It's a question of scale, and a question of focus. Multi-proxy archaeology works well in hypothesis-led analysis, but often archaeology works in a more exploratory fashion.
In the end, what we have with Catalhoyuk (from a microanalysis perspective) is a small number of buildings studied in an incredible level of detail, but without the analyses being comparable a lot of the time. How representative are they of the settlement as a whole? Sometimes what we have is not even a reflection of activity within the building, but a reflection of variations in building materials. How much time (and money) should we spend on obtaining such an incredible level of detail? I think the grand challenge for my archaeology, is resolving this problem of scale, and defining the relationship between the details of microanalysis, and the bigger picture.


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Deputy Minister of Traditional Affairs Obed Bapela said the department had shut down 400 unlicensed initiation schools in the Eastern Cape alone. Bapela said these would be treated as criminal cases.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed that over a thousand cases had been reported over a period of five years, but that only 10 cases were being heard in court.
NPA spokesperson Luvuyo Mfaku said there were also cases with the police relating to incidents at initiation schools, but most of them were being withdrawn for various reasons.
Bapela confirmed that 158 child initiates had been rescued from an illegal school in Limpopo near Tzaneen on Friday and that 1 100 had been rescued in the Eastern Cape since the start of the season. He warned parents against taking their children to illegal initiation schools as it could result in their deaths.
The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) encouraged parents to follow up after they have enrolled their children in initiation schools.
Contralesa spokesperson Prince Tabane said although the community relied heavily on police and the traditional affairs department to ensure the schools were safe, parents also needed to be on the look out.
"You cannot take your child to the initiation school and trust that the caregivers should solely take care of your child.
"With these uncalled for incidents, parents need to frequently check the health of their children or have someone to look after them," said Tabane.
Tabane said Contralesa had approached local municipalities to help enforce the bylaws at and ensure the community and stakeholders were able to distinguish between legal and illegal schools.
Last week at least eight boys died at initiation schools across the country – six in the Eastern Cape and another two in Mpumalanga and Limpopo.


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But some black Democrats are unhappy about the prospect of him remaining in office, after he acknowledged he wore shoe polish to go in blackface as part of a Michael Jackson costume for a dance contest in 1984.
Yet Ms. Bass, the Congressional Black Caucus leader, and other Democrats offered some measure of praise for Mr. Herring, who revealed that he wore blackface to imitate a rapper as a University of Virginia undergraduate but has pleaded for forgiveness from the state's black lawmakers.
"At least he came forward and seemed to be sincere and apologized," Ms. Bass said.
Other national Democrats also praised Mr. Herring, who methodically reached out to nearly every prominent African-American lawmaker in Virginia, and said it was time the party reconsider its demands for instant accountability for the transgressors in its ranks.
"It's unrealistic to expect politicians to have lived perfect lives — the general public doesn't expect that, and they are much more forgiving than the Twitter outrage mob," said Elisabeth Smith, a Democratic strategist, singling out Mr. Herring. "If anything, we've learned the importance of taking a step back and taking a deep breath before demanding these guys' heads on a plate."
But there is far less sympathy among black lawmakers in the Capitol for the governor, who has flip-flopped about whether he was in a racist photo that appeared on his medical school yearbook page.
"Northam called me Friday night and took ownership of that photo and said, 'I'm sorry, that's me in the photo,'" recalled Ms. Herring, who is not related to the attorney general. "Then, Saturday, moonwalks it back, and then adds some more pain with the description about how he needs to only put a light coat of shoe polish on because it's hard to get off. He doesn't get it."
For Ms. Herring and other legislators, the controversies over blackface were painful reminders of the state's not-so-distant past and its lingering prejudices. Ms. Herring said she had often thought about a particular red glow from her childhood: what she saw when a cross burned outside her Georgia home when she was 9.


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Since I've been BANNED FROM DATING I've been asked out on 3 dates.
First there's Jeremy, who is a Land Surveyor. He lives in Livermore, has two kids and likes to ride his bicycle 60 miles at a stretch. Jeremy is a recovering alcoholic.
Then there's Max. Max is a 6'4" contractor living in the bay area. He has one son and is also a recovering alcoholic.
And lastly there's Tony. Ah, Tony. Tony is also 6'4". Tony is not an alcoholic. He has no kids and he's a professional chef turned sheet metal foreman. He has three older sisters and lord knows I love a man with sisters. He also has biceps that make me swoon.
If I was a 4 yesterday, I'm a 6 today so the trend is increasing.
I do find it ironic though that when I'm at a 4 (out of 15) I seem to attract recovering alcoholics*.
Ummm…. what does that say about MY ENERGY if it's similar to a recovering alcoholic?
I can practically HEAR my life coach lecturing me!
* Which isn't to say that all recovering alcoholics are 4s. I'm sure there at 15s out there. I'm just attracting the 4s.


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A study found in Frontiers in Medicine explored amalgam and composite dental fillings as well as a number of circumstances that can lead to their failure.
Some of the things looked at included alcohol consumption, smoking, sex, age, periodontal health, diabetes, and genetic factors. Dental histories of 4,856 individuals from five years were included as a part of the study.
Among the notable findings were:
Composite dental fillings are just as good, if not better than amalgam
Amalgam fillings are the silver-colored dental fillings which have been used by dentists for more than one hundred and fifty years, whereas composite fillings are the modern, tooth-colored fillings. During the duration of the study, the team found that the rate of failure for composite and amalgam were similar, with composite fillings performing just a little better (a little over 2%).
Men who are smokers and people who drink regularly have a greater chance of fillings failing
Drinking and smoking were found to have the largest correlation with the failing of fillings of the lifestyle variables considered. After having dental fillings for 2 years, the rate of failure was highest in those who drank alcohol regularly and in male smokers.
Genetics could be involved for failed dental fillings
Those involved with the study made note of the gene for matrix metalloproteinase (MMP2), which is an enzyme which is found in teeth. According to the research team, MMP2 may weaken the attachment between the filling and teeth. They suggested that a person's genetic background may be a bigger element in dentistry one day. Alexandre Vieira, one of the researchers, said: "In the future, genetic information may be used to personalize dental treatments and enhance treatment outcomes."
The results of the study support the idea that composite fillings can be looked at as a good replacement for the older amalgam fillings. The correlation between smoking and drinking and the failure rate of fillings are something dental patients might want to be mindful of as well.
Haven't had your dental fillings checked recently? Book your next appointment with one of our dentists at Milford Dental Excellence now!


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Torch D520As low as AED350.00
Torch D520As low as AED350.00
Torch D830AED220.00
ORCATORCH D830 is a magnetic controlled dive light powered by three AA batteries. The magnetic sliding switch provides simple operation with just a motion of the thumb. It adopts the latest USA CREE XM-L2(U4) LED with three brightness levels, max 800 lumens output and over 20 hours runtime.
Torpedo Signal LightAs low as AED60.00
Torpedo Signal LightAs low as AED60.00
OrcaTorch "Torpedo" is a compact signal light which is inspired by Torpedo. The runtime is over 200 hours. It is also earth friendly and its battery can be replaced by user. Torpedo is perfect for locating buddies on cave and night dives.Five colors provide different options for different diving teams.
Torch D620AED1,590.00
ORCATORCH D620 is a primary canister dive light specially designed for underwater adventure such as scuba diving and cave diving. The newly designed switch can be locked when rotated 90 degrees, which not only offers easy and reliable operation but also avoid turning on the light accidently. The included easy-pack adjustable rotary goodman handle is easy to be assembled by hand. The light uses 4 pcs 18650 batteries, and has a max output of 2700 lumens, which makes it a very useful tool to meet your underwater needs.
Torch D611AED1,160.00
ORCATORCH D611 is a primary canister dive light specially designed for underwater adventure such as scuba diving and cave diving. The light head is connected by a cable to the battery canister containing two 26650 batteries, this allows you to fix the battery canister to your body so you just need to hold the small light head when using it. That makes a combination of high portability, high output and long runtime. What's more, OrcaTorch's unique magnetic switch gives multiple choices on modes to meet different needs.
Torch D820VAED1,200.00
ORCATORCH D820V is a compact and lightweight USB charging video light. It has 120 degrees super wide floodlighting with no blind angle for underwater photography. D820V offers three kind of light sources: Neutral white, UV and Red, which not only helps your photography or videography in the dark water but also can creates amazing fluorescence of marine organisms. The unique designed titanium alloy side button switch provides easy operation underwater.
C4 ChargerAED245.00
C4 is an advanced multi-charger compatible with broad spectrum of Li-ion and Ni-MH rechargeable cell sizes and capable
of charging four different rechargeable batteries simultaneously while the LCD display keeps you informed with readouts of v-
oltage and charging status. Utilizing our exclusive accelerated charging technology, it makes only three and a half hours to fu-
lly charge four 2600 mAh 18650 rechargeable batteries.


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Apartment in the center, Esporta street, for rent.
Neaby: beautiful park with tennis courts, big RIMI grocery shop, as well as restautants, embassies, shops and Riga city sightseeing object. 15 minute walk to the Old Town.
The house is located on a fences territory, with closed entrance and security.
The apartment is located on the 1st floor, with windows facing the side of the park.
2 bedrooms, furnished, with walk-in-wardrobe and sauna.
The cost of a parking place near the house — 20,000 Eur additionaly and in the underground parking 50,000 Eur additionally.
Extra opportunities
We can help you with your Latvian residency permit application when buying a property worth €250,000 or more.


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Since summer officially starts today (if the heat didn't tell us that already), I thought I'd let you know it's summer with a few new trends that you definitely want to be a part of! These style trends range from clothing to accessories and will look good on anyone.
High-Low – This can be applied to dresses, skirts, and tops. This trend has been popping up at every clothing store I walk into, even Target! The high-low trend is basically just styles that makes an article of clothing higher in the front and lower in the back. It can be worn dressy or casual!
Studs – Very in for summer, mostly on shoes and accessories! I've been sporting gold spiked bracelets recently and get a lot of compliments on them! Studs aren't only for rockers; throw in a studded bracelet or clutch purse to edge out an outfit.
Skulls – I've been searching everywhere for the perfect skull top and I haven't found one yet, but I will. I've been seeing skull clothing items mostly on TV, in particular on Pretty Little Liars on ABC Family. There are other ways to wear skulls; it could be on a bracelet or necklace, and even a scarf!
Polka dots – Even though you may have worn polka dots as a little girl, they are making a comeback this season. I've seen many crop tops and body con skirts with polka dots on them.
Chiffon – Chiffon tops and skirts are all the rage right now! I recently bought a navy blue chiffon sleeveless button up high low top … try saying that five times fast. I bought it at Marshall's for $12.99 and I'm OBSESSED with it. Forever 21 has a lot of chiffon tops, I mostly see them as sleeveless button ups. They are light and airy which is perfect to wear in the summer heat! They look really cute with jeans for a night out. Most of the chiffon tops are see-through so depending where you're wearing it you could get away with a cute bra, a bandeau top, or a tank underneath.
All of these styles are going to be very trendy this summer, and they're easy to put together with clothing pieces that you may already have. Accessories are a great way to start to add to an outfit and spice it up a bit!
Let us know if you've rocked any of these styles or if you have any other trends you'll be trying this summer!


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Your website plays a very important role for your business. It is basically your main digital presence, a way for people to get introduced to you and whatever it is you do.
This is why it must be carefully designed in order to communicate the right messages to your prospective clientele.
Not only it must be attractive, it should also be optimized for marketing purposes, including Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and branding.
A website should definitely look appealing so as to draw attention. Additionally, it should also contribute to the following:
After all, don't forget that your website is a significant part of your digital presence, and it plays an important role to your digital strategy.


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Serving you for over 31 years
Beat the summer heat with a properly working air conditioning system. Get your A/C checked out before summer starts or bring it in any time it gives you trouble during the warm weather months.
Don't sweat out an entire summer in a sweltering car and instead turn to the pros at Northfield Auto Care to make sure that air conditioning runs right at all times. There's no sense driving in heat when you don't have to.
If your A/C stops blowing out cold air, you may need a simple Freon recharge that gets air flowing again and keeps you comfortable.
Let us check for leaks in your A/C belts and hoses to make sure your Freon stays where it belongs and works like it should.
A buildup of bacteria in your evaporator may lead to odd smells from your A/C. Bring your car in for a cleanup today.


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A Sage Ballistic Rod/Reel Cases is the perfect way to protect your investment and keep you rigged and ready to fish. For travel or storage, these all-new rod tubes & cases have been upgraded in form, function and fashion. Dressed in an elegant black ballistic nylon with an embroidered platinum Sage logo. Matching black piping adds durability and appeal.
- Black ballistic nylon
- Platinum colored embroidery
- Large double locking zippers (single zippers on the 2" single tube)
- Nylon dividers on the single tubes and rod/reel cases
- Reinforced end caps
- Sizes Available: Single Case: 9' 4piece (2.5" Inner Dia; 30" Tube Length), 10' 4piece (2.5" Inner Dia; 33" Tube Length)
- Double Case: 9' 4piece (2 X 2.5" Inner Dia; 30" Tube Length), 10' 4piece (2 X 2.5" Inner Dia; 33" Tube Length)
- Other Sizes are available for special order
Currently Viewing Reviews with a rating of 5. Click here to reset.
★★★★★ ★★★★★
5.00/5 Stars out of 3 Reviews
Randy (Maine) | April 2nd, 2020
Awesome case! Perfect fit with reel for my Pulse 6wt. Solid protection and lockable zipper.
Kevin (MD) | November 28th, 2019
I recently purchased this for my 6 weight, 9 foot Sage Pulse setup. I love being able to keep the reel attached, and protected, for quick trips in multiple locations.
Ryan Amato (Az) | August 20th, 2019
What can I say, it's made by Sage! Great product, love being able to carry both rods in a single case and know they are fully protected.


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Roodhart ISO 2858 and ISO 5199
Horizontal single stage endsuction pump with closed impeller and oil lubricated bearing frame.
Process design, back pull out for easy maintenance.
Disassembly of impeller and bearing frame without dismantling of the pump casing and motor possible (spacer type coupling required).
Suction branch axial, discharge radial upwards (optional horizontal possible).
Drive by electric motor and flexible coupling arranged on common base plate.
Roodhart ISO 2858 and ISO 5199– Design Features
|Maximum Capacity
|Up to 450 M³
|Maximum Head
|Up to 150 m.
|Power Supply
|3 phase 50 / 60 Hz.
|Material Design
|Ductile CI
|Super duplex SS
|Stainless steel
|Pump Sizes
|On request
|Water supply
|General Water
|Cooling water
|Food & beverage
|Hot water
|General Industry


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Understand security solution coverage and increase deployment
You selected an EPP/EDR solution for Windows machines. Something else for Macs. One MDM for Android, another for iPhone. A VA scanner, cloud security solutions, the list goes on. You've checked all the boxes, but there's just one thing: are all of these solutions deployed everywhere they should be?
The Axonius Cybersecurity Asset Management Platform makes it easy to understand gaps in your security solution coverage. The following video shows how simple it is to create queries to find out whenever an asset does not adhere to your security policy.


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There are some interesting theologies being tossed around in the mainstream church these days. That's not to say there aren't some excellent, Bible-based preachers and teachers, because I know there are. But often, like leaven, these false ideologies are pervasive and rise quick throughout the entire body of believers. There's not anyone person that teaches this particular belief, but it is a common model for the "seeker sensitive" movement and it really detracts from the most amazing quality of God because it paints only half of the picture about His love, leaving out the most important, integral part in a Christians life.
God's love is something I think a lot of us hear about, but do not truly understand. Love is such a basic word in our language and we toss it around so frequently that too often its meaning get's glossed over. But when used in context with God there is no comparison because God's love is the Highest Form of Love. Like all of His other attributes, our finite minds cannot grasp this. What we commonly hear are phrases to create a warm and fuzzy feeling in our hearts. Don't get me wrong, "Jesus loves you" should create in us a level of humbleness so great that we fall before His cross worshiping Him with everything we have.
But there's more to His love, so much more that's not frequently taught. To even begin to understand the love of God, we have to look beyond what we want to feel from His love and look toward what we need to receive from His love. Likely, the methods of those I mentioned earlier tickle our ears by teaching us to look at what we want from God's love, essentially anything that will enhance our personal lives. Christians, these concepts are weak and do no justice to God's love. Instead, what each of us needs to hear is that God disciplines those He loves. This great aspect of God's love has been left out because it's less appealing or may not attract large numbers to a church because nobody wants to think of a God that hands out discipline. The sensitive seeker would prefer to ignore repentance, ignore the guilt placed on us by the Holy Spirit, and completely disregard the chastisement of God.
That mentality waters down the love of God, to say nothing of the ramifications it has on ones Christian walk. Hebrews 12:4-11 is such a great passage that speaks on God's discipline towards those He loves:
4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
How loved we should feel when we receive the discipline of God. To know that He loves us so much, that when "all we like sheep have gone astray" the Good Shepherd uses His rod to correct us and bring us back into the fold. Do not think it harsh dear Christian, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:11 What special attention the lamb that wanders receives when the Shepherd breaks its leg for its own corrective good. How cared for that sheep is that the Shepherd then carries that little lamb on His shoulders with such love.
Do not run from the Lord's discipline Christian, embrace it. When it comes cherish the disciplining love of the Lord, thankful for this special attention. When He needs to use His rod to break your wandering legs, let it bring you broken before the cross so that like the lamb, Jesus will carry you too on His shoulders. Oh to know the wonderful love of God, the Highest Form of Love.
Prayer: Thank You Lord for Your discipline. Thank You for loving us enough to chasten us. Thank You that when we think we have it all figured out on our own, You correct us and break us, so that all of our dependence is on You. Lord I pray for those running from your discipline. I pray for those who push aside the guilt brought on by the Holy Spirit. Awaken them to the power of Your love, that they may they welcome Your loving discipline that brings forth righteousness and peace.


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met branch trail—is pepco backing out on its deal?
it's been a long time since i last wrote about the metropolitan branch trail, but the folks at eckington (way better than spotsylvania) have been staying on top of things, and they found a potential doozy this week.
the plans for the trail have included connections to many eckington streets, with the southernmost one happening at the right-hand side in the above image, in the bend of harry thomas way, across what is (or has been) pepco property.
the local communities, eleanor holmes norton, ddot, waba, and everyone else who has been fighting for the construction of the trail have spent years cajoling, pleading, and urging pepco to allow a connection to be built across their right-of-way. according to this post, it looks like pepco has reneged on the deal to allow bikers to cross this short stretch of ground.
now, i should stress looks like. we're not sure yet, and eckington (wbts) has promised to update us as they look into it. if the trail connection has been cut, though, i think it'll be time to use the gears of persuasion and get our elected officials to twist pepco's arms (again) to make this happen...


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Memories being what they are — fragile — one has to reach into the newspaper archive to reclaim the tempest mood, some 24 years ago, when the not-yet-ratified North American Free Trade Agreement had American voters storm tossed.
Would presidential hopeful Bill Clinton endorse the agreement, negotiated by President George Bush, despite the glaring absences in the Mexico-Canada-U.S. marriage?
Clinton was a rising-tide-lifts-all-boats globalist Kool-Aid drinker — skol! — but he was a pragmatist too and so, in October 1992, he came out in support of the deal, with a qualifier: negotiators would have to cut side agreements on labour and the environment. I see this as killing two birds with one stone, winning the support of Congress (Clinton became president in January 1993), while not messing with the core agreement.
Students of the free trade pact may recall that one of the loudest anti-NAFTA voices was Democratic House majority leader Dick Gephardt, who repeatedly and so eloquently argued that environmental controls, protection for workers and an international dispute resolution covering the right to strike and collective bargaining were essential.
Gephardt made a couple of trips to Tijuana to assess matters for himself. He returned with a first-hand understanding of buck-an-hour jobs and industrial waste flowing freely through the places where children play and cattle graze.
It took a year to work up the so-called environmental and labour protection provisions of NAFTA. Who among us can recall the council of Canadians — Doris Anderson, Farley Mowat, Pierre Berton and many more — who protested these "side-bar deals," rightly pointing out that the labour provisions failed to even cover basic union rights? See: collective bargaining.
The final language of the labour provision had more weasely words than those mission statements so beloved by transnational corporations who very much like what they term "nimble cost structures." The parties were "committed to promote" a few "guiding principles" governing "broad areas of concern." Dialogue was "encouraged."
Dick Gephardt voted against NAFTA, and that was a blow. So did House Majority Whip David E. Bonior of Michigan. "It will cost jobs," Bonior said. "It will drive down our standard of living. It will lock in place a Mexican system that exploits its own people and denies them the most basic political and economic rights."
Still, the deal passed quite breezily.
And then a flood of manufacturing jobs rushed to low wage sites in Mexico. The workers there had rare hope of forming true, as opposed to sham or "phantom," unions.
No wonder Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland felt compelled to acknowledge this week that, as she put it, "There are reasons why Canadian workers might have some skepticism about trade agreements." She continued: "Canadian workers have legitimate anxieties about the ways in which international trade can lead to a race to the bottom in labour standards."
She noted that she was "quite optimistic" about the chances of improving the labour chapter in the current NAFTA talks, which resume in Washington on Oct. 11.
If I've got my timing right, Freeland's comments arrived just about the time workers at Rexnord Corp.'s bearings plant in Indianapolis exited their place of work for the last time. The company had announced months before that it would be transferring operations, and more than 300 jobs, to Monterrey. Local reports pegged the average wage at the Indianapolis plant at $25 (U.S.) an hour, adding that by moving south of the border the company aimed to realize $15.5 million in savings — or a wage reduction to $8 an hour.
Indianapolis, we remember, is home to the Carrier air conditioning/furnace company which announced the outsourcing of jobs to Mexico, which drew the ire of Donald Trump, which resulted in tax breaks and incentives being doled out to the company. In July, more than 300 workers were nevertheless let go, with another 300 due to exit before Christmas. The president appears to be vexed by this turn of events, no doubt wondering if he got his money's worth.
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How will Mexico engage on this in the next round?
Mexico's negotiators have some cover with the country's newly enacted constitutional reform amending its labour justice system. That won't work for long. There can't be any patience any longer for denying core principles in the core agreement enshrining fundamental labour rights, rights that should have been enshrined a quarter century ago.


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One Direction Wore Christmas Sweaters On Jimmy Fallon and It's the Best Early Christmas Present You Could Ask For
Stop everything because ugly Christmas sweaters just became really freaking cute. But that may have something to do with the five guys wearing them. One Direction wore Christmas sweaters on Jimmy Fallon, and it's the best holiday gift — besides Harry Styles wrapped up in a bow underneath your tree, of course.
The British boy band appeared on The Tonight Show Monday night to sing songs with Jimmy and The Roots, and they each wore a different novelty Christmas sweater to get into the festive spirit. It's the cutest thing I've seen all week, so let's break them down for ya. We've got Louis rocking a Santa in a playing card and Zayn channeling Buddy the Elf, okay, Christmasy enough. Then things get a little more bizarre with Liam sporting a hipster version of the ugly Christmas sweater, with Santa wearing flashy aviators and a mustache (but mustache's are so in right now). Niall just seems a little confused as to what colors go with which holiday — green and white are St. Patty's colors, Niall, throw some red in there! (It's just the Irish in him). And then we have Harry, who is wearing possibly the most basic red sweater with a sparkly tree on the front, but it is none-the-less perfect because the only thing cuter than Harry Styles is a festive Harry Styles. It's the most wonderful time of the year.
Images: Getty Images; 1DTourUpdate/Twitter


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For those of you interested in beginning a career in healthcare, LPN Programs in Woodsfield OH will allow you to reach your goals a lot sooner than you'd likely anticipate.
Courses are around 9 to 24 months in length, and they are generally accessible online to get you prepared for the NCLEX license test in your respective state.
LPN Programs and Their Requirements
Practical nursing course requirements will vary from one school to the next but will usually have some basic requirements. You must meet the minimum age limit, along with having a H.S. diploma or GED, pass a test for drugs and be cleared by a criminal background screening.
Leading LPN Programs in Ohio
The Things You'll Be Taught in LPN Schools
As soon as it is time for you to choose which LPN program you want to sign up for, there are a few facts that you need to look into. The first step in getting started in a position as a LPN is to figure out which of the outstanding LPN schools will be best for you. Even though you might already have determined which school to enroll in, you should find out if the training class maintains the correct qualifications with the Ohio State Board. If accreditation is good, you might look into a number of other areas of the course in comparison to the other programs providing the exact same education.
- Study all you can with regard to the training school – most notably its track record
- Just what is the rate of success on the license examination as compared with competing programs?
- Exactly how does the cost of the course look when placed against very similar programs?
The Main Reason Practical Nursing Licensure is Essential to You
That's right, gaining one's license is essential for Licensed Practical Nurse per the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. The Nurse Aide Registry handles a national registry that has each certified Licensed Practical Nurse on it. Once listed and officially credentialed, you've created the opportunity to be paid more and get hired quicker.
The Complete Practical Nursing Occupational Handbook for Ohio
We do not need to tell you that the need for nurse in Ohio is increasing annually per O*Net Online. A rapidly-aging citizenry combined with recent changes in the national healthcare system may lead to an increase in the total number of new positions for qualified individuals by 2020. Because of this rise in positions, you'll have lots of room to locate a job as a practical nurse in Woodsfield OH.
Get Ready to Start Your New Career Now!
With the guidelines and info you've collected, you are now ready to and get started on a new job as a LPN by registering for LPN programs!
More Recommended LPN Information
Ohio.gov Licensing Information
International Association of Human Caring
American College Health Association
Developmental Disabilities Nurses Association