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Who is to blame for China's island building?
Is President Aquino to blame for provoking China? Read more
Is President Aquino to blame for provoking China? Read more
I am visiting a friend at the Senate today, and have decided to take the opportunity to blog about the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
It's only been five minutes and already I've encountered a number of political creatures like Adel Tamano and former Akbayan Citizen's Action Party representative Risa Hontiveros. I also caught a glimpse of Juana Change leading a rally of sorts outside the GSIS building.
The multitudes who have taken time off work to rally against Corona here, and those who support him at the Supreme Court demonstrates how people can take a political issue personally. My own appreciation of the issue is that it is putting every foundation of our democracy through the acid test not merely of public opinion, but of integrity and accountability.
Today's impeachment trial is remarkable not only because it supposedly tries an Arroyo ally, but also because this is the first time that a Supreme Court chief justice is actually being put through an accountability process. Elected officials endure impeachments and elections, which is also a test of one's trustworthiness. Cabinet secretaries are always tested by senate investigations. However, for the longest time it seemed as if the Supreme Court is invincible to any process that would ensure its probity.
That, if proven guilty, even the highest judicial officer of the Philippines can still be made to answer for transgressions is the most encouraging sign.
But Corona is not the only one being tested today. The Senate will also be tested as to how it will decide based on the evidences presented. The House of Representatives will have to prove the merit of its impeachment complaint. And the Executive will have to show restraint and respect for the other branches of government, and let the impeachment run its natural course.
I see this also as an acid test for online reportage. The Corona trial have opened other discussions, and one that I am keenly looking at is the perception of University of Santo Tomas (UST) professors—and journalists from traditional media—that online reportage is reckless and inept in meeting the standards of journalism. One of my UST professors presented some valid questions on Facebook. "Is online journalism really the future of journalism?," he asked. "What are its rules? What is it needed?"
His inquiry and ideas carry weight, but we also cannot deny that professionals in traditional media have likewise failed in upholding their lofty journalism standards. A number of people actually believe that Rappler is more credible and less vulnerable to sensationalism and politicking than TV Patrol. But of course we cannot only give readers a choice between Korina Sanchez and Maritess Vitug, and say that's the best we can provide. Online needs to step up. We are not only in the hot seat because of that UST statement, but because we really are the future of news reportage.
The emergence of the Internet practically forces every journalist to go online or face the consequences of having your story read only 24 hours after people have read about it on Facebook. Simply put, you either go online or become irrelevant.
I feel also that online reportage is not yet as corrupted and subservient to political and capitalist interest as television, the broadsheets, and the radio. Majority of online writers have managed to maintain their impartiality, and this is something we must continue and even improve upon. Online communicators will also be called to be anointers of Truth in this momentous trial that carries inconceivable political and legal repercussions. It is an opportunity for us to prove that we can provide relevant and unprejudiced reportage on this trial because every word we write means the difference between a reader who is misinformed or one who has been provided sufficient knowledge and insights to make one's own opinion on Corona and the impeachment. Twenty minutes before the trial, and it's time for us to step up. Time for us to blog.
The Corona Impeachment trial is a on our democracy. A test to prove if this system does work. Read more
What's clear is this. First, media doesn't seem to clearly capture public sentiment. And second, Public sentiment is on the side of government. Read more
"May you live in interesting times." – Chinese curse
As the cab my family and I had booked sped from the Changi airport where we had landed from Australia towards our resort at Sentosa Island for a couple of days of R and R, before heading to Manila, he commented on the politics of the Philippines by asking us, "So how is Noynoy, oh I am sorry, Pee-Noy? Is he really not that smart?"
Intrigued by his question, I began to engage him in conversation.
It is rather uncharacteristic of Singaporeans to talk about politics, especially to strangers. Seeking to show deference to our host, I responded by saying that P-Noy was smart, but compared to their Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the Cambridge educated mathematician son of Lee Kwan Yew, he may not be quite as sharp.
He reciprocated in kind by saying that as far as excitement goes, Singapore was not as interesting as the Philippines. I sensed a hidden envy on his part for the rambunctious nature of our politics with the rough and tumble colorful world of constitutional brinkmanship that began with Erap Estrada and Gloria Arroyo that has continued under the presidency of Noynoy Aquino.
I began to chide him a little at this point by saying, "no, no, boring is good." It was preferable to have a state with a long period of unremarkable quiet governance than to have one that was constantly giving bloggers like me reasons to write. And this past year, there certainly has been no shortage of controversies to write about.
I began to recount my experience as a civil servant where I often hear my fellow policy officers complain that they have to constantly update the minister with briefings, rather than get on with their day job of running the government. Ministers have an insatiable desire (at least it seems to us) to be briefed on a wide range of issues concerning their portfolio in anticipation of any curve balls thrown them by the opposition during question time in parliament.
The volume of requests is seen as a proxy for the vulnerabilities and insecurities of any government averse to losing legitimacy in the eyes of the people. That is why the mandarins who run the government often say that boring is good because it not only creates less work for them, it also means they can concentrate on the business of governing. And it was this sentiment that I left with our curious cab driver as we alighted from his vehicle.
The following day, as I took my kids down for a stroll on the white sandy beach of Sentosa, a mere thirty minute drive from the airport, which is a minor miracle in itself considering Singapore is one of the busiest ports in the world to have such a safe and relatively secluded island getaway nearby, I began to agree with myself. "Yes," I thought, "boring is better."
As the Chinese proverb goes, "It's better to be a dog in a peaceful time than be a man in a chaotic period." To everyone who reads and follows this column, have a "quiet" and peaceful holiday season!
Malou Jacob disputed the explanation of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts regarding her removal from office. Read more
Just then they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that rise from that plain. And no sooner did Don Quixote see them that he said to his squire, "Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we ourselves could have wished. Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their spoils we shall begin to be rich for this is a righteous war and the removal of so foul a brood from off the face of the earth is a service God will bless."
"What giants?" asked Sancho Panza.
"Those you see over there," replied his master, "with their long arms. Some of them have arms well nigh two leagues in length."
"Take care, sir," cried Sancho. "Those over there are not giants but windmills. Those things that seem to be their arms are sails which, when they are whirled around by the wind, turn the millstone."
[Excerpt from The Ingenious Knight Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes, 1604]
This week, the president's allies in the House of Representatives numbering 188 voted to impeach Chief Justice Renato Corona. This came after a flurry of attacks against the high court launched by the president himself on numerous occasions. The 'rap sheet' or articles of impeachment contains allegations previously laid by him before the chief justice in a legal forum where both were present.
They include his voting record as a member of the Supreme Court that seems to favour the former president and now congresswoman Gloria Arroyo which was claimed to have been responsible for the loss of public trust in the institution he leads as shown by its extremely low rating in the SWS public opinion polls. The prefatory statement issues the charge that
Never has the position of Chief Justice, or the standing of the Supreme Court, as an institution, been so tainted with the perception of bias and partiality, as it is now.
It then proceeds to build a narrative to support its case. Beginning with his close association with the former president prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, his voting record as member thereof before assuming his present role, followed by his acceptance of Mrs Arroyo's 'midnight appointment' to be its chief, and the numerous incidents in which the court displayed its 'bias' towards the Arroyos. It is peppered here and there with allegations of improper use of public funds and nepotism.
On the face of it, there seems to be a strong case to be made against the Chief Justice, but whether it can be proven in such a way that would lead to a conviction is another matter altogether. The articles certainly tell a coherent story, but as any legal expert will tell you, in most matters that involve the high court, there are legal merits on both sides. In defending himself, Corona will simply have to recite the legal underpinnings of the high court's decisions.
It will then appear that Congress (and the president) can impeach any member of a co-equal branch of government simply for making decisions that they find disagreeable. This means war between the executive and judiciary with each side claiming the other overstepping their boundaries and seeking to establish a dictatorship by one branch.
At the moment, the palace has the moral ascendancy. The high court is already viewed with suspicion by the public. Pursuing this case against Corona and by implication the rest of the court that he leads however could place suspicion on the president's motives because of the Hacienda Luisita ruling which disadvantaged his clan. P-Noy by taking this bold step has highly discounted the risk of losing the moral high ground.
Secondly, most of the accusations save for the one involving Corona's failure to file a statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (which might not be an impeachable offense based on previous court resolutions) involve decisions made by the entire bench not the chief justice alone.
The high court's decision to exempt itself from midnight appointments, the creation of a new congressional district that became the seat for Mrs Arroyo's son, the injunction against the lower house of Congress in hearing an impeachment complaint (its sole prerogative) against the ombudsman appointed by her, the exoneration of one of the justices for plagiarism by a committee comprised of magistrates, the injunction it issued against the secretary of justice's hold departure order on Mrs Arroyo which it said was in effect despite the non-fulfilment of certain conditionalities were all made by a majority of the court.
Given the collegial nature of this body, the prosecution will have to prove that Corona exerted some kind of influence akin to a Jedi mind trick that forced other justices to side with him against their free will. Either that or Congress will have to impeach all the members of the majority who voted with him for showing bias. That will take some doing. Even if they (by 'they' I not only mean the prosecution, but the president) succeed in this (and there are already plans afoot to impeach two other justices), their side could suffer from what economists call the winner's curse.
Having spent so much time and effort in this game to the detriment of all else (with the economy sputtering to a halt, which is what a 3.2% GDP growth figure represents), there will be hardly enough space for the government to move on policy matters as the legislative process gets tied up with the trial/s. Investor confidence could dissipate (adopting a wait and see attitude) as the country becomes wrapped up in the unfolding political saga. It seems that winning legitimately as in the case of this lawful and constitutional exercise could come at a heavy economic price for the republic.
Thirdly, while the public mood towards the Corona court is certainly non-supportive, it is quite spurious to lay the grounds for an impeachment complaint based on the fact that the accused garners very low esteem from the respondents to a survey no matter how representative it is. To begin with, let us assume for a moment that this low rating is due to the poor quality of decisions rendered by the court.
The articles of impeachment claim that this is because the court is biased in favour of Mrs Arroyo. An alternative explanation is that the justices sitting on the bench are simply not up to scratch and that their legal credentials were not properly screened. This too was asserted in the complaint. But whose job was it to screen presidential nominees to the high court anyway? Shouldn't they bear responsibility for this outcome, not the appointees?
Also, the fact that the 'bias' explanation fits the narrative that the palace weaves makes it credible in the minds of the public in search of meaning behind events, but it does not necessarily make it true. Impeaching the Chief Justice based on his voting record on cases that affected Mrs Arroyo suffers from the law of small numbers. 'How many cases does it take to prove that someone is biased?' you might ask. Well that is precisely the problem. We cannot really use statistics to prove it one way or another. Of course an impeachment trial is more political than legal, which will make the outcome a product of naked power rather than a triumph for the rule of law.
The foregoing analysis lays down the reasons why I believe the impeachment of Renato Corona is more about the administration tilting at windmills than pursuing what it calls 'reform'. The meaning of that word has become so mangled in its usage by the government that it has been equated to sending Mrs Arroyo to jail.
In the narrative of the palace, the president is the chivalrous knight who has come to rescue the nation, which is the helpless damsel in distress, from the villains of the republic, Mrs Arroyo and her ilk. It makes for wonderful imagery and rhetorical flourishes, and anyone or any institution that strikes a discordant note upsets the psychological balance derived from this plot and deserves to be called an Arroyo sypathiser.
Yesterday, the Chief Justice began to weave a narrative of his own. He spun it as I said above an encroachment by the executive on an independent judiciary, a creeping dictatorship through legal and constitutional means (alluding to the method used by Ferdinand Marcos). It is quite ironic that the son of the twin icons of democracy should be accused of making such an audacious attempt at witling it down.
Our minds naturally seek coherence. This makes us susceptible to several cognitive biases. This is often achieved by creating causal relationships. The entry of P-Noy into the 2010 presidential race after the death of his mother—it was all pre-ordained (based on hindsight bias). His elevation to the highest post in the land was to serve one purpose, and that is to send the villainous Mrs Arroyo to the dungeon beneath his palace (based on confirmation bias). From there, the nation will achieve its destiny of greatness (halo effect).
Unfortunately, reality is not quite as neat. The real world is much more complex and random as our minds would wish it to be. The successful prosecution of Mrs Arroyo and her minions by itself will not move us any closer to the rule of law or to economic deliverance. These things are achieved through actual hard work and good fortune. In fact, the real reforms that could move the country closer to these ideals can be achieved in spite of Mrs Arroyo and the high court.
The fact that many of them will now be delayed due to the impeachment trial means that we are actually farther away from achieving our potential than we were before. The words 'downgrade' and 'catch-up' are once again on the lips of credit rating agencies. As it turns out, the very windmills that the government seeks to joust with in its anti-corruption drive are the very mechanics of government that help deliver bounty to the nation.
Unfortunately, P-Noy and his allies have made up their minds. This court which has upset them once too often in their 'quest' can do no right, just as the knight leading the charge against it can do no wrong. The same goes for Renato Corona and his sympathisers. They believe the president is out to get them, and that this impeachment trial is a vendetta masquerading as a crusade against injustice by the high court.
How much longer will the nation be captivated and spellbound by the romance of these cognitive illusions? How much longer will people 'dream the impossible dream' as the country languishes at the bottom of the heap? Someone has to play the role of Sancho Panza and unmask the romanticism woven by both sides for what it really is: a farce.
Many talk about the culture of corruption. It has been called a cancer that eats away at the fabric of society by the religious and the secular alike. I have likened it to the multi-headed hydra in Greek mythology, irrepressible. Read more
Former Executive Director of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Malou Jacob is said to have known that her removal from her post was imminent, in view of the decision of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to disapprove the renewal of her temporary appointment. Jacob, who lacks civil service eligibility, was notified by the NCCA that she had to clear out at once while she was out of the country, representing the Philippines at the 5th World Summit on Arts and Culture.
In an e-mail interview, Adelina Suemith, whom the agency designated as Officer-in-Charge (OIC) for the position of Executive Director, said, "[Jacob was aware] of the disapproval [of the CSC] and was verbally cautioned that her trip abroad might no longer be 'official'. She herself said before she left for Australia that she will abide by the Board's decision."
Regarding the timing of Jacob's removal, Suemith said, "It may appear that there was not enough time given to her since she was abroad, but she was aware of what could possibly happen after the CSC letter." Based on her understanding, the disapproval of Jacob's renewed appointment, as well as Jacob's removal, would take effect 15 days after September 22, the date on which the NCCA received the letter. According to Suemith, "This [meant] the position and its responsibilities should be assumed by a qualified officer by October 5. On October 6, [Jacob] was officially cut off." The Commissioners then had to fill the vacuum so that the agency could continue its operations.
Jacob has stated that while she respects the decision of the Commissioners, she has "no idea" why they acted the way they did. She said she was informed of her removal on October 4. A document obtained by The Pro Pinoy Project shows that Suemith was made OIC on the same date, after a special meeting of the Board.
'Caught in technicalities'
The Commission had appointed Jacob, a multi-awarded writer and director and veteran administrator, as Executive Director on March 12, 2010 for the period of one year, and had initially sought the renewal of her appointment for another year in spite of her ineligibility.
"[Jacob] is a very kind and peaceful person. I don't think there is anyone who cannot work with her. The fact that the Board endorsed her second appointment and was even willing to extend her [term] until her retirement in 2012, is clear indication that she was acceptable to the NCCA," Suemith said. The issue, she added, was not so much Jacob's performance as it was accountability over government resources, and the NCCA was just "caught in technicalities".
Suemith cited some of the consequences of Jacob's lack of civil service eligibility: "The resident auditor would no longer honor or recognize her authority to disburse agency funds. She could not be bonded (a requirement for disbursement purposes), since the bond requires a CSC-approved appointment. She could not also appoint another officer to do this function since her authority [was] in question. Because of [these], the Board had to decide immediately on the matter."
Suemith, who is identified in the NCCA web site as the Chief of the Program Monitoring and Evaluation Division, said she did not apply to be OIC, and does not receive additional remuneration from acting in this capacity. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a holder of a master's degree in sociology, Suemith is eligible for civil service and has served the cultural agency for 16 years.
Fraught process
The process of choosing an Executive Director would seem to be deeply fraught one for the NCCA, as revealed in the minutes of the regular commission meeting held on March 30 this year.
Even if it is the Board of Commissioners that appoints the Executive Director, it has apparently become customary for the President to send the Board a desire letter indicating his or her favored candidate. During the March 30 meeting, Deputy Executive Director Marlene Ruth Sanchez recalled that this has been the practice from 1992 to 2010, implying that the Board tended to accede to this expression of presidential desire. This goes against the grain of Republic Act No. 7356, the law that established the NCCA, which provides, in part, that Filipino national culture should be "independent, free of political and economic structures which inhibit cultural sovereignty".
Moreover, two unresolved issues surfaced at that meeting: first, whether the position of Executive Director is classified as part of the Career Executive Service (CES); and second, whether the Executive Director has a fixed term of office or serves at the pleasure of the Board of Commissioners.
The term of office was not discussed in detail, but with regard to the classification of the position, Suemith at the time stated that the CES Board (CESB) had declared the position of Executive Director as falling under the CES. The CSC, on the other hand, did not give a response specific to the NCCA as an institution, and instead provided copies of circulars and resolutions of court cases related to eligibility.
The CESB later adopted Resolution No. 945 on June 14. Hewing to the Supreme Court decision in the case of Civil Service Commission v. Court of Appeals and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, the resolution stated that CES coverage would be limited to positions requiring presidential appointments. This means that the NCCA Executive Director is not covered by the CESB.
In the case of Jacob, Suemith asserted that "the normal selection process was not followed", as the NCCA had received a desire letter from former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Precisely what this normal selection process entails is now under review, Suemith acknowledged.
"The criteria and process are being finalized," she said. "Hopefully, the new [Executive Director] will be announced in January or February of 2012."
When asked if the NCCA was considering proposing a set of equivalency criteria, a move suggested by Jacob in a statement that she circulated online, Suemith said the CSC had told the NCCA to submit its position for study. "Perhaps in the near future, when the new [Executive Director] is in place, we can begin to attend to [this]. Certainly, this is not something that can be resolved in a short period considering the huge bureaucracy. But Ms. Jacob's case can be used to convince the CSC to review its policies."
Career or non-career?
At present, it seems that the NCCA considers the Executive Director position as falling under the career service, which in Executive Order No. 292, also known as the Administrative Code of 1987, is characterized by the following: "(1) entrance based on merit and fitness to be determined as far as practicable by competitive examination, or based on highly technical qualifications; (2) opportunity for advancement to higher career positions; and (3) security of tenure." This means, among others, that the holder of the position can stay until retirement, unless removed for just cause.
Why this is so cannot be determined at the moment, especially given that the NCCA charter provides that each non-ex-officio member of the Commission has a three-year term of office, and may not serve more than two consecutive terms.
The Supreme Court has defined the meaning of "ex-officio" in the 1991 case Civil Liberties Union v. Executive Secretary: "The term ex-officio means 'from office; by virtue of office.' It refers to an 'authority derived from official character merely, not expressly conferred upon the individual character, but rather annexed to the official position.' Ex-officio likewise denotes an 'act done in an official character, or as a consequence of office, and without any other appointment or authority than that conferred by the office.' An ex-officio member of a board is one who is a member by virtue of his title to a certain office, and without further warrant or appointment."
The confusion may stem from two possibly conflicting sections of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 7356. Per Section 38, the position of Executive Director seems to be a career service position, as qualifications are supposed to be set in conjunction with existing civil service regulations. Section 36, however, provides that the Executive Director is appointed by the Board of Commissioners based on open nominations, which would make it a non-career service position, because it has a fixed term.
The position would also be non-career if considered a primarily confidential one, in light of the proximity rule applied by the Supreme Court in Civil Service Commission v. Nita P. Javier.
Legislative solution
A bill now pending in the Senate could prove useful to the NCCA and other national cultural institutions in the event that it is passed into law.
Authored by Sen. Manny Villar, Senate Bill No. 1265 seeks to encourage artists to pursue civil service careers by recognizing, in law, that their talents should be the principal bases for their selection, appointment, and promotion, and by establishing an Artists Career Service (ACS), a closed career system tailored to the special characteristics of the artistic profession. Records indicate that Villar has been filing this bill at least as far back as the 13th Congress, when he first became Senator.
The ACS would cover personnel who have been recognized as having talent in at least one cultural or artistic field, and who occupy government positions directly involved with the creation, performance, presentation, and development of work in music, literature, visual arts, film and media arts, theater, and dance. Among the employees that would be brought into its embrace are those belonging to the NCCA and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).
Incidentally, Presidential Decree No. 15, which created the CCP, specifically exempts officials and employees of the institution from coverage of civil service rules. Inquiries sent to the CCP and to the CSC regarding how this provision is observed in the current regulatory climate, if at all, have so far met with no response.
Jacob had served in government with the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) for nine years, starting in 1987, as the head of its Visual, Literary, and Media Arts Department, before she joined the NCCA as Deputy Executive Director in 2008.
Information from the Senate web site shows that Villar's bill was read and referred to the Committee on Civil Service and Government Reorganization, the Committee on Finance, and the Committee on Education, Arts, and Culture on August 31, 2010. The last Committee is headed by Sen. Edgardo J. Angara, one of the authors of the NCCA charter and a member of the NCCA Board of Commissioners.
Neither Villar nor Angara could be reached for comment for this article.
*Editor's note (December 9, 2011; 9:12 AM GMT +8): This article has been slightly modified to reflect the fact that Adelina Suemith did not apply to be OIC Executive Director.
With the release of third quarter GDP figures upsetting all but the most ardent economic apologists for this administration, the time has come for it to re-think its priorities.
The situation is nearing a critical level. As the whole of Europe is placed on credit watch and as recovery in the US struggles for momentum, the vibrancy in the domestic economy is being sucked out by government's poor infrastructure spending rate just at a time when it is needed. Cabinet officials throughout the year have been promising a more rapid deployment, but this has so far not materialized.
The incorrigible 'prophet of boom' from the Ateneo Graduate School of Business Cielito Habito despite his best efforts at painting a rosy picture for the government has himself acknowledged the third quarter results to be disappointing. Here is how this professor of 'Aquinomics' concludes his most recent column for the Inquirer entitled, Is confidence dissipating?
(W)hat worries me most is the possible dissipation of the initial confidence surge that greeted the new administration and led to brisk private domestic investment growth over the past year. With these private domestic investment numbers now apparently slowing down while price increases have been speeding up, the President and his men on top of the economy should keep a close eye on the ball—or risk losing steam altogether (emphasis added).
That's it—the penny has finally dropped. Only a delusional person would keep insisting that the government is headed in the right direction when it comes to managing the economy. Will this lead to a teachable moment, or will the administration remain antagonized by criticism seeing sinister plots behind them, spooked by shadows and haunted by the spectre of its immediate predecessor?
Throughout the year, the government has continued to fall back on its good poll figures to demonstrate that it has been performing to the satisfaction of the people. Poll figures however may not be a good barometer of the government's competence in economic affairs given the 'halo effect' that has made the administration appear more creditable than it should.
Market analysts have already pointed out and the Bangko Sentral agrees that stimulating greater demand to address the slowdown in growth lies not in the hands of monetary authorities at this point but with fiscal managers. What this means is that the government has to spend more and talk less. Or in the words of Jerry Maguire, it has to "show me the money!"
All talk, no action
The government talks profusely about the need to ramp up infrastructure spending in its Philippine Development Plan released early this year (see page 17). "An inefficient transport network and unreliable power supply" is what has created a poor investment climate according to the Plan. Solving this meant greater spending, but when it comes to actually delivering on this, the government fell short of its rhetoric. Next year's appropriations will hit a mere 2.5%, when the benchmark for a middle income country such as ours is 5% of GDP.
P-Noy in his first SONA said that the infrastructure build-up would be achieved through public-private partnerships, but nearly eighteen months on and counting, the fulfillment of the now diminished scope of this program remains to be seen. The confidence of the business community will eventually wear thin as Habito suggests if delays persist.
When the president addressed a meeting of the Makati Business Club, a community highly supportive of his candidacy, there was some disappointment over his over-emphasis on the case against former president Gloria Arroyo and his squabble with the Supreme Court. As these businessmen suggest, the risk is for P-Noy to get so focused on prosecuting Mrs Arroyo that he fails to keep his 'eye on the ball'.
And it requires some doing. To ramp up spending by 2.5% of GDP will require as much concentration as he can muster. In a ten trillion peso economy, this will mean doubling the present effort of 250 billion pesos a year. This will dwarf the growth of the CCT or conditional cash transfers which cost about thirty billion.
Because the president closed off the avenue of raising revenues through new taxes, he found himself left with no other option but to fund his development plan through private financing. That has proven tricky as well, which is why he now needs to consider a third option.
That third option which I had first written about late last year which then got echoed by no less than the BSP Governor a few months back is for the government to issue infrastructure bonds to the BSP which is at present earning negative returns on its foreign currency reserves.
Better returns
By offering the Bank a better yield, the government would be doing it a favour. Raul Fabella a former dean of the UP School of Economics has lent this proposal his seal of approval. He believes the risk from runaway inflation to be negligible under the proven monetary stewardship of the BSP.
The continued growth of foreign remittances from OFWs makes this option feasible, but if the government needed further convincing, then the following points should help build the case for it:
Greater public infrastructure spending not by new taxes, nor by increased external or internal borrowing (as per Mrs Arroyo's stimulus program in 2008/09), but by tapping our excess foreign currency reserves is not only appropriate, it would be the most effective and innovative way for this government to sustain economic growth through the turbulence in the global economy and beyond.
But we have to get real now. When faced with a possible course of action that is within the feasible set as defined by technocrats, what often prevents governments from acting is not the lack of rational arguments but the incentive problem. What led to this whole debacle in the first place was the administration's fear of spending that would benefit internal patron-client networks left behind by its predecessor. In other words, politics rather than economics has been driving its decisions.
Making daang matuwid work
In the past we have seen how corruption and rent-seeking have reduced the amount of money available for developmental spending, but now we see how the opposite has reduced that amount even more. In the words of Samuel Huntington, "In terms of economic growth, the only thing worse than a society with a rigid overcentralized, dishonest bureaucracy is one with a rigid, overcentralized honest bureaucracy."
The challenge for P-Noy is to make his mantra of daang matuwid work for the country rather than against it. Through the discipline and hard work of Filipinos working overseas, the country has a rather unique opportunity to make up for the shortfall in taxes generated internally. The current situation reminds me of the parable of the talents where the honest, but slothful servant dug a hole in the ground to store the talent that was entrusted to him by his master for safekeeping.
The Aquino government is like that servant. It was entrusted with a small but buoyant economy at the beginning of its term. So far, it has managed to keep it afloat, running while standing still, growing on aggregate but shrinking in real per capita terms. At the end of the story, the master reprimands the servant by saying, "To everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who doesn't have, even that which he has will be taken away."
That sound a lot like where the economy is heading under the president's watch. The little that the Philippines had at the start could be taken away from it, while the plenty that our ASEAN neighbours have keeps on growing. It is time this government put its money where its fiscal mouth has been and start showing us the money. From another biblical parable comes the saying, "to whom much is given, much is required." P-Noy was given a huge electoral mandate back in 2010. It is time he used it.


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Good news
With pension and bonding bills, Dayton saves best for last
(by Michael Moore) Common ground between Gov. Mark Dayton and the Republican-controlled Legislature was in short supply at the Capitol this year, but lawmakers were able to compromise on two bills that union members lobbied hard for during the recently ended session.
On May 30, Dayton signed a bipartisan bill to stabilize pension funds covering more than 500,000 public-sector workers, the last item of unfinished business from the 2018 session. Read more »
Trades-backed alliance ramps up recruitment as MN's construction industry booms
(by Michael Moore, St. Paul Union Advocate) A union-backed initiative to recruit more women and people of color into construction careers is hoping a new website will amplify its marketing push and help ease the industry's stubborn labor shortage. Read more »
Exhibit on tradeswomen and original builders opens at Capitol
One section focuses on the role of women in constructing the Capitol. The other shows tools and objects made and used by the original tradespeople who built the statehouse. The display grew out of the Labor Education Service's "Who Built Our Capitol?" project that uncovered more than 620 of the original builders from1896-1905.
Read more »
Minnesota Laborer is finalist for national social justice award
Edwina Patterson, a member of Laborers Local 653 in Minneapolis, is in Washington, D.C., this week to be honored for her work advocating for more people of color in the Building Trades. She is one of 10 finalists for the Edna Social Justice Award given by the Berger-Marks Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to supporting the leadership of young women in the labor movement. Read more »
Jury selects designs for Capitol plaque to honor workers
(by Randy Croce, Labor Education Service, U of MN) After more than 100 years, the workers who built the Minnesota State Capitol, including six who were killed in the construction, will be honored in the statehouse. Read more »
Building Trades give back this holiday season
While the holidays are a time to count our blessings, the season also serves as a reminder of those less fortunate in our communities. Luckily, there are countless ways people can give back locally, and members across Minnesota's construction and building trades unions are first in line to give of their time, resources and expertise. Read more »
Volunteer Pipefitters keep heat on for area low-income, elderly homeowners
(Union Advocate) Volunteer members of St. Paul-based Pipefitters Local 455 serviced and repaired furnaces free of charge to disabled, elderly and low-income homeowners in the Twin Cities area Saturday during their annual HEAT'S ON day of service. Read more »
With Lowertown development, union pension fund invests in Building Trades workers
(Union Advocate) The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust treated the men and women working to redevelop a property in St. Paul's Lowertown district to lunch Aug. 31, highlighting the trust's unique approach to investing union pension funds in union-built construction projects. The development, 333 on the Park, is transforming an eight-story office building, originally constructed in 1913, into an apartment building with 134 market-rate units. Read more »
Native pride meets union pride in Cement Masons' training program
(Michael Moore, Union Advocate) As the first trickle of mud oozed out of the concrete truck's chute, 13 trainees dressed in hardhats, safety vests and tall rubber boots sprung into action, using shovels and trowels to distribute the concrete evenly across 13 rectangular slabs.
The July heat was pushing 90 degrees, and the trainees, participants in a unique pre-apprenticeship program co-sponsored by the Cement Masons and area tribal authorities, worked in silence, heads down, as their instructors barked orders and critiqued their work.
Workers Memorial Mural celebrated at dedication event
On a hot, sunny Memorial Day, May 30, 2016, a crowd of over 400 people gathered at the Workers Memorial Garden on the lawn at the State Capitol to dedicate a Workers Memorial Mural. The installation, a hand-cut stone mosaic created by Twin Cities artist Craig David, can be seen on the south-facing wall of the Workers Memorial Garden. It is a wild mix of colors and shapes that suggest images of workers and working life throughout the history of Minnesota. Read more »

subset: commoncrawl


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Rafi's Spicebox
About Rafi's Spicebox
We want to share with you our passion and knowledge of spices and Indian cookery, to help you create delicious food to feed your family and friends.
We have shops in Sudbury, York, Harrogate, Newcastle Fenwick Food Hall, Leeds and online at spicebox.co.uk. Pop by for tips & advice, menu planning ideas and our handmade Curry Packs, tailored to your tastes. We also have a large range of loose spices, gift sets & kitchenware, pickles & chutneys, snacks & sweets, breads, rice and much more. ...Show the whole text
Rafi's Spicebox's previous events
Riccall Beer Festival
Saturday, 16 September 2017


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Panoramic path of high landscape interest passing hill-side near the built-up area of Volastra, by the crossroads with the route 587, a small distance below the locality of Case Pianca. From the square of the Madonna della Salute Church in Volastra, along the vineyards from which the CDO wine "Le Coste" is produced, the route goes on downline of the state street 370 Litoranea, among the terraced vineyards delimited with dry-stone walls up to the locality of Case Porciano. Once passed the few houses one enters a maritime pine forest which replaced the neglected vineyards, then one goes on in a panoramic woodland up to the crossroads with the path 587 Corniglia-Sella Marvede.
Notice: We remind you that the Cinque Terre National Park's trails must be always walked with good climatic weather conditions, with adequate shoes and only by persons having a good hiking experience.


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1st November 739. Paganism and Christianity.
Welcome to the Month of November.
November-The ninth Roman month from the Latin for nine when in 44 BCE the calendar changed to that based on the solar cycle. It had 29 days in Republican and 30 in the Julian calendars. It was Anglo-Saxon the wint-monath-month of wind.
Of all the months November is the least likely to be dry. If we define a very dry month as having less than an inch of rain there have been only three such Novembers in the last 275 years, compared with nine Octobers and ten Decembers. The driest November on record, was in 1945 when the average over England and Wales was just 0.67 inches (17 mm), whilst Fleetwood, Lancashire, had none, the only record of a rainless November.
On 4th November in 1946 the highest November temperature recorded in the UK, under standard conditions, was 21.7c (71f) at Prestatyn, Flintshire, when the foehn wind descended the lee slope of the Welsh hills. Exceptional warmth in the month is almost always imported, being delivered from sub-tropical latitudes by a strong south-westerly or southerly wind.
November sunshine is normally so feeble so it contributes little to temperature on relatively warm days. England's warmest (none foehn related) temperature was on November 5th 1938, when 70f (21.1c) was recorded at several sites in East Anglia and the South East.
In Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona, Speed refers to Halloween as the time when: 'The special marks of a man in love, is to speak puling [whining], like a beggar at Hallowmas'.
It was Pope Boniface IV (608-15), who replaced the sacrifice, augury and prayer of the Roman Lemuria held in May, for the lost souls of the dead, by designating May 13th, the last day of Lemuralia, as All Saints Day.
However the date was later moved by Pope Gregory III Today in 739, when he officially designated 1st November as All Saints' Day (or All Hallows' Day).
The Celts, pre-dating Christianity, called it Samhain. (pronounced sowan), the Celtic 'summer's end' to return at Beltane or May Day. It was a solar festival to mark the end of harvest and the onset of winter, with associated fire rituals, reflecting the need to propitiate the gods, nature spirits and dying sun, to ensure the survival of livestock and indeed the harvest cycle.(1)
Samhain was thus a time when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was thought to be thinnest, souls which needed sustenance with offers of food: 'soul-cakes'.
Thus in the later Middle Ages arose the custom of 'Souling', associated with the notion of purgatory and All Souls' Day, 2nd November, the day after All Hallows, when the sharing of a 'soul-cake' with the poor helped the rich to buy some respite from purgatory. Thus poor children and youths would visit houses begging 'soul cakes' in return for saying prayers for the dead.
After the Reformation the Church of England in its 39 Articles 1563 rejected the Romish doctrine of prayers for the dead and purgatory: one was now condemned to either heaven or hell.(2)
It wasn't until the early 19th century Catholic revival Oxford Movement that prayers for the deceased again appeared in some Anglican Churches.
The medieval custom of 'guising', dressed as hobgoblins and witches was an attempt to confound and placate evil spirits, on the premise that 'if you can't beat them join them' which developed into the custom in Ireland and Scotland of visiting houses with lanterns scooped from turnips in exchange for money, fruit or cake.
However as with all things juvenile merrymaking degenerated eventually into the blackmail of 'trick or treat', with underlying reasons completely lost.(3)
(1) J.G. Frazer says there is doubt whether the bonfires were for purification from evil spirits, or to ensure regrowth, however could it have been a mixture of both? (Author).
(2) It was denounced in Homily on Prayer Part 3 which rejected the observance of All Souls, though church continued to be so named.
(3) Recorded in 1895 in F. Leslie's Popular Monthly, Vol 40 November 1895. Google Books result.
(a) Also in 1891 the Rev.M.P.Hulme of Tattenhall Church collected 'souling' songs from local children.
Ref: Mannion M, Francis Anglican View of Purgatory 16.10.2011.
Ref: wikipedia.co.uk/samhain. Wikipedia/soul_cakes.
Ref: Studies in Magic and Religion. Frazer, James George. Ch 63 Interpretation of Fire Festivals.
Ref: catholicculture.org.
Ref: Gregory E David 2010 Late Victorian Folklore Revival, Scarborough Press P.315.
Ref: Death and Afterlife,Richard P Taylor P.163.


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Pet friendly Labelle hotels and motels are listed below along with the pet policy if available. Search for cheap and discount pet friendly hotel rates in or near Labelle, QC for your upcoming individual or group travel with your pets. We list the best petfriendly Labelle Quebec hotel and motel rooms allowing pets or dogs. Review the dog friendly Labelle hotel list below to find the perfect lodging for you and your pets. Planning group travel? Find Labelle QC Group Hotel Rates
How should we direct your call?
With a stay at Blueberry Lake Resort in Labelle, you'll be within the region of Nominingue Golf Club and Gregory Charbonneau Park.
When you stay at Auberge Mountain View Inn in Mont-Tremblant, you'll be near ski lifts and convenient to Aventures Parc and Aventures Neige.
Located in Mont-Laurier, Quality Inn Mont-Laurier is minutes from Tourist Information Office of Mont-Laurier and Mont-Laurier Hospital.
Located in Sainte-Adele, Auberge Bonne Nuit-Bonjour Bed & Breakfast is in the mountains and convenient to Le Chantecler Golf Club and Sainte Adele Theatre.
Located in Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson, Le Viking Resort & Marina is on a lake and convenient to Esterel Golf Club and Hors Limite.
A stay at Auberge Montebello places you in the heart of Montebello, convenient to Sanctuaire Notre-Dame d'Etchemin and Manoir-Papineau National Historic Site.


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I was followed by the same molester twice.
A few weeks ago, when I was walking home from the MRT station.
I caught a glimpse of this guy, suddenly I felt uneasy.
I thought to myself, maybe because he is not handsome.
Instinctual reaction, I turn to look around me if it was safe to walk alone.
And i saw alot of people coming towards our direction so I thought it was perfectly fine.
After walking happily for awhile, I started to realise, I was totally alone, and someone is behind me.
Automatically, I turned off my music, my heart was throbbing so fast that I thought I could tear through my chest.
I was a few steps from home so darted forwards, lucky I didn't take the lift that fellow followed me all the way to my house.
While I was rushing up the stairs, he crossed my path and touched my butt.
I was totally dumb struck!
Then he ran all the way up to some where in the middle of 4th and 5th level waited there, I opened my house door, his eyes almost popped from their sockets.
He's stupid or what, or maybe it was me, anyway he ran away after that.
I'm so regretted that I didn't give him a good kick in his balls, spit at him, curse his whole family, then snap a picture of him, then post everywhere on the Internet, or just send it to xiaxue.
After the incident, baby came fetch me from the bus stop everyday, love you to bits.
It was a long while, nothing bad ever happened again, so we let down our guard.
I was walking home from the MRT sttation again.
Then my eyes caught him standing at the exact same corner again.
Every single cells in my brain screamed to me "IT"S HIM".
I started to have a panic attack.
Grabbed my fone and dialed my knight's number.
He came running, not in his shiny armor, in black shirt and jeans actually.
The molester made it so obvious that he was following me.
I crossed the traffic lights thrice, he followed suit.
Everything that he does spells stupid to me.
We ended up stalking him, lets him have a taste of his own medicines.
It was fun, and nerves wrecking at the same time.


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- About Us
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Curtis KristofitzSeptember 15, 1935 ~ September 2, 2017 (age 81)
Curtis Kristofitz, a longtime resident of St. Louis MO, died September 2, 2017 at the age of 81years.
Curt grew up in Fargo, ND. He graduated from Fargo Central High School in 1953 and received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from NDSU in 1960. He was employed by the Veteran's Administration Hospital System as a civil engineer. He spent the last 21 years of his 34-year career with the VA Medical Center in St. Louis retiring in 1994. He remained in St. Louis during his retirement years. Golfing and bowling were two of his favorite activities.
Curt is survived by his three sons; Brian (Amy), Tucson AZ; Gary, Columbia Heights MN; and Dale (Becca), Circle Pines, MN as well as 8 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. He is also survived by two sisters; Carol (Jerry) Smith West Fargo ND and Betty Kraft Escondido CA, sister in-law Coleen Kristofitz Duncanville TX, numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; Charles and Astrid Kristofitz; brothers; Donald Kristofitz and David Kristofitz.
Graveside Service: 11am, Thursday, September 28, 2017 at Sunset Memorial Gardens, 1715 52nd Ave South Fargo ND
West Funeral Home & Life Tribute Center


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In May this year, the Spanish government allowed exploratory drilling for oil in the waters off Lanzarote and Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands. This is the most important area for cetaceans in Europe, playing host to one-third of all varieties.
This is one of the last places on the planet where you can still watch groups of whales diving and swimming with their calves, huge sperm whales in search of giant squids, or dolphin pods playfully jumping.
Furthermore, both these sites are UNESCO-designated test beds for innovative sustainable development practices. This is an area whose people are dependent on tourism and fishing, and this puts their livelihood at risk.
This drilling is in complete contradiction with these principles.
WWF is calling on the people's support to petition the Spanish government to set up a whale sanctuary in an area that they themselves endorsed.
To sign the petition, click here.
*All images and infographics belong to WWF.


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Bones of Betrayal - Jefferson Bass
This "author" is interesting. This book, which is the 5th (I think) in a series is actually co-authored by Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson. Dr. Bass is a forensic anthropologist and professor at University of Tennessee. He is the founder of the U of T's Anthropology Research Facility aka The Body Farm. The Body Farm is basically an area specifically designed to study decomposition in as many varied and creative ways as people who study that kind of stuff want to be. Using...yes, human bodies...people actually will donate their bodies to the farm for research in the event of their death. Crazy stuff! Jon Jefferson is a writer, journalist and documentary filmmaker that met Dr. Bass during the making of a documentary on The Body Farm. They now collaborate writing fiction about a forensic anthropologist and professor at U of T named Bill Brockton. (note the similarities, hmmm??)
Ok, I checked, this is the 5th book in the series. I have read the previous four as well. All very good, entertaining, funny-ish, well researched and accurate (as far as I can tell, anatomically nothing seems to be amiss, but really, what the hell do I know about forensics except what I have learned ready other books)
This particular book is about the mysterious murder of an old man from Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Oak Ridge of Manhattan Project fame. The above mentioned old man is a physicist that worked on the Manhattan Project during WW2 and is murdered by the ingestion of iridium192 and subsequent radiation poisoning. A couple more bodies turn up along the way and then of course with the twists and turns of any good mystery there is a surprise at the end.
I was intrigued by the details surrounding the radiation poisoning. There is a lot of effort put into describing the "radiation incident" and the fall out (no pun intended) as a result. Keep in mind that the man's body held a radioactive substance and then was transported and sat in the morgue until it was discovered on autopsy that the body was contaminated. Multiple levels of exposure by multiple people. The books does a good job explaining the exposure, the protocols, the after effect's of exposure and so on. This captured my interest maybe a little more than the average Joe or Jody, due to the nature of my job that does involve a certain component of emergency preparedness. I do work with radiation experts and we do have protocols in place re: accidental radiation exposures and junk
The historical component of the book was also very good. There was a great deal of detail about the Manhattan Project, the "race for the bomb" and key people involved in it. Some was fictional and some was not. I really don't know very much about the history of WW2. Sad to say that I am very deficient in my knowledge of 20th century history, period. That was the one year in high school that history was optional and I chose to take art and home ec instead of history, Go figure. Anyway...
The book does get into the history of the "race for the bomb", a touch of espionage, and also a touch of ethics all in relation to the nuclear research of the time and where it lead.
There was a reference in the book to Dr. Strangelove. I am now going to have to watch this. We own it, so it's right there on the bookshelf. I do love Peter Sellers and am quite looking forward to watching this movie, now. I think I did start watching it once, but never finished. Will report back...of course.


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- North America
- United States
- Indiana
- Westlea Park
- Search
Traveling Luck for Westlea Park Indiana, United States
The timezone in Westlea Park is America/Iqaluit
Morning Sunrise at 06:11 and Evening Sunset at 21:16. It's Dark
Rough GPS position Latitude. 40.5711°, Longitude. -85.6867°
Morning Sunrise at 06:11 and Evening Sunset at 21:16. It's Dark
Rough GPS position Latitude. 40.5711°, Longitude. -85.6867°
Weather near Westlea Park Last report from Grissom Air Force Base / Peru, IN 48.5km awayTemperature: 26°C / 79°F
Wind: 5.8km/h North
Cloud: Broken at 2700ft Solid Overcast at 6000ft
Satellite map of Westlea Park and it's surroudings...
Geographic features & Photographs around Westlea Park in Indiana, United States
school building(s) where instruction in one or more branches of knowledge takes place.
- John W Kendall Elementary School (0.5km)
- Franklin School (1.8km)
- Bennett School (1.8km)
- Riverview Elementary School (2.3km)
- Lincoln Elementary School (2.3km)
- Mann School (2.6km)
- Martin Boots Elementary School (2.7km)
- Grant School (3.1km)
- Highland School (3.2km)
- Washington Elementary School (3.4km)
- Saint Paul School (3.8km)
- Clayton Brownlee Elementary School (4km)
- Allen Elementary School (4.6km)
- Marion High School (4.7km)
- Emerson School (5km)
- Frances Slocum Elementary School (5.3km)
- Thomas Jefferson Elementary School (5.6km)
- John L McCulloch Junior High School (6.3km)
- Marion College (7.2km)
- Center Elementary School (7.7km)
park an area, often of forested land, maintained as a place of beauty, or for recreation.
- Westlea Park (0km)
- Sunnyacres Park (1km)
- Franklin Park (1.5km)
- Lincoln Park (2.1km)
- Seventh Michigan Park (2.5km)
- Barnes Park (2.7km)
- Riverside Park (2.8km)
- Webster Park (3km)
- Matter Park (3km)
- Home Park (6.2km)
- Bell Park (6.9km)
populated place a city, town, village, or other agglomeration of buildings where people live and work.
- Westwood Square (1.8km)
- Shady Hills (2.8km)
- Marion (3.3km)
- Kiley (5.9km)
- Michaelsville (6.5km)
Local Feature A Nearby feature worthy of being marked on a map..
- North Park Plaza Shopping Center (0.8km)
- Northgate Shopping Center (1km)
- Meshingomesta Country Club (3.9km)
- Morris Chapel (7.7km)
Accommodation around Westlea Park
Comfort Suites 1345 N Baldwin Ave, Marion
Hampton Inn Marion 1502 N Baldwin Ave, Marion
Boarders Inn & Suites 501 E 4th St, Marion
stream a body of running water moving to a lower level in a channel on land.
- Massey Creek (2.6km)
- Boots Creek (2.8km)
- Hummel Creek (3.3km)
- Lugar Creek (7.2km)
canal an artificial watercourse.
- Little Crane Pond Ditch (3.4km)
- Steelman Ditch (5km)
- Lomax Ditch (5.6km)
- Hailies Prairie Ditch (7.2km)
tower a high conspicuous structure, typically much higher than its diameter.
- WBAT-AM (Marion) (1.6km)
- WMRI-FM (Marion) (4.8km)
- WGOM-AM (Marion) (4.8km)
cemetery a burial place or ground.
- Grant Memorial Park (4.4km)
- Salem Cemetery (5.3km)
- Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery (6.4km)
church a building for public Christian worship.
- Northwestern Church (0.9km)
- Mount Olive Church (4.8km)
reservoir(s) an artificial pond or lake.
- Wagner Lake (4.8km)
administrative division an administrative division of a country, undifferentiated as to administrative level.
- Pleasant, Township of (7.2km)
lake a large inland body of standing water.
- Crane Pond (4.3km)
building(s) a structure built for permanent use, as a house, factory, etc..
- Emily Flynn Home (3.6km)
second-order administrative division a subdivision of a first-order administrative division.
- Grant County (3.3km)
Wikipedia entries close to Westlea Park
- Marion, Indiana city o city
- Sweetser, Indiana city o city
- Jonesboro, Indiana city o city
- Gas City (Indiana) city k city
- La Fontaine, Indiana city o city
- Swayzee, Indiana city o city
- Pipe Creek Sinkhole city o city
- Converse, Indiana city o city
- Van Buren, Indiana city o city
- Fairmount, Indiana city o city
- Upland, Indiana city o city
- Fowlerton, Indiana city o city
- Amboy, Indiana city o city
- Mount Etna, Indiana city o city
- Warren, Indiana city o city
- Greentown, Indiana city o city
Airports close to Westlea ParkGrissom arb(GUS), Peru, Usa (48.5km)
Indianapolis international(IND), Indianapolis, Usa (130.5km)
James m cox dayton international(DAY), Dayton, Usa (175.4km)
Wright patterson afb(FFO), Dayton, Usa (195.9km)
Terre haute international hulman fld(HUF), Terre haute, Usa (225km)


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Duke MSTP's journal club is headed this year by Amy Wisdom. Meetings follow a typical journal club format, with journal articles announced well in advance.
If you plan to attend, please respond to Amy.
Journal Club for the 2017-2018 academic year will be held in Conference Room 4030, TSCHE at 5:15 pm unless otherwise noted.
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
|Tuesday, February 27, 2018
|Tuesday, April 3, 2018
|Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Tuesday, May 15, 2018


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Hear Music When No One's There? You're Hallucinating
"Seven years ago Reginald King was lying in a hospital bed recovering from bypass surgery when he first heard the music. …Each day, the music returns. …Last year, Mr. King was referred to Dr. Victor Aziz, a psychiatrist at St. Cadoc's Hospital in Wales. Dr. Aziz explained to him that there was a name for his experience: musical hallucinations. …There is no standard procedure for treating musical hallucinations. Some doctors try antipsychotic drugs…." (New York Times)
Another part of living medicalized. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a hallunication is the "Perception of visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, or gustatory experiences without an external stimulus and with a compelling sense of their reality, usually resulting from a mental disorder or as a response to a drug."
See: "Mental Illness: Psychiatry's Phlogiston" by Thomas Szasz
Cross-posted at The Foundation for Economic Education
P.S.: There's a great 1950 Irving Berlin song called "(I Wonder Why) You're Just In Love," which has wonderful lyrics, including (with my commentary):
"I hear singing and there's no one there [auditory hallunication]
I smell blossoms and the trees are bare [olfactory halluncination]....
You don't need analyzin' [Szaszian!]
It is not so surprisin'
That you feel very strange but nice....
You're not sick [Denial]
You're just in love"
Hear the music and read the lyrics here.


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4. Regulation of Final Work
Bylaw of the student final work
In order to harmonize the final work owed by each student, the assignment, the supervision, the tutoring and the evaluation criteria of the work are regulated by a set of rules and requirements settled up in the following items.
1. Subjects are defined by TTPU Faculty members (Supervisors) from the B.Sc. academic program in charge of any teaching module in the program. Supervisors oversee the students' work, as well as undertake the responsibility of the coherence and the substance of the work carried out by each student self-sufficiently.
2. The Supervisor may have recourse to an Uzbek tutor to be defined from time to time (preferably but not necessary an academician). The tutor will be able to help the student and the supervisor as well, giving continuity to the relationship with the student.
3. The students will be allowed to start their thesis only after having achieved 140 out of the total amount of 180 credits in the three years BS curriculum.
4. The average amount of the required students' work will be around one and a half man- months, with a tolerance of half man month (i.e. min 1 man-month; max 2 man-months).
5. The duration of the work won't be less than a month but not even more than 8 months: in case the students should be late because of the remaining exams, the work will be officially overruled and the students will have to renew the application.
6. The period of the thesis will have to finish 10 days before the graduation session and the students will have to hand over the relevant form to the Deanery, with the Supervisor's approval. It is the Supervisor responsibility to confirm that the work done by the student has reached a sufficient level.
7. The Degree Committee will be made up of 5 Supervisors at least (presence by videoconference is admitted); the tutors may join the Committee as auxiliary members, without any role in the work evaluation.
8. The final score is determined on a scale from 0 to 3, and added to the average of the examination marks (prorated to a 110 basis) obtained by the student in the B.Sc. program. In case the sum exceeds 110, the "cum Laude" (with honor) level of distinction is acknowledged. The score is established by the Degree Committee on the basis of the student's work, his/her skill to discuss it, and the Supervisor evaluation (the Supervisor proposes the evaluation, above all on the basis of the student's abilities to self-sufficiently develop the work, also considering how difficult it is).
The score will be awarded according to the following evaluation criteria:
3 - Very good (definitely higher than the average corresponding to the 10% top)
2 - Good (good work on average)
1 - Quite good 0 - Pass
In case of a definitely weak dissertation, the Degree Committee may reject the work (which is evaluated "Failed") and ask the student to repeat the final examination.
9. The students have to submit their application form to the Deanery well in advance (deadlines will be stated at each examination session), containing the subject of the thesis approved by the Supervisor, the name of the Supervisor, the possible name of the Uzbek tutor and the place of carrying out the work. The Supervisor is required to confirm for acceptance to the Deanery via e-mail. The Dean in charge or - in case of absence - the Academic vice-Rector is required to approve the work assignment. The application is accepted or refused within a week and student is informed by the Deanery.
10. The proposed thesis subjects along with the corresponding Supervisor will be published on the TTPU educational web-platform (Moodle system). It is responsibility of the students to contact the Supervisor and ask him for a preliminary consensus.
Tashkent, September 22nd - 2014
Pro-Rector on Academic
and Scientific Matters Prof. Andrea De Marchi


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Balance for Gloria Mirror
Balance for Gloria Mirror
Custom rectangular mirror that is 32 wide x 52 long. Mirror's total price is $2,210 -- this includes shipping to Virginia, boxing, and the mirror itself.
*Discounted $350 for frame and finish mark
Mirror will have a custom antiqued finish. We will prepare a finish sample before commissioning the piece.
Shipment will occur in a wooden crate designed specifically for this piece. Mirror will be fully insured, so any damage incurred during shipment will result in a full refund.
Transporting and opening the mirror's crate will require a drill and the box may weigh apx. 120lbs. If the piece needs to be transported upstairs, etc. please plan accordingly.
Mirror will be mounted on 1/2" wooden backboard, which has a dark, blackened edge to reduce visibility. The mirror will come with a metal French cleat as its hanging fixture. This will need to be mounted to the wall (or hanging surface) by you. The screws/anchors for mounting the piece will not be included, as different surfaces require specialty screws.
Instructions for hanging the piece will be included before the piece is shipped. All tracking information will also be included upon shipment.
Thanks and please message me with questions,


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Welcome To The
International Shooting
The course took place in Khartoum, from the 15th to the 22nd of October, and it was attended by 34 aspiring coaches from all over the country.
The ISSF Academy conducted a D-Course under the IOC Olympic Solidarity Technical Course for Coaches program, on behalf of the Sudan National Olympic Committee. The course was held in Khartoum (SUD) from the 15th to the 22nd of October.
The course was meant for Rifle/Pistol aspiring coaches and it welcomed 34 of them, including four women, coming from all over the country. The course was well received and helped Sudan National Olympic Committee and Sudanese Shooting Federation to develop sustainable training structure for the aspiring shooters through these trained coaches.
Mr. Hashim Haroun, President of the Sudanese Olympic Committee, Mr. Seif Hamid Merghany, President of the Sudanese Shooting Federation, and Mr. Muhsin Mehanni ,Vice-President of the Sudanese Shooting Federation, made sure that the course was conducted in order to provide an excellent support structure and an efficient training environment.
The course was led by ISSF Academy tutors Mrs. Pournima Zanane of India and Mr. Ahmad Seif Eldin Daoud of Egypt, and it included a series of lectures and technical workshops covering many topics: planning of training sessions, annual plans, organizing camps, physical training and other key aspects, all aimed at the development of shooting sport in the country.
The course was extensively covered by the national television, creating a strong and positive feedback for the activities of the ISSF/IOC Olympic Solidarity Department, the Sudanese National Olympic Committee the Sudanese Shooting Federation. Live interviews with the tutors were broadcasted in local news channels BeIn Sports and El-Hellal, while also appearing in a number of local newspapers.
Participants on the course were very satisfied with their experience. Noble Adam Mose said: "I was impressed by the quality of the teaching provided by the ISSF Academy tutors. I will benefit greatly of this course during the upcoming Youth Olympic Games that will take place in Argentina."
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Najib Razak's claim that the Opposition has not been consistent in their stand and struggle is sadly correct.
The differing viewpoints within the Opposition, the constant squabbling among themselves, the inability to agree even on the most basic of things since we gave them our trust on a silver platter a couple of elections ago, means that they have not been able to project a unified image with a consistent point of view. The Opposition needs to address its image problems, pronto, if it wants to salvage its future!
As much as it hurts to admit Najib is right, it does give me some sort of satisfaction to know that at least someone is consistent.
Who – you ask?
Well, Najiblah. Siapa lagi?
Najib and his government have been consistently milking the rakyat. The introduction of the GST has been hailed as a bold step by the government to rescue the nation, financially. The truth is, however, that it is us, the rakyat who have been squeezed in pursuit of this lofty objective.
Yes, Najib and Barisan Nasional have been very consistent in taking the rakyat for a spin. Subsidies have been cut, prices have been hiked and burdens have been shifted to the ordinary people of Malaysia to correct imbalances caused by wastage, poor planning, and mismanagement.
Every Ali, Ah Chong, and Ramu has been consistently led to believe that the government is working for the benefit of the people. We have been consistently duped into thinking that the burdens associated with our sky-rocketing cost of living would be lifted. But you and I both know that our grumbling over the price of our Kopi O, roti canai, fuel, toll, groceries; over not being able to make ends meet has not let up. In fact, our grumbling has been consistent and getting louder by the day.
Seriously, Najib deserves an award for consistency in weaving twists and turns in his never-ending excuses about 1MDB and failing to provide honest, frank and worthy answers.
In short, Najib's actions have consistently cost the nation of its hope, failed to deliver on promises, and resulted in people gradually losing trust in him.
And yet, despite all the frustration among the rakyat , Najib and his cabinet consistently turn a blind eye to racism, extremism, and chauvinism, all the while chanting the need for moderation.
So yeah, congratulations Mr PM ! You are indeed consistent in pretty much everything!


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Title: Highlander II: The Quickening
Post by: ChrisB on December 28, 2000, 04:17:48 PM
Come on!! The original Highlander was just as bad with its quasi-gothic style and clumsy screenplay. At least this had better special effects
Title: Highlander II: The Quickening
Post by: Neville on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM
ChrisB, you are absolutely right. The original was a piece of crap and still some people claim this sequel ruined everything... Well, surely it is not good, but it is really more entertaining than the original, and the sci-fi elements make it (at least for me) more interesting. What if they don't make any sense at all? Are inmortal Scotish played by frenchmen and inmortal spaniards played by scottsmen with Queen music more realistic, perhaps?
Title: Highlander II: The Quickening
Post by: Monster W. Kung on May 03, 2004, 06:44:26 PM
Worst movie ever!!!! I wanna write it in the sky!!!
Title: Highlander II: The Quickening
Post by: Ernst Bitterman on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
I will grant that the first movie was hardly Branaugh's "Hamlet", BUT if you're making a sequel, you really have to limit yourself in general to the reality laid out in the original. Even "Jason X" had to nod in the direction of the earlier movies. This movie (and sadly, I haven't the strength to watch the renegade version-- too badly burnt) gave one the sensation of a group of children taking turns telling a story; kid 1 goes on for some minutes about the three bears and a dragon, and then kid 2 has them beaten up by the stars of the WWE.
Also, frankly, I don't see how it's a BIG punishment for space-rebels to be sentenced to transportation and immortality. If I'm Claidhmohmor the Space-Despot, I'm going to sentence all rebels to be used as fuel to warm the imperial hot-tub, to be carried out RIGHT DAMN NOW! Never mind that, should I send them far away where they will live a long time, I probably won't care much about ANYTHING they get up to several centuries hence (What's that McLeod up to? Ah, still a grubby kilt-filler, after 70 years on Earth. Hmm, time for me to have a heart attack and turn the Empire over to my boy, Wakazashi).
Title: Highlander II: The Quickening
Post by: Sinister on August 10, 2003, 05:59:53 AM
Did you know that the Immortals come from the Netherlands an not from outer space? Zeist is an town in the Netherlands.
Title: Highlander II: The Quickening
Post by: Karnos on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
Anyone seen the mythical "Fairy tale" ending? It actually makes this movie more silly than what it is known to be.
Title: Highlander II: The Quickening
Post by: Tim Sniffin (aka billydaking) on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
"main problem I see with it was the Katana. Why would a Highlander use a Jap sword?"
In the first movie, the katana was more symbolic than practical. Ramierz carries it in memory of his third wife (the sword was a gift from her father), whose death "shattered him." He tells this to MacLeod to "spare you that pain. Leave Heather." Later, when Heather dies of old age, MacLeod uses his clan sword as Heather's grave marker and takes up Ramierz's katana. It shows both that MacLeod is leaving behind who he was (living most of his life under assumed names) and is now carrying the same pain Ramierz did (Rachel telling Connor, "You never let anyone close to you.")
I actually forgot I wrote this review. It was the first time I had written one for the Internet, and I wrote the thing in about a half hour. I'm kind of embarrassed by the text part; I was trying too hard to be funny. Somewhere, I have a tape of the original theatrical cut of The Quickening. Maybe one day I'll send some new audio and a video file (the ones here are from the Renegade cut) to Andrew so he can update the review.
Title: Highlander II: The Quickening
Post by: John Dashwood on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM
I like the first movie. Just don't take it so seriously. Well film and had some great fight scenes. The main problem I see with it was the Katana. Why would a Highlander use a Jap sword? The 80s dudes the 80s mentality. The historic fights looked great. Better than Braveheart. You can't top the Kurgan for a bad guy either. I could do with out Queen. I never really cared for that band. But a jap sword is not good for parrying. It is sharp but not designed to got up against armor. A European Broad Sword is far better. When it comes to flex, durability and hacking off limbs. Just check out the ARMA web site if you don't believe me. Anyhow. The best thing about the first movie was it's mystery. You just didn't know why these things were happening like in our lives today. I wondered many things as to how such things like the Quickening could happen. THE VERY LAST THING I EVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED WAS WHAT I SAW IN HIGHLANDER TWO! Yikes! It's like scripts from a bunch of different movies all got misfiled together during a shift change, some lay offs occured and then temp workers brought in to reorganize! SHeesh!
Title: Highlander II: The Quickening
Post by: Sweden on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
"Of course I remember. It was 500 years ago, on the planet Zeist." Any hopes I had that this was going to be a good sequel ended right there.
Anyway, a very good review, but it didn't mention one of the key plot inconsistancies: if the world is in a situation of perpetual steamy night, why is it day in Scotland when Ramierz goes shopping? Perhaps Scotland isn't part of the world; perhaps the set designers were just really, really lazy? That said, you could write a book about how this film neither makes sense in the context of the Highlander series, or even its own.
Title: Re: Highlander II: The Quickening
Post by: Wraith on October 31, 2007, 07:29:02 PM
There is another version butbthe plot is still full of holes.
Title: Re: Highlander II: The Quickening
Post by: asimpson2006 on December 01, 2007, 11:24:19 PM
The special edition does away with the Zeist wording, the scene still exists and it's bad, but it's ok, not as great as the first one.
Title: Re: Highlander II: The Quickening
Post by: Intangible Skeleton on December 06, 2007, 08:24:22 AM
I saw this film recently, and yes, it is terrible.
The first Highlander is at least the good kind of bad, but this is just meh. What was with re-introducing Remirez just to have him give up his life to stop a big fan with only a single duel under his belt? What was with that "500 years ago on the planet Zeist" stuff? I thought they were on earth from much longer than 500yrs ago in the original Highlander. Is that a plothole?
Title: Re: Highlander II: The Quickening
Post by: Trekkie313 on November 02, 2010, 12:10:09 AM
Undoubtedly one of the worst sequels of all time! The original cut is unbearably stupid and full of plot holes. Spoony is right! :drink:
Title: Re: Highlander II: The Quickening
Post by: Trevor on May 10, 2013, 06:50:45 AM
At the risk of being brained by many, many shoes, I will say that I actually liked this film. *DUCKS* :wink:
Title: Re: Highlander II: The Quickening
Post by: Chainsaw midget on May 16, 2013, 02:55:21 AM
At the risk of being brained by many, many shoes, I will say that I actually liked this film. *DUCKS* :wink:So do I.
I mean, when talking about the Highlander story, it's best to ignore, but as a stand alone thing it's pretty fun.
Title: Re: Highlander II: The Quickening
Post by: Jurrasic on December 23, 2015, 08:04:48 PM
Once upon a time I was an early teen-aged geek. I, and many other kindred geeky souls fell in love with a goofy modern swords n' sorcery movie by a rock video director called 'Highlander'. This movie spoke deeply to our angsty, introverted hearts, and suddenly geeks everywhere were sporting brown or black trenchcoats (this was WELL before Columbine) and trying to figure out how to get a katana to hang inside of it without falling out all the time.
A couple years later, (GASP MOAR HIGHLANDER!! A SEQUEL FUKKIN AY LETS GO!) the theatre was full of pimply trenchcoated kids speaking with horrible French/Scottish accents to one another, and waiting for the curtain to go up. Cheers when the title screen appears. 5 mins in, confused glances fill the air. 20 minutes in, dead silence. 30 minutes in, the muttering and evacuations start. End of the movie, the whole audience boos and hisses, leave the theatre chanting "we want out money back!" and most burned their trenchcoats in disgust and moved on.
Not even a 'renegade edition' which to this day I am still too soul-wounded to see, could ever save this rotting decapitated turkey.


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Water Witch
Deborah Leblanc
Leisure, 2008 (2008)
Paperback, e-Book
Read an Excerpt
Reviewed by Martina Bexte
unny Pollock has always been considered odd, born with an extra finger on one hand. Once she discovers that her extra finger can do strange things - like locate underground water wells or oil deposits, not to mention items or people who had gone missing - her life takes on an almost circus like quality as people exploit her talent. For a while, Dunny does what she can to help, but it soon becomes too much for her to handle. Now living in seclusion on a small property in Texas (with no one to keep her company but a strange little stray dog that seems to have a real knack for sensing danger), Dunny is content with her solitary life working as a freelance writer ... until her sister Angelle calls her from Louisiana about two missing children.
oth kids are part of Angelle's elementary class and she swears that neither of them would dream of running off into the swamp. But that's just where everyone figures they've gone. Dunny would rather leave it to the locals - why would she want to put herself through the horror all over again - especially if the kids are already dead. But her sister is persuasive and soon Dunny finds herself in Angelle's hometown, introduced to a host of colourful locals, including Poochie, an elderly woman who seems to know - and see - a lot more than she lets on. Things get more ominous when malevolent spirits begin antagonizing anyone who dares to interfere with the plans of the one who summoned them.
eblanc immediately sets a dark tone and captures reader sympathy through Dunny's first person point of view as she introduces readers to her peculiar gift. Once the setting shifts away from Texas to the Louisiana swamps she maintains the creep factor with spooky segments describing the antagonist's dark agenda and those of the spirits he's called forth to do his sinister bidding. Unfortunately though, the connection to Dunny is lost as Leblanc switches back and forth between a host of players' third person points of view. Dunny is especially overshadowed by not only the villain's long-winded diatribes (which include far too many sequences where he's graphically terrorizing the two missing children) but also by Poochie, whose Cajun dialect and
I'm-old-therefore I-know-everything-there-is-to-know
attitude quickly becomes annoying. A deux ex machina conclusion adds to the disappointment of this lacklustre and often clichéd horror story.
Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons.
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Anti-gay hate groups have freaked out because GOProud is scheduled to participate in the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) again in 2011. When GOProud participated in the 2010 event as a sponsoring organization, Joseph Farah of WorldNetDaily blew a gasket, and Focus on the Family threatened to withdraw but didn't. Liberty Law School did withdraw. (It was also the first year the John Birch Society was allowed in, but that was less controversial.) Now GOProud is coming back, and the anti-gay cohort is livid.
A brief look at some of the players:
GOProud is the neocon LGBT group, founded in 2009 by gay Republicans who felt the Log Cabin Republicans were way too liberal. The organization is best known for hiring Ann Coulter to speak at its Homocon event in 2010. GOProud charged its well-heeled supporters $2500 a head to schmooze with … well, each other … at the Manhattan home of PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, where they got to listen to Coulter, whom they apparently find much more amusing than you'd think. They were immensely proud of themselves for having the "balls" to hire Ann Coulter, and promised to stand up to the gay establishment by showing that gay folks can be assholes as well as straight folks. (My words, not theirs.) GOProud is in favor of marriage equality and against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act; their basic philosophy is that rich queers should have all the same rights and privileges other rich people have, and the poor and the middle class, whether gay or straight, should go fuck themselves. You can find their list of Federal Legislative Priorities here. Of course, the group enrages the anti-gay hate groups, who hold firmly to their deeply-held religious conviction that a faggot with a billion dollars is still just a faggot.
Groups that have announced they'll boycott CPAC because of GOProud's involvement include:
American Principles Project, an anti-gay group founded in 2009 by Robert P. George, also of the National Organization for Marriage. George was also on the drafting committee of the anti-LGBT Manhattan Declaration. APP is led by extremist Roman Catholics, mostly the usual suspects from NOM and the Witherspoon Institute.
American Values is one of Gary Bauer's organizations. Bauer worked for Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1988, then headed the Family Research Council for a decade until he decided he'd rather be President of the United States. When his presidential bid failed, he got back into the activist business. He founded Campaign for Working Families (anti-LGBT, anti-abortion, and pro-capitalism) in 1996, and was a founding member of the Project for a New American Century in 1997. American Values has the same emphases as CWF: anti-abortion, anti-LGBT, and pro-capitalist.
Capital Research Center was founded in 1994 by Willa Johnson, a former Reagan employee and former Senior Vice President of the Heritage Foundation. The CRC is best known for being against government social programs, labor unions and environmentalism, and for shameless advocacy on behalf of Big Tobacco. I didn't even realize that they were also anti-gay, but then I haven't followed their activities too closely. Maybe I should.
Center for Military Readiness is the baby of Elaine Donnelly, whom the Christian press like to call a "military expert" despite the fact that she's never served in the military. Her "expertise" comes from having served as a Reagan appointee to DACOWITS based on her experience as a social conservative crusader. Donnelly is, of course, anti-feminist and anti-gay. She stumped with Phyllis Schlafly to help defeat the Equal Rights Amendment, and Schlafly serves on CMR's Board of Advisors.
Concerned Women for America was founded in 1979 by Beverly LaHaye, whose husband Tim is best known as the co-author of the Left Behind series of dispensationalist apocalyptic drivel. Beverly first got into politics as an activist fighting to help defeat the Equal Rights Amendment. CWA is an inerrantist Evangelical Christian group, dedicated to forcing their idea of a biblical worldview onto the rest of us. As such, they speak out against LGBTs, abortion, pornography, stem cell research, the United Nations, teaching evolution, and allowing teachers to give required reading assignments. On the SPLC watchlist of hard-line anti-gay groups.
Family Research Council, founded by James Dobson in 1981 and headed by Tony Perkins since 2003, the FRC has become primarily an anti-gay organization, but also opposes abortion, gambling, pornography, teaching evolution, estate taxes, government social programs, stem-cell research, no-fault divorce, environmentalism, and comprehensive sex education. They're for school prayer. The SPLC lists the Family Research Council as a hate group.
Liberty Counsel is a Christian extremist law firm founded by Mat Staver, a former Seventh-Day Adventist pastor, and affiliated since 2004 with the late Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. On the SPLC watchlist of hard-line anti-gay groups.
National Organization for Marriage was founded in 2007 by anti-gay crusader and erstwhile Bush-employed columnist Maggie Gallagher, along with (surprise!) Robert P. George. NOM is now nominally headed by Brian Brown, who was deemed to be a less loathsome public face for the organization, but Gallagher is still the Chairman of the Board. NOM is on the SPLC watchlist of hard-line anti-gay groups.
It's hard to avoid thinking that CPAC is probably better off without all of these groups. On the other hand, the United States would be better off without them or CPAC.


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text:
What's next for DX?
I say, they start a search for new members and have initiations/hazing for those interested, playing off Randy Orton's initiation process for joining Legacy. I can see Triple H introducing the idea-- "You know, Shawn, we're no spring, uh, chickens anymore..."
Then, I can see Santino, The Miz, maybe even MVP, oh, and to get one of the Divas involved, Kelly Kelly, too, being paraded around the ring frat-boy style dressed in drag and being made to pull pranks on guys like the Big Show and of course, Michael Cole. Perhaps they will have an encounter with Vince McMahon, who will stop by to tell Triple H and Michaels to stop the hazing process, they can get sued, blah, blah, blah.
Now, I really don't see any of these guys, except maybe Kelly, actually getting the privilege of induction into DX, but it will be fun to watch.


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I was supposed to show my recent book purchases in this post but I haven't taken a photo of them yet as the weather has been crap and I wanted to take a photo outside for a change. So hopefully I can do it tomorrow. There was only two books till one arrived in the mail yesterday.
I got The Cuckoo's Calling from the library this week. I tried to read this a couple of years ago but didn't get that far into it before putting it down. This time I finished it.
This book is written by JK Rowling as Robert Galbraith which is what, I think, put me off. I'm used to her writing style as Rowling with the Harry Potter series and The Casual Vacancy but the is completely different. So much swearing too. I mean, I swear but there's one word that kept coming up and I really hate it. I couldn't believe she was using it.
So this book came under my reading challenge as 'a book you started but never finished.'
I did eventually get into the story. It took me most of the book to do it but once I did I was trying to figure out what happened to Lula. I had my suspicions proven correct.
I'm not going to go out and buy it. Or the next one. I think I'll just use the library to read them. It seems to have lost the it though.
So, The Cuckoo's Calling is about a private detective, Cormoron Strike, who's struggling to keep his business afloat when he gets a new client and a temporary secretary, who he can't afford, and with the new client, a new case. Lula Landry died six months (I think) before her brother hires Strike to find out what really happened. Did she commit suicide like the police said? Or was it something else? Her brother thinks she was pushed. But, if she was, why did the police not see it? Who would want to kill her?
You would think after that, that I would be like 'oh this sounds good, I want to know what happened.' But, I don't know, it took me so long to read this book. I had to start another book to reward myself for reading three chapters. I'd pick up the other one and read two chapters of that. It's great motivation. Towards the end though I was reading it because I wanted to and not because I wanted to read more of the other one. Which was Blue Lily, Lily Blue.
Until next time,