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A Traveler's Guide To Mars
Interview with Bill Hartmann
As the three Mars landers–Spirit, Opportunity and Beagle 2–begin their final approaches to the surface, Astrobiology Magazine had the opportunity to talk with Arizona scientist, painter, and writer— Dr. William Hartmann–a pioneer on the team that got the first close-up orbital images on Mariner 9 and a current member of the imaging team for NASA's Mars Global Surveyor mission. His new book, "A Traveler's Guide to Mars: The Mysterious Landscapes of the Red Planet" seems well on its way to becoming a classic that spans Viking, Pathfinder and the forthcoming blitz of landers.
As one example of visual interpretation, the banner image shows an exotic dust devil as painted by Hartmann (left), as photographed by orbiting cameras (center) and in Arizona (right). The contrasting views offer just a glimpse of the differing perspectives that pointing a painterly eye towards the red planet can reward. In his traveler's guide, Hartmann covers four and half billion years of meteor strikes, volcanic eruptions and ancient floods–the rich history that has captured the imagination of the international scientific community and public alike.
Astrobiology Magazine (AM): The introduction to your Traveler's Guide mentions a potential readership of 'armchair explorers the world over'. There is an 'armchair' project for the public to point the orbiting camera on one of the current survey missions. What is your opinion of how the public can now suggest such target photos for the Mars Orbital Camera , and their first selection list , which would seem to feature polar ice and Olympus Mons, among other targets? Surprising or predictable, based on the images you and your students have poured over in detail?
Bill Hartmann (BH): Mars is great for armchair exploration because web sites now contain so much original data.
|Volcanoes as seen with the perspective of the horizon, and straight-down. Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the solar system, towering many times over Mt. Everest
For example, Malin Space Systems (from the folks who built our Mars Global Surveyor MGS camera) show over 100,000 images, many, many of which are spectacular, most of which have not received much detailed study. A healthy mix of scientific targeting and public/classroom targeting is great for maintaining a sense of involvement around the world.
On the other hand we have to be careful of the growing syndrome in education to "avoid textbook learning" (I've heard educators say that!) and just "engage the students" and keep them entertained. What I mean is that I hope teachers will go beyond the "hands-on activities" so dear to current education, such as helping to target images or engage in Mars rover exercises — and transmit also the fundamental underlying science questions that we as human beings are trying to answer…and then discuss the fundamental (17th, 18th, 19th century) science principles that lie behind answering those questions!
AM: In your book, you tell the story of one instance in which a camera pointing task became a personal challenge. You tried to get the Mars Orbital Camera pointed obliquely across the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympic Mons, as an astronaut might view it. Since capturing this image was initially greeted as not as 'scientific' as the high-resolution, straight-down shots, would that picture still be your favorite if asked to submit another target like that today?
BH: There are a number of regions I'd like to see photographed in that "human" oblique view angle, the way we are used to seeing the land from our airplane windows. My favorite past picture or future target from MSG/MOC or from Mars Odyssey seems to change from month to month, I guess depending on current science results and personal enthusiasms. As I tried to describe in the book, I don't regard the oblique shots as unscientific at all, because I think that they inspire a broader, more holistic view that lets us see Mars in the context of our terrestrial experience (not as an alien "target"), and that in turn inspires new thinking, a new sense of relationships, and new questions. The argument against them at the time was that they would be no higher resolution than other images (whereas straight down gives very high resolution from MGS/MOC). But now that argument would obviate all Mars Odyssey images, since Mars Odyssey is lower resolution than Mars Global Surveyor images! That would be silly. Each type of image has its own role.
I'd love to see obliques looking down Valles Marineris, across some of the big frosty craters, across some of the lava flows, down big riverbed channels like Ares Vallis and Ma'adim Vallis, and so on. The problem is that we had only a narrow window of opportunity, when MGS was in its initial high orbit. Now it is lower, and moves so fast that an oblique image is very distorted while it is scanned, due to spacecraft motion during the exposure.
|Valles Marineris, a giant canyon stretching across the Martian equator.
AM: You commented on how destructive the loss of the Mars 96 mission was to Russian planetary science (and the 20 countries who contributed). Among your international contacts, what now is the mood since some of those same Mars 96 components are part of the instrument packages for the Christmas European lander, Beagle 2?
BH: I think an historic opportunity has been lost forever. When the USSR collapsed, the Russians and Americans had a beautifully complementary set of capabilities that could have been joined to promote human space exploration. They had a functioning MIR space station, cheap human transport to orbit, and much larger boosters than we did. We had high technology, miniaturized components, a workhorse shuttle, and lunar landing experience. We could have had some exciting joint programs that would be a role model for future space development. But while there were some who saw that vision, there were powerful factions in Washington who were opposed to any real collaboration. I talked to one Republican Senator who said the underlying objective in the 90s was to be sure Russians never again had a strong aviation/space capability, and therefore America should avoid any collaboration. On another occasion, when I was on a major policy review panel after Challenger, a colleague and I proposed 'win-win' use of the Russian Proton boosters to support US missions, and this was ruled as a totally unsellable idea in Washington and taken "off the table" as a permissible topic of discussion.
The Russian space teams hung on thru the Mars 96 mission, which would have been an incredible success if only one-third of the instruments worked — but when it failed on launch and ended up in the Pacific, the Russian economy was tanking, and it was the death knell of an effective program of major Russian missions that might have capitalized on the Soviet-era technological investment.
|Oblique view of crater ring, sometimes whimsically called the "Happy Face" crater.
I think one of the most important things for our generation is to design and hand down a framework and precedents, that show how space exploration can be done in a way that produces benefits for peoples all over the world and hands a better, more stable world to our grandchildren. I'm thinking, for example, of learning how to utilize solar energy and asteroid material resources in space and transfer those benefits to Earth's societies. That's something the whole world can share and be excited about. That underlying policy would bring countries together, rather than being something that is only about one nation's "triumph" over another, and which just perpetuates divisions in the long run. After all, if our founders' thinking continued to be dominated by how Massachusetts could maintain dominance over Virginia, we'd have no USA.
AM: In your book's introduction, the Russian academician Mikhail Marov's answers the question of 'Why Mars?' in a couple of ways. His answers range over four possibilities: Mars' interesting water history, its potential biology, its model for understanding terrestrial climate by comparison, and finally the interplanetary adventure itself. Which one do you class as the top choice in the current round of 2003-2004 missions? The current Mars motto seems to be 'follow the water'.
BH: Martian water, climate, and potential biology are all tied together, and you can hardly investigate any one of the three without 'willy nilly' working on the others. We think liquid water is important for life, and whether liquid water was at a given place at a given time depends on the climate cycles (esp. the 15-million year cycles of axial tilt change, which led to frost and ice deposition at different latitudes in recent geologic history. And, as I've been saying in my public talks, the question of whether life formed on Mars is a perfect scientific question because either answer is so profound. If yes, it means we aren't alone in the universe. If no, then we may alone than we thought, and something might be wrong with our ideas of life's origins.
Underlying it all is the importance of establishing a human capability to operate throughout the inner solar system, and learn how to utilize the 24 hr/day free solar energy and asteroid resources — and that ties into the general theme of adventure, i.e. fundamental exploration.
AM: Your Traveler's Guide is packed with visual inspiration, ranging from the early hand drawings from 19th century astronomers to the orbiting cameras to finally the surface shots from Mars landers. One point you make is how deceptive some of the early telescopes proved to be, since hand-sketching of fictitious features like canals set back later astronomers trying to view Mars with fresh eyes. It gave a picture of Mars as a blue-green oasis for writers, painters and scientists. But based on that same kind of a bluish-green mirage for life on Mars, eventually those fake canals ironically inspired the whole science fiction genre — like HG Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Ray Bradbury– even up to the early 1950's. As an artist and a scientist, what imagined painting or landscape would you most want to do next yourself, based even on one yet untaken image from the current landing blitz and their up-close shots?
BH: I'll be looking for some new kinds of landscapes. So far, we've been in three plains all littered with rocks. Are rocks universal (outside the sand dunes?), perhaps because wind blows away the fine material and leaves rocky rubble broken by impacts? The new missions may show us more hills and more variety.
On my easel I have a newly started painting of the light filtering through a Martian dust storm. And I'm partial to an image I have in mind, of the loneliness of our plucky landers — not a lander closeup, but the lander or rover sitting out there in the middle of nowhere, all by itself.
AM: Matt Golombek, JPL's Pathfinder Project Scientist, has commented elsewhere that when the first landing site pictures are transmitted, the mission scientists will be able to gauge a majority of the geology quickly from that first panorama–for instance, whether it is rock spillage and geology likely associated with an ancient outflow or river. There is also some history with the first Viking image having a miscalibration on the sky, because modellers considered a faint blue sky possible, but later that color was better represented with faint pink. Overall, how do scientists plan a ninety-day surface mission, when so much seems to be riding on the first of thousands of eventual pictures?
BH: I think the first pictures are crucial only in the sense of getting the imaging system calibrated. That amusing mistake with the first Viking 1 pictures — releasing an image with a blue sky — really was an example of what we didn't know and why we went there and what we were learning! The problem I see now is the feedback between public and media, which emphasizes only the first pictures. The first ones get on nightly news and front pages, then the mainstream media pack it in and go to the next "media sensation." What we really need is for the public to demand more news in the second week and the sixth month, when the cameras are beautifully calibrated and the really exciting results are coming in — and the media are talking about Madonna or the latest shooting.
AM: To help amateur astronomers with backyard telescopes, is it fair to say that the darker regions on a global view of Mars are newer geologically (fresh dark lava basalts) and the lighter regions are finer, weathered dust and thus older? How does this broad view differ for those who study the dark regions on the moon, since it's kind of the opposite there. The effects of wind and the martian atmosphere have such differing influences than strictly crater impacts
BH: In general its been shown that the bright areas [on Mars] are rich in fine, oxidized dust, and the darker areas seem to have coarser materials — though not massive EXPOSED outcrops of rock. Dust and gravel covers everything to some extent. On the other hand (I've always been intrigued by this) why do the dark markings stay dark?
The whole story can't just be windblown dust, or materials would have been mixed to a uniform brown. Probably the dark markings tend to contain more localized outcrops as sources of fresh rock gravels and sands. Syrtis Major, the most prominent dark marking, for example, is centered on a large, old volcano where fresh basaltic lavas may be eroding and producing dark soils. Controlled by prevailing winds, the movements of these materials deposit different materials in different areas.
It's fascinating to study Mars with a small telescope and sketch those markings, and realize how complex nature can be in creating patterns visible from a back yard part way across the solar system!
AM: All the current missions are targeting more equatorial regions of the northern hemisphere this time, mainly because of its seasonally longer days and extended power from solar collectors during the surface operations. If the planetary scientists could choose (in splendid isolation from all engineering considerations), do you think there would be more polar missions and a few more to the south? Are there reasons to suppose either the hydrology (or even potential biology) might be richer hunting if a lander was off the equator or in more rugged terrain?
BH: Definitely the underground ice is closer to the surface, the further you go from the equator toward the poles. One piece of evidence is the mud-like ejecta from shallow craters at high latitudes, and another piece of the puzzle is patterned ground, as observed in tundra regions of Earth. Icy soils give at least the potential for moist soils and life-nurturing environments. If you land near the pole in summer, you may sit on ice or have the ice within a foot or two of the surface, as shown by Mars Odyssey findings. And remember, such a site can have 24 hours/day of sunlight in summer, a bit weaker than at equator, but available all day long to charge the [solar] batteries. (By coincidence, Mars has about a 24 hour day like Earth).
As a result of these ideas the Phoenix mission, now being built, will land near the pole and scratch the ground to look for signs of life in the ice-rich soils.
|Close-up of a Mars meteorite, showing what some argue appears to be fossilized evidence of ancient microbial life.
Image Credit: NASA
AM: Let's talk about the famous Allen Hills meteorite [ALH84001]. Not considering the biological controversy about any fossils, do you consider that an amazing rock just because it is likely 4.5 billion years old? And the evidence for its magnetization, what does that tell scientists about what happened on Mars that the current relatively unmagnetized planet cannot tell us today? Is it a surprise to planetary scientists that this rock–during both its millions of both years and miles–never seems to have gotten hotter than 575 C, if its magnetization persisted?
BH: One of the most intriguing and little-discussed aspects of this rock is that it is that out of 28 rocks from 4 to 8 impact sites on Mars, it is the only one older than 1300 million years! 27 out of 28 are from the last 1/3 of Martian time. This suggests that the older parts of Mars rarely launch meteorites. Why?
Impact studies, as summarized for example by Arizona researcher Jay Mulish, indicate that the best launch conditions are solid, coherent rock within top 50 meters of surface — for example young lava flows. Martian areas older than 1300 million years are typically eroded and beat up by impacts. The resulting loose, porous, "megaregolith" was probably the idea sink for Martian water and may be full of ice.
So impacts into the older regions of Mars probably produce a blast of dust and steam, and few rocks launched into space.
This brings us back to Allen Hills 84001. It's 4500 million years old, a piece of the original crust! So how did it get launched. There is a fascinating clue buried here! It seems to mean that regions of the original crust, formed 4500 million years ago, are actually exposed on Mars. What's exciting about that is that it isn't true for Earth or Moon or maybe any other planet.
Earth's original crust was long ago destroyed by plate tectonics, mountain building, subduction, etc. The moon's is buried under a mile or two of megaregolith and inaccessible to impact or observation. So Mars may be the only planet where we can land and walk around on the primordial crust, and pick up samples for geologic analysis, to learn how planet surfaces formed in the first place!
AM: You describe a rather fascinating, but discouraging, letter you got as a graduate student from Nobel Laureate Harold Urey, who also did the early biosynthesis work in the now famous Urey-Miller experiments. He had a long feud with your supervisor, Gerard Kuiper, who also has the Kuiper Belt region beyond Pluto named after him. This seemed a battle of titans. Urey's hasty criticism of your paper centered on the concentric geometry of crater impacts on the moon. Can you comment today on some of the more remarkable martian examples of these rings around craters, ranging from how important it may be to determining the depth subsurface ice to the Inca City mystery of a partial ring that is weathered in a peculiar cracking pattern?
BH: As shown by MGS camera builders Mike Malin and Ken Edgett, the "Inca City" structure is indeed part of a ring system around an old impact. But the classic sorts of bullseye-shaped, multiple concentric ring systems found around lunar impact basins (and impacts on Mercury and even Ganymede and Callisto) are hard to see on Mars. Most large basins formed in the first 1000 million years of planetary history, and on Mars such old features are highly eroded, covered, and cut up by river channels, deposition, lava flows, etc. (On Earth they are gone entirely, due to erosion and plate tectonics).
When I look at the rim structures of old Martian basins, it seems to me that the rims may have formed from loose, piled up ejecta, blown out of the basin and piled on the rim. If so, they have have been some of the easiest materials to erode by wind and water. In the case of the giant Hellas and Argyre basins, it almost seems that the main inner rim is completely dissected and eroded, but by river channels and transformed from a high continuous rim to a remnant maze of low hills.
|Cydonia, the image processing steps and lighting effects as misconstrued as a 'face on mars', but actually a fascinating geological plateau structure shaped by dust, wind, and time.
AM: Knowing what you know today about the bizarre interpretations that have been put to whimsical names from the Mariner photographs, like 'Face on Mars' [Cydonia] and 'Inca City', do you think another set of names should have been proposed then? Aren't those rocks found in the next series of landing missions going to be named mainly by whimsy, just like 'Yogi' became a famous rock name during the 1997 Pathfinder surveys?
BH: I think the mania for "neutral" and often "cute" names is beginning to be more destructive than helpful. As my archaeologist wife commented recently, the appealing story about Mars is that it is so Earth-like, but the proliferation of strange sounding geologic names for surface textures, like "chaotic terrain," "fretted terrain," and so on, leads the public to perceive Mars as ever more alien and non-understandable.
These names come from an important geologic tradition, that you must first describe in neutral terms (implying no hint of actual hypothetical process), and THEN interpret. This was started with a vengeance during the the Mariner 9 imaging team interpretations in the early 1970s, in which I was involved. But its gotten out of hand! I've heard entire scientific papers at meetings, which consisted merely of "translating" a spacecraft image into jargon to describe terrain types — "cantaloupe terrain," overlain by "basketball terrain", abutted by "pitted terrain", cut by "grooved terrain." At the end of the paper you, the audience, truly knows exactly nothing than the information that was visible in the initial image!
Not to mention the 25 year absurdity of the "face on Mars," a whimsical name that got completely out of control, with the "face on Mars" buffs claiming NASA purposely aborted the Mars Observer mission to hide the truth, and later requiring our Mars Global Surveyor team to drop its science plan, reorient the spacecraft, and waste tax dollars to get images of the "face" as one of the first activities of the mission. The pictures would have come in a few months later as the spacecraft routine started taking pictures of that region, but, no, orders came down from NASA Headquarter that we had to do it now, because the public (i.e. a few tabloids and sleaze TV producers) wanted to know — and we got our nice pictures of the boulder-strewn, mesa-eroded dirtpile. And the tabloids and sleaze TV producers have moved on to something else.
|View of Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission as landing airbag deploys above Martian surface. Credit: NASA/JPL MER
AM: There seems to be a brewing mystery centered around the geology of Mars, in that it has water-formed minerals like hematite, but also has water-reactive minerals like olivine. This seems to indicate that flowing water can't be there, particularly if olivine remains. Can you comment, and do you think these kinds of issues can be resolved with the current generation of experiments?
BH: The lack of spectral detection of lakebed salts and carbonates does not prove that lakes never formed (as widely reported in the press) but only that if they did form, say 3 billion years ago, they are now covered and hidden by sediments and dust drifts.
Olivine has been detected spectrally in a few regions, and part of the dominant basaltic rock type, and it's true geologically that prolonged water exposure weathers basalt to other forms. So it's been argued that Mars was never very wet.
But on the other hand, it's just not true that this rules out water activity. Most Mars meteorites, studied in labs on earth, have clear evidence of having been exposed to moisture and salty water. One (named Lafayette) has enough weathered minerals that they could be dated by two labs (California and Arizona) and the water exposure was found to have happened 670 million years ago.
It's not a question of "never any flowing water on Mars," but rather a question of dates of water, duration of exposure of the rock and soils to water, replacement by fresh unweathered rocks such as lavas. After all, earth has lots of basalt rich lava flows and even whole beaches of olivine rich sand with wave lapping on them (I've walked on them!). And no one is going to characterize Earth as a planet devoid of flowing water!
AM: Any thoughts on the biology experiments to be done on Beagle 2, to revisit the Viking suite which looked for soil metabolism?
BH: The biggest problem is that most mars mappers assign the probable period of abundant lakes to the Noachian (early) or Hesperian (middle period)– they would be surfaces perhaps 3000 million years old or older. But in that time, such a surface gets beaten up and pulverized to depths of a meter or so by impacts (as we found on the moon, and as I showed in a recent paper in Icarus), in spite of the fact that the smallest meteoroids (< few cm in size) get broken up in Mars atmosphere. If you had a deposit of 1 inch of pure salt on it, that deposit would have been ground up, mixed, and probably blown away by now.
So…a nice 3500-million-year-old lakebed deposit full of diagnostic minerals and hypothetical fossils has been pulverized and plowed by impact, and possibly dispersed, not to mention probably covered by windblown dust and sand deposits. So the big challenge is to be lucky enough to set down an an ancient lakebed that has been preserved.
My favorite site from that point of view is the hematite-rich area in Terra Meridiani, because I can see some signs from the cratering record that it may have been covered over, preserved, and only recently exhumed (as I described in the same article in Icarus a couple of years ago). So it's my favorite candidate for a preserved ancient surface with possible hydrothermal water modification that helped create the hematite.
AM: Where will you be during the mission coverage? Glued to TV coverage, or following it on the internet, or on vacation in the Tuscon desert with your paint brushes?
|View of Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission as the landing capsule opens to reveal the rover. Credit: NASA/JPL MER
BH: Since there are three missions, it's hard to say for each. I'll be at The Planetary Society's "Wild about Mars" program in early January in Pasadena for the first MER mission.
But, in an odd way I've started trying to organize my head so as not to attach so much importance to the "firsts:" the thrill of landing, the first touchdown, the first pictures. We are so much of a thrill seeking society that it interferes with a positive life; we want that little adrenalin rush, to the extent that we lose interest in things later, when there is no "exciting first." Go to airports and you see a lot of people who can't stand it if they are "stuck" somewhere where nothing is happening and they don't have their infrastructure of machines and sports to keep them entertained (hence junk TV and cell phone addiction).
Part of problem for science and exploration is that everyone wants to feel the thrill of being there at beginning, but that very syndrome makes public and media lose interest after day one. As I mention in the book, in early days much of the media used to go home from JPL after the first pictures came in from a mission, and editors regarded 3rd or 4th day Viking lander pictures as "old news" — which meant that the public was deprived of the best images after the technicians really got the cameras working well in color! Even now only the first day pictures show up on the mainstream news media, and you have to seek out special web sites for "junkies" who want to keep up on the story.
I'm for "spreading the thrill out over time," maintaining a sense of wonder as the later (usually better) pictures come in and the data begin to solidify from a mass of confusing facts into a real story about Mars!
The Real Story comes six months later!


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Be the first AL.com user to add photos or videos of Dodd Truck Parts
Dodd Truck Parts is located at 155 Kelley St, Eldridge, AL. This business specializes in Truck Parts.


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Traditional Economy in the Sahtu
Hunting, fishing, and gathering of country food as well as trapping and the production of clothing, arts and crafts are skills that have developed over generations and are the backbone of the Traditional Economy. Not only critical to the social and cultural fabric of NWT communities, these skills have allowed people in the North to live with the land for thousands of years. Today, the rising costs of gas and other commodities in remote communities, not to mention the high cost of equipment and supplies needed to participate in these traditional activities, means that access to money is required to sustain communities. As a result, the wage-based economy is having increased influence within NWT communities as people, particularly youth who are not as active in the Traditional Economy, look for jobs to earn money. For some, the Traditional Economy and the wage-based economy are complementary. People use the money gained through employment to support their traditional activities in what is commonly referred to as the Mixed Economy. However there is a delicate balance between the Traditional Economy and the wage-based economy. Those who work regularly have little time left to participate in traditional activities and, along with an already declining participation in these activities, it is leading to the loss of cultural identity for many aboriginal people of the North. Conversely, those who participate solely in the Traditional Economy often struggle to afford many necessities of life in these communities.
Deborah Simmons, Executive Director of the Sahtu Renewable Resource Board (SRRB), along with Tee Lim of the Pembina Institute and Betty Harnum, are leading a two-year project called "The Best of Both Worlds" for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency and the territorial Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Investment. This project aims to promote the Traditional Economy and traditional activities by exploring opportunities to make them more economically feasible and accessibly, while encouraging participation in employment. Essentially, the project wants to promote a healthy Mixed Economy for the Sahtu region, where people get the best of both worlds. Working through the GNWT-WLU Partnership, Dr. Alison Blay-Palmer and graduate student, Andrew Spring, were invited to form a collaboration with Simmons and support the project's background work and report writing.
On February 11-13, 2014, a workshop was held at the Old Mission building in Deline as part of this project. It brought together youth and elders from each of the five Sahtu communities. The purpose of the workshop was to talk to community members about their thoughts and experiences in the Traditional Economy, and what they thought were barriers to participating in both traditional and employment sectors.
It is hoped that in the coming year of this project, communities will discuss ways to help transfer the traditional skills to the next generation and look for opportunities to support younger hunters and trappers in the Sahtu.
For Blay-Palmer and Spring, it has been a great learning experience. This new partnership with the team from the Sahtu will hopefully expand in the coming months to include some food security work which will become the basis of Spring's doctoral thesis.
For more information on the Workshop: 2013-014 NewsNorth Traditional Economy 14-02-10


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Radfax have created a brand new live music show "Live music from London UK". You'll discover some great live video stream feeds of Live original edgy music coming out of London music capital Camden Town.
These Live music streams will be running throughout 2010 and beyound. The locations may change from time to time with new venues appearing along with additional live music video streams.
One of the main venues the shows will be broadcasting from is Lock 17 within the heart of Londons famous Music Capital, Camden Town. Come along on any Monday night for free live music to Dingwalls, Jongleurs Lock 17, Camden Lock, Chalk Farm Road, London NW1 The nearest station Camden Town or Chalk Farm. Monthly live streamed events will take place once a month and will aslo be viewable at the following links http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-music-from-london-uk http://www.gotseen.com/index.php?c=gotseen_tv


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Digital PR
Done properly, Digital PR and Thought Leadership will increase a brand's reach and visibility and in turn has a positive effect on search engine visibility through effective onsite SEO, driving increased referral traffic. It is increasingly a tactic used by brands to increase their online presence through building relationships with key content writers and online journalists to gain 'press hits', or citations, and high-quality backlinks.
One of the most important aspects of well executed Digital PR is increased trust and credibility, conversion rates and ROI and brand equity.
What is the difference between Digital PR and Traditional PR?
Traditional PR uses high circulation, readership, and viewer ratings to determine who to approach when selling in content to media houses and publishers. Even traditional PR's who claim to 'do digital' still use this method. Like so many marketing terms it's born from marketing tactics evolving and agencies trying to keep up. In particular, old school PR agencies realising the print media landscape is much smaller, and launching 'digital PR' pages on their websites in response. Typically these summarise their social media expertise. Social media = digital PR box ticked. But it's so much more than that,
Digital PR doesn't exclusively focus on the number of followers on social media sites and readers before approaching them. It also focuses on evaluating domain authority and non-paid opportunities for link citations. The success of Digital PR is, as a result, much more measurable than Traditional PR.
How do we fit Digital PR into your marketing strategy?
For maximum effect, digital PR should follow closely with your overall digital marketing strategies but importantly, Digital PR can strengthen weaker landing pages and increase the site traffic of slower moving products and services. When used with solid SEO and social media marketing strategies, Digital PR can take advantage of key search term trends and maximise coverage on what people are already searching for on the Internet. This holistic approach to digital marketing garners the maximum ROI as it essentially 'covers all the bases' and ensures the overall plan works effectively, even when one particular channel or message underperforms.
What's Good Digital PR?
Good digital PR is anything that positively influences a brand's social media or organic search profiles, or any positive online media coverage. Generally, we work with the following KPIs:
Social media influencer relations:
- Have we increased our client's target audience community size? Likes/Fans/Followers etc
- Are we driving traffic from social channels to our client's website?
- Have we created new brand advocates?
- Are posts about our client being shared by the relevant social communities?
- How is our client ranking for keywords?
- Have we managed to increase traffic from search engines to our client's website?
- Is increased organic traffic resulting in more leads?
- How many links have we built, via the activity we've undertaken?
Online article placement (including reviews):
- Have we got our client more positive coverage than their competitors?
- Have we secured our client coverage in identified online media targets?
- Have our client's key messages been pulled through into media coverage?
- Have we secured good reviews on sites that rank highly for keywords the target audience will be searching for?
- Have we seen an increase in referral traffic from online article placement?


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Chile is essentially a long coastal strip (just over 100 miles wide on average and nearly 3,000 miles in length) that lies between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean on the east side of South America. Bordering Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, the country has a wildly diverse landscape that ranges from the Atacama desert in the north to the islands and fjords found in the south with forests, volcanoes and mountains in between.
Chile's main export since the early 1800s has been copper but the country has diversified its source of outside income since the demise of General Pinochet and many imbibers will have sampled the produce of one or more of Chile's five winemaking regions as the reputation of its viniculture grows.
Many tourists now travel to the north to admire Inca architecture in San Pedro de Atacam or to view the volcanos of Pomerape and Parinacota. Other visitors go south to wonder at the glacial formations in the Laguna San Rafael National Park. For the more energetic, there are major ski resorts in the Andes and surfing centres along the Pacific coast.
Golf in Chile dates back to the 1930s when the country's first golf association was formed but it soon folded and was replaced by the Chilean Golf Federation (Federación Chilena de Golf) in 1948. Golf courses can be found up and down the entire length of Chile but the lion's share are centred around Aconcagua and Santiago. Currently there are 60 golf clubs affiliated to the Federation.
Our Chilean golf course rankings were last updated in March 2016, click the link to read the story.
Chile Leaderboard
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Private investigator John Coburn is one hardboiled tough guy. When he finds out his friend Felix has been murdered, he will not let anything or anyone stand in his way of finding the killer. He keeps the police and the FBI at bay while he searches for clues on his own.
The action is nonstop in the book and I read it in 2 sittings. The author certainly knows how to keep you intrigued. With each clue that Coburn uncovers, many more questions pop up. Coburn is like a bloodhound on the trail. He will never give up until he finds those who are responsible for killing his friend. I enjoyed the fact that Coburn was not invincible. He took a fair number of lumps in the story and that added to the believability of the story.
Unfortunately, the book was also riddled with typos. They kept jarring me out of the story and definitely lessened my enjoyment of the book. A good editor or a few more beta readers could certainly catch those. I thoroughly enjoy the writing of Mr. Drake. This is the third story I've read by him. Although I think the stories could use a bit more polish, I enjoy his staccato writing style and will certainly read his next novel as well.


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Here are the winners in last night's Mnet Asian Music Awards. I'll add some comments to those awards I feel someone else should have won them.
Director of Music Video Award: Hong Won Ki
Music Portal Mnet Award: 2NE1
Mobile Popularity Award: Super Junior
Overseas Viewer Award: Super Junior
CGV Popularity Award: Super Junior (Did not attend)
Best New Male Artist: Supremes -> To be honest, I don't know who these Supremes are. I would have thought MBLAQ or BEAST would win this award but since they just debut, it would be very suspicious if one of them did actually win "Best New Male Artist".
Best New Female Artist: 2NE1 -> I think this is a landslide win for 2NE1. None of the other rookie female groups have achieved even half of what 2NE1 has received this year.
Best Trot Award: Hong Jin Yong's Love Battery
Best Dance: Kara's Honey -> This was really such a surprise considering the song isn't really that danceable. 2pm's "Again and Again" or Super Junior's "Sorry, Sorry" would be a better suit for this award.
Best OST Award: SS501's Because I'm Stupid for Boys Over Flowers -> I think this is the only OST song that really made some noise this year. I think. Do correct me if I'm wrong.
Best Mixed Gender Group: 8Eight
Best Hip Hop Artist: Leessang
Best Rock Song: Boowhal's Remembering
Asian Recommend: AKB48
Best House/Electronic: Brown Eyed Girls Abracadabra
Best R&B/Ballad Song: Kim Tae Woo's Love Rain -> I'm sorry to Kim Tae Woo and GOD fans but I think 2am's "Confession of a Friend" should have got this. Maybe the Mnet people considered the album sales but quality-wise, I honestly think 2am should have won this award.
Best Representative for Asia: Dong Bang Shin Ki -> Such a weird award.
Best Male Solo Artist: Drunken Tiger
Best Female Solo Artist: Baek Ji Young -> Seems like Baek Ji Young and the rest of Korea has finally moved on from her controversy. I wonder if Ivy can do it too.
Best Asian Composer: JYP
Best MV: 2NE1's Fire
Best Female Group: Brown Eyed Girls -> Other say that it should be SNSD but I think this award rightfully should go to 2NE1, no offense to BEG. Though SNSD have that 9week-win title with "Gee", we should remember that at that time, they were competing against no one. I can't help but compare SNSD with WG. WG's "So Hot" and "Nobody" success were almost similar and to think that they were competing against DBSK and Big Bang at the time. SNSD however had a mediocre success in music programs with "Genie". 2NE1 were part of the success of "Lollipop" and their singles, "Fire" and "I Don't Care", became such a success.
Best Male Group: 2PM -> I have read a lot of Kpop blogs that are contesting this win and stated that Super Junior should have won. I honestly feel that 2pm deserves this win. Their presence in the Kpop scene the entire year really made an impact. Their beastly image made male and female Kpop fans appreciate them. I'm sorry to SuJu fans but after Super Junior's album promotions ended, they were really invisible. Also remember, a group's success does not depend on how many fans they have but how many non-fans and music lovers appreciate the groups' songs. Super Junior fans compose mostly of teenage girls while 2pm's fans are more diverse with male and female fans almost the same number and age varies from adolescent to people in their 50s. Boohwal for example.
And now for the Daesang. Last year, Wonder Girls won Song of the Year with "Nobody", DBSK won album of the year with "Mirotic", and Big Bang won artist of the year.
Best Album: G-Dragon's Heartbreaker -> With the plagiarism issue aside, "Heartbreaker is really the album to beat sales-wise and quality-wise.
Best Song: 2NE1's I Don't Care -> This song is still stuck in my head. With it's catchiness, I do think that they do deserve this title.
Artist of the Year: 2PM -> Everyone was surprise when these guys came out and showed an image far from the norm. I think no other artists made an impact this year as much as these guys have. With songs topping charts and with the controversy hovering over them, all eyes are on 2pm.


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So one of my loyal followers volunteered to be the tool in The Ultimate Tool Challenge. I filmed a few highlights of him cooking my Bacon and Mushroom Omelette so take a look at these three videos to see how my volunteer got on:
Meet Sam…
Sam got to work chopping up the vegetables and the bacon, explaining to me how his Mum and Dad usually cook omelettes differently from my way. Apparently his Dad has a special technique of keeping the pan lid on while the omelette is cooking, which therefore cooks the top at the same time so you don't need to flip it over.
Sam decided to vary from my recipe slightly, where I said to fry the peppers, onions, mushrooms and bacon all separetely:
Sam decided against attempting to flip the omelette, instead he used the spatula to carefully flip it over, concerned that otherwise his hard work might end up as a pile on the floor.
Now the moment of truth, has my omelette recipe allowed other kitchen tools to be able to cook too? Or has it been a failure… Watch the final video to find out how Sam got on:
Success! Big thanks to Sam for taking part in this video.


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Git Yer Boots On, It's Recess Time!
It's recess time on the Hill and our congressional representatives are trekking into their own back yards for a spell — the perfect time to stop by and let them know how you feel about leading Democrat Russ Feingold's censure resolution.
This week's excuse for not yet supporting censure seems to be that an investigation is needed into Bush's actions regarding the NSA wiretaps before other lesser Senatorial Democrats can know whether or not they deserve such action (as opposed to the Evan Bayh "let's just make it all legal and pin a medal on him" strategy). Aside from the fact that everyone with opposable thumbs knows that no such investigation will take place, as Glenn Greenwald says, the facts of Bush's illegal activities are not in dispute:
Under FISA, it is a criminal offense to eavesdrop on Americans without the oversight and approval of the FISA court. Section 1809 of FISA expressly provides that "[a] person is guilty of an offense if he intentionally – (1) engages in electronic surveillance under color of law except as authorized by statute. . . ." And Section 2511(2)(f) provides that FISA "shall be the exclusive means by which electronic surveillance . . . may be conducted." Thus, a person has broken the law if — as the President admits he did — he orders eavesdropping on Americans without complying with the warrant requirements of the statute. Period.
Today we're asking people to stop by the home office of your Democratic Senator and let them know that we are real, we're not just keyboard phantoms spamming them with email. If even 10 or 15 people show up in their state offices, particularly while the Senators are home and likely to hear about it, it will give weight and credibility to all the noise we make so successfully online for the rest of the year. If you can make your way to a town hall meeting and express your feelings, so much the better.
You can find the local addresses for your Senator here by clicking through to their home pages. This is one of those times when the actions of a very few people can have a really big impact so if you've got a few minutes to stop by and chat up the local staff, it's an excellent way to engage in participatory democracy and give Dubya a good swift kick in the 'nads at the same time.
Conventional wisdom is shifting on this one and it's really satisfying to be a part of it. And Feingold needs our support.
Let's pig pile on the playground bully.


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Best Panama City Beach House Rentals For Spring Break
Panama City Beach house rentals are always packed during Spring break so you need to make your plans early to avoid overpricing and overbooking.
Rather than spending time at one of the Florida resorts why not consider Panama City Beach house rentals? If you have enough friends or family with you, you may get a great deal.
Gulf Front and Poolside – Fairview Cottage is available for approximately two weeks during Spring break.
It's one of the top Florida vacation home rentals because you can book the house for an entire week and it sleeps a total of eight. There are three bedrooms and bathrooms so no one will bump into anyone else, either at night or during daily showering.
Many resorts cannot offer the personal touch that Panama City Beach house rentals provide, like the Beachfront –Pier Park. This condo sleeps up to six and comes with a perfect view of the Gulf of Mexico. The entire space is so large and modern; you will forget you are not at a top hotel.
Florida beach vacation packages that feature rentals, instead of resorts and hotels are becoming much more popular, mostly because they are very cost-effective. The Condos on Calypso, for example, are located very close to Pier Park, one of the best Panama City Beach attractions.
The average rate for these exclusive condos and cottages is generally anywhere from $80 per night to $4500 per week, but if you book in advance, you can receive discounts.
If you are looking for a memorable Panama City Beach Resorts during Spring break, you can't get any more impressive than renting the Platinum Level Penthouse. These deluxe accommodations include four bedrooms and three bathrooms; a total of 10 can sleep here comfortably. The best feature is the privacy.
Now that you have your list of the best Panama City Beach house rentals, go ahead and make your plans for Spring Break and have a blast.


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KERELA: Minister of state for food processing Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti today asked the Hindu community to "protect" their daughters.
Addressing Sree Narayana Guru Jayanthi celebrations organized by Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) yogam here, she said both girls and parents should be vigilant in this regard.
"The Hindu community should protect their daughters from the bad influence of non-believers," she said.
Terming the recent religious based census findings as thought provoking,she said it was time for the Hindu community to unite. "We all should become part of one thread."
Explaining the stand of the BJP-NDA government, she said it extends benefits to people irrespective of caste or religion. "It was the British rule that divided the people of the country on religious lines," she said.


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Labor, Justice and the Environment: Historical Insights, Alliances and Challenges
Portland, Ore.
May 20 – May 22
Printable Conference Brochure
Labor environmentalism and climate change headline program
Labor historians, students, environmental activists, politicians and trade unionists will gather at the Portland State University Conference Center in Portland on May 20-22 to share views on "Labor, Justice and the Environment." See program brochure for complete details on how to register and list of panels.
Washington AFL-CIO president Jeff Johnson will update the conference on the Paris Climate Change Conference with author Jeremy Brecher joining him via Skype.
Register Online Now:
U.S. registration link
Canadian registration link
More than 20 workshops, presentations, films and displays will bring labor history to life. Among the topics to be addressed:
- A historic coal strike in Depression-era Washington and the 1980s canning strike in Watsonville, California
- Fighting to save the Canadian and US postal services and longshore workers in the Pacific Northwest
- Labor environmentalism and building coalitions to tackle climate change
- Conscientious war objectors on the Oregon coast and making labor history digital style
- Chinese and Indian workers in Astoria, Oregon, and the history of Oregon's African-American loggers
- Canadian women's march against poverty, the living wage fight, and retirement security
- US premiere of Goodwin's Way and a film about the Denver Romero Theatre Troupe
- The literature of labor, and preserving historical labor records
Conference participants will also enjoy musical interludes provided by the Portland band General Strike, Washington State environmental singer-songwriter Dana Lyons, and Eugene's roots duo Monday Morning Denial. Exhibitor display tables will also be available.
Ron Verzuh, Oregon Vice-President, Pacific Northwest Labor History Association.
We thank these Co-Sponsors for their support:
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757
BC Government Employees Union
International Association of Machinists District W24
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Credit Union
Labor's Community Service Agency, Inc.
Labor Education and Research Center
Marion-Yamhill Central Labor Council
Northwest Oregon Labor Council
Oregon AFL-CIO
Oregon Historical Society
Oregon School Employees Association
Portland Federation of School Professionals
Service Employees International Union Local 49
International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 206
United Steel Workers District 12
Marcus Widenor


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As I was browsing Wikipedia BUT IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE OF GERMANITY, I noticed that German seems to have a native and monomorphemic word for radio: Funk(e).
This aufbepuzzled me.
(Example use: Rundfunkempfangsgerät, an expansive term used as a headword for sake of clarity: broadcast-radio-receiving-device. Cf. English headword: "radio (receiver)").
I looked into it. It's a word for "spark". (Given that radio started out using spark-gaps to make the signals, that makes good sense.)
Apparently "funk(e)" can be traced back to a form back in Western Germanic, which gave "Funk(e)" in German— and "funk" in Old English, meaning a spark, or a small fire.
It acquired the meaning of smoldering, such as you get from a small fire. It then lost its initial sense, and all you've got is two attributes of smoldering: and strong smell, and also smokey cloud (which I think survives only via metaphor in the idiom "in a funk").
How this meaning at point a ends up at the point b, "funk music", is left to the semantic workings of the hyperspace jumpgates of African American English.


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How to Make a Landscape Quilt
Explore this Article Starting Tips Applique Method Puff Method Ask a Question Related Articles
Landscape quilts were very popular several years ago, and are still fun to try now. Most of these early landscape quilts were made using "strips of fabric" sewn edge to edge arranged by the colors of the sky to the ground. These quilts used different shades of blue, green, brown and tan. Some were left simple, and others had applique shapes on top. Some artists became more expressive and made seascapes as well incorporating brighter colors. There is no wrong way for you to make these quilts, and they're a good way to finish off some longer strips of fabric you may already have. Some techniques are more appropriate than others, but here are a few starting tips along with some of the more common methods used. Use whatever techniques you need to accomplish your vision.
Starting Tips
1Select a photo or work from a pencil sketch.
2Collect an assortment of fabric. Scraps can work fine, but you may need to purchase specific colors for specific areas of your landscape.
3Be bold. This quilt is for your own enjoyment.
4Plan your work. List out all the aspects of your landscape that need doing... and then prioritize them or order them for later reference.
5Visualize your finished piece. What embellishments will you add? What sort of border will there be?
6Expect to adjust your plan as you go along.
7Use a light weight fabric for a base. Use straight pins and test out your arrangement before you sew them together. Some should go completely across,while others colors can be added in. Usually the background (sky)will be dominate, or it can be flipped and the foreground (ground) will be dominate. These will be sewn all horizontally. Other items can be appliquéd on later.
Applique Method
1Start by creating your background/base material.
2Cut the strips you like from your fabric scraps.
3Position each strip and check the pinned pieces on the foundation cloth. See if you like the way they look before you attach them. Only sew about three strips together at one time and iron each group before moving on to the next. Repeat.
4Attach other shapes (a tree, flower, cloud ) to the piece. Either use an iron on fusible webbing and satin stitch on your sewing machine or by hand basting and then rolling the edges under as you sew them down (can be done by hand or by machine).
Puff Method
1Try a fabric that has a preprinted scene on it. if you're a beginner.
2Layer your quilt pieces, the printed (front side), the quilt batting, and the backing as you would for regular quilting.
3Machine or hand sew around the perimeter all of the areas of the picture that you would like to emphasize. You can even use this method to FLATTEN areas.
4If you want extra "puffiness" in an area, cut a small slit in the backing material under that area and tuck in more batting before sewing it closed.
5Add binding on each side. To do this, take a 2 and 1/2" piece of fabric folded and ironed. Attach the open side down with your sewing machine and "flip" it over to the back for a finished look.
6Add the finishing touches. Make a "sleeve" to insert a stick across the top and make a loop to hang on the wall. Sign and date your quilts so you will always know who made it and when it was made.
Community Q&A
Things You'll Need
- Fabric Scraps, cotton or polyester batting.
- Sewing supplies, needles, thread, scissors, etc.
- Sketch pad and pencil (or photograph).
Article Info
Categories: Quilting


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Background and Introduction
With less than a week before the Referendum Vote in Scotland, this is a detailed personal posting about voting Yes. I'm sorry it's lengthy.
Though the Vote on Thursday 18 September is a Vote for Scotland rather than any political party, this is mainly written for those who normally support Labour. I stopped paying my Labour Party membership during the Iraq War, but before that I had more than 40 years membership in the Party. At school and university, I was an active member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and marched from Aldermaston from 1958 till 1963. I've been active in politics since then, including:
- Labour Member of Parliament for Nuneaton and Bedworth in Warwickshire from 1967 to 1983 – representing Warwickshire miners and Coventry car workers.
- Under Secretary of State at the Department of Industry from 1976 to 1979 – including helping to bring Clyde shipyards under public ownership – and Opposition Front Bench Industry Spokesperson from 1979 to 1982, supporting British Leyland and other shop stewards combines.
- Member of the Labour Party National Executive Committee from 1978 till 1981, representing Socialist and Affiliated Organisations, including Cooperative Societies.
- Member of the European Parliament for Merseyside East from 1984 to 1989 – a constituency including Liverpool Garston, Wigan, St Helens and Knowsley.
- Throughout all this time I was sponsored by the Transport and General Workers' Union, which is now Unite the Union. I'm still an active member of the Unite Edinburgh Not for Profit Branch.
Though the London Coalition Government's Agenda under Cameron and Clegg is tailored for London and the South East and offers little for Scotland, many of us feel that New Labour fails to offer anything different. Many in the Better Together campaign sound as though they prefer working with the Tories in London rather than promoting social justice for a fairer Scotland.
The Referendum represents the greatest awakening of political thought and participation in my lifetime – a chance to vote for a fairer Scotland and against poverty and weapons of mass destruction. An independent Scotland provides an opportunity for the implementation of many principles and causes which I have supported all my active political life – especially policies and causes which the Labour Party once used to support.
Though this won't happen overnight, it won't happen at all as long as Scotland remains part of the UK.
Voting Yes on Thursday 18 September 2014 gives Scotland the chance to regain the Labour Party it once knew before the Blair and Miliband reforms took the Party away from its members and the trade unions. In an independent Scotland the Labour Party has the chance to start again – to reclaim the Party for its members and for people in Scotland. Already more than one third of Labour voters in Scotland have recognised this and will vote Yes. They are clearly ahead of their Party!
None of this will be easy, but, without independence and with its present policies, the Labour Party will become increasingly irrelevant in Scotland.
To Save Time reading this Detailed Posting
I've summarised my thoughts under the underlined headings below. If you click on any of them, you can go straight to that section.
Many policy areas not already devolved to a Scottish Government, and which will still not be devolved after May 2015 – including basic finance, austerity and welfare – are precisely those policy areas where Tory and New Labour policies hardly differ and will not change.
Those policy areas which are devolved to a Scottish Government but where a Westminster Tory or Labour Government will continue cutting public spending, will affect Scotland through reductions under the Barnett Formula, which has hardly changed since 1978.
Labour hides the McCrone Report. Scotland gets the Barnett Formula instead of an Oil Fund
The House of Commons Library Research Paper 01/108: The Barnett Formula (1) of November 30 2001 is still centrally relevant:
(p10) "Thereafter, if there are changes to the plans for English programmes that are 'comparable' to the Scottish and Welsh blocks, then a fixed proportion is added to – or in the case of cuts subtracted from – the block".
In other words, further Coalition or New Labour public spending cuts may affect Scotland's budget too, which affects those policies already devolved.
Though not in the Cabinet, I was a Minister in the Labour Government which introduced the Barnett Formula in 1978. Many of us recognised then that the Formula was Scotland's consolation prize for not having an Oil Fund like Norway or Sovereign Wealth Fund like Middle East oil producers.
Professor Gavin McCrone's Report to the Government on North Sea oil in 1974 (2) was concealed until 2005. Its conclusion is as relevant today as it was then:
(p16) "This paper has shown that the advent of North Sea oil has completely overturned the traditional economic arguments used against Scottish nationalism. An independent Scotland could now expect to have massive surpluses both on its budget and on its balance of payments and with proper husbanding of resources this situation could last for a long time into the future.
"……."provided sensible policies are pursued, it is possible to see how this situation could be used to re-equip Scottish industry and renew outworn social capital, thereby providing the expansion necessary to absorb Scotland's excess labour and the increase in productivity required to raise incomes.
"Thus, for the first time since the Act of Union was passed it can be credibly argued that for the first time since the Act of Union was passed, it can be credibly argued that Scotland's economic advantage lies in its repeal.
"When this situation comes to be fully appreciated in the years ahead, it is likely to have a major impact on Scottish politics, since it is on social and political grounds alone that the case for retention of the Union will in future have to be based".
New Labour nowadays doesn't mention the McCrone Report. It shows that whether policy is controlled in London or even when devolved to Scotland for its administration, the only way that Scotland can be sure that it controls both the policies and their financing is through complete independence. Vague last minute promises of further devolution are not the answer.
New Labour Strategy Irrelevant for Scotland
This section shows the background to New Labour's current thinking – based on what its leadership calls "responsible capitalism". If you reckon you know where New Labour is coming from, please read this.
New Labour, Austerity and Welfare
If you thought that Welfare Reform and Universal Credit were Tory ideas, then please look at their New Labour origins
New Labour and the NHS
As the NHS Jarrow March to London showed last week, what is happening to NHS privatisation in England is frightening. Any further NHS public spending reductions in England mean that Scotland's Budget is also reduced under the Barnett Formula.
New Labour, Students and Fees
New Labour introduced student fees. All current Tory policies for student fees of £9,000 a year and proposals for up to £16,000 a year have only been possible using New Labour legislation.
The following represent the detailed policy areas to which links are made in the headings above.
New Labour Strategy Irrelevant for Scotland
New Labour's "Responsible Capitalism"
During his time as a visiting scholar at Harvard's Center of European Studies in Autumn 2002, Ed Miliband was influenced by Peter Hall, who with David Soskice at the London School of Economics wrote Varieties of Capitalism (3) in 2001. He returned to Harvard's Government Department in 2003 and taught on a course called "What's Left? The Politics of Social Justice" about "policy dilemmas confronting politicians seeking social justice amidst trends like globalization, economic insecurity and multiculturalism."
From this and other influences the theoretical basis of New Labour policy is now "responsible capitalism". These are some of its features:
- The Bank of England remains independent of Government. (Since he comes from Canada with its history of referenda in Quebec, perhaps its current Governor, Mark Carney, needs reminding of this when he talks about an independent Scotland's keeping the Pound Sterling?)
- Basic acceptance of globalisation, markets and neoliberalism. This is why New Labour only talks of "safeguards" for the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership being negotiated between the European Commission and the US Government
- Median income growth – helping the "squeezed middle" through an economy "built from the middle out"
- Spending more on training, skills and the "supply side" of the economy
- Policies such as "predistribution" – or trying to "soften" market outcomes. This was explained in 2013 The Politics of Predistribution (4) by Jacob Hacker of Yale University:
"So predistribution provides a positive agenda, one that I think is attractive to the left right now, because it wouldn't necessarily involve large amounts of new public spending. It is a positive agenda for trying to address both the squeeze of living standards in the middle and poverty at the bottom of society".
"..Progressives have to think seriously about how we construct new forms of countervailing power in the twenty-first century".
"I think that's perhaps the most exciting conversation that could emerge out of an emphasis on predistribution. Countervailing power means both trying to empower new forms of work organisations and fostering new forms – or existing forms – of investor and consumer organisations. However, it also means trying to create new kinds of political organisations outside of the market; reinvigorating civil society.
New Labour's Electoral Strategy for "Responsible Capitalism"
New Labour's plan for delivering all this is sometimes known as the "35% or 40% strategy" – retaining Labour voters from 2010, and adding some LibDem defectors and others from the middle ground. This was set out in Political Strategy for a New Economy (5) by Graham Smith in Renewal in 2012:
"To succeed, an agenda for 'responsible capitalism' would need to be capable of forging alliances between established Labour voters and those less traditionally aligned with the party (especially voters in the South, older people and those in social class ABC1). Seeking to unite working and middle class Britain against the top one per cent is a good place to start – as well as avoiding Labour being attached exclusively to electoral enclaves, such as public sector workers, ethnic minorities, the metropolitan elite or those on benefits"
"That, in turn, means recognising that neither the state nor one political party alone has the sole ability to bring about change. In fact, steps towards a more 'responsible capitalism' are likely to be most effective and enduring when the broadest possible range of individuals, interests and institutions are engaged in bringing them about. That does not mean that the state – or the Labour Party – have no role to play. But any political strategy which invests all power and responsibility in these sources of agency will be unlikely to succeed".
Readers in Scotland will see through all this for what it really is – Westminster New Labour policies and an electoral strategy for London and the South East, which are largely irrelevant to the people of Scotland.
New Labour, Austerity and Welfare
New Labour will maintain Coalition Spending Cuts
Based on the strategy outlined above, speaking to Labour's 2013 National Policy Forum in Birmingham on March 23 2013,(6) Ed Miliband made New Labour's position on austerity very clear:
"If we win the election, we will come to power in tougher economic circumstances than we have seen in generations and that will have to shape the way that we govern", Miliband said in a speech to his party's National Policy Forum.
"Our starting point for 2015-16 will be that we cannot reverse any cut in day to day, current spending unless it is fully funded from cuts elsewhere or extra revenue – not from more borrowing."
"It's a hard reality. But people will only put their trust in us if we show we are credible"
"Miliband's speech echoed comments of finance spokesman Ed Balls said earlier this month that he would have "iron discipline" on spending".
Ann Black's Report on the July 2014 Milton Keynes Policy Forum (7) showed that nothing had changed at Labour's Policy Forum since 2013. In fact, things had got worse! George McManus bravely put forward this amendment on reversing austerity:
"We recognise that the cost of living crisis is inextricably linked to government's self-deflating austerity agenda. That is why we will introduce an emergency budget in 2015 to reject Tory spending plans for 2015/16 and beyond and set out how we will pursue a policy of investment for jobs and growth."
Other similar amendments had been withdrawn. The amendment was lost with only 14 votes in favour and 125 against. Labour's Policy Forum, like its Annual Conference, has become a closed process – which is why Scotland needs to be independent to reclaim its own Labour Party so that members can once more voice their opinions on policy.
So no one in Scotland, especially Labour supporters, should be under any illusions that the election of a Labour Government at the next General Election in May 2015 means changing policies on spending and austerity. Coupled with Rachel Reeves' proposals to deprive young job seekers of their benefits, they could be even worse.
Rachel Reeves: Labour will be tougher than Tories
Rachel Reeves, Labour's Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary (8), speaking in October 2013, was even more succinct:
"Nobody should be under any illusions that they are going to be able to live a life on benefits under a Labour government," she said. "If you can work you should be working, and under our compulsory jobs guarantee if you refuse that job you forgo your benefits, and that is really important".
"It is not an either/or question. We would be tougher [than the Conservatives]. If they don't take it [the offer of a job] they will forfeit their benefit. But there will also be the opportunities there under a Labour government".
New Labour, the Work Programme and Universal Credit
But Rachel Reeves was simply building on foundations previously laid under the last Labour Government.
In December 2006, James Parnell, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, asked Lord David Freud (now the Coalition Government's Under Secretary in the same Department) to "review progress on the Welfare to Work programme since 1997". In February 2007, Freud produced "Reducing Dependency, Increasing Opportunity: Options for the Future of Welfare to Work: An Independent Report to the Department for Work and Pensions (9), which recommended the basis for the current Work Programme:
(p61)"The private and voluntary sector would, then, compete for long-term contracts to provide support to disadvantaged people, with payments based on successful individual outcomes over an extended period. Correctly contracted on output based criteria, pro-viders will be incentivised to experiment and innovate to find effective solutions"
(p63) "This paper recommends that in principle the Department lets out prime contracts in each of the 9 regions and 2 countries in Great Britain. This should allow an adequate number of prime contractors for a competitive market to develop. It also offers the scale appropriate to attract major players from around the world".
Freud Recommendations for Universal Credit
David Freud's Report (9) also proposed moves towards the Coalition Government's Universal Credit programme:
(p105) "The proposals in this chapter are mainly about reforming out of work benefits. But there is also a case for much closer integration of the tax and benefits system as a whole and in particular for simplifying the way that benefits paid by Jobcentre Plus and those paid by local authorities (Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit) work together".
Referring to a pilot "Service integration across benefit and transfer payment: the North Tyneside trial" the Freud Report (9) continued:
(p110) "DWP, HMRC and North Tyneside District Council have over recent months been developing and testing possible service improvements in a trial in the North Tyneside Local Authority district in the North East of England. This has focused on delivering improvements in the client experience during the transition into and out of work through closer working and service integration".
The Report described the coordination of Job Seekers Allowance, HMRC Tax Credits, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. These proposals went even further than those currently pursued by Ian Duncan Smith MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
Though New Labour postponed Freud's Universal Credit recommendations based on the North Tyneside pilot, in December 2008, Secretary of State James Parnell's White Paper "Raising Expectations and Increasing Support: Reforming Welfare for the Future (10) laid the foundations for the Work Programme:
(p46) "In February 2008, the Department for Work and Pensions published its Commissioning Strategy, which set out our vision for modernising and strengthening the welfare-to-work market. It opens the way for larger, longer contracts with providers re-warded for their success in helping more people into sustained work; where customers receive a more personalised and flexible service; and where delivery of employment support is integrated into local services".
From October 2009 this would "offer choice with more than one provider in particular area – so that competition could be offered between local providers". New Labour had opened the door to large private sector providers and current Coalition Government policies.
These remain Westminster policies and powers and will not be devolved to Scotland in the event of a No Vote. So Rachel Reeves isn't suddenly being tougher on welfare. Much of this was already in place by 2009, when New Labour had already ushered in what is now the Work Programme.Back to Top
New Labour and the NHS
Andrew Lansley's Health and Social Care Act 2012 used foundations laid by New Labour almost 10 years earlier. As shown below, New Labour's 2006 Health and Social Care White Paper, its "Right to Right to Request" and "Transforming Communities" programmes, closely followed by the Coalition's "Right to Provide" and Public Service Mutuals, chart an unbroken chain of stepping stones towards out-sourcing public service delivery to the private sector.
Though Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham MP has now promised to repeal the Coalition's 2012 Health and Social Care Act, this won't mean much by the next UK General Election in May 2015 for those areas where a majority of non acute NHS delivery may be delivered by private contractors. New Labour in England is not committed to restoring delivery of these services to the NHS.
All this demonstrates that New Labour plans nearly 10 years ago to shift healthcare delivery away from the NHS are nearing completion under the UK Coalition Government.
New Labour Begins Dismantling the NHS
Sir Nigel Crisp's 2005 Report Creating a Patient Led NHS: Delivering the NHS Improvement Plan (11) recommended that Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) should move away from NHS direct delivery. Crisp was both Chief Executive of the NHS and the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health.
(p21)"Ultimately patients will be able to choose any provider that can meet NHS standards at the NHS tariff. This will include providers who are currently part of the NHS; established independent suppliers such as GPs and their teams, pharmacies and independent hospitals; other parts of the statutory sector; the voluntary sector; and new entrants from the independent, statutory or voluntary sectors".
Secretary of State Patricia Hewitt's January 2006 White Paper Our Health, Our Care, Our Say: a new Direction for Community Services (12) echoed this theme, expanded NHS outsourcing and extended NHS delivery based on payment by results.
Many were slow to recognise New Labour's real motives. In April 2006, the Kings Fund in Social Enterprise and Community Based Care: Is there a future for mutually owned organisations in community and primary care? (13) warned:
(p21) "Meanwhile, the for-profit sector is ready and able to act quickly, and there is a distinct danger that for-profit providers will sweep into primary and community care unchallenged. If too much time passes before staff-led and patient-led organisations take shape, when they finally do enter the marketplace there may be little left for them".
An Amicus Union briefing in 2008 on Social Enterprises and the NHS (14) summarised New Labour's intended competition:
"between providers to win contracts patient choice between providers payment by results – payment only when services performed"
"This is a fundamental change in the delivery of healthcare, with the NHS becoming a brand rather than a national, public service".
New Labour introduced the "Right to Request" in June 2008 and "Transforming Community Services" in July 2008. The National Audit Office June 2011 Report summarised these developments in Establishing Social Enterprises under the Right to Request Programme (15):
(p5)"It (Transforming Communities) required that PCTs should no longer deliver services and should separate their delivery arm from their commissioning function with delivery being provided under contract to the PCT by other bodies such as Social Enterprises or Foundation Trusts"
(p27)"… for the first time, that the health sector will be subject to competition law under planned changes in the legislation. The role of Monitor, which currently regulates Foundation Trusts, will change and it will become the regulator of the NHS, including having responsibility for applying competition law and acting against anti-competitive behaviour by providers or commissioners".
With the abolition of Primary Care Trusts under the 2012 Health and Social Care Act, these commissioning powers are now transferred to GPs' Clinical Commissioning Groups. All this means that in England the NHS is becoming simply a brand name and a commissioning mechanism – as shown in this example below.
NHS Sandwell and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group
In Birmingham, NHS Sandwell and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group is seeking tenders for setting up a Social Impact Bond for End of Life Care Coordination Hub (16), whereby interest and dividend payment to investors and the external contractor will be measured against an increase in the number of patients dying in their usual place of residence, rather than in hospital. In other words, there is a financial incentive and possible dividend to investors from people dying at home. This is from the initial tender notice:
"Outcomes and payment metrics:
The key outcomes that the services will be measured against are:
a) an increase in the number of patient dying in usual place of residence;
b) fewer emergency hospital admissions.
Payments to the investor will be determined by performance against these outcomes".
This is privatisation gone mad! Using public money to encourage private investors to profit from people dying at home goes far beyond what we've seen in NHS privatisation so far.
NHS Sandwell and West Birmingham's proposal is typical of dozens of new structures like NHS 'Mutuals' and 'Social Enterprises' which are being set up – many without staff consultation – as an interim step to full blown NHS privatisation. Usually headed by hand picked cronies, this is the emerging shape of the NHS in England.
Scotland suffers too. Though the Scottish Government controls administration of the NHS, it doesn't control the finances. As Sandwell and West Birmingham's approach is followed by many others, all this reduces public spending on the NHS. This means that, under the Barnett Formula, public money for Scotland is also reduced
New Labour, Students and Fees
New Labour introduces Student Fees
One of the first actions of the first Blair Government in 1998 in the Teaching and Higher Education Act (17) was the introduction of student tuition fees of £1,000 to start in the 1998-1999 academic year.
Worse was to come. On Wednesday 28 January 2004, under the Higher Education Act,(18) the second Blair Government voted to increase tuition fees from £1,000 to £3,000 with a majority of 5 in the House of Commons. Actual payment of HE fees by students was introduced in 2006, with a fees cap of £3,000 annually. By academic year 2005-2006, the Student Loan Company was already providing £2.79bn in loans. Most providers charged the full amount.
The 2004 Act also introduced the Office for Fair Access and other apparatus now used by the Coalition Government to justify fees of £9,000 in England.
In November 2009 the New Labour Government asked Lord Browne, formerly Chief Executive of British Petroleum, to conduct a further review. In October 2010, his Report "Securing a Sustainable Future for Higher Education (19) concluded that students should freely exercise their choice of university with an uncapped free market in fees.
Following the Browne Report, in November 2010, though its overall approach to HE competition was more cautious than Browne, the Coalition Government introduced proposals for universities to charge up to £9,000 annually. Accompanied by student demonstrations across London, approval for this was given in the House of Commons on Thursday 09 December 2010, with a Coalition majority of 21.
To implement this decision, the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills published its White Paper Students at the Heart of the System (20) on Tuesday 28 June 2011. The White Paper began the transition from a centrally planned delivery model, where each university had a quota of student places, towards an open market where student choice and fee levels will ultimately determine supply and demand for places.
All this now includes private for profit universities, where following significant increases in their access to the Student Loan Company, the Public Accounts Committee has asked for investigation by the National Audit Office (21).
There is now widespread talk in England of fees of £16,000 by Oxford, Cambridge and other universities (22).
For all its Higher Education reforms in England, including increased student fees and giving private colleges and universities access to the Student Loan Company, the Coalition Government has used New Labour's Higher Education Act 2004 and previous New Labour legislation. Though the former Higher Education Minister, David Willetts MP, would have preferred a new Higher Education Bill, this was not necessary.
Because of the way in which repayments under the Student Loan system are structured, New Labour's current pledge in England to reduce the cap on Student Fees to £6,000 will make little difference to many students.
Once again, further Westminster public spending reductions, through increasing fees and shifting Higher Education spending from the taxpayer to students, may be passed on to Scotland through the Barnett formula.
Conclusion – Scotland Deserves Better than This
Finally, this has been a long read and I apologise for its length.
I hope that all this has enlightened readers on the origins of recent Better Together pronouncements and showed where New Labour comes from and is heading. Above all, it shows that New Labour's record and policies on overall economic policy, austerity and welfare, the NHS and Student Fees – and there are many more policy areas – really do not offer much for Scotland.
Above all, these New Labour policy areas show beyond doubt that Scotland not only deserves better but can do better with its own Government.
After a Yes Vote and independence, not only does an independent Scotland have an opportunity to reclaim and refashion a Labour Party which 20 or 30 years ago might still have represented its hope and aspirations, but it also offers the chance to align with socialists in Scandinavia and throughout the rest of Europe.
The European United Left/Nordic Green Left Group (23) in the European Parliament includes parties which have secured large votes in recent European elections – Syriza in Greece, Podemos in Spain and Die Linke in Germany. They are all anti-austerity and this is part of their platform:
"The European Union is not the victim of the current economic, financial, environmental and global food crisis but one of its motors.
"We are fighting for more and better jobs and educational opportunities, for social security and social solidarity, for a respectful way to deal with our earth and its resources, for cultural exchange and diversity, for sustainable economic development and for a consistent and strong peace policy.
"We want more direct democracy and active participation by citizens. The European Union must become a project of its people and cannot remain a project of the elites. We want equal rights for women and men, civil rights and liberties and the enforcement of human rights."
That seems a manifesto more attuned to the needs of Scotland than the one offered by Better Together and New Labour's "responsible capitalism" in London.
So reclaiming the Labour Party for Scotland is only the beginning
(1)Edwards,Timothy Edmonds; 2001; The Barnett Formula; Research Paper 01/108 House of Commons Library Research Section, House of Commons, London
(2)McCrone, Gavin; 1974; "The Economics of Nationalism Re-examined". Report to HM Government – not published.
(3)Hall,Peter A; Soskice,David 2001: "An Introduction to Varieties of Capitalism": Harvard University. http://www.cerium.ca/IMG/pdf/HALL-_A_Peter_and_SOSKICE_David-_An_introduction_to_varieties_of_capitalism-2.pdf
(4)Hacker,Jacob;Jackson,Ben;O'Neill,Martin: 2013 "Interview: the Politics of Predistribution" Renewal: A Journal of Social Democracy Vol 21 No2/3 2013; Renewal Limited in association with Lawrence and Wishart
(5)Cooke, Graham: 2012: "Political Strategy for a New Economy": Renewal: A Journal of Social Democracy Vol 20 No 1 2012 Renewal Limited in association with Lawrence and Wishart
(6)Noble,Phil June 22 2013 "Labour says would not borrow to reverse cuts". Reuters, London. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/06/22/uk-britain-labour-spending-idUKBRE95L06X20130622
(7)Black,Ann "Ann Black Reports on Labour's National Policy Forum" Left Futures. Labour Left Network, London. http://www.leftfutures.org/2014/07/ann-black-reports-on-labours-national-policy-forum/
(8)Helm,Toby "Labour will be tougher than Tories on benefits, promises new welfare chief" Guardian October 12 2013. Guardian Media, London http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/oct/12/labour-benefits-tories-labour-rachel-reeves-welfare
(9)Freud,David; 2007; "Reducing Dependency, Increasing Opportunity: Options for the Future of Welfare to Work. An Independent Report to the Department for Work and Pensions"; Department of Work and Pensions, London
(10)Parnell,James 2008 "Raising Expectations and Increasing Support: Reforming Welfare for the Future". Department of Work and Pensions, London
(11)Crisp,Nigel 2005; "Creating a Patient-led NHS. Delivering the NHS Improvement Plan". Gateway Reference: 4699, Department of Health, London
(12)Department of Health 2006 "Our Health, Our Care, Our Say: a New Direction for Community Services, Practice Based Commissioning", Department of Health, London
(13)Lewis,Richard;Hunt,Peter;Carson,David. 2006 "Social Enterprise and Community Based Care: Is there a Future for Mutually Owned Organisations in Community and Primary Care?" Kings Fund, London.
(14)Amicus the Union; 2008. Social Enterprises and the NHS". London: Amicus the Union.
(15) National Audit Office: "Department of Health: Establishing Social Enterprises under the Right to Request Programme" HC 1088. Session 2010-2012;National Audit Office, London, June 24 2011
(16)Sandwell and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group: "End of Life Care Coordination Hub and Urgent Response Team services through Social Investment" June 30 2014. https://www.oppex.com/notice/SELL2WALES_bc74f95b27dd942e620ecb3005f4ec94
(17)Department of Education and Employment 1998. Teaching and Higher Education Act, London
(18)Department of Education and Skills 2004. Higher Education Act, London
(19)Browne,Lord John; October 2010 "Securing a Sustainable Future for Higher Education: An Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance";Lord Browne of Madingley, London
(20)Department for Business, Innovation and Skills "Students at the Heart of the System" June 2011, London
(21)Morgan, John. May 22 2014. Watchdog called in on private college use of student loans. Times Higher Education, London.http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/watchdog-called-in-on-private-college-use-of-student-loans/2013526.article
(22)Nicholl,Richard; August 04 2014. "Oxbridge tuition fees could rise to £16,000". Varsity, Cambridge.http://www.varsity.co.uk/news/7394
(23)GUE/NGL European United Left/Nordic Green Left European Parliament Group "Another Europe is Possible" Accessed September 07 2014.http://www.guengl.eu/group/about


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Daily News Round #1 for November 17, 2003
Daily News Round #1 news post from TweakTown's online news computing and technology content pages for November 17, 2003
- Gigabyte Gigabyte GA-8S655FX Ultra
MBReview takes Gigabyte's new GA-8S655FX for a spin. This new socket478 intel board utilizes the SiS655FX chipset. Although the chipset doesn't perform as well as one would probably like, it's other unique features and abilities along with an excellent price tag make it a great alternative to the i865PE / i875P solutions currently available.
Only a few weeks ago we took an initial look at the SiS655FX chipset and were quite pleased with what we saw. The SiS655FX chipset offered several new features, mainly dealing with that of the available memory configurations that the i875P and i865PE chipsets do not. Not only can you use different sizes and types of RAM with the 655FX chipset, but you can also retain some form of dual channel operation while doing so, something that is currently impossible with the i875P or i865PE chipsets offered by Intel. The performance of the reference 655FX motherboard held up quite well with that of the Intel D875PBZ, and today we'll be taking a look at our first retail model featuring the 655FX chipset, the Gigabyte GA-8S655FX Ultra. This board packs on all of those features you'd expect to see on a Gigabyte motherboard, but how well does it hold up for performance? How well does the board overclock? Let's take a look and see just what we can find out about the Gigabyte GA-8S655FX Ultra.
- Terratec Aureon 7.1 Space Surround Soundcard
The guys over at Tweaknews have obtained Terratec's latest addition to their line of high-end audio products available today. This is Terratec's first 7.1 soundcard based on VIA's ICEnsemble chipset. It offers excellent sound quality, but at a hefty price. If you classify yourself as an audiophile, this isn't the best card you can buy, but it's not far off either. Well worth a read.
The Aureon series sound cards from Terratec are based off of VIA's ICEnsemble chipset bringing stunning surround sound in both 5.1 and 7.1 format. The card we are taking a look at today is Terratec's first shot at 7.1 technology, coming in the form of The Aureon 7.1 Space. The 7.1 space is the ideal surround solution for a gamer/audiophile who is looking for an upper mid-range soundcard. It doesn't quite compare to the newest SoundBlaster Audigy cards, but it's up there.
- Articles and Reviews from around the Web
- Cubit 3 & Cubit P4 Small Form Factor PC's @ SFFTech
- AOpen AK79D-400 Max @ Hardware Zone
- Chaintech AV-710 7.1 Audio Card @ Short-Media
- TheaterTek HTPC Software @ HTPC News


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Last month Nokia announced Free version of Draw Something exclusively for their Nokia Lumia Windows Phone devices. Now Zynga announced Paid version of Draw Something and Words With Friends for Windows Phone devices. Both games cost $2.99 and run on Windows Phone 7.5 or higher.
Draw Something is a two-person game where players take turns drawing and guessing randomly-provided words (there are 2500 to choose from.). Words With Friends is a social word game challenging players to use their allotted tiles to build words and score points. You can chat and play with Facebook friends or random opponents and juggle up to 20 games simultaneously.
|Words With Friends and Draw Something for Windows Phone


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We here at BeautyStat have promised to give you the chance to win the hottest new beauty products to hit the market, and we are aiming to please. So without further adieu, below are the winners of last week's giveaways (winners chosen by random number generator). And the winner …Read More »
Home / Tag Archives: Reviews & Giveaways: Olay


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text: I'm loving the live feed video that I can access on my cell phone now that we've installed Life Shield security in our house. I know that if an alarm goes off, I can see what's going on, and I've even used the video to check on my teenagers when they're home ahead of me after school. Who ever thought that security systems would double up in providing peace of mind for a mom? The system is so easy to use, we haven't yet set it off accidentally, which I was sure I would do. (The kids are comfortable with technology, but I'm less so, and I was sure I'd mess up. But no, this is easy to use and intuitive.)


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Turning Talent Into Skill
Tullos Training Limited is a long established engineering training organisation providing advancement of vocational and further education training in the development of individual capabilities, skills and understanding. The company delivers high quality training to nationally recognised standards and is an accredited centre through SQA, SEMTA. EAL, City & Guilds, ECITB and SummitSkills.
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