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Just because you're smart and have impressive academic credentials, it doesn't prevent you from being a racist, nor does it necessarily make you wiser than other people.
These are a couple of the conclusions that one can't help but draw from Lydia R. Diamond's play "Smart People," which is receiving a polished production and world premiere from the Huntington Theatre Company at the Boston Center for the Arts' Calderwood Pavilion in the South End. This edgy comedy about the serious subject of race is directed by Huntington's artistic director Peter DuBois.
The play's four characters are all linked in some way to Harvard University. Ginny Yang (Eunice Wong) is a Chinese/Japanese American who's a tenured psychology professor at Harvard who studies racial issues among Asian-American women. She develops a relationship with the white neuro-psychiatrist and professor Brian White (Roderick Hill), who's studying the brain's response to race, also at Harvard. His last name is perhaps a little too obvious but becomes a chance for a good joke when he first meets Ginny. She assumes he's identifying his race when he gives his last name.
Jackson Moore (McKinley Belcher III) is a black surgical intern who is working in one of Harvard's teaching hospitals. He and Valerie Johnston (Miranda Craigwell), a black actress, who, in the story, is a graduate of American Repertory Theater�s acting program, try to strike up a relationship but constantly offend each other.
Two other conclusions you can't help but draw from the play are that racism isn't confined to any one race and that it's quite possible to accept racial stereotypes about one's own race, particularly the opposite gender.
The play is structured as a series of many scenes on a modular set (two up, two across), sometimes with one actor per module or moving quickly between actors in two different modules. It allows Diamond to examine the ugly facets of racism as if looking at the many faces of a cut stone. The play is set between 2007 and 2009, around the time of President Barack Obama's first inauguration. It first goes back several years in time and then reverses direction until the play finally catches up to the opening scene and completes it.
All of this means that the play feels as if we're looking through Diamond's carefully controlled microscope, rather than her giving us the naturalism of her previous play, "Stickfly," which is set in an upper-class, black family gathering on Martha's Vineyard. Ultimately, this limits somewhat the power and appeal of "Smart People" with Diamond doing more of the work and leaving less of it to our imaginations.
The characters are created around racial stereotypes and racist assumptions people at their worst tend to live out and make about each other. Brian's scientific study has led him to conclude that all whites are hardwired to be racist, that it isn't a matter of ugly attitudes they can overcome by becoming better people. We hear how this has infuriated white liberals and see how it upsets the black characters in the play. You can't help but feel it also has a role in making Brian a particularly unpleasant person who's on the verge of blowing up his academic career. Hill gives Brian an appropriately arrogant, ugly, self-assured edge.
Ginny is an overachieving Asian woman who has picked up a MacArthur genius grant and constantly feels the pressure to work in order to maintain her academic status. She finds release from it not in relationships - she admits she's not a nurturer and doesn't do the girlfriend thing well - but in excessive shopping, almost as if it's a form of combat. She and Brian seem made for each other and develop a rather tempestuous relationship. At one point, when he wants another round of sex and she feels the need to return to work, she parodies the subservient Asian sex mistress. Wong brings a tough driving force to Ginny but with deep feelings, too.
Not surprisingly, since Diamond is black, the two black characters are the most three-dimensional and interesting, and Valerie is by far the most appealing of the four characters. Craigwell plays her with wonderful spark and sparkle as Valerie is drawn to Jackson, partly by his status as a doctor, and in turn is repelled by the way he tends to treat her. Jackson is filled with a feisty attitude and can't keep himself from saying exactly what he feels, even when his job is at stake. Belcher makes him colorful, explosive and fun to watch.
Diamond gives us the black experience without feeling the same need to explain or simplify it as she does the Asian and white experience, which makes it more interesting and enjoyable for us, even when we don't get it all. She uses the black slang word "siditty" (pretentious, stuck up) leaving it to us to figure out its meaning from the context.
"Smart People" is hip, sassy, and pulls no punches on racism in what some naively consider a post-racial age. It's a humorous, instructive experience, but not necessarily the most satisfying theatrically.
"Smart People"
WHEN: Through June 29
WHERE: Huntington Theatre Company at Boston Center for the Arts' Calderwood Pavilion
TICKETS: Starting at $25
INFO: 617-266-0800; www.huntingtontheatre.org
Theater Review: Smart People' puts the microscope to racism
Just because you're smart and have impressive academic credentials, it doesn't prevent you from being a racist, nor does it necessarily make you wiser than other people.


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Information for Shelving Inc. (SI) brand Wire Shelving and Accessories
Our goal is to offer more dimensions of wire shelving racks than anyone else on the web at a price our competitors can't match.
Want to know about a particular subject? Click one of the links below to jump to that section.
Technical Specs
Ways to Use Wire Shelving
Types of Wire Shelving
About the Product
Accessories for Wire Shelving
Benefits of Wire Shelving
Types of Casters for Wire Shelving
Wire Shelving Technical Specifications
General specifications (see diagram below) Wire Shelving Specs
.788 inches between wire rungs
Wire rungs are .134 inches thick
Metal truss and Upper frame are .197 inches thick
Lower frame is .236 inches thick
Angled truss support is .177 inches thick
Round Post Specs
1 inch between locator rings
2.5 inches from bottom of post to first set of double rings
Leveling foot has 12 threads per inch thread-count
Threaded area is .5 inches thick
Shelving Inc. (SI) brand Wire Shelving Shipments
All of our wire shelving is currently manufactured in Taiwan and shipped by the container to our climate controlled warehouse in Madison Heights, Michigan. We have a dedicated order fulfillment crew that works tirelessly to pack our shipments using safeguard technology. In this way, we can ensure that our products arrive at your door quickly in pristine condition.
Our shelves typically come in boxes of four, with the exception of items that are 60"w or larger. To reduce the cost of shipping, we will often consolidate products into as few boxes possible, including banding together the larger shelf boxes. SI wire shelves are shipped using UPS or ABF freight for larger commercial orders. After your order is placed, we will send you tracking information to plan for the arrival of your new storage system.
About our SI brand Wire Shelving
Wire shelving is a heavy duty storage solution for a variety of functions, including household organization, retail merchandising, commercial storage, and warehouse bulk inventory. Our customers come from different industries with different requirements, but all end up selecting wire racks for their unique purposes. This is because they can select sizes from 8 inches deep by 8 inches wide all the way up to 36 inches deep by 72 inches wide.
Our expertise is not limited to rectangular wire racks. We feature exclusive designs for corner kits such as the triangular, radius, and pentagon shelves. Each shape has its own unique benefits, providing a certain look, ledge, or add on capability.
Every kit that we sell includes posts with leveling feet, shelves, and plastic split sleeves; these are the essential components in assembling your kit. Plastic split sleeves clip together on the post where you want your shelf to go, forming a wedge. The opening of the shelf collar (corner of the shelf) is lowered onto the post over the clip, securing it in place. For a better understanding of how these parts relate to one another, view our
assembly guide
Benefits of Using a Wire Shelving System
Unlike other storage systems that can be tricky to assemble, wire shelving is easy to construct. You don't need any tools to assemble these racks, just the items that are included with your purchase. Just place the plastic clips where you want your shelf and lower it into place! This feature is actually another benefit: these kits are entirely adjustable. You can adjust the space between shelves at any point in the lifetime of your shelf, accommodating your storage needs as they change.
Having a set of adjustable metal shelves will be worth their weight in storage years down the road. Fabricated specifically to be of high quality, everything from the welds to the structural design translates to superior durability. A lifetime of storage with a single purchase, these shelves are incredibly scalable. Create vertical storage for your business and these shelves can move with you until retirement. As your space grows, you can expand your storage by utilizing
add-on kits
Of course, we can't overlook the benefits of the shelves themselves! The wire rungs are reinforced with a center truss that supports up to 800 pounds of evenly distributed weight. Given that there is almost an inch of space between each rung, there is plenty of room for light and air to get through while not a lot of room for dust to accumulate, also reducing allergens. A clean, open, and ventilated shelving system keeps your dry goods dry and the additional light makes it easier to find the items you need. Brighten up your room with the reflective chrome plating of these metal storage systems.
While we could go on and on about all of the unique things that you can do with chrome wire shelving, we'll sum it up with this: the versatility of our products allows you to store whatever you need wherever you need it. You can create a 9 shelf kit as a merchandising stand for your small business, a baker's rack for your kitchen, or one of a thousand things in between. The biggest benefit is that our shelves allow you to get creative on your quest to get organized.
Ways to Use Wire Shelving
As highlighted above, there are countless benefits for our SI brand metal shelving, namely the versatility of the product. We'd like to suggest a few of the most popular ways in which customers utilize our wire shelving, potentially inspiring you to create a new use for yours.
Residential uses of this style of shelving range across every room in the home. One of the more unique solutions to a storage problem was to create a folding counter in the laundry room that featured a cantilevered rack above for detergent and a hanger rail to suspend three bags for sorting purposes. Wrinkled shirts could also be hung from this rail to get the wrinkles out and air dry. This kit took up an 18" x 24" footprint in a small home that was pressed for space.
You don't have to have an entire room to utilize our shelves. Set up a system for your closet or pantry to really get organized! Multiple tiers offer a variety of options for grouping like items. We have customers who have taken a reach in closet and created an entire dry storage pantry out of it. Hopefully, we inspired that customer to follow her dream of running a small catering kitchen out of her home by alleviating all of that clutter!
Commercial customers find innovative ways to utilize our wire shelving as well. In any industry, you'll find a back stock of items that are constantly being inventoried and rotated. We help in that process with our open shelving, which can be loaded from the back and picked from the front. By increasing the storage capacity and visibility in the stock room, we can help ensure the First-In First-Out stocking method. Good sense makes for good business practices.
More innovative commercial uses tend toward impressive merchandising. Many of our customers don't just use these shelves in the back of the house, but also on the sales floor. From merchandising stands to point of sale end-caps, our racks adjust to fit the promotion you're running this month. More creative customers have used fabrics and signage to really help their products jump off the shelves!
We understand that the office environment differs greatly from the retail industry, but that doesn't mean the storage has to! In the past, our office clientele has used our heavy duty shelving to host important offline records that are kept in accordance with tax codes. These have also been popular in the office supply closet, but our favorite has to be the chrome wire desk that was made for the President and C.E.O. of Shelving Inc, Joseph Schodowski! Seriously, this guy works on a big shelf-come-desk.
Different Types of Wire Shelving We Offer
Aside from the standard rectangular shelves that are included in our
Starter Kits
Add On Kits
, we offer several different styles and variations of wire shelving, each with their own benefits and uses.
Certain products can only be used in conjunction with specific sizes, while others are standalone units. If you have a standard kit, you can increase the amount or type of storage by using different shelves.
Cantilever shelves
only utilize two posts in the back collars of the shelf, meaning that the area beneath the front of the shelf is completely open (very handy for above-head storage), and is available in three different lengths.
You can also use a
basket shelf
as a catch all beneath your rectangular rack for any items that have the propensity to roll, or a
sliding shelf
to make items easier to access. These shelves require a kit that is 18" deep. If you have a unit that is 14" deep, you can add a
wire wine shelf
to store wine bottles. We also offer entire kits comprised solely of wine shelves.
Though our high quality construction is labeled "commercial grade," it can just as easily be used in the home. For this reason, we have designed and created different styles of corner kits.
radius shelf
is named for the radial design that starts in the corner and spreads outward into the room. It is available in two sizes, 18" deep and 24" deep, measured from the corner along the wall. The hypotenuse that connects the outermost collars is bowed outwards, extending beyond the depth of the ends in a wide arc.
triangle shelf
contrast sharply with the radial shelves in that all edges of the triangle shelf are straight. It is also available in the 18" and 24" depths, but is less obtrusive, providing storage space in the corner of your room without creating a larger footprint.
The largest corner kit that we have comes in the form of a
pentagon shelf
. While providing ample space to store your heavy duty goods, the real benefit of this shelf is that it has the capacity to extend shelving space along your wall using 18" deep Add On Kits. Conversely, you could take two existing units and hang the pentagon shelves in place, connecting them with
Accessories for Wire Shelving
When we say that our shelves can be customized, we mean that you can do more than just select the height of each shelf. After you decide what kind of shelves to add to your kit, you can also elect to add accessories to suit your storage needs. We offer a variety of accessories that can change the purpose of your kit based on how you choose to utilize it.
Adding liners to your kit can augment the kind of items you store. With a protective covering, smaller items are able to sit on the wire rungs without getting stuck or falling through the cracks. Choose from the economic
translucent liners
or the decorative
PVC liners
for greater durability with a colorful flare. If you have items that you'd like to keep out of the sight, you can also purchase
enclosures for wire shelving
made of that same durable PVC lining. Of course, there's always our most coveted liner: the butcher block. An American made carved piece of wood that is crafted to fit the length of your shelf, the
wooden shelf insert
gives you a versatile surface that can be used for decoration, heavy duty storage, or even kitchen applications (after all, a wooden block is a great cutting board).
Accessories can be used to add to the functionality of your posts as well.
Hanger rails
connect two posts and can be used in a multitude of ways, adding stability and giving you additional storage space. You can even connect adjacent units with the hanger rail as a spacer that will allow you to swivel one unit out of the way. Accomplish this with any of our casters, which can be affixed to the bottom of any post.
Utility hooks
can be hung from the hanger rails, providing you with an additional tool in your organized arsenal. Other post accessories include wire gathering loops, wave hooks for hangers, and small bins that serve as a catch-all for small items.
Types of Casters for Wire Shelving
The type of caster, or wheel, that you need will depend greatly upon the intent of your storage project. For a small unit, such as a kitchen cart,
decorative casters
will suit your needs. For a security truck with heavy storage in a secure room, you'll want
polyurethane casters
Visit our casters page and you'll see that there are two basic types: threaded casters and non-threaded (sometimes called "stem") casters. The stem is a half inch in diameter and has a thread-count of 12 threads per inch, which matches our leveling feet. Since they are the same as the feet that all posts come with, all of our threaded casters fit neatly into all of our posts by twisting them into place.
Non-threaded casters are considered to be a universal fit for most 1" posts, meaning this is your mobile solution if you have a post that is not SI brand. However, if you purchase these for SI brand posts, they will still fit; you just have to remove the threaded insert (female receptor) from the bottom of the post. No tools are needed, as this can be done entirely by hand. To affix the non-threaded caster, insert the stem into the post and tap into place. To remove, you will have to find a long dowel that can be inserted through the other end of the post to force the stem out.
Another consideration is the material of the caster. Rubber casters will glide over almost any surface, but cannot support as much weight as the polyurethane casters. In contrast, polyurethane casters are very dense and cannot roll over debris without potentially damaging the wheel, they are strictly for indoor use. We also offer a decorative plastic caster, which only supports 150 lbs and does not move as freely as the larger options, but is perfect for use around the home.
Finally, another point to consider is whether or not you will want brakes. Some mobile shelving kits are moved so frequently that there is no need to bother with a brake, while others are only moved occasionally for cleaning or reorganizing a room. The latter scenario would likely require brakes to add stability to the shelving system, preventing it from rolling at unwanted times.
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Steven Erikson books: five hardcover, seven tradeback, two mass-market paperbacks.
Seventeen books around my laptop on the table. Only two have been read in full.
Some random title words: maze, murder, sea, nightmare, questions, sun, thousandfold, saints, parts, human, death.
328 books have been read so far in 2011. I keep track using pencil and paper alone.
Padilla. Cortázar. Ramírez Heredia.
Pavić, Živković, Miéville.
The Birds, Rubáiyát, She Stoops to Conquer.
Lyan Ward, Eric Basso, H.L. Mencken.
Lisboa Triunfante, A Sombra Sobre Lisboa.
A carved statuette of Jesus bearing the Cross, facing toward the Velveteen Rabbit.
Torture Garden, To Kill a Mockingbird, Blood Meridian
La montagne morte de la vie. La nausée. Les Misérables.
The Imitation of Christ next to Caine Black Knife.
Eudora Welty glancing shyly toward Glen Cook.
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting shelved with Animalinside and Sharp Teeth.
Flaubert's The Temptation of St. Anthony nestled against Stepan Chapman's The Troika.
Seven Naguib Mahfouz books, all in English.
The Complete Stories of J.G. Ballard. Remembrance of Things Past. The Sandman.
Don Quixote. The Female Quixote. And six volumes of Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Ten Days That Shook the World. The Nationalization of the Masses. Darkness at Noon.
Голоса, Teach Yourself Swahili, Beginner's Basque.
Three more: The Palm-Wine Drunkard, The Postmortal, The Rules of Attraction.
A metal bookcase, rarely glanced upon these days. Nearly 100 books there.
Poetry from Gilgamesh to Homer to Ginsberg's "Howl."
Stacks on the floor, books leaning on shelves, full boxes scattered on the floor.
Romantic, Goth, Weird, Modernist, Postmodernist, Poststructuralist, Second Empire, Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, Futurian, Continental, Apologetic, and all ways in-between.


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NoraLynn Rowe - Jackin For Beatz (Over YMCMB's I'm On One, Did It One'em, How to Love) [Female Unsigned Hype Group]
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Energy opportunities and pitfalls to be covered at Ag Progress Days
Energy opportunities and pitfalls to be covered at Ag Progress Days
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Whether it's a desire for energy independence, concerns about the environment, a need to cut costs or an effort to find new uses for farm products, the agricultural community is taking an increasingly close look at ways to tap an expanding energy market in Pennsylvania.
Producers can learn more about the opportunities and pitfalls associated with shale-gas development and ag renewable energy by attending Penn State's Ag Progress Days, Aug. 13-15. The Energy Exhibiter Showcase, a series of presentations on energy resources and conservation practices, will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 13, in the Learning Center Tent at Main and East Ninth streets (below the Pasto Museum) at the Rock Springs site.
"These will be short, informative presentations by industry experts and Penn State Extension energy specialists," said showcase coordinator Ed Johnstonbaugh, an extension educator who specializes in agri-energy economic development. "The speakers will focus on shale-gas issues, conservation, solar and wind energy, and biogas and biomass energy. We have a great lineup of educational and thought-provoking presentations."
Presentations will cover the following topics:
-- 9 a.m.: "Water Management for Shale Energy Development"
-- 9:45 a.m.: "Natural Gas Abundance -- Good for Pennsylvania's Agriculture Community"
-- 10:15 a.m.: "Marcellus on Mainstreet, an Online Business Directory"
-- 10:45 a.m.: "Understanding Oil and Gas Royalty Payments"
-- 11:15 a.m.: "Shale Development and Impacts to Agriculture"
-- Noon: "Program Announcement: On-Farm Energy Assessment Program, Sponsored by PPL Electric Utilities, Supported by Penn State Extension"
-- 1 p.m.: "Looking at the Long Term: What Does Solar Energy Really Cost?"
-- 1:30 p.m.: "Community Wind Power Programs Consider the Options"
-- 2 p.m.: "Wood Briquetting -- Immediate Utilization of Pennsylvania Biomass Resources"
-- 2:30 p.m.: "Pennsylvania's Alternative Energy Credit Market Update, Have We Turned the Corner?"
New this year will be a special presentation at the Learning Center Tent titled "Introduction to Biomass and the NEWBio Consortium Hour," which will be offered at 11 a.m. Thursday.
Visitors interested in renewable energy also can take the one-hour "Short Rotation Woody Crops for Biomass" tour, offered all three days of the show. It leaves from the corn crib at the top of Main Street at noon each day.
Sponsored by Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, Ag Progress Days is held at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs, nine miles southwest of State College on Route 45. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 13; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Aug. 14; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 15. Admission and parking are free.
For more information, visit the Ag Progress Days website. Twitter users can find and share information about the event by using the hashtag #agprogress, and Facebook users can find the event here.


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By Caroline McGraw Feb 16, 2012 0
Love in a Pile of Leaves
This Valentine's Day, I'm determined to look for love in the ordinary spaces of my days. Too often, I get swept up by the idea of love, the thought of devotion—and, in doing so, I overlook the everyday manifestations of the extraordinary.
In an effort not to miss real love when I see it, I found myself holding a particular photograph in my hands and studying it intently. In the process of scanning photos for a documentary film project, I came across this 20-year-old image of my family.
The photograph's composition is a clue to the photographer: me, at elementary-school age. Looking at it now, I can see that it's off'; the house is looming large in the background, and the family is crammed into the foreground. As an adult, I can admit it's not an ideal photograph by any means. But I love it all the more for its imperfections. I love that my parents jumped into a pile of leaves with Willie and let me take their picture. You can see the rake, abandoned, near the edge of the lawn, and I love what that symbolizes: That we set aside efficiency and made room for play. I love that my parents entrusted me with their camera and gave me a chance to capture such happiness.
Of course, I run the risk of idealizing even here; though this moment is a beautiful one, I know that there were difficult moments in Willie's and my shared childhood. I know that there were times when Willie and I fought with one another, times when I thought my parents were unfair, times when Willie ran away and scared us half to death. (In fact, my first memory of my little brother is of him biting my hand during a tussle over which TV channel to watch, of me screaming in outrage.)
And, I suspect, this is true for many families. You have your gorgeous times, the times when home is a place of peace and contentment. And then you have the times when you want to throw in the towel and give up on the exasperating people that you call family. You get your birthdays, your anniversaries and Valentine's days, when you show appreciation and commitment to one another. And then you get your ordinary days, when you're lucky if you don't snap and scold or ignore one another completely.
Somehow, this photograph gives me greater insight into the paradoxical nature of family, the way we're always trying to change and stay the same, balancing the simultaneous desires to create a safe haven and fly the coop. In looking at the image, you can tell that Willie's about to wiggle out of the embrace; you can see that he's not looking at the camera or at my parents. You can see that this little boy is in a different world. But you can also see my father holding his hand, my mother cuddling him close.
My dad no longer wears aviator sunglasses, my mom no longer has a perm, and my brother is no longer a chubby-cheeked child. He has grown up, and our family dynamics have changed. Even so, there are clues to the future in the past. Though he's no longer the same impish boy, the grown-up Willie still moves out of pictures at every opportunity. Though they're no longer sporting 1980's styles, the older parents are still holding Willie, still creating a space of support for him. And ultimately, I treasure this photograph not because of all that has changed, but because of what remains.
The trees around my family may wither; time may change our bodies, our relationships, and our lives. We'll get lost and found, over and over again. Yet I also see a reason for hope, because I see a family that has left normal and gone in for something better: Love that endures through changing seasons, love amidst the dying of the leaves, still beaming bright.


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Area Real Estate
Call your newspaper to place an online real estate ad.
|For sale: In Venturia, ND, 26' x 36' insulated building built in 1981 by a master carpenter. Drive through garage doors, windows and side entry. Excellent Cement floor. Engine hoist, pit, sturdy 30' workbench with vise and grinder and storage drawers, oil furnace, bathroom/shower. Hot and Cold spigots. Storage cabinets. Good lighting. Perfect for a carpenter or mechanic. Great possibilities as a hunter's cabin. Includes 8 x 8' dog pen. Also included, an old but still useable 1 stall garage. Nice mature trees, good grass and great gardening ground on 150 (East and West) x 140' (North and south) corner.
|For sale: Three-unit home at 524 2nd Ave. S., Wishek. 24-by-58 feet. First floor has three bedrooms, two down and one up, full bathroom, large kitchen, utility room, half-bath off kitchen, living room, dining area and lots of storage. Second floor has one bedroom, full kitchen, family and dining area, bath and shower, lots of storage and pantry. Basement has two bedrooms, full kitchen, dining area, shower bathroom and family room.


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Perfectibility Movement and Its Causes and Conditions
Perfection and the perfectibility movement of a being consists of gradual changes coming over it as a result of which its potential power to obtain an existential feature (perfection) is made active. These changes occur by way of powers deposited in the nature of the perfectible being and by the use of external conditions and facilities.
For example, when grain is planted and when water, wind, warmth, light and other required conditions are provided, it is split and then it develops stem and leaves. Then it becomes a cluster and finally about seven hundred seeds are produced from it. The changes which occur in the grain from the very first to the emergence of seven hundred perfect seeds are termed as the perfectibility process. The powers, which exist in the said grain and by which the required material are absorbed and the harmful material are discharged and through which the absorbed material are turned into similar seeds by action and reaction, are called the causes of development. Water, wind, light and other external factors are called "the conditions of development."
Evidently, recognition of the amount of development and, in other words of the extent of the zone of existence and sphere of perfection of a being, as well as the causes and conditions of development, is usually possible by way of experience, even though the possibility of reaching recognition through other means cannot be negated.
Certain questions arise at this point: Do all beings undergo change and transformation or are there beings among those that we know or those that possibly exist without our awareness which are essentially unchangeable and which undergo no change and transformation at all? Is any change in the substance, in the appearance, in the attributes, in the proportions and in the additions an actual and real change? Or is it that change in proportions cannot be classed as an actual change? Would any actual change lead to the development of a perfectible trait or is it possible that the outcome of a movement be the loss of a group of existential traits? These are all relevant questions but as our discussion does not revolve around their answers now, we will abstain from answering them.
Scientific and Non - Scientific Movement
In the case of the vegetable seed, the changes which result in the division of a seed into several seeds are not due to scientific understanding and finding. The same holds true for changes which occur in an egg until it leads to the hatching of the egg. The difference is that the perfectibility process undergone by the chicken to become a developed hen hinges on perceptions without which the chicken cannot reach its befitting perfection.
If supposedly, the chicken could not sense hunger, thirst, warmth and coldness, and if it could not differentiate grain and water from stone and wood and if cold water and fire were the same for it, then it would not undergo any growth and development.
Rather it would, by no means be able to carry on living. Thus we get to the conclusion that perfectibility processes can be divided into two main types: perceptual and natural or scientific and non-scientific.
Instinctive and Non - Instinctive Perception
The perception required for a group of perfectibility movements is at times naturally and inherently present, even though the creature (possessing it) is not fully aware of it, such as the instinctive perceptions of animals. At times, this is acquired gradually and by way of learning. Naturally, the creature is fully aware of it, such as sciences learned by man.
At this point, some questions arise which must be answered elsewhere: Are plants devoid of all forms of perception or is it possible that some type of perception exists in a group of them? Are all animal perceptions instinctive or do some of them reap benefit from acquired perceptions? Supposing that animals possess acquired perception, does it have any inherent difference with man's acquired perceptions or not?
Voluntary and Involuntary Movement
At times, the development movement occurs spontaneously and involuntarily as soon as the required conditions are met for the being possessed of sufficient capacity for a particular form of development. In certain instances, it depends on the implementation of will and authority, as we explicitly realize our optional activities and clearly differentiate them from natural and involuntary acts.
Obviously in the voluntary processes, the rate of progress and development depends on the will and choice of the mobile creature. In other words, inability to reach the desired perfection is not due to the deficiency of innate faculties or to the presence of unfavorable external conditions and possibilities. It rather depends on the will and choice of the being as well.
As choice and selection is not possible without knowledge and awareness, good choice hinges on sound knowledge and recognition. The vaster the range of knowledge and the greater the possibility of acquiring positive learning, the greater the possibility of soundly using them for voluntary developments will be, as voluntary acts will be more freely carried out with a vaster range of action and a variety of external conditions.
This provides a solid reason for the necessity of recognizing the objective as well as recognizing the correct path (of reaching it) because, as already pointed out, choice hinges on knowledge and awareness and man's development - or at least, part of it - is voluntary. Of course, if Allah (SWT) willing we will discuss the emergence of will power and elements conducive to it.
Another question comes up here: apart from man, are there any other beings possessing free choice? And supposing that there are such beings, is there a more perfect being than man among them or not?
But it is clear that a positive or negative response to such questions bears no impact on the discussion underway.


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Cast Software has undertaken a study focused on the underlying structural quality of business software applications. Published this week, the company's survey details findings suggesting that the average cost of fixing problems that remain in an application once it is operational generally exceed $1 million.
While the generalized nature of such studies brings into question the value of this kind of analysis, the company insists that it developed the study by first performing an automated analysis to measure the structural quality of 288 IT applications from 75 companies throughout a variety of industries -- so that in total, the investigation touched a total of 108 million lines of code.
Seeking to try and coin the term 'technical debt', Cast says that these hidden fix-it costs are a primary contributor to an application's total cost of ownership.
According to Bill Curtis, Cast's chief scientist, "the purpose of our Worldwide Application Software Quality Study is to provide an objective, empirical foundation for discussing the structural quality of IT applications; that is, the extent to which IT applications are free from structural flaws that cause problems such as outages, performance degradation, security breaches and data corruption."
Using the data drawn from the automated analysis, CAST made a conservative estimate of which problems would be fixed and how much it would cost to fix them, revealing an average cost of nearly $2.82 per line of code. The average-sized application in the survey had 374,000 lines of code, translating into technical debt of over $1,055,000 per application.
Gartner has voiced its opinions on this subject and surmised that although we've long had the ability to benchmark applications at the project and process level, there has been a gap in terms of analysis tools to examine the underlying technical quality of applications. Analysts have also commented that this type of performance data, if it can be obtained, should prove valuable to organizations looking at issues such as application portfolio management and vendor lock-in.


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Once Again, Helping A User Doesn't Take Away Section 230 Protections
from the a-little-reminder deptOne thing we often hear from folks is that Section 230 safe harbors only apply to service providers who do not actively participate in the services they provide. That is, some of our commenters insist that if you "moderate" or if you, as a service provider, are actively involved in what a user does, then Section 230 safe harbors do not apply. Yet, time and time again, courts have found this not to be the case. In the latest such example, Eric Goldman points us to a lawsuit filed against an online auction site, Proxibid, which apparently is similar to eBay, but the company is somewhat more involved in the auctions. That is, it reviews the auctioneers before letting them use the site, and in this particular case, a Proxibid employee apparently helped the company doing the selling unilaterally extend an auction. A bidder in that auction was upset about the unilateral extension, as well as the belief that the selling company was issuing shill bids to drive up the price. He sued both the seller and Proxiweb, and tried to claim that Proxiweb was liable, because its actions made Section 230's safe harbors inapplicable.
Not so, according to the court:
Plaintiffs have essentially asserted that Proxibid is liable to them in tort for tortious interference with a contract, aiding and abetting a breach of a fiduciary duty, negligence, unfair trade practices, and conversion because Proxibid allegedly helped Danhauer deprive Plaintiffs of the items for which they were the highest bidder in the auction at 4:00 a.m. Plaintiffs' sole bases for maintaining these claims against Proxibid arise from Proxibid's facilitation of Danhauer's reopening of the auction and Proxibid's alleged failure to thwart Danhauer's efforts to bid in its own auction in violation of the website rules. Plaintiffs do not dispute the fact that Proxibid is a website service provider, much like Ebay. Plaintiffs also do not dispute that Danhauer was responsible for conducting all aspects of the auction. There is no evidence that Proxibid posted any information or conducted any actions other than those provided by or at the direction of Danhauer. In this case, Proxibid is nothing more than an interactive computer service provider and cannot be held liable for the information and actions originating from Danhauer. Accordingly, Proxibid is also entitled to the immunity provided under the CDA, and Plaintiffs may not pursue the tort claims in their Complaint against Proxibid.Yet another reminder that Section 230 safe harbors still apply, even if the service provider is somewhat more involved. There are, obviously, some limits to that involvement, but if it's merely moderating, or following the requests of users, it appears that the safe harbors remain -- as they should.
Filed Under: help, protections, section 230


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March 17, 2009-Life at 63
I turned 63 this week.
Judy is a few years behind but we both are traveling down that path. Old age or not, we like to feel well and exercise is important. Our apartment building in Bangkok has a small fitness center and we hit the gym or the pool every day. Usually Judy and I both go in the morning and Judy gets back down there during the middle of the day. I think it's working; on the day I turned 63 I beat my all time best time for 10K on the excerise bike and I've been tracking that for at least 10 years. It's been steady improvement every year as I keep working a bit harder each time.
Click here to see us in the fitness center.
We need the exercise just to keep up with our occasional dietary excess.
wingssail image-indigo pearl staff
The Good Life
Fred, Judy, Laura Randy, Sharon, John.
To celebrate the birthdays of Fred and Randy and John Jorgl the six of us pictured here went to the Indigo Pearl Resort at Nai Yang Beach in Phuket and spent three hours at brunch, with endless food and wine. It was all quite decadent and superb and best of all we spent it with good friends. I won't try to tell you all the great food and drink we had but trust me, it was the best brunch we ever had.
Now we have to get back into the gym and work it off.
Click here to see more shots of the buffet at Indigo Pearl
Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Phuket
Labels: friends, Indigo Pearl, Phuket, Thailand


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Wladimir Klitschko Tears Bicep, Postpones Fight Against Pulev
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Wladimir Klitschko has torn a bicep in sparring and his Sept. 6 heavyweight title against IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev has been postponed.
Klitschko's management says the champion will have to miss four weeks of training. A new date for the fight will be announced later. It will likely take place in Hamburg, the original venue. Klitschko was injured at his training camp in Austria.
The fight is likely to be held before the end of the year, according to Klitschko's management.
The statement quotes Klitschko as saying he was "very disappointed" by the postponement because he was "absolutely in top form" and had a "great training camp" behind him. He says he sorry for his opponent, "who has surely prepared as intensely."


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Alternative Dispute Resolution
The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center is a neutral, international and non-profit dispute resolution provider that offers time- and cost-efficient alternative dispute resolution (ADR) options. WIPO mediation, arbitration, expedited arbitration, and expert determination enable private parties to efficiently settle their domestic or cross-border IP and technology disputes out of court. The WIPO Center is also the global leader in the provision of domain name dispute resolution services under the WIPO-designed UDRP.


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Business Recycling
Broome County's Mandatory Source Separation Law requires all businesses and individuals to separate their recyclables for collection.
Under Broome County Law, your garbage hauler is prohibited from dumping designated recyclables in the Broome County Landfill.
A successful recycling program requires careful planning and implementation. You can avoid delays and problems by thoroughly evaluating all possible options. If trash disposal is handled by your building's management, coordinate your plans through ht management office.
Designate a recycling coordinator
It's important to identify a responsible, enthusiastic employee to organize, implement and encourage participation in the recycling program. It's the coordinator's job to work with management, maintenance staff, employees and your garbage hauler.
Examine your trash
Determine what kinds of recyclable items your business generates. A survey of trash cans, garbage dumpsters, store inventory and supply orders can provide you with reasonably accurate information about the kinds and quantities of recyclables you generate.
Call your garbage hauler
Your hauler is prepared to recycle your business waste. Your hauler can help you identify your recyclables, set-up and efficient collection system and may provide separate containers.
If you generate a high-value recyclable such as office paper, you may want to deal directly with a firm that markets recyclables. Compare the revenue that might be generated by such an arrangement with the convenience of having one firm collecting your recyclables.
Develop your collection system
To encourage participation, collection systems need to be convenient and efficient. Locate collection bins close to where recyclables are generated. Find out how your hauler wants materials sorted and prepared.
Include your employees in the process
Your employees are the key to the success of your recycling program.
Fully explain the recycling program and point out the benefits of recycling. Ask them for help in designing and implementing the program. Show that management is committed to making the program work.
Monitor your program
Maintain close contact with your hauler and your employees. If there's a problem act to solve it quickly. Let your employees know how the program is going by providing periodic updates on the amount and quality of material they've recycled.
Recycling isn't the only way to reduce waste. Look for ways to reduce the amount of waste you create by purchasing durable or reusable materials. Employees can provide other cost saving suggestions to help your business conserve resources.
Purchase products made from or packaged in recycled materials. Consider using recycled materials in manufacturing and have your company's letterhead and brochures printed on recycled paper.
Your commitment to buying recycled products helps foster the development of the recycling industry and lets your customers know you care about the environment. Although some recycled products may cost a little more than non-recycled equivalents, as the recycled market grows, prices will fall. The more businesses buy recycled products, the faster those prices will fall.
The Division of Solid Waste can provide free assistance to your business to improve or implement a recycling program or to provide waste reduction tips. Call 607.778.2250 or email firstname.lastname@example.com for more information.
Recycled Plastics Database (American Chemistry Council)
Secondary Market Database (Empire State Development)


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Back in 2005 a designer named Hayat Benchenaa developed a concept alarm clock that was suspended from the ceiling. When the alarm sounded in the morning, all you needed to do was give it a smack to continue snoozing. However, doing so would cause the alarm clock to retreat further towards the ceiling, making it more difficult to reach the next time around. Apparently his design has made it into production (or someone beat him to the punch) with a version of the Hanging Alarm Clock that you can actually buy.
The new and improved device functions almost exactly like the concept version, except you must actually press the snooze button instead of smacking it. It also features the Close Encounters theme as the alarm sound—which is a nice touch. All in all, it promises to be the most annoying way to wake up this side of the flying alarm clock. Available for about $40. [Crazyaboutgadgets via GeekAlerts]


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Make Your Reservation Today!
Free High-Speed Internet, Heated Indoor Pool & Spa, Large Fridge & Microwave, Fully Stocked Kitchenette and more…
In addition to its close proximity to top scenic attractions and year-round recreational opportunities, St. George has become a favorite shopping destination.
With ten local golf courses, family amusement centers, and parks, St. George provides days of year-round fun.


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Devesh Kapur
Devesh Kapur was appointed Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India in 2006. He is Associate Professor of Political Science at Penn, and holds the Madan Lal Sobti Chair for the Study of Contemporary India. Prior to arriving at Penn, Professor Kapur was Associate Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin, and before that the Frederick Danziger Associate Professor of Government at Harvard. His research focuses on human capital, national and international public institutions, and the ways in which local-global linkages, especially international migration and international institutions, affect political and economic change in developing countries, especially India. His latest book, Diaspora, Democracy and Development: The Impact of International Migration from India on India, was published by Princeton University Press in August 2010, and earned him the 2012 ENMISA (Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Migration Section of International Studies Association) Distinguished Book Award. Professor Kapur is the recipient of the Joseph R. Levenson Teaching Prize awarded to the best junior faculty, Harvard College, in 2005. He is a monthly contributor to the Business Standard.
Professor Kapur holds a B. Tech in Chemical Engineering from the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University; an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota; and a Ph.D. from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton.


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Republican David Dreier, chairman of the House Rules Committee, added his name Tuesday to the list of veteran California lawmakers who are retiring from Congress, causing some in California to fret about the state's lost clout on Capitol Hill.
But others, pointing to changes in Congress and a spirited anti-pork atmosphere pervading Washington, say those concerns are overblown.
Congressman Dreier, the most powerful of the six California representatives who are retiring, cited the historically low public approval rating for Congress as among the reasons he would not seek reelection.
Another reason that Dreier and others have decided not to run is that, as a result of California's recent redistricting, they were facing new or different constituencies or new opponents. His home was placed in a majority Hispanic district where President Obama defeated John McCain in the last presidential race.
"Seniority is almost everything on Capitol Hill, and because of redistricting and retirements, California could lose well over 200 years of incumbents' experience in the House," says Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a political scientist at the School of Policy, Planning, and Development at the University of Southern California, in an e-mail.
With twice the seniority of any other state, California has the most to lose, some say. Moreover, California voters' recent decision to put redistricting in the hands of a citizen's commission – instead of leaving it up to state legislators themselves – puts the state at a political disadvantage, they add. While other legislators in other states still take politics into account in redistricting, California's citizen's commission does not.
But the other side of the argument is that the workings of Congress have changed so much that these losses don't mean what they might have in the past.
"Given the combination of extremely tight budgets, the ban on traditional earmarks, and the popular and press focus on 'waste and pork,' no one holding a committee or subcommittee chair today can steer as much federal largess as in the past to his or her district and state," says Jack Johannes, professor of political science at Villanova University in an e-mail. "They still can and will, but it's a lot harder now than ever. That diminishes the effect of losing key congressmen who hold high ranking committee positions."
Other Calilfornia members of the House of Representatives that have decided not to return to Congress are Jerry Lewis (first elected in 1979), Elton Gallegly and Wally Herger (both in 1987) Lynn Woolsey and Bob Filner (1993), and Dennis Cardoza (2003).
Professor Johannes says that committee and some subcommittee chairs – the traditional source of power – no longer are based on seniority in the House, a tradition that was broken in the 1970s and crushed by Newt Gingrich in 1995. He says both parties since then have regularly skipped seniority to reward party loyalty, ideological purity, and fundraising ability in appointing chairs.
"Both parties in the House limit the terms of committee chairs and ranking minority members, forcing rotation," Johannes says. "Thus holding positions of power is less stable today than ever, and probably less meaningful. Sooner or later, California was bound to lose some influence associated with holding key positions."
Still there are those that hold that Dreier, in particular, will be missed for what he could bring directly to the state.
"David Dreier was particularly effective in getting emergency help following the extreme rains and mudslides of 2005," says Jack Pitney, professor of government at Claremont McKenna College. But he says more important than any specific project is Dreier's operating style.
"He is a genuine believer in deliberative democracy, who has been willing to criticize his own party leadership for shortchanging substantive policy debate," says Professor Pitney. He spotlights a Dreier quote used by Elizabeth Drew in her 1996 book about the GOP takeover of Congress: "The thing that has troubled me about the whole Hundred Days concept is that we're trying to do too much too quickly. We're going against the Founding Fathers. They wanted us to be deliberative," said Dreier.
Others are glad to see him go.
"If you do the math, California is not getting its fair share of federal funds now," says Barbara O'Connor, director emeritus of the Institute for Study of Politics and Media at California State University, Sacramento. Ticking off a list of appropriations – for TARP, high-speed rail, water projects, unemployment – Professor O'Connor says "the real question is what have they brought us. The whole point of redistricting was to change how bad it is and this is working."
Kyle Kondik, house editor at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, points out that California still has plenty of strong names that can do the heavy lifting: Nancy Pelosi, Henry Waxman, Daryl Issa, Kevin McCarthy, Dana Rohrabacher, George Miller, and Dan Lungren.
"If the goal is to bring back money for your district, all these guys are high on the food chain and know how to take care of their own," Professor Kondik says. "And of course, a lot depends on exactly who the new guys are and how they learn to work together."
On this point, Johannes says historical context is important, as is the natural ebb and flow of political power over time. For instance, he mentions the 1946 congressional elections, when "safe, conservative Southern Democrats" survived but northern liberals lost.
"That meant, given the general electoral safety in the South, that southerners rather quickly moved up the seniority ladder to become chairs of a disproportionate number of … committees. They dominated committees into the seventies. Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, once had powerful House and Senate delegations, but they departed, via retirement mostly, costing those states influence. The same is true for a number of states over the past 50 or 70 years. It's inevitable."


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Cecilia Bartoli Ė Biography
When Cecilia Bartoli sings, everything changes. Critics search for new metaphors to describe the sound of her voice, because they are unable to convey what they hear with their usual vocabulary. There must be "songbirds nesting within her throat", they say. And so, when it comes down to it, all they can do is express their love and admiration. Such is the Bartoli phenomenon. It cannot be described matter-of-factly or in facts and figures. Yet, in their own way, these too demonstrate just how many Cecilia Bartoli is able to move Ė and how much she can set in motion Ė with her voice.
Cecilia Bartoli has now sold more than ten million audio and video recordings worldwide, making her in terms of numbers the most successful classical artist of the present day. Her recordings regularly achieve gold and platinum status, and her releases have occupied the highest positions of the international pop charts for more than 100 weeks. As these facts clearly indicate, Cecilia Bartoli is one of the most popular artists of our time.
She has achieved this status without resorting to any of the popularising measures frequently encountered in the music business. Cecilia Bartoli defines the term 'crossover' in a different way Ė her own way. For her, it denotes people who are crossing over a bridge and in so doing sharing their passion and curiosity with her. As someone who enjoys discovering new things, Cecilia Bartoli turns distinguished, elaborately themed projects into worldwide successes, such as 'The Vivaldi Album', 'Italian Arias' (Gluck), 'The Salieri Album', 'Opera proibita', 'Maria', 'Sacrificium', 'Mission' (Agostino Steffani) and 'St Petersburg'. Among the works included are true rarities, along with composer names that were hitherto largely forgotten. Now they can be found adorning the lists of top-selling music in the 21st century! In addition to her many other awards, she has won five Grammys, more than a dozen Echo Klassik Awards in Germany, two Classical Brit Awards, the Victoire de la Musique in France, the Prix Caecilia in Belgium, and the Edison Award in the Netherlands.
Her performances have been witnessed in the most renowned concert halls of Europe, America, Asia and Australia. In her concerts too, Cecilia Bartoli presents programmes full of new discoveries, subtly balanced dramaturgically. She does not need to rely on popular works to sell out venues. Who, if not Cecilia Bartoli, could fill the Grosser Musikvereinssaal in Vienna or the Barbican Centre in London by performing music by the likes of Steffani, Manfredini or Caldara? In recent years, she has predominantly been accompanied by world-class ensembles that specialise in historically informed performance, such as the Akademie fŁr Alte Musik Berlin, Les Arts Florissants, I Barocchisti, the Concentus Musicus Wien, the Freiburger Barockorchester, Il Giardino Armonico, the Kammerorchester Basel, the Ensemble Matheus, Les Musiciens du Louvre, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Orchestra La Scintilla from Zurich.
In summer 2016, Cecilia Bartoli assumed the artistic direction of the newly founded 'Les Musiciens du Prince Ė Monaco' project. The orchestra, which is committed to period performance practice, is domiciled at the Opťra de Monte Carlo and is supported by Prince Albert II and Princess Caroline of Monaco.
Naturally, Cecilia Bartoli has also sung with many leading symphony orchestras. Once again, the emphasis of these musical encounters is increasingly on projects under Cecilia Bartoli's own artistic direction. This area of her work has so far culminated in programmes developed and realised in conjunction with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2012, Cecilia Bartoli was appointed artistic director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival. This venue is ideal in that it allows her to exercise her unique skill at merging art and concept and generating creativity from context. Cecilia Bartoli is the first woman to hold this senior international cultural position. Her contract in Salzburg has meanwhile been extended until 2021. She drew the inspiration for her first festival programme from Cleopatra, the legendary female figure of antiquity. The multifaceted motto of the Whitsun Festival in 2013 was 'Sacrifice Ė Opfer Ė Victim'. Following on from Gioacchino Rossini, on whom she placed the focus of the programme for 2014, Bartoli chose a programme based on the central theme of Greek mythology, with the motto: 'Thus I will call upon all gods' in 2015. The motto of the programme for the 2016 Whitsun Festival was 'Romeo and Juliet', with a new production of West Side Story, directed by Gustavo Dudamel and with Cecilia Bartoli in the role of Maria.
The Salzburg Festival is yet another important stage in her role as an opera singer. In 2013, Cecilia Bartoli celebrated her sensational stage debut in Salzburg as Norma Ė in what was a milestone of her career. She followed this in 2014 with Rossini's La Cenerentola, a role with which she has enjoyed prolonged worldwide success. In 2015 she sang the title role in Christoph Willibald Gluck's Iphigťnie en Tauride for the first time. For Whitsun 2017, Cecilia Bartoli will be debuting in not one but two roles: the title role in a new production of Handel's Ariodante, and a concert performance of La donna del lago by Rossini.
Her stage career had already included performances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, La Scala in Milan, the Bavarian State Opera, the Zurich Opera House, and the Thť'tre des Champs-…lysťes in Paris. Zurich was also the first stop on a tour of the Salzburg production of Norma in 2015; after Monte Carlo in February 2016 and the opening of the Edinburgh Festival in 2016, Cecilia Bartoli also presented her new vision of the role to thrilled audiences at the Thť'tre des Champs-…lysťes in Paris and in Baden-Baden.
In February 2017, Cecilia Bartoli set out on a European tour to present a semi-concert production of Rossini's La Cenerentola, to mark the 200th anniversary of its premiere.
It was exactly 30 years ago, on 16 May 1987, that Cecilia Bartoli, then aged nineteen, gave her debut performance of Rossini's Barbiere di Siviglia in the opera house of her native city of Rome. Yet her real stage debut was actually ten years earlier. Cecilia was only nine when she sang the Shepherd Boy at a performance of Tosca in Rome. Her childhood was full of music, and both of her parents were opera singers. Her mother, Silvana Bazzoni, gave her singing lessons and remained her only teacher, even after she started studying, aged 17, at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.
Cecilia Bartoli never had a career plan; looking back, she says she simply made music, and more and more music Ö which led to the RAI putting her on a television talent show and the opera house in Paris contracting her for a gala concert in memory of Maria Callas. This too was televised, and this time she was seen by Daniel Barenboim, who invited her to work with him, as did Riccardo Muti and Herbert von Karajan.
Nikolaus Harnoncourt was another person who sought an artistic collaboration with Cecilia Bartoli back then. This became a meeting of two artists who understood how to make the most thrilling contemporary art from so-called 'early music'. He was followed by a number of other conductors, such as Giovanni Antonini, Marc Minkowski, Diego Fasolis and Gianluca Capuano, all of whom became important collaborators of Cecilia Bartoli.
Mozart and Rossini have always been and still are at the core of her repertoire. However, her inclination for discovery has also led her to major figures whose existence had been undeservedly somewhat more shadowy, including such greats as Salieri and Gluck. She even rediscovered Vivaldi as a opera composer and also spectacularly rescued the Baroque composer Agostino Steffani from oblivion. Her 'Mission' project created as much furore as did her innovative and thematically based programmes on forbidden opera in seventeenth-century Rome ('Opera proibita'), the art of the castratos ('Sacrificium') and the courtly music of Catherine the Great ('St Petersburg'). 'Maria', her homage to Maria Malibran, one of the greatest singers of the early nineteenth century, opened up new perspectives for vocal artistry from the early Romantic era. It was in this way, that Cecilia Bartoli also unlocked the door to Bellini's Norma.
All of these projects combine meticulousness and imagination, attention to philological detail, and the joy of unconventional ideas. For 'Maria', Bartoli used a truck as a travelling Malibran museum, while a 100-page compendium about the art of the castratos was published to accompany 'Sacrificium'. For the 'Mission' project, Donna Leon contributed a new novel inspired by Cecilia Bartoli. CD covers and photo series always feature striking and highly creative visual motifs. Cecilia's oft-discussed 'bald head' (ŗ la Steffani) has become a tongue-in-cheek symbol of her willingness to take risks.
Cecilia Bartoli has been presented with the highest of state honours ó in Italy, she is a 'Cavaliere', in France she is 'Chevalier de la Lťgion díHonneur' and 'Officier des Arts et des Lettres'. Renowned institutions like the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Swedish Academy of Music have made her an honorary member, while University College Dublin awarded her an honorary doctorate. In 2010, she was presented with the Lťonie Sonning Music Prize, followed in 2012 by the Herbert-von-Karajan Prize, and in 2016 by the Polar Music Prize.
Of all her awards, there is one of which she is particularly proud: a culinary recipe of hers was awarded a top score by none other than Gault Millau. Coming from Rome, and this always being in her heart and soul, this honour is something very special to her.


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New Products
Hydraulic Presses with PSDI Capability
As the press operator breaks the light curtain to remove a finished part, sensors detect the beam interruption and send a signal to the control system. When the beam is again interrupted by the operator's placement of a new part into the press, sensors send a second signal to the press control. After the second beam interruption, when the sensors have detected that the point of operation is clear of the operator's hands or other objects, the press will automatically cycle.
Beckwood Press Co.: 636/343-4100; www.beckwoodpress.com
See also: Beckwood Press Company
Related Enterprise Zones: Presses


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African American Artists & Designers for 2014, Part 2
Welcome to our 19th annual Black History Month surf, where we have a look at outstanding contributions to art and design from the black community. We've enjoyed researching this year's lineup, and hope you enjoy the next four pages of resources. Also, don't forget to pick up your free -- follow along : One on One: Exploring the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists Worldwide Graphic Design: How Different Nationalities Design Terrifying, Strange and Beautiful - Live Unchained Carry my heart ... it's too heavy for me Neourbian Art for the Masses Patrick Amara
and more! Enjoy : February 1, 2014


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About Us
Transition 101
Transition Towns
Knowledge Hub
This past week at the Transition Network Conference 2010 in the UK, the speaker Stoneleigh rocked everyone's paradigm with her talk "Making Sense of the Financial Crisis in the Era of Peak Oil" An audio of this talk is available online, but at this time, regrettably, her slides do not appear to be available.
Within growing Transition Initiatives, we are accustomed to showing paradigm-rocking films such as "End of Suburbia" and holding a community discussion of people's reactions. Hopkins even describes the "End of Suburbia Moment." (page 83, The Transition Handbook)
How might one best manage the feelings of overwhelm, devastation and defeat that can accompany your 'End of suburbia moment.' the point when your really 'get' peak oil and its implications? The first point is to realise that feeling like this is natural, indeed it is far more natural than feeling nothing or blanking it out. It is a healthy response. ...
We often remind Transition leaders not to simply send someone off to watch a film like this alone; we show it in a group and get the discussion going so that people can begin to process their inner feelings. Group leaders might channel those feelings into positive outlets such as the Post-It Note tool (page 155, The Transition Handbook) Perhaps we should consider staging similar events for people to listen to Stoneleigh's talk in groups so that people can talk about it, begin to process their emotions, and direct their initial reaction into positive channels.
... seek to generate what Chris Johnstone calls 'Inspirational Dissatisfaction,' where the feelings generated motivate you to make changes in your life. Acknowledge that the change you want to see starts with you, and see the feelign that your life has been turned on its head as a precious opportunity to rethink some basic assumptions. ...
When we work with peak oil newcomers, we help them understand the significant role that oil plays in our life (page 118, The Transition Handbook). We invite them to imagine what life might be like with far less oil to fuel our transportation, far less oil to move ourselves and our goods around the planet.
Stoneleigh's talk about the economy invites us to imagine what life might be like if you had 1/10th or 1/100th of the buying power you do today. Whether that be from deflation or scarcity of goods, what would life be like? The exercise in our "End of the Economy" gathering could go like this:
Think of all the things you currently purchase with money. These would be all the things you don't make or grow yourself, all the things you can't barter for within your community. Which of these are absolutely essential, and which are something you could live without?
Of those things that are absolutely essential, how could you possibly go about obtaining them without money? If you could redesign your habits and your community so that you COULD make, grow locally, or barter for these essentials, what action might you take right now? What systems would you put in place? What skills would you personally need to acquire? What tools and supplies would you need to have on hand?
And after hearing Stoneleigh's talk, what's stopping you from putting those things in place right now?
... within [this new awareness] lies, as in the bleak opening chapters of most adventure stories, a call to adventure. You will come to look back on this as a major, but positive, transition in your life.
--Rob Hopkins, The Transition Handbook
Within the Transition movement we are no strangers to the idea of reskilling, preparing our communities, or rallying action. Stoneleigh's talk simply reminds us of an additional "why" for virtually the same process we have already been pursuing. Her talk does perhaps give us more urgency, with a shorter timeline (but the recent detail diagrams of the peak of oil production don't give us much time, nor do James Hansen's climate forecasts). And the process is still the same: raise awareness, reskill, build physical projects, grow local resilience, build community.
We encourage our local communities to think about powerdown -- how we would accomplish the various aspects of our lives (food, water, clothing, education, etc) without oil, and with far less energy inputs. Stoneleigh's talk reminds us that we must also plan for how we will accomplish these with far less money inputs. Things like local reskilling, local resource base, and local production -- coupled with local bartering networks -- become critical parts of the solution.
After the credit collapse, Stoneleigh points out, there will be far less money pursuing the same amount of stuff. Right now, while you still have money (and the ability to transport stuff), make every single purchase count toward preparing you and your community for what lies ahead. Gain the new skills. Bring the water barrels, the vegetable seeds, the mechanical/power-free tools into your community. Apply this to each and every one of your spending decisions: whether to buy the new cell phone, or whether to buy an additional rainwater harvesting barrel.
Right now, people who still have intact finances still wrestle with the dilemma of time. Even within Transition circles, we still hear people saying "I don't have time for that." Stoneleigh's talk reminds us to get down to basics. There really isn't anything more pressing to do with your time. Design your local "End of the Economy" gathering so that individuals face this issue squarely, provide tools/exercises which help them make a commitment, and provide plenty of opportunities for them to plug into the forward motion of the local Transition Initiative.
Other tidbits from the Stoneleigh talk:
I'll add one of my own: Make sure your local Transition Initiative is situated to continue to operate with far less money inputs. (see "Resilient Nonprofits" on Transition U.S.)
But no visit to Stoneleigh's audio is complete, within the Transition movement, without this beautiful little (8minute) video of Rob Hopkins and Peter Lipman talking about their personal responses to Stoneleigh's talk. Heartfelt and uplifting, Peter speaks of examining the "why" behind his own fears, and shares the question Stoneleigh's talk prompted within himself: How do we take our money and use it for communities?
MP3 of Stoneleigh's talk "Making Sense of the Financial Crisis in the Era of Peak Oil" at the Transition Network Conference 2010
Since we don't have her slides, here are a few images which are probably similar to what she would have been showing:
Video of Rob Hopkins & Peter Lipman responding to Stoneleigh's talk (8 min)
"Resilient Nonprofits" on Transition U.S.
Community-based finances resource page from one of our local Transition pods in Los Angeles


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Tech Update
Grinders Have a Tough Job--These Wheels Make it Easier
3M Abrasive Systems, St. Paul, MN, introduces Cubitron II bonded abrasive grinding and cutoff wheels that boast precision-shaped grain technology, enabling faster cutting. Grains stay sharper longer, say company officials, and the wheels require less pressure (as much as three times less) than conventional grinding and cutoff wheels, helping to reduce operator fatigue and increase productivity.
While conventional ceramic abrasive grains are irregular in shape and work by plowing through metal, causing significant heat buildup, grains of Cubitron II grinding wheels continuously fracture to form sharp points and edges. This helps the abrasives slice cleaner and faster, stay cooler and last longer. Use the wheels in place of traditional grinding wheels comprising aluminum-oxide, alumina-zirconia or ceramic grain.3M: 888-364-3577; www.3M.com/cubitron2
See also: 3M Abrasive Systems Division
Related Enterprise Zones: Other Processes


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A Determined Democracy
On 20 October 2012, local elections took place in the West Bank for the first time in seven years. These were also the first elections to take place since the 2006 parliamentary poll. The 2006 elections were a bitter experience for Palestinians. Although EU and US observers agreed that the procedure was free and fair, instead of judging Hamas on its merits and its work in government, the Middle East Quartet refused to recognise the results, which effectively amounted to a political boycott of the unwelcome movement.
Many figures within the EU have since agreed that the decision not to recognise the Hamas victory was wrong. But the consequences, which have been counterproductive in every sense, still resonate to this day.
At the beginning at least, the international boycott of the Hamas government stoked the bitter feud between Fatah and Hamas, which spilled over into open violence in 2007. Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, and Fatah has since controlled the West Bank, meaning that there are essentially two governments. Within the framework of a reconciliation process there have been several treaties and declarations of intent, but no real progress.
Meanwhile, the terms of office of all elected Palestinian organs have expired. Since January 2009, President Abbas has been serving without the voters' mandate. This is why Hamas officially recognises Aziz Dweik as President, who was elected President of the legislative council in 2006. But this body has not convened since 2007, several parliamentarians are still in detention, and its legislative period came to an end in January 2010.
High voter turnout
Political legitimacy is in short supply in the Palestinian territories. It was clear that the local elections could not change this. They had been postponed several times to enable the first consensual implementation since 2004 and 2005 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Owing to a lack of progress in the reconciliation process, President Abbas finally ordered elections to take place in the West Bank alone, to the annoyance of Hamas, who declared a boycott.
The obstacles and obstructions to the local elections were high: In the Gaza Strip, Hamas refused to go to the polls. In Jerusalem, Israel bans the Palestinians from holding elections. In the West Bank, there was only any real competition in 93 of the 350 constituencies; in 181 there was only a single list to choose from, in 78 no elections took place at all. Under such conditions, many Palestinians didn't want to cast their ballot.
"These elections are a joke," was one view expressed in Ramallah. "We live under occupation, and some people here behave as though these elections have national significance. This kind of attitude only serves to magnify the division."
But in view of the many obstacles, voter turnout was actually quite high at 54.8 percent across the entire West Bank. In comparison: At 52.3 percent, fewer people cast their votes in Germany's largest state North-Rhine Westphalia in local elections in 2009. The relatively high turnout suggests that many voters aligned with Hamas cast their ballots despite the official boycott out of a desire to participate.
Nevertheless, it was not only traditional parties up for election, but there were also several lists with independent candidates. The frustration many people feel with Fatah was then also expressed in the governing movement's woeful performance. Particularly in the larger towns, many seats were lost to alliances of independent parties, but also to renegade Fatah members. This meant Fatah was not even able to garner half of all mandates – despite the Hamas boycott.
In the traditionally conservative stronghold of Hebron, voter turnout was unsurprisingly low. But nevertheless, one of the lists was comprised solely of female candidates. "We were completely left to our own devices," say the party activists. "We had no financial or institutional support. But we want to instigate change, regardless of how difficult that is." Although they may not have been able to convince many voters, the desire for change is tangible.
Participatory tradition
On election day there were many expressions of support for the poll, despite internal divisions and the ongoing occupation. "Elections are an important basic right and an integral part of political culture. If we don't uphold this, if we don't insist upon it, then there won't be any presidential and parliamentary elections," says an elderly man in Ramallah.
Those who came to cast their ballots represented a variety of social strata. Although frustration with long-established parties has reached a zenith, faith in the democratic electoral process and the desire to participate appears to be unbroken. On a local level in particular, because it is here that the composition of municipal, regional and village councils is decided, councils that are responsible for everyday matters – at least in the 20 percent of the West Bank where the Palestinians have limited autonomy.
The desire to have a say is nothing new, and certainly not a product of any western democratisation efforts. The Palestinian tradition of local participation dates back to the Ottoman era and has survived several periods of foreign domination – the British Mandate, Jordanian rule and the Israeli occupation.
With the organisation and implementation of these elections, the Palestinians have again demonstrated their democratic maturity. The losers are the ancestral parties: Neither Hamas with their boycott, nor the internally split, directionless and leaderless Fatah movement can convince most people because they are not offering any solutions. The occupation persists and the Palestinians do not have access to their own land and resources, which are being exploited by settlements in the West Bank that continue to grow. The Palestinian Authority is reliant on its drip feed of international aid.
The elections cannot rectify inherited structures and the lack of legitimacy. It is unlikely that the elections will yield a future Palestinian civil rights and protest movement against the occupation, but rather seek to actively overcome existing political structures – established back in 1993 for a transitional period. The fact that Palestinians have nevertheless taken part in the poll shows nothing less than their desire for self-determination and is an indicator of the search for political alternatives.
René Wildangel
© Qantara.de 2012
René Wildangel is Director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Ramallah.
Editor: Lewis Gropp/Qantara.de