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- 3 beds
- 4 baths
- $750,000 price
- 1107572 mls id
- Square Feet: 4,286 sqft
- Year Built: 1996
Contemporary design with a focus on the gorgeous waterfront views and setting! The design of this home is exquisite from the floor plan to the window placement to the finishing features. The main floor is designed to create separate spaces yet be open to enjoy the views from as many area as possible. The kitchen has a professional Viking oven/range, great counter and cabinet design, work island and eat-in area with access to the deck overlooking the water and where you can enjoy the sounds of the creek located on the edge of the property. The main floor also includes sunken living room with fireplace, easy access to the front deck; formal dining room with view of the water; a master suite with walk-in closet, double shower room, double vanity and spa tub; and main floor laundry/mudroom. The lower walk-out level includes guest suite, third bedroom, office, home theatre area, recreation area, bathroom with Kohler steam shower and sunroom looking out at the lake. There is also a workshop/storage room with easy access to the exterior. A few more of the many features include 3 car (30x27, dry walled) garage, in-floor heat on both levels, ceramic tile, new roof (2011), high ceilings, in-ground sprinkler system, deep water access from the dock (8'x62' with electricity to it), gas hook-up for grill on deck and beautiful landscaping (retaining walls, pavers, flowers). In addition to all of the beautiful features of this home is the prime location in Portage Township, less than a mile from the City of Houghton. A beautiful home in a great location with great value and features for all lifestyles!
- Site Link
- Style Other Style
Courtesy of: North Country Agency
Office Phone: +19065242121
Listing Agent: Kristine Jukuri Weidner
Updated: 30th March, 2020 12:18 PM.
19050 Canal Houghton, MI


text:
Last week, as part of my TED habit, I watched Adam Grant's TED talk "The surprising habits of original thinkers". It was the word habit that drew me to the talk, but the talk wasn't so much about habits as being an original, and what that took.
His talk was so good, I hopped onto Amazon and found that, yes indeed, he had written a book on the idea. So I got it immediately, and started reading it.
And then it struck me. I'd done this before.
There have been several TED talks by people who had either already published a book or who had gone on to publish one. So I thought I'd share the books I've been reading that were by TED speakers. What I love most is the diversity of these books, which reflects the diversity of TED speakers and what they talk about.
- Daring Greatly: How the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we live, love and parent and lead, by Brene Brown.
- Presence by Amy Cuddy
- The Happiness Advantage: The seven principles that fuel success and performance at work by Shawn Achor
- An astronaut's guide to life on earth by Chris Hadfield
- Human Universe by Brian Cox
- Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
- Authentic Happiness by Martin E P Seligman
I've linked a TED talk to each person's name, so check them out. And if you'd like to know more, then go read the books too.
Take care for now
Karen x

subset: commoncrawl


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A tronie (16/17th-century Dutch for "face") is a common type, or group of types, of works common in Dutch Golden Age painting and Flemish Baroque painting that shows an exaggerated facial expression or a stock character in costume. It is related to the French word "trogne" which is slang for "mug" or head.
The term 'tronie' is not clearly defined in art historical literature. Literary and archival sources show that initially the term 'tronie' was not always associated with people. Inventories sometimes referred to flower and fruit still lifes as 'tronies'. More common was the meaning of face or visage. Often the term referred to the entire head, even a bust, and in exceptional cases the whole body. A tronie could be two-dimensional, but also made of plaster or stone. Sometimes a tronie was a likeness, the depiction of an individual, including the face of God, Christ, Mary, a saint or an angel. In particular a tronie denoted the characteristic appearance of the head of a type, for example a farmer, a beggar or a jester. Tronie sometimes meant so much as a grotesque head or a model such as the type of an ugly old person. When conceived as the face of an individual and of a type a tronie's aim was to express feelings and character in an accurate manner and must therefore be expressive.[1]
In modern art-historical usage the term tronie is typically restricted to figures not intended to depict an identifiable person, so it is a form of genre painting in a portrait format. Typically a painted head or bust only, if concentrating on the facial expression, but often half-length when featured in an exotic costume, tronies might be based on studies from life or use the features of actual sitters. The picture was typically sold on the art market without identification of the sitter, and was not commissioned and retained by the sitter as portraits normally were. Similar unidentified figures treated as history paintings would normally be given a title from the classical world, for example the Rembrandt painting now known as Saskia as Flora.
The genre started in the Low Countries in the 16th century where it was likely inspired by some of the grotesque heads drawn by Leonardo. Leonardo had pioneered drawings of paired grotesque heads whereby two heads, usually in profile, were placed opposite each other in order to accentuate their diversity. This paired juxtaposition was also adopted by artists in the Low Countries. In 1564 or 1565 Joannes and Lucas van Doetecum are believed to have engraved 72 heads attributed to Pieter Brueghel the Elder that followed this paired arrangement.[1]
This paired model was still being used by some artists in the 17th century. For instance, the Flemish artist Jan van de Venne who was active in the first half of the 17th century painted a number of tronies juxtaposing different faces.
Several Rembrandt self-portrait etchings are tronies, as are paintings of himself, his son and his wives. Three Vermeer paintings were described as "tronies" in the Dissius auction of 1696, perhaps including the Girl with a Pearl Earring and the Washington Young Girl with a flute. Frans Hals also painted a number of tronies, which are now among his best-known works, including the two tronies known as Malle Babbe and the Gypsy Girl (see gallery).
Adriaen Brouwer was one of the most successful practitioners of the genre as he had a talent for expressiveness. His work gave a face to lower-class figures by infusing their images with recognizable and vividly expressed human emotions—anger, joy, pain, and pleasure. His Youth Making a Face (c. 1632/1635, National Gallery of Art) shows a young man with a satirical and mocking gesture which humanises him, however uninviting he may appear. Brouwer's vigorous application of paint in this composition, with his characteristically short, unmodulated brushstrokes, increases the dramatic effect.[2] Genre painters often returned to the old theme of the allegory of the five senses and created series of tronies depicting the five senses. Examples are Lucas Franchoys the Younger's A man removing a plaster, the sense of touch and Joos van Craesbeeck's The Smoker which represents taste.[3]
The tronie is related to, and has some overlap with, the "portrait historié", a portrait of a real person as another, usually historical or mythological, figure. Jan de Bray specialised in these, and many portraitists sometimes showed aristocratic ladies in particular as mythological figures.
Frans Hals, so-called Gypsy Girl
Lucas Franchoys the Younger, A man removing a plaster, the sense of touch
Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring 1665
See also
- Joseph Ducreux - French 18th century portraitist whose less formal works use extreme expressions
- Franz Xaver Messerschmidt - Austrian sculptor best known for his extreme "character heads"
- ^ a b Jan Muylle, Tronies toegeschreven aan Pieter Bruegel, in: De zeventiende eeuw. Jaargang 17. Uitgeverij Verloren, Hilversum 2001, p. 174-203 (in Dutch)
- ^ Brouwer, Adriaen, Youth Making a Face at the National Gallery of Art
- ^ A man removing a plaster, the sense of touch by Lucas Franchoys the Younger at the Wellcome Library, London
- Hirschfelder, Dagmar: Tronie und Porträt in der niederländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts. Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2008. ISBN 978-3-7861-2567-9
- Gottwald, Franziska: Das Tronie. Muster - Studie - Meisterwerk. Die Genese einer Gattung der Malerei vom 15. Jahrhundert bis zu Rembrandt, München/Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2009. ISBN 978-3-422-06930-5
- Hirschfelder, Dagmar / Krempel, León (Eds.): Tronies. Das Gesicht in der Frühen Neuzeit, Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2013.


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I want to tell you about six men so that you will know them not as names on a reflective, gabbro wall, but as people.
As memorial day approaches, I find myself thinking about my friends whose names are on Vietnam Wall I would like to share something with you about them . . . not how they died, but how they lived. Behind every name on that wall….there was a personality, family and friends who loved them, and those of us who served with them, and because we served with them…..a small part of us is on that wall with them.
I want to tell you about six of the men who are forever enshrined on that wall, so that you will know them not as names on a reflective, gabbro wall, but as people.
1) Dan Lambdin. I knew Dan from Germany when we served together in the 7th Cavalry. He met me at the railroad station in Schweinfurt and when I took his extended hand there was a twenty dollar bill there. "What's this for?" I asked. Dan replied, "Seeing as you were in transit over payday, I figured you might need it." Boy, did I ever need it. I had less than a dollar to my name, and I hadn't eaten a bite since the meal on the plane, the day before. Like me, Dan was a warrant officer, and we were part of a bowling team we called WOPA…meaning "Warrant Officers Protective Association." I still have my bowling shirt. Dan and I went to Vietnam at the same time, but didn't serve in the same unit. However, I saw him several times while I was there, and we made a few fun excursions into down town Vung Tau.
2) Walt Morris also served with me in Germany and was another warrant officer. Walt was only 19, the beneficiary of the army lowering the age limit for getting into flight school. We used to tease him, saying that he got on the wrong bus one morning, thinking he was going to high school, but wound up in flight school. Walt was also a member of the WOPA bowling team. I went with Walt to buy a Volkswagen "bug" which he was all hepped up about. But when we got to the car dealership the manager called over a "translator" to deal with him. She was one of the most beautiful young women either of us had ever seen. She talked Walt into buying a VW bus. "Walt, that's three times more than you planned to spin," I said. "I know, Dick….but wasn't she beautiful?"
3) Benjamin (Bob) Bostic was a captain. We went through the AMOC (Aviation Maintenance Officers Course) together, and wound up, not only in the same unit in Vietnam, but as roommates in the BOQ. Bob was a graduate of Northwestern and he married a girl from Northwestern who was so pretty she would actually turn heads when she came into the officers club. Bob was a good artist, and we had actually planned for him to illustrate the cover of one of my books, when we reached our drop dates.
4) Jimmy Winston was my driver. He was a young black man from Chicago and because he had never driven before he got into the army, he loved to drive. We had a game we would play. If we saw a rock on the road ahead of us, Jimmy would call out, 'Chief, grab that rock!' He would swerve over so I could catch it with my foot, and drag it down the road. Of course, we could only do that on hard surface roads. Jimmy was a really good kid, and a good soldier, very much liked by the entire company. When I came through Chicago on my way back home I called his mother, and shared with her what a good soldier Jimmy was, and how much he was liked.
5) I didn't serve with James Wyatt….who I had known for most of my life as "Jimmy." We grew up as neighbors, playing kick the can, football, and baseball together. We also went hunting and fishing together. I found out that Jimmy was in Vietnam the same time I was, and wasn't too far away. Twice, I tried to visit him, but he was gone both times. Twice he tried to visit me, but I was gone both times, so though were unable to connect, we did leave notes for each other. Jimmy was the champion horse shoe thrower in Sikeston High School, and I think he would want you to know that.
6) Leslie "LeRoy" Karnes. LeRoy is someone else that I didn't serve with in Vietnam, though we were in the National Guard together back in Sikeston, Missouri when both of us were in high school. And like me, LeRoy had lied about his age to get in. It was easier for LeRoy to lie about his age than it was for me, because LeRoy was a big, strong, kid. Unlike a lot of big kids, though, LeRoy was never a bully. On the contrary I saw him, on more than one occasion, come to the aid of someone who was being picked on by a bully. LeRoy's mere presence was enough to stop it. I said that I wasn't going to talk about how these men died, but in LeRoy's case I'm going to make an exception. He died, saving the lives of his squad, and for that, he received the Silver Star. I'm very proud of him.
I am an eighty year old man, gray hair, hard of hearing, and very much feeling my age. If Dan, Walt, Bob, Jimmy Winston, Jimmy Wyatt, and LeRoy Karnes were here today, they would look very much like me. But they don't look like me. Like Teeter's magnificent painting, Reflections in the Wall, those six men, as well as the over than 58,000 other names are, and will be forever, as I remember them. Young, vibrant, representatives of the best America had to offer. Yes, we weren't always appreciated then…but America has come around. I wore my Vietnam Vet cap yesterday, and three people came up to me to thank me for my service. But they weren't just thanking me, they were thanking all Vietnam vets, those of us who came home, and especially, those who didn't.


text:
- Angeleno Expatriate; Pater familias Clarkii
- Gardener, janitor, city planner, professor, computer systems consultant, independent business owner
- BA, MA, PhD (Too much book learnin'? Almost certainly.)
- room/time for more (send ideas)
Selected Professional Experience
2013-present: Co-founder Garden of Eden Urban Gardening. We provide training in hydroponic gardening. Students are drawn from various ethnic and economically disadvantaged communities in the Puget Sound areas. In 2018 we are developing relationships with regional non-profits to extend our scope of operations. My firm Clark Internet is assisting with telecommunications and data processing.
1994-present: Co-founder & President, Clark Internet Publishing Inc. CIPI develops and hosts online periodicals using its CIP Sitemaker and Journalmaker automated publishing systems, with associated affinity sites (like this one) and organizational directories for trade, professional and religious organizations; serves as a consultant to such organizations; and publishes web sites for small businesses and non-profit organizations. We also consult generally on Internet and WWW design projects.
1993-96: Senior Consultant, Environmental Concerns, Inc. ECI markets emerging technologies for amelioration of environmental problems, including alternative fuels, materials recycling and waste reduction. Organized marketing program and developed marketing materials for fuel quality and tank maintenance service offerings; business and marketing plans for new environmental remediation technology companies; marketing videos and company web site.
1987-92: Co-founder & President, BG Information Services, Inc. BGIS was a data base management firm that provided on-line customer liaison for a national recreational organization with 100,000 members. Developed and programmed a networked multi-user database and managed customer service functions for client. Developed marketing, billing and customer service process for annual client revenue of $2.5 million and revenue to BGIS $40,000 per month. Also independent consultant in telecommunications and bank card industries.
1981-87: Technical Services Manager, SCT Corp., (various operational job titles as subcontractor at client locations). SCT is a national, publicly traded firm providing computer resource management services to government and education. Extended assignments in PA, FL, CA, WA and Puerto Rico. Managed multi-platform computer networks with annual operating budgets up to $2 million. Wrote computer service master plans for computer networks valued up to $10 million, managed computer centers, wrote computer literacy curricula, including one in Spanish for Puerto Rico colleges. Wrote, directed and produced video marketing and computer literacy presentations.
1971-80: Professor of Geography, Urban Studies, Computer Applications. Colgate University, Villanova University, Temple University, University of Maryland. Taught economic and urban geography, quantitative methods, computer programming and computer cartography. Researched US policy on housing for low-income and urban elderly.
1965-70: City & Regional Planner. City of Los Angeles, County of Los Angeles, CA; Borough of State College, PA. Neighborhood planning and zoning; municipal legislation.
Publications, Honors, Affiliations
PhD, Geography, The Pennsylvania State Univ.; MA, Geography, California State Univ., Los Angeles; BA, Political Science, Univ. of California, Los Angeles. Computer experience includes system administration & management; Internet & Worldwide Web development & publishing; system planning; literacy and applications training; product introduction; programming for mainframe and personal computer networks. Speak, read, write English, Spanish, German, French, and a little Japanese, some badly some well. Read Italian & Portuguese if given enough time. :-)
Clark, Alex Rees, "Selected Demographic Components of the Non-White Population of Baltimore: A Comment." Middle Atlantic 6 (July 1975): 75-82.


text: 25 Oct 2018 The journey of an idea by emma | posted in: Instagram | 0 Today is international artists day, so pick up your pens, paints or pins and needles and create! I've listed journey of an idea greetings cards in my shop – there's a link in my bio Leave a Reply Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment Name * Email * Website Please enter an answer in digits:14 + 3 = Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.


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The Middle Distance 8/3/12: What Was I Thinking
By Noel Black On August 3, 2012 · 5 Comments · In A Big Something, Kathryn Eastburn, Personal Essay, The Middle Distance
(Cybil Shepherd, center, after winning the Miss Teenage Mephmis Pageant in 1966)
The Middle Distance 8.5.11: What Was I Thinking?
What was I thinking? Hard to say out here in the middle distance where that kind of naivete has long since been squelched. I was bored and lonely and I believed I could do anything I wanted. I wasn't politicized, though that was soon to come. I had no experience in the world of beauty queens, but thought it might be glamorous.
It wasn't. We met and rehearsed in a musty hotel ballroom on a makeshift stage. The girls who'd done this for years, the pageant pros whose bedrooms were bedecked with ribbons and sashes and trophies, brought in their own makeup lights for backstage, while I made up in the dim bathroom. Backstage was like a chicken coop, stirred up by the intrusion of a rooster.
It was 1970 and the Miss Teenage America franchise was updating itself to meet the times. They were looking for more natural girls, girls who were separated from their mothers' generation by the long, liberating march of the 1960s. But what they were really looking for, in Memphis anyway, was another Cybill Shepherd, the local beauty who had walked away with the Miss Teenage Memphis title four years before and was now a supermodel and soon-to-be movie star. There were no Cybill Shepherds in our top ten.
The ante of this adventure was upped when I discovered the finals would be televised locally. I would have to perform my talent — the thing that had likely got me here, my ability to sing and play piano at the same time — in front of a television camera. Just thinking about it made my palms sweat, my throat close, my heart jump around like a pinball machine. What's more, our group photo, posing like starlets in a semi-circle, our boobs all pointed westward, appeared in the Memphis Commercial Appeal with our names and the names of our high schools.
Before the torture of the finals competition, we enjoyed one afternoon of sheer thrilling fun. The top ten were invited to appear on a Saturday afternoon local television variety show, hosted by George Klein, a former disc jockey who looked like a vampire. The day we appeared, Klein's special guest was Ronnie Milsap, the blind country singer whose star was just beginning to rise. Milsap, dressed in a satin tuxedo jacket, sat at a shiny black grand piano and rocked and rolled. We circled the piano and leaned over, snapping our fingers and swaying to the music. When Ronnie's number was over, he blew blind kisses all around and we genuinely swooned.
Finals night arrived and I wished only for this whole thing to be over. But first I had to do my number, "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," in front of the dreaded camera. I could play it in my sleep, but this day my hands shook. I opened with my best, hushed Barbra Streisand inflection — On a cleeeeaah day — then stumbled through every mountain, sea, and shore to the terrible end. I was eliminated and didn't make the final five. Patty, who'd performed a choreographed contortionist act to the Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet, ended up winning the whole thing.
I was done with pageants. I made cool new friends at my massive, scary new high school, never mentioned to them my brief brush with fame, and prayed they hadn't seen me on TV. Then one day I started receiving strange letters on thin, striped stationery, addressed to me, care of my school, in childish block letters. Inmates from the county penal farm apparently had followed the Miss Teenage Memphis pageant and especially liked the youngest contestant. What was I thinking as I stuffed those letters into my locker? That one day I would forget this whole fiasco. And for 40 years, I did.
This column originally ran on August 5, 2011. Kathryn Eastburn will return next week.
Kathryn Eastburn is the author of A Sacred Feast: Reflections of Sacred Harp Singing and Dinner on the Ground, and Simon Says: A True Story of Boys, Guns and Murder in the Rocky Mountain West. You can comment and read or listen to this column again at The Big Something at KRCC.org. "The Middle Distance" is published every Friday on The Big Something and airs each Saturday at 1 p.m. right after This American Life.
5 Responses to The Middle Distance 8/3/12: What Was I Thinking
Ellen Troyer says:
Today's Middle Distance column reminded me of my decision to enter the Tennessee 1956 Miss Strawberry Festival pageant. I came in third, hated the whole experience and promised myself I would never do something like that again. I, too, received strange letters and local pageants were not even televised in the mid 50s. One can only imagine what pageant-driven girls in the South have to deal with today.
Matt H. says:
I've been wondering for a while now, wether or not TMD makes KRCC a better radio station. I'm not sure KRCC has a primary purpose. If TMD serves it, God bless you. It seems like pure fluff to me. I'm not wondering any more.
joyce cheney says:
Kathryn, we don't care what Cybil Shepherd looked like. Will you post a photo of YOU during your beauty pageant? Aw, come on! Please?
Bob R. says:
Just a wild guess, but the producers of The Big Something seem to have tried to give a good answer at http://radiocoloradocollege.org/about/about-2/ . Worked for me.
Paula says:
hey, where's the pic?


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text: National Weighing & Instruments offer a Diet food portion scale, for use when food intake is required to be measured. The FEJ-5000 is the ideal scale with a capacity of 5000g x 1g and a Tare key to allow containers or plates to be tared off. Can run off battery or mains. For more information or to place an order, please complete the quick contact section or call us on 1300 669 162


text:
Grandma asked me what was on my Christmas List this year. I didn't have it ready to go (though it was close), so I told her I'd have it together over the weekend. The "Empty Checking" podcast has seen me buying stuff much more frequently than I have in past years, so this was a little tougher to put together…but I think it's a good, weird list. 🙂
I go back and forth on if it's worth prioritizing these things…seems like even the high-priority stuff doesn't end up under the tree sometimes…but I'm going to go ahead and put the stuff I'd be a little bit irritated not to have in red. (This includes stuff that I'm not likely to buy for myself, but that I do actually WANT.)
So here it is. I expect the family to coordinate this appropriately. 🙂 Let's rock…
- U-2 (Apparently I'm missing a few, and with that concert coming up, it'd be good to stock up…but keep in mind that I've got a birthday in there before then, too…so this isn't top priority yet.)
- No Line on the Horizon
- All That You Can't Leave Behind (Which I KNOW I owned at one time, but I think I loaned it to someone and it's gone forever.)
- Achtung Baby
- Queens of the Stone Age – "Rated R" Deluxe Edition (red cover)
- Motorhead – The World is Yours
- James Blunt – Some Kind of Trouble (I know, I know…but I like him…)
- Doctor Who – Season 5 (I think they're calling it Season 5…only one with Matt Smith as the Doctor, if nothing else… And though this is marked in red, since it's British, it might cost a little too much, so I'll understand if I have to end up buying it for myself.)
- Alice Cooper – Theatre Of Death: Live At Hammersmith 2009
- Simpsons – Seasons 9 and onward…
- Another Bullshit Night in Suck City – Nick Flynn
- The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil – George Saunders
- Kurt Vonnegut (These are the only ones I'm missing…don't necessarily need ALL of them, but would like to see one or two…)
- Sirens of Titan
- Deadeye Dick
- Bluebeard
- Hocus Pocus
- Timequake
- Canary in the Cathouse
- Fates Worse than Death
- Horns – Joe Hill
- 20th Century Ghosts – Joe Hill
Graphic Novels (These are likely to be $15-20 a piece…so I highlighted the ones I'm particularly interested in, but sooner or later I've gotta get 'em all, if I want to understand it.)
- Blackest Night
- Blackest Night: Green Lantern
- Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps
- Blackest Night: Rise of the Black Lanterns
- Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Vol 1
- Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Vol 2
- Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps
Other Stuff:
- I'd really like to have a buckwheat pillow again…don't know where to find those of my own accord…
- Couple flannel shirts would be good…recommend XL for the size…
- Also could use a couple of hoodies with zippers. Size XL. Any color but green (which I have) or yellow (which I'll never wear).
- Still looking for a pair of Brick Red/Maroon Chuck Taylors…I'm a size 8.
- Gift Certificates to the following places are always welcome:
- Best Buy
- Kohl's
- Guitar Center
- MusiciansFriend.com
If anyone wants to go nuts and spend a lot of money:
- Blu-Ray Player (gotta convert sooner or later…)
- Record Player, preferably with that USB output thing most people are offering these days.
- Banjo Money. Gonna need about $400. 🙂
And that's it…I certainly don't expect all of that…but that's the stuff I promise not to buy between now and Christmas.


text:
Application no. 30865/96
by Marek JASIŃSKI
against Poland
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 21 January 2003 as a Chamber composed of
Sir Nicolas Bratza, President,
Mr M. Pellonpää,
Mr A. Pastor Ridruejo,
Mrs V. Strážnická,
Mr R. Maruste,
Mr S. Pavlovschi,
Mr L. Garlicki, judges,
and Mrs F. Elens-Passos, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to the above application lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights on 19 March 1995,
Having regard to the Commission's partial decision of 19 October 1998,
Having regard to Article 5 § 2 of Protocol No. 11 to the Convention, by which the competence to examine the application was transferred to the Court,
Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicant,
Having deliberated, decides as follows:
The applicant, Marek Jasiński, is a Polish national, who was born in 1958 and lives in Brzeszcze, Poland. In the proceedings before the Court he was represented by Mr. W. Hermeliński, a lawyer practising in Warsaw, Poland. The respondent Government were represented by their Agent, Mr K. Drzewicki of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A. The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
On 8 January 1994 the applicant was arrested by the police on suspicion of having committed burglary. On 10 January 1994 he was brought before J.K., a district prosecutor from the Pszczyna District Prosecutor's Office (Prokuratora Rejonowa), charged with six counts of burglary and detained on remand. The prosecutor considered that there was a reasonable suspicion that the applicant had committed the offences in question because he had been arrested in flagrante delicto. He also relied on the serious nature of the offences in question.
On 2 February 1994 the Pszczyna District Prosecutor prolonged the applicant's detention until 8 March 1994 on the ground that it was necessary to secure the proper conduct of the proceedings. The prosecutor stressed that in the light of evidence gathered during the investigation it was likely that the applicant had also committed other, similar offences and that, in turn, justified a risk that he might obstruct the process of obtaining evidence from witnesses.
On 25 February 1994 the District Prosecutor prolonged the applicant's detention until 8 April 1994, considering that it was necessary to secure the conduct of the investigation, especially as fresh evidence needed to be obtained.
On 30 March 1994, on an application made by the Pszczyna District Prosecutor, the Pszczyna District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) prolonged the applicant's detention until 8 June 1994 in view of the reasonable suspicion that he had committed the offences with which he had been charged and the fact that the investigation could not be completed because evidence from a fingerprint expert and yet another forensic expert needed to be obtained.
On 30 May 1994, on the subsequent application by the District Prosecutor, the Pszczyna District Court prolonged the applicant's detention until 8 August 1994. It found that such further prolongation was necessary to secure the process of obtaining fresh evidence, especially as several new charges of burglary had in the meantime been laid against the applicant. Moreover, evidence from an expert-valuer needed to be obtained to determine the damage caused by the offences.
On 4 August 1994, on a further, similar application by the District Prosecutor, Z.R., a single judge sitting as the Pszczyna District Court, prolonged the applicant's detention until 8 September 1994. The reasons for that decision read, in so far as relevant:
"[The applicant] was charged with the offence defined in Article 208 read in conjunction with Article 60 § 1 of the Criminal Code. In the light of the material gathered in the case, that charge has a sufficient degree of verisimilitude (zarzut ten został w wystarczającym stopniu uprawdopodobniony). As it emerges from the case-file, new circumstances have arisen which might indicate that it would be necessary to obtain evidence from psychiatrists in order to establish the suspect's criminal responsibility. That being so and since in this court's opinion the grounds given for [the applicant's] detention have not ceased to exist but new circumstances have appeared that make it impossible [for the prosecution] to terminate the investigation, it has been held as in the operative part of the decision."
On 29 August 1994 the Pszczyna District Prosecutor lodged a bill of indictment with the Pszczyna District Court. The applicant was indicted on 22 charges of burglary.
On 19 September 1994 the applicant made an application for release to the Pszczyna District Court.
On 20 September 1994 judge Z.R., sitting as the Pszczyna District Court, dismissed the application. The reasons for this decision read, in so far as relevant:
"The accused, asking [the court] for the preventive measure [imposed on him] to be varied, submitted that the mother of his minor son was not providing the child with the proper care. This court dismisses his application since the charged deed of the accused is characterised by a high degree of danger to society ("zarzucany czyn oskarżonego charakteryzuje się wysokim stopniem społecznego niebezpieczeńtwa") – the accused is amenable to the law under the rules governing relapse into crime defined in Article 60 § 1 of the Criminal Code. The likelihood of the facts adduced by the accused [in his application] has by no means been shown by him. The court could not, therefore, verify those facts. ..."
The applicant appealed. He maintained that he should be released in view of the difficult situation of his family. On 21 October 1994 the Katowice Regional Court (Sąd Wojewódzki) dismissed his appeal. It found that there were no valid reasons to release the applicant because his child had already been placed under the care of the grandparents.
The applicant's trial was to begin on 7 December 1994 but it was postponed because the applicant, having found out that Z.R. had been appointed to sit as the presiding judge, challenged his impartiality. In the applicant's submission, the judge – who had dealt with his applications for release at the investigation stage – had actively participated in the investigation, and had consequently become a party to the proceedings. In particular, the applicant stressed that Z.R. had made the decision of 4 August 1994 prolonging his detention. On 20 September 1994 he had also dealt with, and dismissed, his application for release. On these occasions the judge had evaluated the charges against him and concluded that they had been justified. He had also referred to such aggravating circumstances as the serious nature of the offences in question and the applicant's criminal record. All those findings were closely related to the assessment of his guilt, criminal liability and to the anticipated sentence. In view of that, the applicant considered that it was clear that the judge had already formed a preconceived opinion on his guilt.
On 9 December 1994 a panel of three judges, sitting as the Pszczyna District Court, dismissed the applicant's challenge as being groundless. The court stressed that the taking decisions on prolongation of detention made at a prosecutor's application under Article 222 § 2 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure was not tantamount to the taking part in an investigation.
Subsequently, the applicant again asked the Pszczyna District Court to release him under police supervision in view of the difficult situation of his family. He also complained that Z.R. lacked impartiality.
On 12 December 1994 Z.R., sitting as the Pszczyna District Court, dismissed the application. The reason for that decision read, in so far as relevant:
"The arguments presented by the accused in relation to his family situation are identical to those adduced in his application of 19 September 1994. They were already examined by the courts at first and second instance. The Regional Court, in its decision of 21 October 1994, indicated to the applicant the way in which care over his child could be secured. Since in this court's opinion there are no circumstances listed in Article 218 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the arguments relating to the disqualification of the presiding judge were already dealt with in the [District] Court's decision of 9 December 1994 - it should be held as in the operative part of the decision."
On 21 December 1994 judge Z.R., sitting as the Pszczyna District Court, dismissed the applicant's fresh application for release on bail. The reasons for the decision read, in so far as relevant:
"The accused has been charged with numerous counts of burglary committed in the circumstances of relapse into crime specified in Article 60 § 1 of the Criminal Code. The offence with which he was charged is characterised by a high degree of danger to society. Bail proposed by the accused cannot, in this court's opinion, secure the proper conduct of the trial.
It should be pointed out that both the fact that an offence has been committed in the circumstances of relapse into crime and the serious danger to society [represented by the offence] are autonomous prerequisites for imposing detention on remand (cf. Article 217 § 1 (3) and (4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure) - in respect of the accused those prerequisites exist cumulatively. ..."
On 13 January 1995, on the applicant's appeal, the Katowice Regional Court upheld the above decision, finding that his detention was justified under Article 217 § 1 (3) and (4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and that no special circumstances militated in favour of his release.
On 25 January 1995 the applicant asked the Pszczyna District Court to quash the detention order. In his view, his detention had become unlawful as the statutory-time limit of one year for detention on remand (laid down in Article 222 § 2 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure) had expired.
On 31 January 1995 judge Z.R. dismissed the application as groundless and informed the applicant that the time-limits for detention on remand applied only to the investigative stage of criminal proceedings but there were no such statutory terms for detention pending trial. That decision was upheld on appeal on 1 March 1995.
On 31 January 1995 the applicant asked the court allow him time to read the case-file in order to prepare his defence for a hearing listed for 16 February 1995. On 6 February 1995 the presiding judge ordered that the applicant be granted access to the case-file on the hearing day before the hearing itself.
On an unspecified date, the applicant again challenged the presiding judge. He repeated his previous arguments. The challenge was dismissed by the Pszczyna District Court on 13 February 1995. In the court's opinion, the arguments adduced by the applicant did not justify disqualifying the presiding judge from dealing with the case.
Later, the applicant asked the District Court to quash the detention order made by the Pszczyna District Prosecutor on 10 January 1994. He argued that that decision was valid only for a period of one year. He also submitted that he should be released on account of the difficult situation of his family.
On 6 March 1995 judge Z.R. dismissed the application and upheld the impugned detention order. Referring to the applicant's family situation, the judge observed that such arguments as the fact that the applicant's son was not – allegedly – being provided with the proper care had to be rejected because the child was under the care of his grandmother. Finally, Z.R. stressed that the reasons previously given to justify the applicant's detention were still valid.
In the meantime, on 1 March 1995, the applicant had complained to the court that, despite the fact that he had asked for access to the case-file already in February 1995, there had so far been no reaction to his application. He again asked for access to the file in order to prepare his defence.
On 15 March 1995 a panel consisting of Z.R., the presiding judge, and two lay judges, sitting as the Pszczyna District Court, opened a trial in the applicant's case. Before the hearing, the applicant asked Z.R. to allow him time to read certain material contained in the case-file (which comprised four volumes and thousand pages in all) in order to prepare his defence. The applicant maintained that several months had already elapsed since the end of August 1994, when he had read the case-file after the termination of the investigation. The judge allowed the applicant 10 minutes preceding the main hearing.
On 14 April 1995 the final hearing was held. The prosecution was represented by J.K., who had detained the applicant on remand on 10 January 1994. After hearing the parties' final submissions, the court gave judgment. It convicted the applicant of 23 counts of burglary and sentenced him to 4 years' imprisonment and a fine of 2,000 Polish zlotys, convertible into 20 days' imprisonment.
On 13 July 1995 the applicant's lawyer appealed against that judgment. The appeal was directed against the sentence imposed and the conviction was not as such contested. Although the author of the appeal submitted that the trial court had committed a number of errors of fact and had wrongly assessed evidence in respect of many counts of the burglaries attributed to the applicant, he did not allege, even in general, a breach of his defence rights. In conclusion, he maintained that the alleged errors of fact had resulted in an excessively severe sentence having been imposed on the applicant.
On 18 July 1995 the applicant appealed. In his appeal, he alleged that the trial court had breached a number of substantive and procedural provisions. He submitted that the court had – without any sound reasons – refused to attribute any evidentiary value to his testimony, that his conviction was not based on convincing evidence but on assumptions and suppositions and that the court's findings relating to the modus operandi were incorrect. He went on to argue that the court had violated the principles of the presumption of innocence and in dubio pro reo because the presiding judge Z.R. had considered him guilty and had had a preconceived view on his criminal liability long before the end of the trial, i.e. already on 4 August 1994, when he had prolonged his detention at the District Prosecutor's request. In his appeal the applicant did not refer to, or complain of, the refusal to grant him sufficient access to the case-file or any other breach of his defence rights. In conclusion, he asked for a verdict of acquittal.
The appeals were heard on 3 October 1995 before the Katowice Regional Court. The applicant was represented by an officially-appointed lawyer. The presiding judge read out the applicant's appeal. The applicant's counsel maintained arguments contained in both appeals. On the same day the Regional Court upheld the first-instance judgment.
B. Relevant domestic law and practice
1. Detention on remand
At the material time the rules governing detention on remand were contained in Chapter 24 of the Law of 19 April 1969 Code of Criminal Procedure ("the Code") (Kodeks postępowania karnego) entitled "Preventive measures" (Środki zapobiegawcze). The Code is no longer in force. It was repealed and replaced by the Law of 6 June 1997 (commonly referred to as the "New Code of Criminal Procedure"), which entered into force on 1 September 1998.
a. Imposition of detention
Until 4 August 1996 (i.e. the date on which the Law of 29 June 1995 on Amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure and Other Criminal Statutes ("the 29 June 1995 Law") entered into force) at the investigation stage of criminal proceedings detention on remand was imposed by a prosecutor.
Article 210 §§ 1 and 2 of the Code (in the version applicable at the material time) stated:
"1. Preventive measures shall be imposed by the court; before a bill of indictment has been lodged with the competent court, the measures shall be imposed by the prosecutor.
2. A prosecutor may impose a preventive measure only with respect to a person who has been questioned in the case as a suspect. Before ordering detention on remand or deciding on bail the prosecutor shall personally hear the suspect."
Under Article 212 § 2 of the Code a detainee could appeal against a detention order made by a prosecutor to the court competent to deal with his case; however, he was not entitled to be brought before the judge dealing with his appeal.
b. Grounds for applying detention and other "preventive measures"
The Code listed as "preventive measures", inter alia, detention on remand, bail and police supervision.
Article 209 set out the general grounds justifying imposition of preventive measures. That provision (as it stood at the material time) read:
"Preventive measures may be imposed in order to ensure the proper conduct of proceedings if the evidence against the accused sufficiently justifies the opinion that he has committed a criminal offence."
Article 217 § 1 defined grounds for detention on remand. The relevant part of that provision, in the version applicable at the material time, provided:
"1. Detention on remand may be imposed if:
(1) there is a reasonable risk that an accused will abscond or go into hiding, in particular when he has no fixed residence [in Poland] or his identity cannot be established; or
(2) there is a reasonable risk that an accused will attempt to induce witnesses to give false testimony or to obstruct the proper course of proceedings by any other unlawful means; or
(3) an accused has been charged with a serious offence or has relapsed into crime in the manner defined in the Criminal Code; or
(4) an accused has been charged with an offence which creates a serious danger to society.
Paragraph 2 of Article 217 provided:
"If an accused has been charged with a serious offence or an intentional offence [for the commission of which he may be] liable to a sentence of a statutory maximum of at least eight years' imprisonment, or if a court of first instance has sentenced him to at least three years' imprisonment, the need to continue detention in order to secure the proper conduct of proceedings may be based upon the likelihood that a heavy penalty will be imposed."
The Code set out the margin of discretion as to maintaining a specific preventive measure. Articles 213 § 1, 218 and 225 of the Code were based on the precept that detention on remand, the most extreme among the preventive measures, should not be imposed if more lenient measures were adequate.
Article 213 § 1 provided:
"A preventive measure [including detention on remand] shall be immediately lifted or varied, if the basis for it has ceased to exist or new circumstances have arisen which justify lifting a given measure or replacing it with a more or less severe one."
Article 225 stated:
"Detention on remand shall be imposed only when it is mandatory; this measure shall not be imposed if bail or police supervision, or both of those measures, are considered adequate."
Finally, Article 218 stipulated:
"If there are no special reasons to the contrary, detention on remand should be lifted, in particular, if:
(1) it may seriously jeopardise the life or health of the accused; or
(2) it would have serious repercussions for the accused or his family."
2. Judicial authorities and prosecution
At the material time the relations between the authorities of the Polish State were set out in interim legislation, i.e. the Constitutional Act of 17 October 1992 (Mała Konstytucja).
Article 1 of that Act affirmed the principle of the separation of powers in the following terms:
"The legislative power of the State shall be vested in the Sejm and the Senate of the Republic of Poland; the executive power shall be vested in the President of Poland and the Council of Ministers; and judicial power shall be vested in the independent courts."
The Law of 20 June 1985 (as amended) on the Structure of Courts of Law (Ustawa o ustroju sądów powszechnych) in the version applicable at the material time provided, in Section 1:
"1. Courts of law shall dispense justice in the Republic of Poland.
2. Courts of law shall be courts of appeal, regional courts and district courts."
The Law of 20 June 1985 (as amended) on Prosecution Authorities (Ustawa o Prokuraturze) set out general principles concerning the structure, functions and organisation of prosecution authorities.
Section 1 of the Law, in the version applicable at the material time, stipulated:
"1. The prosecution authorities shall be the Prosecutor General, prosecutors and military prosecutors. Prosecutors and military prosecutors shall be subordinate to the Prosecutor General.
2. The Prosecutor General shall be the highest prosecution authority; his functions shall be carried out by the Minister of Justice."
Chapter III of the Code entitled: "Parties to proceedings, defence counsel, representatives of the victims and representatives of society" described a prosecutor as a party to criminal proceedings. Under all the relevant provisions of the Code taken together, a prosecutor performed investigative and prosecuting functions in the course of criminal proceedings. As regards the general position of the prosecution, at the material time they were not independent from the executive since the Minister of Justice carried out the duties of the Prosecutor General.
3. Concept of "relapse into crime"
At the material time Chapter VIII of the Criminal Code of 1969 (which was repealed on the same date as the 1969 Code of Criminal Procedure referred to above), entitled "Relapse into crime" (Powrót do przestępstwa), contained special rules relating to sentencing repeat offenders (in Poland, they are more commonly referred to as "recidivists", i.e. "recydywiści").
The finding that a person "relapsed into crime" within the meaning of Articles 60 and 61 of the Criminal Code (provisions which constituted, for all practical purposes, sentencing guidelines in respect of recidivists), inevitably resulted in the sentence of imprisonment to which the accused was liable being increased.
Article 60 § 1 of the Criminal Code, in the version applicable at the material time, provided:
"1. If an offender, who has already been convicted of an intentional offence and, as a result, has served a sentence of at least six months' imprisonment, commits another similar offence within five years following [the date on which] he has ended the service of the whole or part of his previous sentence of imprisonment, the court shall impose on him a sentence of imprisonment of between twice the minimum and one-and-a-half times the maximum sentence applicable."
4. Concept of "danger to society"
The term was (and still is) related to the assessment of the gravity of criminal offences. If the "danger to society" represented by a given offence was considered by the court to have been "serious" or "of a high degree", the court had to take that factor into account as an aggravating circumstance when imposing a sentence under the general rules of sentencing set out in Article 50 of the Criminal Code. That provision, in its relevant part, read:
"1. The court shall impose the punishment at its discretion, within the limits set out by the law, assessing the degree of danger to society [represented by] an offence and taking into account the purposes of the punishment in the sphere of retribution as well as the preventive and reformative purposes it is to achieve in respect to the convicted person.
2. Following the guidelines mentioned in paragraph 1, the court shall particularly take into account the kind and amount of damage caused by an offence, the intentions and the manner of acting of an offender, his personal qualifications and situation, as well as the way he lived before, and the behaviour after, the commission of an offence and [as the case may be], complicity with a minor person in the commission of an offence.
1. The applicant complained under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention that, after having been arrested, he had not been brought before a "judge" but before the investigating prosecutor.
2. He further alleged that his right to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial, guaranteed by Article 5 § 3 of the Convention, had not been respected.
3. Relying on Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, the applicant submitted that he had not had his case heard by an "impartial tribunal" because the judge presiding over his trial had on many occasions dealt with his applications for release and had formed a preconceived view on his future conviction and sentence.
4. Lastly, the applicant alleged a breach of Article 6 § 1 read in conjunction with Article 6 § 3 (b) in that he had not been allowed adequate time to prepare his defence before the main hearing.
1. The applicant alleged a breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention in that after having been arrested he had not been brought before a "judge". That provision reads, in so far as relevant:
"Everyone arrested or detained in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 (c) of this Article shall be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorised by law to exercise judicial power..."
The Government submitted that, given the position of a prosecutor in criminal proceedings and the fact that prosecutors were under a general legal duty to remain impartial in such proceedings, the application should be rejected as being manifestly ill-founded.
The applicant, for his part, maintained that there could be no doubt that a prosecutor could not be considered a "judge" because he could not act in judicial capacity. Accordingly, the prosecutor who had detained him on remand and, what is more, had later represented the prosecution before the trial court had not offered guarantees of independence from the executive and the parties, as required under Article 5 § 3.
The Court, having regard to the criteria established in its case-law in respect of a "judge" or "officer authorised by law to exercise judicial power" for the purposes of Article 5 § 3 and, more particularly, to its judgments in the case of Niedbała v. Poland (no. 27915/95, §§ 48-57, 4 July 2000) and Dacewicz v. Poland (no. 34611/97, §§ 21-23, 2 July 2002) considers that the examination of the merits of the complaint is required.
2. The applicant also alleged a violation of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention in that his pre-trial detention had exceeded a "reasonable time". The relevant part of this provision reads:
"Everyone arrested or detained in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 (c) of this Article shall be ... entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial. Release may be conditioned by guarantees to appear for trial."
The Government submitted that the period of the applicant's detention falling within the scope of Article 5 § 3 had lasted from 10 January 1994, when he had been detained on remand, to 14 April 1995, when he had been convicted at first instance. It accordingly amounted to some 15 months which, having regard to the criteria for the "reasonableness of detention" established by the Court's case-law, could not be considered excessive.
The Government also stressed that that there had been valid reasons for holding the applicant in custody. First of all, there had been a reasonable suspicion that he had committed numerous counts of burglary, which was a serious offence. Secondly, the applicant had already had a previous criminal record and had been criminally liable under the rules applicable to recidivists. That, in turn, had given a sufficient basis to believe that, had he been released, he might have committed another offence or obstructed the process of obtaining evidence. In view of that, the authorities had rightly considered that keeping him in detention had been necessary to ensure the proper conduct of the proceedings.
The authorities, the Government added, had shown due diligence in handling the case. Given the complexity of the issues involved and, in particular, the magnitude of the charges laid against the applicant, they had efficiently proceeded with the case. Neither at the investigation, nor at the trial stage had there been any discernible delays that might be attributed the conduct of the authorities. In contrast, the Government argued, the applicant, who had made numerous applications for release and had on several occasions challenged the impartiality of the presiding judge, had caused the prolongation of the proceedings and of his detention.
In conclusion, the Government maintained that there had been no breach of Article 5 § 3.
The applicant replied that the period he had spent in detention was not compatible with the requirements of "reasonable time" for the purposes of that provision.
Referring to the decisions on prolongation of his detention made by the Pszczyna District Court, the applicant maintained that that court had not given sufficient and relevant reasons for his detention. The detention decisions were laconic, vague and sketchy. The authorities had repeatedly relied on the argument that the grounds originally given to justify keeping him in custody – that is to say, the reasonable suspicion that he had committed an offence, the serious nature of the offence and the need to secure the proper conduct of the proceedings – had still been valid. However, the courts had never explained on which basis they had formed that conclusion. Nor had they indicated evidence showing that the due course of the proceedings had indeed been jeopardised. There had, in the applicant's view, been no requirement of public interest that could justify his continued detention.
In sum, the applicant asked the court to find a violation of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.
The Court reiterates that the question whether a period of detention is reasonable cannot be assessed in the abstract but must be considered in each case according to its special features. Continued detention can be justified in a given case only if there are specific indications of a genuine requirement of public interest which, notwithstanding the presumption of innocence, outweighs the rule of respect for individual liberty laid down in Article 5 of the Convention (see, among other authorities, Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, §§ 110-111, ECHR 2000-X).
Under Article 5 § 3 the national judicial authorities must ensure that the pre-trial detention of an accused person does not exceed a reasonable time. To this end they must, paying due regard to the principle of the presumption of innocence, examine all the facts arguing for a departure from the rule in Article 5 and must set them out in their decisions on the applications for release.
The persistence of reasonable suspicion that the person arrested has committed an offence is a condition sine qua non for the lawfulness of the continued detention, but after a certain lapse of time it no longer suffices. The Court must then establish whether the other grounds given by the judicial authorities continued to justify the deprivation of liberty. Where such grounds were "relevant" and "sufficient", the Court must also be satisfied that the national authorities displayed "special diligence" in the conduct of the proceedings (ibid.).
The Court observes at the outset that, in contrast to the Government submission, the period of the applicant's detention to be considered under Article 5 § 3 started not on 10 January 1994, when he was detained on remand by the investigating prosecutor but already on 8 January 1994, when he was arrested by the police on suspicion of having committed burglary. That period came to an end on 14 April 1995, the date of his first-instance conviction. It accordingly lasted 1 year, 3 months and 6 days in all.
In respect of the grounds for the applicant's detention, the Court notes that the domestic authorities first of all relied on the reasonable suspicion that he had committed the offence with which he had been charged and the serious nature of that offence. Taking into account the fact that the applicant was arrested in flagrante delicto, that ground appears to have sufficiently justified his initial detention.
As the investigation proceeded, the prosecution authorities also found that keeping the applicant in custody was necessary to secure the process of obtaining evidence, in particular in connection with a number of new charges laid against him. Again, the Court finds that argument relevant for the purposes of Article 5 § 3.
Later, at the trial stage, the District Court and the Regional Court repeatedly held that the applicant's detention was justified under Article 217 § 1 (3) and (4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure because he was not only charged with a serious offence but also relapsed into crime in the manner defined in the Criminal Code. In the courts' view, both circumstances militated against releasing the applicant.
The Court accepts that those grounds, if taken together with the original reasons for keeping the applicant in custody, warranted his continued detention.
As to the question whether the proceedings were conducted with special diligence required under Article 5 § 3, the Court notes that the applicant was prosecuted for a series of burglaries, which necessitated the taking of evidence from various sources. That included expert evidence. Having regard to the fact that the prosecution gathered the relevant material and prepared the bill of indictment within some 8 months following the start of the investigation, the Court does not find any failure to act with due diligence on their part.
It further notes that the indictment was submitted to the District Court on 29 August 1994. The trial ended on 14 April 1995, that is to say within eight months. Given the nature of the case and the volume of evidence, the Court finds no indication that the relevant authorities failed to display the necessary diligence.
In the circumstances, the Court finds that the length of the applicant's detention was reasonable within the meaning of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention.
It follows that this part of the application is inadmissible as being manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention and must be rejected, pursuant to Article 35 § 4.
3. Invoking Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, the applicant further submitted that the judge presiding over his trial had not been impartial. That provision, in its relevant part, provides:
"In the determination of ... any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair ... hearing ... by an ... impartial tribunal established by law."
The Government submitted that the existence of impartiality for the purposes of Article 6 § 1 had to be determined according to a subjective test, that is to say on the basis of the decisions taken by judge Z.R. in the applicant's case, and also according to an objective test, that is establishing whether that judge offered sufficient guarantees of impartiality.
As to the subjective test, the Government pointed out that that in a given case there always had to be a presumption that a judge was impartial until there was proof to the contrary. In their opinion, in the present case there was no indication that judge Z.R. had acted with personal bias against the applicant.
As to the objective test, the Government stressed that Z.R., who had in all taken 6 decisions on the applicant's detention, had merely applied Article 217 § 1 (3) and (4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. That provision had at the material time obliged a judge to remand in custody a person who had been a recidivist and had been charged with an offence that had constituted a serious danger to society. The judge had accordingly had to ascertain the relevant circumstances and to state them in his decisions.
Moreover, in prolonging the applicant's detention or in refusing his applications for release, the judge had relied on a number of factors, such as the danger that the applicant would obstruct the conduct of the proceedings. The applicant was a habitual offender and his offences had constituted a serious social danger. It had therefore been necessary to keep him in detention in order to protect the society and diminish the possibility of his committing further offences.
In sum, the Government considered that there was indication that the applicant's right to an "impartial tribunal" had been violated.
The applicant maintained that judge Z.R. had not been impartial because he had prolonged his detention at the investigation stage and had subsequently dealt with, and dismissed, his numerous applications for release. In his decisions, Z.R. had expressed a preconceived view on the circumstances relating to the assessment of his guilt and criminal liability.
In particular, the applicant referred to the decision of 4 August 1994, in which the judge had stated that the charges against him had "had a sufficient degree of verisimilitude" ("zarzut ten został w wystarczającym stopniu uprawdopodobniony"). He argued that that statement, if considered together with the fact that also in the decision of 20 September 1994 Z.R. had assesssed the charges against him and had found that they had been confirmed, gave sufficient reasons to believe that the impartiality of the judge had been opened to doubt. In consequence, the applicant's fear that the presiding judge would not be impartial had objectively been justified.
In view of the foregoing, the applicant asked the Court to find that his right to have a hearing by an impartial tribunal had been violated.
The Court considers, in the light of the parties' submissions, that the complaint raises serious issues of fact and law under the Convention, the determination of which should depend on an examination of the merits. The Court concludes therefore that the complaint is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention. No other ground for declaring it inadmissible has been established.
4. Lastly, the applicant complained under Article 6 § 1 read in conjunction with Article 6 § 3 (b) that he had not been allowed adequate time to prepare his defence.
The Government first pleaded that in regard to that complaint the applicant had failed to exhaust domestic remedies, as required under Article 35 § 1 of the Convention.
That Article, in its relevant part, provides:
"The Court may only deal with the matter after all domestic remedies have been exhausted, according to the generally recognised rules of international law ..."
As to the specific basis of their preliminary objection, the Government stated that the applicant had not attempted to bring the issue of the alleged breach of his defence rights before the relevant domestic authority.
In their submission, the applicant should have raised the question of the lack of adequate time to prepare his defence in his appeal against the first-instance conviction, which he had filed with the Katowice Regional Court on 18 July 1995.
The applicant did not address the exhaustion issue.
The Court reiterates that the purpose of the rule of exhaustion of domestic remedies referred to in Article 35 § 1 is to afford Contracting States an opportunity of preventing or putting right the violations alleged against them before those allegations are submitted to the Court. The respondent State must have a chance to put matters right through its own legal system before having to answer before an international body for its acts. In consequence, complaints intended to be brought subsequently before the Court in Strasbourg should first have been made – at least in substance – to the appropriate domestic body. In that way Article 35 § 1 obliges the applicant to try available remedies that relate to the breach alleged by him (see, among many other examples, Selmouni v. France [GC], §§ 74-76, ECHR 1999-VII; H.D. v. Poland (dec.), no. 33310/96, 7 June 2001; unreported).
In the present case the Court finds that, in their appeals, neither the applicant himself, nor his defence counsel, alleged – even in passing – a breach of the applicant's defence rights. It accordingly concludes that the applicant failed to discharge his obligation under Article 35 § 1 of the Convention. The Government's preliminary objection must therefore be upheld.
It follows that the remainder of the application is inadmissible for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies within the meaning of Article 35 § 1 of the Convention and must be rejected pursuant to Article 35 § 4.
For these reasons, the Court unanimously
Declares admissible, without prejudging the merits, the applicant's complaints concerning the lack of independence and impartiality on the part of the prosecutor who ordered his detention and the lack of impartiality on the part of the judge presiding over his trial;
Declares inadmissible the remainder of the application.
Françoise Elens-Passos Nicolas Bratza
Deputy Registrar President
JASIŃSKI v. POLAND DECISION
JASIŃSKI v. POLAND DECISION


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Jesuit Superior General Fr Adolfo Nicholás has announced his intention to submit his resignation to a General Congregation which will be held at the end of 2016, by which time he will have turned 80.In a letter to all Jesuits, Fr Nicholás wrote: "Several years have passed since my election as Superior General of the Society and I have recently reached the age of 78. Reflecting on the coming years, I have reached the personal conviction that I should take the needed steps towards submitting my resignation to a General Congregation."Father General announced that at the end of this year he will convoke the General Congregation 36 to be held at the end of 2016. Adolfo Nicolás was born in Villamuriel de Cerrato, Palencia, Spain, on 29 April 1936 and entered the Jesuit novitiate of Aranjuez in 1953. He studied at the University of Alcalá, where he earned his licentiate in philosophy. In 1960, he was assigned to Japan where he studied theology at Sophia University in Tokyo. He was ordained to the priesthood on 17 March 1967.
From 1968 to 1971, Fr Nicolás studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, from where he earned a doctorate in theology. Upon his return to Japan, he was made professor of systematic theology at Sophia University, teaching there for the next 30 years.
Fr Nicolás was appointed Director of the East Asian Pastoral Institute at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, Philippines, in 1978 – a post he held for six years. He then went on to serve as rector of the theologate in Tokyo before being appointed as the Jesuit Provincial of Japan. Following his term of office as Provincial, Fr Nicolás remained in Japan, doing pastoral work among poor immigrants in Tokyo.
In 2004, Fr Nicolás returned to the Philippines after he was appointed President of the Jesuit Conference of Provincials for Eastern Asia and Oceania. A native Spanish speaker, Fr Nicolás is also fluent in Catalan, English, Italian, French, and Japanese. He was elected Superior General of the Society of Jesus at its 35th General Congregation in Rome on 19 January 2008.
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Sock Monkey Hat knitting kit course. Kit with video instructions.
This trendy hat in classic sock monkey colors is fun to wear and easy to make. You can wear it as a slouchy beanie, or fold the brim up and wear it as a tuque – either way it will look fun.
The kit includes all supplies and tools you would need to make the cute hat shown on the photo. Besides, it has a DVD disc with a complete video course that will guide you through every step of creating your own Sock Monkey Hat. You will also get access to the online version of this video course, and will be able to watch it any time from any computer or mobile device.
Kits in French have label and pattern in French, as well as French subtitles to the video course.
With the video course you'll see every stitch up-close, in vivid colors and high definition. The course is created with a beginner knitter in mind (and that is someone who has very basic knitting skills), and is packed with useful tips on how to avoid mistakes, how to fix them if they happen, and how to make your knitting experience most pleasant and fun. All instructions are clear, slow and repeated several times.
You will learn how to cast on, knit and purl both in left-handed and right-handed way, work in ribbing pattern, make decreases, make an invisible seam and weave in ends. To enjoy making this project, you need to have some basic knitting skills.
The kit is packed in a stylish gift box with handles. The box also serves as a project bag to make it easy for you to knit on the go.
Toddler, Child, Adult
Sock Monkey Knitting KIT INCLUDES
3 balls of Knitca Merino yarn, 100% merino wool, 100m / 110 yards in 50g / 1.7 oz
steel wool needle
DVD disc with video course
instructions on how to access video course online
easy-to-follow knitting pattern
29 x 21 x 10cm (11.5 x 8.25 x 4")


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The results of the May 2 school parcel tax election in Los Gatos will likely be certified on May 15, but Registrar of Voters spokeswoman Anita Torres said this week that "we've essentially counted everything."
The all-mail election was held to let voters decide if the Los Gatos Union School District should be allowed to levy a $290 annual parcel tax.
Unofficial election returns show 65.64 percent of voters favored the measure and 34.36 percent opposed it. Since the measure required a two-thirds majority approval, it has apparently failed.
The Los Gatos proposal was listed as Measure A on the ballot. Measure B was an all-mail parcel tax initiative for the Mountain View Whisman School District that was approved by nearly 72 percent of voters.
Fewer than two dozen questionable ballots were holding up final tallies in both elections because voters failed to sign their mailing envelopes, Torres said.
"We compare the signature on the envelope with the signature on the voter's registration card," she said. "That's how we confirm vote-by-mail identities."
There were 78 unsigned envelopes in Los Gatos and Mountain View. Those people were sent letters asking them to sign an affidavit confirming their vote by mail. Fifty-five affidavits were returned, leaving 23 outstanding as of Monday afternoon.
The deadline for the affidavits to be returned was 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Also, this was the first local election to be held since a state law took effect that allows people to register to vote on election day, but Torres said the registrar's office did not process any same-day registrations.


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Home Builders Association of Greater Grand Rapids
October 5-20Wednesdays | 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Fridays & Saturdays | 1 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Come see the best of what west Michigan's top builders have to offer. This popular new-home showcase displays the latest in design, architecture and luxury trends. Whether you're eyeing a new home or looking to update the home you own, this is a great opportunity to start putting together your gotta-have wish list. Take a self-guided Parade of Homes tour of 27 brand new residences ranging in value from $200,000 to $1,000,000+.
Save $2 when you purchase tickets at any of our greater Grand Rapids or Lakeshore branch locations!
$10 | Tickets purchased at LMCU Grand Rapids and Lakeshore branches
$12 | Tickets purchased at parade homes
Free | Tickets for children under 12
For more information visit: www.myGRhome.com


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This week I think I found the balance of Real Life and WoW that works for me. Due to a limited number of Raid Spots I did not raid this week, I could have, don't get me wrong. I spent only three nights out of the past seven at the computer. Having four nights free gave me time to spend with my wife. We took a two long rides together on her new snowmobile, spent a night with her family and last night, being Valentines Day, we spent the evening hanging out together without so much as a radio on. I think that there have had so much free time that it has started to annoy Mandy. By now she's probably wishing for more "ME" time.
Since I haven't been raiding I spent some time leveling a Mage with a few Real Life Friends. Back when I started playing WoW I played almost exclusively with people I knew in Real Life. The two people who got me into WoW and I created a guild called Benevolent Savages. BS was a mature social guild, we worked together through levels 1-60 playing casually, running instances, and doing teh peeveepee. We picked up the occasional additional player when they showed themselves not to be complete asshats. We even grew to a point where we were considering trying to raid End-Game content. It never worked out for a number of reasons mostly I think it was time. Pre-BC raiding was a very time consuming affair and my friends were truly casual players unwilling to set or keep any type of playing schedule. Eventually, my desire to see end-game content drove me to look for a raiding guild and ultimately I made the difficult decision to leave. Benevolent Savages is all but dead now. People still log on and play from time to time and I still keep all of my alts there, but the life is gone the Guild Chat is silent. It has been a long time since I played with RLers and I forgot how much I miss the ease of camaraderie and the fun of playing with people who you care about. What I miss the most though is probably the lifestyle, sign on anytime day or night, have friends online, play together or just shoot the shit while questing, farming, or whatever. If there were enough people online we'd put an instance run together. If you had to go mid-way through you apologized and left, no problem.
This week for the first time in recent memory I have not let myself feel pressured to be signed in, I played when I wanted to, I've spent time with the people I wanted to and have been in bed before 12:30 most every night. It has been nice. I'm the best rested, least stressed I have been in a long time. I'll probably go back into raiding next week, I am a loot whore after all and besides "Who needs sleep?" but I'll try to remember the lesson I learned this week maybe take a night off from time to time.


text: Well, we've certainly seen a lot of Arizona during the last few days. We arrived in Phoenix late on Wednesday night, then drove to the Grand Canyon on Thursday, by way of Sedona. We drove back from the Grand Canyon to Scottsdale on Friday. There are a lot more mountains than I expected, and we saw some beautiful countryside!


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How long do the tortillas and tortilla chips keep?
Our products are 100% preservative-free, so they don't do well sitting out on the counter like preservative-soaked conventional flour tortillas. If you're going to eat the tortillas within a week or so following purchase, then refrigerating them is perfect. If you're not hungry for tortillas right now, or if you're stockpiling them for a zombie apocalypse, then they'll last even longer in the freezer (three months). And send us your latitude and longitude, in case we need to find you in the event of the zombies.
Our chips will be best before 150 days after production, long enough to still be good after you hibernated through the long winter.


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Since the collapse of Peugeot, Volkswagen and other automobile assembly plants decades ago, Nigeria has largely depended on importation of vehicles with the import bill as at 2012 standing at $3.4billion. However, the new Automotive Industrial Policy Development Plan appears set to facilitate the revival of the comatose sector, though stakeholders fear that policy implementation could fall short of expectations. ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI, reports.
From its automobile plants in, Nnewi, Anambra state, where it produces about 300 units of vehicles monthly with knock down parts from Chinese, German and Japanese makers, Innoson Group, a local conglomerate seems to be spearheading the re-emergence of automobile assembly plants in the country. The effort brings back the memories of the early 1960s when private companies like UAC, Leventis, SCOA, BEWAC and R.T. Briscoe pioneered the establishment of auto assembly plants using Completely Knocked Down, CKD, or Semi-Knocked Down, SKD, parts.
However, with the government's involvement in the industry between 1970 and 1980 after concluding agreements with a number of automobile plants in Europe to set up two car and four truck/light commercial vehicle assembly plants using CKD, the industry's growth prospect began to decline as a result of the failure of the government to protect the industry through import policy framework that finally led to massive importation of cars. Besides the closure of the plants, other player chains within the sector such as Dunlop, Michelin tyre production factories did not have automobile factories to produce for while massive importation of "tokunbo" tyre shrank their sales in the face of price competition.
Nevertheless, in a fresh move, the Federal Government has announced a National Automobile policy to revive the comatose industry. And to show its seriousness, it has announced through the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga an increase in tariff on imported cars while President Goodluck Jonathan had also expressed possibility of a ban on imported vehicles into the country.
Before this new move, the country once had two car plants-Peugeot Nigeria Ltd., PAN, Kaduna, and Volkswagen of Nigeria Limited, VON, Lagos and four truck commercial plants: Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company, ANAMMCO, Enugu; Styer Nigeria Limited, Bauchi; National Truck Manufacturers, NTM, Kano and Leyland Nigeria Ltd., Ibadan.
But following the failure of the implementation of 1982 agreements the Federal Government had with five manufacturers for the establishment of five light commercial vehicle assembly plants: Mitsubishi in Ilorin, Nissan in Minna, Peugeot in Gusau, Isuzu in Maiduguri and Mazda in Umuahia and GM which subsequently entered into partnership with UAC to produce Isuzu by FMI of UAC, which later became GM Nigeria Ltd, the nation has spent billions of dollars on importation of vehicles and spares.
With a current inflow of 50,000 new and 150,000 used vehicles into the country on yearly basis, with Toyota being the largest supplier, accounting for 70 per cent of imports, Aganga said government hopes to significantly reduce the $3.4 billion vehicle import bill incurred in 2012 and encourage patronage of locally-assembled brands and boost local employment and technology. While the ban or increase on tariff would also save naira against dollars, Aganga stated further that three automotive clusters were envisaged in the country, as well as the revival of the steel sector and tyre manufacturing.
He also said the government would purchase only locally-assembled cars, except where unavailable Currently, several engineers and students have made efforts to produce Nigeria made cars. Though some have continued to struggle with getting materials to enhance standard but the progress made so far by a local investor, Mr. Innocent Chukwuma, whose assembly plant opened by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2007, is re-igniting the rebound of made-in-Nigeria vehicles. Innoson Group exports cars to other African countries and also supplies some MDAs.
The plant manufactures cars, trucks and buses as Nigeria's first set of sundry commercial automobiles to break the jinx which perhaps forced the Federal Government, on October 3, to announced increase in tariff on imported cars 24 hours after it unfurled the Automotive Industrial Policy Development Plan.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, had said the new tariff might likely take effect on cars ordered after October 4 though its not clear yet if it has taken off. According to Aganga, the highlights of the auto policy are to encourage local manufacturing of vehicles, enforce a gradual phasing out of used cars, which analyst said would help achieve a more favorable balance of trade which currently stands at N2.14trn in second quarter of 2013 and reduce the import bill currently at N1.6trn in same quarter. The new policy is expected to run as a 10-year plan while it will be reviewed every five years.
Accordingly, an integral part of the policy is the establishment of automotive clusters in three regions, which will enhance productivity and cost efficiencies. "The policy is expected to create at least 700,000 jobs as well as make brand new cars more affordable for Nigerians in the long run," said Aganga. While the policy appears like the ultimate answer to the agitation of industrialists, there has been widespread accolades for the planned policy as a result of government approach.
The House of Representatives Committee on Industry commended the Federal Government on the introduction of new automotive policy, saying that the new measures would help transform the automotive sector. The Committee chairman, Hon. Mohammed Ogoshi Onawo, said the implementation of the new measures would attract new investments into the sector, protect local automotive manufacturers and create employment.
Also, the Director-General, National Automotive Council, NAC, Mr. Aminu Jalal, said the country must not give up on the pursuit of its automotive agenda. To encourage patronage of locally-made cars, Jalal said the Council has set aside the sum of N3.5billion as seed money for a fund to be accessed at single digit interest rate to those who purchase locally assembled vehicles.
He said the implication of killing the dream of Nigerian made car means that the country will continue to fund jobs projects abroad to the tune of over $3.5billion annually at the expense of its teeming masses of unemployed and the existing huge investment in manufacturing and assembly.
"The Nigerian market, estimated at N600 billion annually is sufficient to sustain a local automotive industry if the investment environment is right. The automotive technology is over a hundred years old and no one needs to reinvent the wheel," he said while lamenting that about 50,000 new and 150,000 used vehicles were imported into Nigeria yearly.
"Nigerians spend an average of N400 billion on importing passengers' cars and by the time you add trucks and other vehicles, the amount Nigerians spend on imported vehicles will be running to N600 billion annually, adding that the money can be plowed into the country's automotive industry. Apart from the existing Assembly plants with a combined capacity of nearly 100,000 vehicles per annum, there exist numerous automotive body building facilities with impressive capacities."
"Nigerians have mastered the act of vehicle assembly and even the production of a long list of automotive components and parts including all automotive glass, brake pads, all light and reinforced plastic parts, seats, exhausts systems, fuel, air and oil filters, some pressed parts, wire harnesses, tyres, batteries, cables, trim etc," said Jalal. He pointed out that the entirely green plant, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Limited, IVM, supported by NAC, is recorded to have produced over 2,000 pickups vans buses in only three years of its existence.
"The IVMs are what you would call a Nigerian brand as they are named after the Chairman and Chief executive –INNOSON. IVMs have very high local content and the company continues to pursue this program vigorously with the support of NAC. The Council has extended support to over 20 component manufacturers including Dunlop, which received over N1.4 billion to establish its Radial Steel Truck tyres, although the lowering of import duty on truck tyres in 2005 crippled the tyre industry," he affirms.
While the new direction by the government appears plausible, industry stakeholders are skeptical as a result of handling of similar policy for the sector in the past. According to a report on Pro- Share, "Given the mention of a "new" automotive policy, a concerned Nigerian could ask "What was the previous automotive policy?" In 1990, the Federal Government of Nigeria resuscitated the technical committee on national automotive industry (now National Automotive Council – 'NAC' with the sole purpose of reviving and developing the domestic automotive industry.
The NAC in collaboration with The Nigerian Automobile Manufacturer's Association ,NAMA and other relevant stakeholders were involved in the formulation of the policy. The resulting policy was approved by the Ernest Shonekan-led transitional council in 1993.
The objective of the policy which was to be promoted by NAC was to ensure the development, survival and growth of the Nigerian automotive industry using domestic human and material resources. Like most Nigerian policy initiatives, NAC's intention to revive the automotive industry was not achieved due to the lack of a suitable framework to support the tenets of the policy."
Low patronage, the lack of infrastructure, non-implementation and inappropriate tariff regime, among others were some of the reasons have been cited as the short-coming of the previous automotive policy.
However, with assurance from Aganga, that government had identified the pitfalls, putting in place measures that would guard against the inadequacies and encourage the success of the new policy; some foreign investors are beginning to express interest to bring their vehicle manufacturing plants to Nigeria especially given that the country is driving the African auto market share massively. Besides, with the growth of the nation's economic indices and her high returns on investment, the investors express readiness to jumpstart the plan.
The Director, Sub-Sahara Africa, Nissan South Africa, Jimmy Dando, said the company was in Abuja recently to let the Federal Government understand move to start a production lines and assembly plants. Dando said the negotiation was strategic for both the government and auto investors because it was a move to fast track the revival of the nation's automobile manufacturing sector and bring down the prices of new vehicles for Nigerians.
The Nissan's helmsman pointed out that for the negotiation meeting to have a positive impact, the Federal Government, as a matter of urgency, must look critically at finding a lasting solution to the grey market by eliminating it, adding that the phenomenon has adversely affected their sales and market share in Nigeria. He said that allowing influx of used vehicles in the country was not good for the country's image, considering the size of her population and economic indices.
"Nigeria has a large population index and there is need for automobile plants in the country because with auto plants, it can drive job creation for the teeming youths. In South Africa, after minning sector, which is the largest employer of labour, the auto manufacturing is the next highest employer of labour. If Nigeria could accept this plan, believe me, it will go a long way in sharpening the country's economic development and her manufacturing sector," he added.
For Ford's Regional Sales and Marketing Manager, sub-Saharan Africa, Ezio Tuniz, the Nigerian market share for Ford motors has been phenomenal since its entry into the nation's auto market some decades ago. He said that Nigeria accounted for about 40 per cent market share of vehicles sold by the Ford Group, from 2010 to 2011, and eight per cent last year despite the challenges in the nation's auto industry. According to him, Nigeria has become the hub of sub-Sahara market because of the amount of vehicles being sold here
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Watch this video to try out making a halter dress by yourself. Lay out the fabric you are going to use on a level surface. Afterwards sew it right side together with stitching pins. Once you finish doing so flip the fabric right side over. Sew up the ends of the fabric right sides together. This will create the hole in the dress where you will wear it as a halter. Flip the dress over and cut out some elastic to sew it on the bottom part of the dress. This will create a nice effect in the skirt part and you can then attach a bow to it as well.
Start your career in Graphic Design with the WonderHowTo's Beginners's Guide to Photoshop Course


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Hi Everyone! Hope you're all having an awesome day and had a great weekend. It's been nonstop activity on our end as we try to juggle between CD manufacturing, CD launch prep, music video editing, HMMA planning, promotions and publicity. The great news is we're all set for the CD Release Party, scheduled for November… Continue reading CD Release Event Set For November 9 at Toshi's
Month: October 2013
MiG Ayesa & Dennis Sy join forces for Bohol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-CjbcBteeU MiG Ayesa & Dennis Sy have joined forces for Bohol. From now until November 10, 2013, all proceeds from the sale of MiG Ayesa's United As One and Dennis Sy's Sama-Sama Harapin Nating Ang Bukas through this webpage (http://dsymusic.com/DSYMusic/Bohol_Campaign.html) will be donated to the WeServe Medical and Evangelistic Team for their upcoming medical… Continue reading MiG Ayesa & Dennis Sy join forces for Bohol
After being given an advance copy of#StrongerThanBefore, this is what accomplished singer/songwriter/photographer Mr. Jim Paredes has to say. Thanks for the encouragement and the commendation sir! Am truly honored!
All Systems GO for Stronger Than Before
Dear Friends & Supporters of DSYMusic & #StrongerThanBefore the album! It was just 3 days ago that we wrapped up our successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, and our heads are still reeling from the amount of support that we received. We literally didn't have time to stop and celebrate, as we're now faced with an entirely new challenge,… Continue reading All Systems GO for Stronger Than Before
Dennis Sy featured on pilot episode of Poptimes Features
Am honored to be featured on Poptimes Magazine's pilot episode of Poptimes Features! Interview includes a live acoustic performance of "The Me I Found In You". Thanks to multi-talented Fil-Am artist Ted Reyes for the live interview and the opportunity. More power & God Bless!
Kickstarter Update #5 – WE DID IT!
To the DSYMusic team, fans, family, supporters & collaborators (you all know who you are!)- WE DID IT! With still 47 hours to go - we have reached and exceeded our Kickstarter goal towards the release of #StrongerThanBefore the album. The journey and the challenge continues - to bring you what I'd like to believe is… Continue reading Kickstarter Update #5 – WE DID IT!
A Vulnerable Honest Moment – "WHAT I KNOW"
I know my musical endeavors are always challenged by goals that are sloping upwards And gaining critical mass is never a sure thing I know some are destined for greatness And I've been doing this long enough to know for me that is not what lay ahead I know there've been probably many… Continue reading A Vulnerable Honest Moment – "WHAT I KNOW"


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Geek Trivia
To Visit Mount Doom In Real Life You Must Travel Where?
Answer: Titan
If you're a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth and want to visit the legendary Mount Doom you're going to have to do more than pack a suitcase and fill up your gas tank; you'll need to blast off for Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
All the mountains of Titan are named after the mountains from Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series. The most prominent mountain on the moon, Doom Mons, is named after Mount Doom and is found in in the Aztlan region of Titan–all the reflective regions of Titan's surface are named after sacred/enchanted places from mythic stories around the world.