Trump's trade TPP move a setback for cloud computing
With President Trump's move to walk away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, administration is 'starting from zero' on digital trade policy.
By Kenneth Corbin
Gage Skidmore
WASHINGTON — On the heels of the news that President Trump has removed the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive trade deal that he blasted as a candidate, experts warned of the fallout for cloud-computing companies that have been advocating for policies to break down digital trade barriers that restrict the flow of data traffic across international boundaries.
Here at the annual State of the Net tech policy conference, the news was met with disappointment by a panel of experts, who said that the provisions of the TPP governing the activities of tech companies would have been an important step toward establishing international norms for trade in the digital age.
"Basically, it was the first [step] in terms of important international agreements that began to set a legal foundation for digital trade," said Claude Barfield, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. "And now with the TPP being gone that has now been swept away. So the Trump administration is starting from zero, as it were, in terms of digital trade rules with whatever else it does."
Awaiting 'real action on trade'
Trump's executive order canceling U.S. involvement in the TPP was hardly a surprise. As a candidate, Trump had railed against the deal and other trade agreements, and the TPP faced dim prospects of winning approval in the Senate.
[ Related: Cross-border data restrictions threaten global economic growth ]
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) issued a terse statement in response to Trump's executive order pulling out of the deal:
"TPP was dead long before President Trump took office," Schumer said. "We await real action on trade."
What that action will look like, in the digital environment, remains an open question. But for many tech companies that have long complained about protectionist policies in foreign markets that favor local companies or impose burdensome compliance requirements on U.S. firms, some elements of the TPP were appealing.
Barfield pointed to provisions in the TPP that restricted signatories from imposing cross-border data blocks, a critical priority for cloud service providers with global ambitions. The agreement also sought to eliminate tariffs on digital goods and dispense with localization requirements that could be used to compel service providers to set up a physical operation within a country as a condition for doing business in that market.
[Related: Tech CEOs warn of threats to cloud, big data economy ]
Susan Lund, an economist and partner at McKinsey & Company who is bullish on the digital economy, noted some of the barriers that linger and continue to hinder trade, such as uneven standards and expectations for consumer privacy and cybersecurity protections, and content blocking and other forms of censorship.
Nevertheless, Lund points to the sharp rise in economic value associated with digital trade, where electronic delivery of products and services increasingly is seen as a central pillar of nations' economies.
"It's now worth as much to countries as cross-border trade in goods. And that means that the next era of trade policy needs to take into account things that might stop the free flow of data, things we call data protectionism," she said. "Without a doubt, digital trade is the next frontier and it's what's driving global economic growth."


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Hampstead Highgate Express > News > Education
A-Level results day 2017: Success across the board at King Alfred School
Josh Cousans and Leon Barody from King Alfred School - Credit: Archant
An informal atmosphere and an emphasis on trips and extra-curricular activities were the key to success at a Golders Green school progressive independent school, according to staff.
Lauren Isaacs and Nell Sternberg from King Alfred School - Credit: Archant
The 'vast majority' of students at King Alfred School on North End Road got the grades to go to their first choice universities, according to upper school head Rod Jackson. "We don't have a uniform, students call teachers by their first names - we feel this leads to each students being able to achieve their very best," he said.
Lauren Isaacs and Nell Sternberg were among the happy students at the compact and green school site on Thursday morning. Lauren received an A*, an A and a B and will be heading to her first choice university, Manchester, to study philosophy and social anthropology.
"It sounds like a mouthful, but social anthropology is a walk in the park, apparently," she laughed. Her friend Nell, meanwhile, had not experienced the nervous anticipation of results day as she had completed a BTEC in performing arts, with grades awarded over the year. Nell said she was 'very happy and excited' to be heading to Falmouth School of Art in Cornwall.
Leon Barody, meanwhile, got the grades to go to his first choice, Leeds College of Art, to study photography- although he said he was considering changing his mind and going to Coventry instead. "I've heard it's the best photography course in the country," Leon told the Ham&High. His friend Joshua Cousens was unsure of his plans, saying his main aim was 'to experience life'.
Milo Bennett from King Alfred School - Credit: Archant
Another King Alfred School graduate, Stella Arnold, will be heading to Sussex to do a psychology foundation course after getting the requisiite three C's in her subjects French, history and psychology - though she was just a couple of marks off a B in French. "I was very nervous this morning, but I've got what I need," Stella said.
This was the first year that all exams were sat at the end of the year, and many of the independent school's staff said it had been tough on the current cohort as a 'guinea pig generation'.
"There's been a lot more work for us," said exams officer Shyama Chandrasekhar. "It has been quite administratively tedious."
The results room at King Alfred School - Credit: Archant
Staff at King Alfred School - Credit: Archant


Penguins Beat Preds 2-0, Repeat As Stanley Cup Champs
By: Steve Layman
For 60 nights this spring, the Predators wowed the hockey world, a seemingly unstoppable force on their home ice backed by a rabid and rapidly growing fanbase and a neverending list of celebrity endorsers.
And then it ended, 2-0 in game six of the Stanley Cup Final, as former Predator Patric Hornqvist punching in a rebound goal with just 1:35 to play in the game to hand his old team it's most devastating loss to date.
An empty-net goal by Carl Hagelin caused the normally delirious Bridgestone Arena crowd to fall silent as the final seconds ticked off the clock.
Then the 17,000 gold-clad supporters once again rose to their feet to salute their team one last time, only to have their patented ovation cut short by the presentation of the Stanley Cup to the Penguins.
It was Sidney Crosby, Penguins captain and Conn Smythe Award winner as MVP, who became the first man to hoist the Cup on the Smashville ice. The win cements his legacy as a three-time Stanley Cup champion and leader of the first repeat champs since the 1997-98 Red Wings.
Meanwhile, Predators' players looked to come to grips with a run that felt like destiny until Hornqvist's goal bounced off his old Nashville roommate Pekka Rinne's back and in the net.
It was the only one of the 28 shots Rinne faced that got past him as he returned to his normal dominant self on home ice. Rinne and the Preds falling to 9-2 at home this postseason despite a spirited effort while facing elimination for the first time in this two month playoff run.
It looked like Nashville struck first, early in the second period, when Colton Sissons poked in a loose puck in the crease after Filip Forsberg's shot trickled past Matt Murray. But the goal was waved off because of an inadvertent whistle when the official thought Murray had possession of the puck.
It was the correct call by rule, but a brutal break for the Predators, who finished the series without a goal in the final 123:23. It was also a bad look for the NHL that has replay review for offsides calls, often irrelevant to the play, but can't correct an officiating blunder that costs a team a sure goal.
It was the start of a frustrating night for Sissons, who was stopped moments later on a breakaway by Murray and watched a shot go off the post late in the third period when the game was still scoreless.
Those were shots that had to count for this Predators team, playing without top line center Ryan Johansen or winger Kevin Fiala, and with defenseman Ryan Ellis severely hobbled, to have a chance.
It was a valiant effort by a young team clearly on the rise. But it wasn't enough against the game's best player in Crosby and the league's top young goaltender in Murray, who now has led his team to two Stanley Cups while still being classified as a rookie after being called up late last season.
This is the Penguins time, the Predators are forced to begin their quest all over again.


Amazon, Television
Amazon Prime Adding 119 New Titles This Week
Date: April 30, 2018Author: TV Answer Man 0 Comments
Amazon this week plans to add 119 new TV shows and movies to its Prime streaming lineup, including a new movie from an award-winning director.
The new title list will include Last Flag Flying, an Amazon original movie directed by Academy Award nominee Richard Linklater (Boyhood). The film follows three Vietnam veterans who reunite after 30 years to bury a young Marine killed in the Iraq war.
Click to see today's best-selling TV at Amazon.com!
The comedy-drama, which premiered in theaters in 2017, stars Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell and Laurence Fishburne. RottenTomatoes.com, which tracks critical reviews, gives the movie a score of 76 out of a possible 100.
"Last Flag Flying balances raw drama against refreshing moments of humor in an impeccably cast film that wrestles with questions of patriotism, family, and grief," writes RottenTomatoes.com, summarizing the reviews.
Also notable this week: Thirty-three different limited series from the BBC including the original version of The Office (pictured above), starring Ricky Gervais; Pride and Prejudice; David Copperfield; and Sense and Sensibility.
Note: Amazon Prime streaming titles are free to Amazon Prime members. The service, which also includes free 2-day shipping on thousands of Amazon products, costs $99 a year (until June when it rises to $119). You can also now order Amazon Prime streaming for $8.99 a month, but the monthly service does not include the other Prime benefits. You can sign up here.
See Amazon's Best-Selling Streaming Devices!
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Here is the complete list of new titles coming this week to Amazon Prime:
Tuesday, May 1|
3 Ways to Get a Husband (2009)
40 Days and 40 Nights (2002)
A Very Brady Sequel (1996)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
Baby Boom (1987)
Back to School (1986)
Bad News Bears (1976)
Beyond Borders (2003)
Blame (2017)
Brother Nature (2016)
Bull Durham (1988)
Cyborg (1989)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Dr. No (1962)
Eight Men Out (1988)
Evolution (2001)
Frailty (2001)
From Russia with Love (1964)
Gator (1976)
Ghost Town (2008)
Goat (2016)
Goldfinger (1964)
Holy Air (2017)
Hot Boyz (2000)
Immigration Tango (2011)
Iron Eagle IV: On the Attack (1999)
Kalifornia (1993)
Live and Let Die (1973)
Love Is A Gun (1994)
Manhunter (1986)
Men with Brooms (2002)
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
New Rose Hotel (1999)
Ninja Masters (2009)
Octopussy (1983)
Outcast (2014)
Perfect Score (2004)
Perfume: Story of a Murderer (2006)
Psychopaths (2017)
Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)
Rocky (1976)
Rocky II (1979)
Rocky III (1982)
Rocky IV (1985)
Rocky V (1990)
Sabrina (1995)
Saturday Church (2017)
School Ties (1992)
Set Up (2011)
Starting Out in the Evening (2007)
Strategic Air Command (1955)
The Benchwarmers (2006)
The Benefactor (2015)
The Box (2007)
The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)
The Counterfeit Traitor (1962)
The Crow (1994)
The Elephant Man (1980)
The Golden Compass (2007)
The Hangman (1959)
The Last Castle (2001)
The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
The Saint (1997)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Thief (1981)
Thirst Street (2017)
Thunderball (1965)
Twisted (2004)
Untamed Heart (1993)
Wild Thornberrys (2002)
Wish Upon a Star (1996)
Wonder Boys (2000)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Aristocrats: Limited Series
Banished: Limited Series
Charles II – The Power and The Passion: Limited Series
Daniel Deronda: Limited Series
David Copperfield: Limited Series
Desperate Romantics: Limited Series
Ivanhoe: Limited Series
Jane Eyre (1983): Limited Series
Jane Erye (2006): Limited Series
Life in Squares: Limited Series
Little Dorrit: Limited Series
Lorna Doone: Limited Series
Love in A Cold Climate: Limited Series
Mansfield Park: Limited Series
Martin Chuzzlewit: Limited Series
Middlemarch: Limited Series
Oliver Twist (1985): Limited Series
Our Mutual Friend: Limited Series
Pride and Prejudice: Limited Series
Sense and Sensibility (1981): Limited Series
Sinbad: Limited Series
Tess of the D'Urbervilles: Limited Series
The Buccaneers: Limited Series
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Limited Series
The Lost World: Limited Series
The Office: Limited Series
The Pickwick Papers: Limited Series
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall: Limited Series
The Way We Live Now: Limited Series
Tom Jones: Limited Series
Vanity Fair (1998): Limited Series
Last Flag Flying
Warrior (2011)
Diablo Guardian (Prime Original series), Season 1
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E-book – $16.95
Cynthia Dewi Oka (Contribution by)
Cynthia Dewi Oka
How do we transform the wreckage of our identities? Cynthia Dewi Oka's evocative collection answers this question by brimming with what we salvage from our most deep-seated battles. Reflecting the many dimensions of the poet's life, Salvage manifests an intermixture of aesthetic forms that encompasses multiple social, political, and cultural contexts—leading readers to Bali, Indonesia, to the Pacific Northwest, and to South Jersey and Philadelphia.
Throughout it insistently interrogates what it means to reach for our humanity through the guises of nation, race, and gender. Oka's language transports us through the many bodies of fluid poetics that inhabit our migrating senses and permeate across generations into a personal diaspora. Salvage invites us to be without borders.
CYNTHIA DEWI OKA is the author of Nomad of Salt and Hard Water. Originally from Bali, Indonesia, she is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee and a recipient of the Fifth Wednesday Journal Editor's Prize in Poetry as well as grants from the Leeway Foundation and Vermont Studio Center. Oka is an alumnus of Voices of Our Nations (VONA) and her work has appeared in the anthologies Dismantle, Read Women, and Revolutionary Mothering. She is based in the greater Philadelphia area, where she works as a community organizer with immigrant and faith communities.
"Salvage is a necessary collection of poems that steadily pushes us not only to witness our world and surroundings, but to engage with both the stunning and the brutal, to hold both the dirt and the beauty, to oscillate between the guttural and the want, and to look so deeply at love and how it can sometimes erupt and feel broken – how to keep honoring it." –Ellen Hagan, author of Hemisphere: Poems
"So much beauty is made from sorrow in this book, while silence 'swarms like beetles.' Here is an escape from 'our slanderous past taking / root in potholed sidewalks,' and here also the litany of arrival in North American suburbia, where Orpheus is mugged in the city of brotherly love and even Lazarus reconsiders his awakening. This book gives us both the refugee's map of North America and a window to the world beyond. I love this book's invention, as Dewi Oka summons up the courage to rage and grieve: 'Let memory make of me a scream that wasn't there.' What a powerful plea! I love the many kinds of tenderness on these pages, Dewi Oka's attentiveness to detail, the wonderful gift of seeing poetry in the custodial, in the tragic: so even if tears come, they are 'like small stubborn / gods refusing to fall.' I love the mythical depth, the civic outcry, the lyric inventiveness of these poems. But most of all, I love how how beautifully music is made patiently from the sorrow, how a human 'holds his breath, secretly / chains to a single note all the mutinies inside him--'. A powerful book. –Ilya Kaminsky, author of Dancing in Odessa
"The gods of poetry occasionally are lavish with their gifts, choosing to endow a writer with special access to their mysteries: Cynthia Dewi Oka is such a one, a migrant whose powerful poems embody and defy history's savage dislocations. From a world lost where 'houses/ shudder like goats at the stockyard' to the irony of 'a land where milk and honey can sweeten fear,' her depth-charged vision is a seemingly inexhaustible source of eloquent, revelatory images." –Eleanor Wilner
"Cynthia Dewi Oka's work is full of 'the kind of beauty that incinerates/the shelter of the body,' bringing it (us) closer to the wall-less wilds where every thing is kin. She reminds us that 'to salvage' is to, with profound effort, transform loss into possibility. In this way, the poems are species of invention and surrender, ceremonies of memory and reckoning. Over and over I am surprised by a diction this lucid, this precise, this feral. No one else writes like this. –Aracelis Girmay
"We are in the thick of the sludge of salvage, in an age of greedy locusts who are making plans to own and suck down anything they perceive of value. Add vitriolic race hate verbiage, and visionaries are bound to emerge. Cynthia Dewi is one of these visionaries, a word prophet. She writes with one foot in time, the other in timelessness. These poems in her newest collection Salvage are small fires to light the way. They are lit by urgent need. With these poems, we will make it through." –Joy Harjo


Home | Mises Library | Correcting Krugman on Climate
Correcting Krugman on Climate
Tags Big GovernmentThe EnvironmentInterventionismOther Schools of Thought
06/08/2009Robert P. Murphy
In a previous article, I argued that Paul Krugman's recent articles in support of government efforts to mitigate climate change — and in particular the Waxman-Markey legislation pending in Congress — were typically misleading. Specifically, Krugman's estimate that "serious" efforts to fight climate change would cost only 2 percent of GDP by the year 2050 was much lower than what the IPCC "consensus" itself said about aggressive measures like Waxman-Markey, and in any event these estimates all assumed that politicians worldwide implement the policies in textbook fashion.
In the present article I wish to continue my criticism of Krugman's writings in support of Waxman-Markey. We will see that even on mainstream, neoclassical economic terms, Waxman-Markey fails a cost/benefit test by a huge margin. It's not even close.
Krugman Trick to Downplay Costs Would Also Minimize Benefits
In a passage intended to show just how cheap even aggressive climate action can be, Krugman writes,
Consumers would end up poorer than they would have been without a climate-change policy.
But how much poorer? Not much, say careful researchers, like those at the Environmental Protection Agency or the Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Even with stringent limits, says the M.I.T. group, Americans would consume only 2 percent less in 2050 than they would have in the absence of emission limits. That would still leave room for a large rise in the standard of living, shaving only one-twentieth of a percentage point off the average annual growth rate.
Elsewhere I have written about this neat little trick of translating a fairly large impact into an apparently negligible amount, by switching from the level of the impact into a reduced rate of annual growth. After all, two percent of global output in 2050 is a fantastic amount of income. To give a ballpark, in 2007, using the "purchasing power parity" approach, global GDP was about $66 trillion.
So if we conservatively assume that real global GDP (and yes we're ignoring all of the Austrian critiques about such a concept) grows at 3.5 percent annually, then MIT's estimate of the cost of fighting climate change works out to $5.8 trillion in the year 2050 alone. In other words, we're not talking about a one-shot cost here; we're saying the annual cost in the year 2050 will be $5.8 trillion (in 2007 US dollars). Somehow I think that if Dick Cheney suggested that fighting the global war on terror would "only" cost 2 percent of world output by 2050, Paul Krugman might raise more of a fuss.
In any event, Krugman's column seems rather one-sided, doesn't it? After all, when trying to decide if a particular policy makes economic sense, the standard mainstream thing to do is check whether the costs are lower than the benefits. And yet, the modeled benefits of fighting climate change aren't mentioned anywhere in Krugman's column. It is simply taken for granted that the US government must do something — and quick! As Krugman says in another column (again without pointing to any specific evidence), "It's time to save the planet."
Yet this is rather noneconomist talk, isn't it? It sounds a bit like saying, "Teachers should get a huge pay raise, because education is very important."
Yes, if the planet itself were in jeopardy, then just about any forfeited economic output would be worth it, if it could avert that catastrophe.
But of course "the planet" isn't in danger. What people really mean by such language is that "the desirability of living on earth as judged by our descendants" is at risk. Well then, exactly what are the risks? And let's be scientific and objective about this, folks! No consulting fringe "deniers." I want to draw from the consensus of world experts, as codified in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4).
Now things get really interesting, and we see why Krugman and other proponents of Waxman-Markey haven't been talking about the quantitative, net benefits of their plans. As Jim Manzi points out, according to middle-of-the-pack estimates of various dials (such as the level of global emissions without strict government controls, the sensitivity of the climate to these emissions, the vulnerability of future generations to warmer temperatures, etc.), the IPCC reports that the hit to global GDP would be between 1 and 5 percent, for 4 degrees Celsius of (additional) warming that would probably not occur until the 22nd century.
Yikes, up to a 5 percent loss in total global output — an inconvenient truth indeed! Oh wait, Krugman has shown us how to deal with such alarming numbers. If we just shave 0.05 percentage points off of global GDP growth — for example, if the world economy grows at 2.95 percent per year, rather than 3 percent — then, as Krugman has already demonstrated, global GDP in the year 2050 will be 2 percent lower than it otherwise would have been.
Now if we just let the simulation run until the year 2114, the gap between 3 percent growth and 2.95 percent growth will have grown exponentially into a 5-percentage-point difference.
What does all this mean? Quite simple: the differential in growth rates that Krugman considers quite negligible when weighing the costs of fighting climate change works just as well for the differential in growth rates that the IPCC middle-of-the-pack forecasts say the world would suffer under unrestricted emissions.
In other words, by Krugman's own criteria, the best-guess IPCC estimate of the benefits of fighting climate change are just as negligible as Krugman considers the MIT estimate of the costs of fighting climate change.
Mainstream Economic Models Would Never Justify Waxman-Markey
The more I have investigated these matters, the more shocked I become. One doesn't even need to rely on Austrian or public-choice arguments to show that Waxman-Markey is crazy.
For example, William Nordhaus is one of the pioneers in the field of climate-change economics, and he is no laissez-faire ideologue; Austrian readers may recognize Nordhaus as Samuelon's coauthor of a textbook that is sympathetic to "market failure," to say the least.
Yet according to Nordhaus's "DICE" model of the global climate and economy, if the whole world were to implement the stringent emissions caps (83% below 2005 levels by the year 2050) contained in Waxman-Markey, the net loss of the policy would be enormous.1 It's true, such stringent limits would reduce the amount of climate damage future generations would suffer, but the harms imposed on the economy (because of the emission caps) would more than outweigh these benefits. Indeed, Nordhaus's model says that the present discounted value of these different impacts (i.e., slowing climate change but also slowing economic growth) is somewhere in the range of negative $14 trillion to negative $21 trillion, measured in 2005 US dollars. (I give more details of this derivation here.)
Paul Krugman is a very sharp guy, conversant in many different fields. Yet his analysis of the economics of climate change is as wrongheaded as his analysis of depressions. Relying just on the IPCC "consensus" estimates as well as a leading model such as Nordhaus's, it is impossible to justify the draconian emission cuts in Waxman-Markey.
Partisans on both sides of the debate concede that if the United States imposes unilateral emission cuts, there will be a negligible effect on global temperatures. But, ironically, if the whole world were to foolishly follow us down this path, one of the leading mainstream models projects that the globe would be many trillions of dollars poorer for it — and that figure includes the alleged benefits of mitigating harmful climate change.
The above analysis takes the emission cutbacks at face value. However, in practice Waxman-Markey might not be so draconian after all, because the legislation currently contains the possibility of complying with the "cap" by purchasing international "offsets." In other words, a US power plant could continue to emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, so long as it (say) paid to have more trees planted in Brazil.


Celine Katzman | Tue Oct 20th, 2015 11:01 a.m.
Laura Brothers, come and be real for us (Dec 25, 2007). Detail area of 803 x 840 digital image.
Artist Laura Brothers, whose work was included in the online exhibition "Brushes" (co-presented by Rhizome and the New Museum as part of First Look), is featured on the newest installment of Gene McHugh's podcast, Net Art Hell.
Brothers has been posting her images to a LiveJournal blog under the moniker out_4_pizza since 2007; in his podcast, McHugh tracks the visual progression of the images through the evolution of Brothers' style and content. He points to the use of cut-and-paste image appropriation in the earlier work: imagery drawn from 1980s television, imagery from the past 40 years of rock music album cover culture, and other imagery that Brothers refers to as "timestamped." Building on this exploration of temporality, McHugh adds that the LiveJournal platform is itself dated, which emphasizes the datedness of the image content. In addition, the chronological structure of the LiveJournal feed allows the viewer to understand how Brothers' practice unfolds over time. As artist Giovanna Olmos noted in the Brushes panel at the New Museum, scrolling is a new narrative form.
Brothers' newer work is still inspired by timestamped cultural imagery, but unlike the earlier clearly appropriated collages, it alludes to its sources in loose, gestural abstractions. This style can be seen in the recent posts Cake Walk Howl (posted, according to LiveJournal, at 24 September 2015 @ 03:42 pm) and Alfredo Frenzy (posted 10 September 2015 @ 04:40 pm), which have Brothers' signature pixelated texture, but refer more to expressive sketches and figure drawing than to specific timestamped cultural images.
McHugh concludes:
What the viewer may come to understand in out_4_pizza is all of this is leading to a representation of its medium: an ongoing blog or image stream in which every image is always-already a ghost, always already in flux, becoming and falling away. It's a medium-specific, self-reflexive work, not just because its imagery is born digital and pops on the screen, which it does do, but also because it describes the overwhelming power time has over images displayed in streams on screens by again and again referring to image types from the just-past and now dated and doubling the sense of that by setting everything over the LiveJournal interface. out_4_pizza performs its being right now.
Brushes is on view here.
Laura Brothers, alfredo frenzy (Sept 10, 2015). Detail area of 940x700 pixel digital image.
Tags: abstraction appropriation Brushes Digital painting Laura Brothers


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Selected Topics on the Eye in Systemic Disease
Conrad L. Giles, MD
Southfield, Mich
Stephen Ryan and Ronald Smith have performed a great service for the practicing ophthalmologist in bringing together this lucid presentation. Selected Topics on the Eye in Systemic Disease consists of a detailed description of a systemic disease followed by an outstanding discussion of its ophthalmologic manifestations. The book is divided into three sections: "Retinal Vascular Disease," "Ocular Inflammatory Disease," and "The Rheumatic Diseases." By drawing on individuals in the departments of medicine and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions for the in-depth presentation of each systemic disorder, and coupling these discussions with Wilmer Institute contributions, Ryan and Smith have compiled a superb reference volume.
Especially noteworthy are the sections dealing with the respiratory distress syndrome (Avery) and its infrequent ocular sequelae, retrolental fibroplasia (Platz), systemic visceral larva migrans (Zinkham), and intraocular toxocariasis (Welsh) and systemic sarcoidosis (Johns), and ocular sarcoidosis (Ryan and Maumenee).
While color plates would have undoubtedly
Giles CL. Selected Topics on the Eye in Systemic Disease. Arch Ophthalmol. 1975;93(4):322. doi:10.1001/archopht.1975.01010020332018


Home > The AXELOS Blog > Programme office in the context of an MSP programme
Programme office in the context of an MSP programme
By Sue Taylor – P3 Trainer and Consultant
Business solutions, MSP, Programme management, Project and programme delivery, Project management, Value
An organization working on a major programme often needs a programme office.
Major programmes are concerned with implementing complex transformational change, and this can bring with it a range of challenges. The size and impact of the change, an organization's experience in delivering programmes, the level of support for the change and the clarity of what the programme needs to achieve are all factors which need to be considered. Amid such complexity, a programme office can offer a mixture of support and solutions to help the programme succeed.
A programme office has two major functions: it supports the programme by acting as an information hub and provides a focus for things such as reporting, control of risks and issues and configuration management. However, it's not just about administration, status gathering and consolidating information; a programme office can also provide a breadth of expertise covering areas such as finance, tools, programme and project management, scheduling, resource management and training. The programme office also provides a valuable assurance function: as it sits outside the projects that make up the programme it can provide independent validation to ensure projects run effectively, and provide advice and challenge to the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) and programme board.
The decision to form a programme office comes early on in a programme's life. Defining a programme, when it's necessary to plan what the programme looks like, what benefits it will provide and how it will be managed, involves producing items such as the programme business case, blueprint and plans – which are areas where a programme office can help to address the level of complexity. During programme delivery, the focus of the programme office will be on supporting the programme and providing independent assurance that projects are being delivered effectively and the programme remains on track to achieve its objectives.
The programme office in an MSP® (Managing Successful Programmes) programme
An organization's overarching delivery framework for programmes and projects might be defined at portfolio level, for example in a centre of excellence, in which case the programme office can adapt these organizational controls for use on the programme. If there is no organizational framework, it's normally up to the programme manager to choose appropriate controls to help manage the programme.
If an organization is using the AXELOS MSP framework, there are a number of related management products that will help to define the programme: for example, a vision statement and blueprint will show what the future will look like; benefit profiles and a benefits map will help to define what improvements can be achieved and link these to the capabilities; a projects dossier and programme plan will show how the projects and activities will deliver the required outcomes and a business case will make sure that the overall investment is robust. MSP provides for many different types of programme information and the programme office needs to make sure these are appropriate for the programme and fit for purpose. As the programme progresses, it also needs to verify that projects are being run effectively and that their outputs contribute to delivering the capabilities defined in the blueprint. This means having visibility of what the programme is trying to deliver and recognition that it is being delivered.
The programme office: measures of success
The programme office lasts for the lifespan of the programme but should take learnings and adapt during the process. The effectiveness and perceived value of a programme office probably comes down to whether projects are delivering the right things, on time and within budget and whether key stakeholders have confidence in the programme's success and are getting the level of support and information they need when they need it.
The successful programme office is one that provides both the supporting functions needed and also acts as a challenge and conscience to the programme. This dual role of support and assurance based on oversight and independence can be extremely valuable.
See our Managing Successful Programmes section for more information.
Read Sue's previous AXELOS blog post, Governing major change programmes with MSP.
Gaining the trust to transform: Programme management and MSP
What is programme management?
Governing major change programmes with MSP
MSP Core Publication
Managing Successful Programmes 4th Edition
Managing Successful Programmes (MSP®) is part of the Global Best Practice suite of publications, which helps organizations and individuals manage their projects, programmes and services consistently and effectively.
Buy the MSP guide


9,000 Nepalis face deportation as Trump administration prepares to cancel residency permits
१२ बैशाख २०७५, बुधबार ०४:२९
The Department of Homeland Security is preparing to cancel the temporary residency permits of about 9,000 immigrants from Nepal, the Trump administration's latest move to expel foreigners living in the United States with some form of provisional status.
According to internal planning documents viewed by The Washington Post, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen will give the Nepalis a one-year grace period to prepare their departure, but they would face deportation after June 24, 2019.
The Nepalis were granted temporary protected status (TPS) — allowing them to remain in the United States legally — after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake devastated the country three years ago, on April 25, 2015, killing nearly 9,000.
[White House chief of staff tried to pressure acting DHS secretary to expel thousands of Hondurans, officials say]
The TPS designation was created by Congress in 1990 to avoid sending foreigners back to nations destabilized by natural disasters, armed conflict and other catastrophes.
Immigration hard-liners in the Trump administration have pushed to eliminate TPS protections whenever possible. In recent months DHS has canceled the residency permits of 200,000 Salvadorans, 50,000 Haitians and a smaller number of Nicaraguans and Sudanese.
Trump officials say the TPS designation was never intended to afford long-term residency to foreigners who may have entered the country unlawfully or otherwise lack legal status. The law requires DHS to obtain input from the State Department about the current conditions in countries with a TPS designation before making a decision to cancel those protections.
"We will continue to determine each country's TPS status on a country-by-country basis," Nielsen said in a January statement, following her decision to extend TPS for about 6,000 Syrians whose homeland has been shattered by war.
[U.S. extends provisional residency for 6,000 Syrians rather than deporting them to war zone]
Nielsen has until May 6 to make a decision for 57,000 TPS recipients from Honduras who have been living in the United States for two decades. The Trump administration has signaled it plans to end their protections.
The decision to extend or cancel TPS for the Nepalis has generated considerably less attention than for other groups. Though nearly 15,000 Nepali migrants received TPS status after the 2015 quake, only about 9,000 remain in the country with that status, according to estimates by the Congressional Research Service. The Nepalis are concentrated mostly in the New York City area.
DHS officials said Nielsen had not yet signed off on the Nepal decision, but the internal documents indicate the agency is preparing to make its announcement in coming days.
The DHS secretary is required to make a decision 60 days in advance of the TPS expiration date. In Nepal's case, that deadline falls on the anniversary of the earthquake, which is Wednesday.
Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) reopens flight schedule
उत्तर कोरियाद्वारा दक्षिणसँगको वार्ता रद्द


Liederkreis, op.39; Dichterliebe, op.48
Media Review / Comparison
2013-01-06 — Original posting (on Blogger)
2013-01-13 — Added addendum I and II, see below
2013-08-06 — New standard layout applied
2014-11-08 — Re-posting as is (WordPress)
2016-07-11 — Brushed up for better readability
In my "Listening Diary 2012-11-01" I briefly mentioned the Schumann Lieder cycles "Liederkreis", op.39, and "Dichterliebe", op.48, promising a return in more detail, as I was just about to add another recording that I already had on LP — I have now downloaded that recording (Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Alfred Brendel with the two song cycles reviewed in this posting), and here are my findings — not overly detailed, though.
The Recordings:
With the exception of the new addition, all of these recordings were already mentioned in the "Listening Diary 2012-11-01":
Fischer-Dieskau / Moore: Schubert & Schumann
Schubert: 6 Lieder from Schwanengesang
Schumann: Dichterliebe op.48
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore (Live, Salzburg, 1956)
Orfeo C 294 921 B (CD, stereo); © / ℗ 1992; EAN-13 4011790294124
—Find CD(s) on amazon.com—
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Alfred Brendel: Schumann
Schumann: Liederkreis, op.39; Dichterliebe op.48
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Alfred Brendel
Philips / iTunes download (256 Kbps, stereo); ℗ 1986
(no booklet)
Matthias Goerne, Eric Schneider: Schumann
Schumann: Liederkreis, op.39; 12 Gedichte op.35
Matthias Goerne, Eric Schneider
Decca 460 797-2 (CD, stereo); ℗ / © 1999; barcode 028946079720
Bryn Terfel, Malcolm Martineau: Schumann
Schumann: Liederkreis, op.39; Romanzen, Balladen
Bryn Terfel, Malcolm Martineau
DG 289 447 042-2 (CD, stereo); ℗ 2000; barcode 028944704228
Wunderlich / Giesen: Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann
Beethoven: Lieder WoO 123, 149, opp.46, 128
Schubert: 9 Lieder
Fritz Wunderlich, Hubert Giesen
DG 449 747-2 (CD, mono); ℗ 1966; barcode 028944974720
Ian Bostridge, Julius Drake: Schumann
Schumann: Liederkreis, op.24; Dichterliebe op.48; 7 Lieder
Ian Bostridge, Julius Drake
EMI Classics 56575 (CD, stereo); ℗ / © 1998; barcode 724355657527
Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856): Dichterliebe, op.48
I now have four complete recordings of this song / Lieder cycle (after poems by Heinrich Heine), all of which are excellent and unique is one or the other way; a complete table with durations for every song (excluding silence and applause, of course), as well as individual and summary ratings for every artist is found below.
Fritz Wunderlich and Hubert Giesen (1965)
Fritz Wunderlich and Hubert Giesen recorded this song cycle in 1965, about one year before Wunderlich's tragic accident. What I have written in my "Listening Diary 2012-11-01" certainly holds true for this cycle as well: Wunderlich is best in lyrical pieces, less so in dramatic songs (or songs with an ironic or sarcastic tone). One song received a rather poor rating: Nr.9, "Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen" requires extremely fast declamation, causing Wunderlich to slow down, which feels rather odd (would have been better to use a slower tempo altogether). On the other hand, there are the songs in which Wunderlich can play out his unique timbre and brilliance in his voice!
Ian Bostridge and Julius Drake (1997)
Ian Bostridge and Julius Drake recorded the cycle in 1997; to me, there is no doubt that Ian Bostridge is one of the very top lyrical tenors in recent years; his voice control, his timbre, but also his mastering of the German language in these songs are all excellent — and so is his interpretation of these songs — and Julius Drake proves to be an adequate partner for this great singer: definitely a top recommendation among recent recordings!
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Gerald Moore (1956)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Gerald Moore have performed this song cycle at the Mozarteum Salzburg on August 13th, 1956, during the Salzburg Festival 1956, and a live recording was made from this breakthrough performance. In a recent radio discussion honoring FiDi's career, this recording was not played at all, but it was mentioned as one of best (if not the best) performance of the cycle by this exceptional artist — and I can only confirm: the span, the depth, and the power of Fischer-Dieskau's voice at that time are hard to match, and hard, if not impossible to beat — truly phenomenal!
Of course, there are limitations in the quality of this early stereo recording — but these are more than outbalanced by the uniqueness of this voice. Plus: Gerald Moore is the perfect accompanist for Fischer-Dieskau: never playing himself into the foreground — excellent and accurate in solo passages, but taking himself back in the accompanying part. There one single song where I found his later recording with Brendel (see below) and/or Ian Bostridge better: Nr.14 "Allnächtlich im Traume seh' ich dich", where the bitter irony (especially in the last verse) isn't felt to the degree of the other recordings. Still, this recording clearly is a must-have, not only for fans of Fischer-Dieskau!
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Alfred Brendel (1986)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau re-recorded this song cycle with Alfred Brendel in 1986, 30 years after the Salzburg recording; overall, this is still a very good performance, though I prefer Ian Bostridge's recording. The signs of those 30 years are fairly obvious: the span and the power in his voice have diminished to a degree that is clearly audible, high passages require considerably more effort (and sometimes suffer in clarity and power), and Fischer-Dieskau certainly was aware of these changes. To compensate, he tends towards faster tempo (so the phrases become shorter), and weaknesses in his voice are overplayed by increasing focus on declamation (which some might call "declamatory FiDi-mannerism").
To me, this isn't / cannot be a full substitute for the qualities of his voice in the early years. The other "flaw" in this recording is with the sound balance — not sure how much of this was controlled by the artists: yes, Brendel is an excellent pianist (I'm thinking of his virtuosic performance in Nr.9 "Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen" and Nr.11 "Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen" which are both better than with all the other accompanists) — but quite often in this recording I get the impression of "piano pieces with the accompaniment of a voice in the background"; if this was intentional it might have been a (poor) attempt to mask weaknesses in Fischer-Dieskau's voice? Overall, I clearly prefer the historic recording from 1956 (or Ian Bostridge's, if you will).
In the table below, I used color coding to indicate fast/short performances (green) vs. slow/long ones (blue); all times are in seconds, excluding longer silence or applause. The color coding in the ratings is obvious.
Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856): Liederkreis, op.39
I have three full recordings of this song cycle after poems by Joseph von Eichendorff:
Bryn Terfel and Malcolm Martineau (1999)
Bryn Terfel and Malcolm Martineau in a recording from 1999: I find Bryn Terfel most impressive in Nr.4 "Die Stille" (expressive in his sotto voce / whispering!), but otherwise often too dramatic, theatrical. He has a great voice, but I don't think Schumann's song cycle is his "proper playground"!
Matthias Goerne and Eric Schneider (1998)
Matthias Goerne and Eric Schneider recorded the cycle in 1998: This is a truly excellent performance which — for me — beats Fischer-Dieskau's performance from 1986. I think this is one of the top Lieder singers now: a great, very expressive voice with a large dynamic & dramatic span, and a singer who can match Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the intellectual understanding, i.e., not just singing nice melodies, but presenting / interpreting the content of the underlying poem (I'll return to this singer in a different context). Also, Eric Schneider is a matching, excellent accompanist, clear, virtuoso, perfectly in tune with the singer.
Last, but not least, the sound management in this recording is excellent, and the piano sound is marvelous (I'm thinking of the piano endings in Nr.6 and 8, exhibiting the artistry in the pianists playing, as well as a beautiful piano sound, and a perfect piano tuning!). Definitely highly recommended!
The recording by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Alfred Brendel from 1986 is on the same CD as the cycle "Dichterliebe", see above — and my remarks about the latter also apply to this cycle: here, I prefer Goerne over Fischer-Dieskau (with few exceptions, see the table below). None of the above can beat the two songs that were added as encore during the Salzburg Festival 1956 (see above):
The Salzburg Performance by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Gerald Moore in 1956 was devoted to songs after poems by Heinrich Heine by Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert (the latter with excerpts from the "Schwanengesang"), and so was the first of the encores (Schubert, "Myrthen", op.35). But then, they added Nr.5 and 6 from the Liederkreis op.39, plus two more songs by Franz Schubert. So, there are only two songs from the Liederkreis in this early recording — but these two are miraculous!
I simply can't imagine a more impressive performance of the "Mondnacht" than this one: to me, one of the best Lied recordings ever (apart from the fact that this song is (one of) my all-time favorite(s) anyway!), also from the point-of-view of accompaniment — it's marvelous his Gerald Moore plays the introduction, but then lowers the volume a tad, such as to allow Fischer-Dieskau's voice to evolve. And again: this dynamic span, this span of breath, the perfect forming of the long phrases! Also "Schöne Fremde" is at a similar level — though here, Mattias Goerne (see above) comes close. I wish they had performed the entire cycle!!!
Also in the second table below, I used color coding to indicate fast/short performances (green) vs. slow/long ones (blue); all times are in seconds, excluding longer silence or applause. The color coding in the ratings is obvious.
Addendum: on Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and his accompanists
In connection with a discussion relating to my Listening Diary 2012-11-01 (see the addendum there), I was pointed to several YouTube videos with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau:
Franz Schubert's Lied "An die Musik" (op.88/4, D.547) with Fischer-Dieskau / Gerald Moore, in a recording from the 60's; my comment: "An die Musik" is one of the most beautiful & touching Lieder ever — and this shows Fischer-Dieskau (DFD) at the height of his abilities — and Gerald Moore as congenial accompanist: simply marvelous!
The recording with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau / Wolfgang Sawallisch (no longer available) also includes Schumann's "Mondnacht" (discussed above), my comments regarding Sawallisch vs. Gerald Moore as accompanists equally (or even more?) applies to this composition.
Svjatoslav Richter
In response to the recording with Sawallisch, I pointed to a video with Fischer-Dieskau and Svjatoslav Richter, performing 8 Lieder by Franz Schubert; my comment: Richter is also much better than Sawallisch as an accompanist, I think — and even though this must have been after the recording with Sawallisch, I find DFD better here — maybe due to the interaction / mutual stimulation between the two great artists?
I was then pointed to Schubert's "Winterreise" with Fischer-Dieskau and Alfred Brendel (video no longer available); my comment: DFD is excellent — not so sure I like Brendel for this; and DFD at that time had lost already a fair amount of his volume and range — and is (masterfully, of course) compensating with drama / diction / expression. Overall, I suspect that this recording now has serious competition among newer ones.
Finally, I listened to Fischer-Dieskau performing the "Winterreise" with Maurizio Pollini: I think DFD is definitely past the top in this recording (just mono, unfortunately, and just with two stills, no video), but when comparing this one to DFD / Brendel, I prefer the version with Pollini: the piano part may be the most articulate among all DFD recordings of this cycle (in my memory, at least) — but I think it still does not dominate, and DFD is perfectly in tune with the pianist — I quite like this recording!
Ongoing / Planned Lieder CD Projects
One of the projects for the coming years years will be the 24 CDs with DFD / Moore (all Schubert songs), along with other recordings, as present in my collection: I have the "Winterreise" in 3 versions: DFD / Moore, DFD / Demus (won't add DFD/Brendel) and Goerne / Brendel, and "Die schöne Müllerin" in 5 versions (Goerne / Schneider, Bostridge / Johnson, Haefliger / Werba, DFD / Moore, and Prégardien / Staier) — altogether over 1.5 days of music … I intend to make this my "side project" for the coming years …
Categories CD Reviews Tags Björling, Bostridge, Brendel, Demus, Dichterliebe, Drake, Fischer-Dieskau, Giesen, Goerne, Liederkreis, Martineau, Moore, Pollini, Schneider, Schumann, Terfel, Wunderlich Post navigation
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas opp.13 & 27/2 (Diary 2012-12-31)
Weiss: Lute — Duphly: Harpsichord (Diary 2013-01-18)
2 thoughts on "Schumann: Liederkreis op.39, Dichterliebe op.48"
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Kola Owolabi
192 Broadway, Methuen
Group B: 4:15 PM
Group D: 2:15 PM
A native of Toronto, Canada, Kola Owolabi is university organist and assistant professor of music at Syracuse University. There, he teaches courses in organ, improvisation, continuo playing, and baroque chamber music; plays for weekly chapel services and special events; and coordinates the Malmgren Concert Series at Hendricks Chapel. He is the current dean of the Syracuse chapter of the American Guild of Organists. He holds degrees from McGill University, Montréal, (B.Mus, organ performance), Yale University (M.M. organ performance and choral conducting) and the Eastman School of Music (DMA, organ performance). His teachers have included Bruce Wheatcroft, John Grew, Martin Jean, Thomas Murray, Hans Davidsson, and William Porter. In 2002, he was awarded second prize and audience prize at the American Guild of Organists National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance. He is a published composer and has received commissions from the Royal Canadian College of Organists and the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto. His solo organ composition Dance was selected for the Royal Canadian College of Organists National Competition in August 2013, for all finalists to perform. As a solo recitalist, he has performed across Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Jamaica, at venues such as St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in New York, Methuen Memorial Music Hall in Massachusetts, Cornell University, and the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. He also performs regularly as organist and harpsichordist with the Grammy-nominated vocal ensemble Seraphic Fire and Firebird Chamber Orchestra, based in Miami.


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History of Catamount
Catamount Arts was founded in 1975 with a mission of enhancing the cultural and economic climate of northern Vermont and New Hampshire. Integration of the arts into community life has been our guiding principle and we attempt to cultivate awareness and appreciation of the arts through a diversified schedule of film, music, theater, dance, and the visual arts.
For 20 years, Catamount Arts was located literally next door to one of the most beautiful and historically important buildings in the Northeast Kingdom. When it was opened in 1912, the Masonic Temple of St. Johnsbury was the largest and grandest Masonic building the state with more than 700 members. In the generous gesture intended to benefit the entire community, the Masonic Lodge gave this showplace building to Catamount in 2005, in return of a no-cost lease in perpetuity of the top floor, which continues to be used as the Lodge meeting place.
Catamount Arts then embarked on a major construction project to transform the lower two floors into a Community Arts Center. The rehabilitation was designed with the help and encouragement of the local community. Not only were the actual plans developed after a series of public creative forums, but much of the rehabilitation work was done by the St. Johnsbury Academy Building Trades and Electricity Programs and the St. Johnsbury Work Camp participants.
Catamount's role as the Northeast Kingdom's primary source of arts and culture vastly expanded with the ribbon cutting on October 4, 2008. The new Community Arts Center features two movie theaters, allowing Catamount Arts to present a regular schedule of acclaimed foreign-language and independent films; two state-of-the-art classrooms, which are used for art, computer and music education; an 80-seat performance space dedicated to regular performances by local artists; and a gallery showcasing local and area artists' work.
Today, Catamount annual presents an extensive series of performances in the Arts center and at venues throughout Northern Vermont and New Hampshire bringing in nationally known touring artists as well as accomplished local performers. Serving as the Regional Arts Organization for the area, one of Catamount's key objectives is to assist local performers and arts organizations expand their administrative, marketing and promotional capacity.
Catamount operates a Regional Box Office, which offers online ticketing services (www.catamounTIX.com) twenty-four hours per day and in-person/phone customer service seven days per week. Catamount partners with over forty (40) outstanding arts organization to bring world-class performances throughout the region, open eyes to different cultures, boost the local economy and serve as the heart-beat of our community.
Additionally, each year Catamount produces a huge number of marquee events including the Tap Into Film 48hr Student Film Slam, Circus Smirkus St. Johnsbury, Levitt AMP St. Johnsbury Music Series, St. Johnsbury Bluegrass Festival, KCP Presents Performing Arts Series and First Night North St. Johnsbury.
Catamount's arts education programs reach all the schools throughout the region with a combination of in/after school classes, options at the Arts Center and school-time performances in larger venues that students get bussed to. Catamount runs a substance-free teen Open Mic on Friday nights to provide at-risk youth a creative outlet and alternative in their community and EPIC Music, an El Sistema inspired string program from Venezuela that is designed to lift children out of poverty through intensive violin training and ensemble opportunities. Catamount works with Northern Vermont University and always has a large team of interns who are gaining on-the-job experience working within the organization. Catamount literally engages thousands upon thousands of students each year with creative opportunities.
In the past five years, Catamount's visual arts program have become one of the most respected in all of New England. The Fried Family Gallery exhibits works from artists across the country and regularly draws an audience from all around New England.
Catamount's production team assists organizations across the region to present their own events. Utilizing the Stageline SL100 mobile stage and a full audio and lighting system, the team works with local communities to produce events that celebrate their own unique qualities. This place-making tool will be a valuable tool as the region tries to differentiate itself in the future in an ever-intensifying destination-driven economy.
In addition to these productions, educational opportunities, and services for arts and culture organizations, Catamount Arts has stepped forward to lead the creative sector in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Catamount Arts is the designated NEK Creative Zone Agent for the Vermont Creative Network, which was established by the Vermont Legislature in May 2016 as a broad collective of organizations, businesses, and individuals—all sharing a goal to advance Vermont's creative sector and creative economy.
In 2018, Catamount took a leadership role in both the NEK Collaborative's Tri-Sector Taskforce (read the report here: https://www.nekcollaborative.org/about/priorities/), and the Vermont Creative Network's Creative Sector Study (read the report here: http://vermontcreativenetwork.org/). The results of both of these initiatives create a strong foundation of support for Catamount's strategic plan—both identified the creation of community hubs as a high priority initiative for the region, understanding that the advancement of the arts and culture in our small towns and villages has a major positive impact on the vitality (social, economic, etc.) of our rural communities.
In 2019, based on the recommendations made in the above initiatives, Catamount Arts has launched the Creative Sector Hub Development project in order to build vibrant and place-based creative hubs throughout the region. Working with area partners in communities throughout the Northern Vermont and New Hampshire, the team will develop and implement plans to enhance the unique creative assets in each, thereby advancing the arts sector in each of the rural towns and villages targeted, with ancillary benefits to the wider regional creative economy. The implementation of these plans could produce results that, for example: tie together arts and recreational assets in East Burke; boost attendance and community engagement with the Wednesdays on the Waterfront concert series in Newport; create joint marketing and promotion initiatives for museums and other cultural assets in Glover; and more. Each hub will produce a culminating event or performance to both celebrate and demonstrate the work they have completed, and to build residents' long-term engagement with their community's creative sector. The culminating events will both showcase the extraordinary talent of the local artists and artisans in their midst and feature nationally-recognized performers to act as a draw for wider community engagement.
In conclusion, Catamount is deeply woven into the social, esoteric and economic fabric of our local community and is uniquely positioned to have a positive impact on the health of this region. An investment in Catamount is an investment in the NEK.
Catamount Arts | 115 Eastern Ave. St. Johnsbury Vermont 05819 | 802.748.2600 | Toll Free 1.888.757.5559 | Fax 802.748.0852 | Contact Us
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Integrating Arts Into Community
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Lenovo unveils its ARM-powered Windows 10 laptop 2-in-1
HP and Asus both unveiled their ARM-powered Windows 10 laptops last month, and now it's Lenovo's turn. At CES this week, Lenovo is unveiling the Miix 630, a 2-in-1 detachable tablet / laptop hybrid that's similar to the company's previous Miix tablets.
Microsoft's Bringing the Old Windows 10 Start Menu on Windows RT Tablets - Report
Microsoft is bringing back the Start menu in Windows 10, and that's quite a big change for those who wanted a more familiar desktop, but it turns out that Redmond is also looking to introduce this feature on Windows RT, its almost-abandoned version of Windows 8 running on ARM tablets.
Low-Cost Windows 10 Tablets with Rockchip RK3288 Might Be Coming Soon
Low-cost Chinese chip maker Rockchip usually puts its silicone products inside tablets and TV boxes that run Google's Android software, but this dogma is slowly starting to shift and the company is aiming to conquer new territory.
Large ARM based Windows 10 tablet spotted in benchmarks
With Microsoft planning to kill off Windows RT by not allowing existing ARM devices sporting a screen size of more than 8-inches to upgrade to full Windows 10, one important question arises. Which large screen tablet running Windows 10 will be released by Microsoft to replace its discontinued ARM devices?
Windows RT Becomes the New Vista: Microsoft Kills Last Nokia Tablet Running It
Windows Vista is pretty much known as Microsoft's biggest flop in the operating system industry, but it appears that another product is very likely to get the same nickname anytime soon. - Windows RT, which was launched in October 2012 on the Surface RT, is very likely to be dropped in the near future, as Microsoft officially canceled the Lumia 2520 tablet running it.
Microsoft confirms Windows 10 will come to small ARM tablets
Microsoft showed its plans for Windows 10 across a wide range of devices this week, but notably absent from its discussions was talk of the new operating system on ARM tablets. According to the company, it still plans to support ARM devices, but with some conditions.
Windows RT tablets won't run Windows 10
Microsoft has no plans to bring its Windows 10 software to tablets running Windows RT. That means the Surface 2, Surface RT, Nokia Lumia 2520, and a handful of other tablets with ARM-based chips and Windows software won't get all the fancy new Windows 10 features coming to Windows phones and x86-based PCs.
What's the future of Microsoft's ARM-based tablets?
A few years back, Microsoft took an ambitious step to build a version of Windows that would run on ARM-based processors. At the time, this was a huge move, as many expected this new operating system, called Windows RT, to challenge the standard that Intel and AMD were the only vendors who could produce laptop-class processors.
Windows 10 Technical Preview for ARM tablets, smartphones will only come next year
When Microsoft took the wraps off Windows 10, the software giant informed us that its latest operating system, which officially launches next year, will run on all sorts of devices, including PCs, smartphones and tablets, and feature a unified app store. Both are firsts, as, so far, there was a Windows to suit everything: one for ARM tablets, one for PCs, one for embedded devices, one for smartphones and so on. Of course, the Server editions will not go away, but that's to be expected.
Nokia Lumia 2520 review - the best Windows RT tablet yet... fancy a tablet that's different?
The Lumia 2520 is a 10.1in tablet that runs Windows RT and, in fact, it is our favourite Windows RT tablet yet. Find out why in PC Advisor's Nokia Lumia 2520 review.
Microsoft targets Samsung's Galaxy Tab 3 in new Surface RT ad
After pitting its Surface 2 against Apple's iPad Air (unsurprisingly, the former wins that round), Microsoft is now going after Samsung's Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 in a new Surface RT ad that focuses on the connectivity options offered by the two devices.
Nokia Lumia 2520 First Impressions and Photos
Ever since Nokia disrupted the Windows Phone world with its best-selling Lumia handsets, we've wondered: Will the company ever make a Windows tablet? As it turns out, yes. This week, Nokia ships its first tablet, the Windows RT 8.1-based Lumia 2520. And if you're a fan of Nokia's phones, this device should prove most interesting as well.
The Microsoft Surface 2: Thoughts After One Month
I've now spent a month with the Microsoft Surface 2 and I consider it time well spent. The Surface 2 is by no means a perfect machine and I would still label it a work in progress. I stand by my initial thinking that the Surface 2 is a very good next step for Microsoft and a very good improvement over the disastrous first version in almost every respect.
Nokia Lumia 2520 Arrives November 22 on AT&T
Looks like next Friday is going to be a busy day. In addition to seeing the Xbox One launch on that day, Nokia's curiously interesting Windows RT-based tablet, the Lumia 2520, will start shipping that day too.
Nokia's Lumia 2520 tablet is the result of a 'mature' Windows RT platform
Just recently, Nokia unveiled its first ever Windows RT 8.1 tablet, called the Lumia 2520. This device is a 10.1-inch Windows RT 8.1 tablet that features the same great Lumia design we have come to know and love with the Lumia Windows Phones. But why did Nokia decide to enter the tablet market? Well, simply put, because the time is ripe.
Hands-On First Look: Nokia Lumia 2520, The 10.1-Inch Windows RT 8.1 Full HD Tablet With LTE
So, Nokia has decided to jump into the tablet segment by officially unveiling the brand new Nokia Lumia 2520 as part of its multiple devices announcement over at Nokia World 2013 in Abu Dhabi yesterday. It is indeed one odd device due to the fact that it is running on Windows RT which is not popular among consumers, frankly speaking.
Windows RT 8.1 Tablet Shootout: Nokia Lumia 2520 and the Surface 2
Yes, Microsoft is supposed to acquire Nokia's Devices and Services unit in the first quarter of 2014, but before that happens the two companies are technically competitors. This fall, they will release the only two new Windows RT 8.1 tablets planned for 2013. Microsoft just launched the Surface 2 today and a few hours ago Nokia announced the long rumored Lumia 2520 for a release later this year.
Windows RT 8.1 yanked for now, Argos sells Surface 2 early
If you've been trying to upgrade to Windows RT 8.1 but haven't been able to, here's why. It's been taken off the Windows Store "temporarily" due to a niggle that's seen it playing up on updated devices.


Glorious Opportunity: Brexit and Irexit
Road To Freedom by Caroline
Northern Ireland is in the news again, for all the wrong reasons, again. This time it is due to the EU shamelessly taking advantage of the traditional sources of Irish division to try salvage its own failing political project. And what is even more alarming is that they are being facilitated and encouraged by their elitist compatriots who currently control the UK Establishment.
On the island of Ireland we are in the midst of centenary commemorations of one of the most horrific time periods in the history of Ireland, and indeed in the history of Britain and Europe. In general, commemorations north and south have been respectful and conciliatory to date: acknowledging the stance and courage of those who sacrificed their lives in pursuit of freedom while highlighting the futility of it all. Mind you, we really only need go back a quarter of a century to fully understand sheer futility.
While we are at it, it would also be worthwhile to re-examine what 1798 and 1689 were all about as well. Those conflicts were also about defending liberty. What seems to have been not fully comprehended by some is that patterns repeated throughout history can easily be re-choreographed by those in power to facilitate new agendas. The EU obviously fully comprehends.
Throughout history, people on the island of Ireland have battled each other over territory and the right to live in freedom within territory: in conflicts usually instigated by ruling classes; asserting their authority, conquering and dividing to solidify their power and dominance. In conflicts where people had little choice but stand and fight for their relevant freedoms. And still it goes on. No such devious scheme by the ruling classes has ever been more blatantly obvious than the current weaponisation of the Irish Border by the EU masters and their devotees.
Since the EU Referendum of June 2016 the EU has been relentless in its campaign to deny the democratic wish of the British people. Their overall strategy has been clever and sophisticated and yet they have also used every wee sneaky tactic in their extensive dirty book of tricks. They have had the global elites of politics, banking, big business and mainstream media at their beck and call: and an army of home-grown, university-trained foot soldiers to take their propaganda war to the front line.
They have artificially created problems around the new EU/UK land border that will cross the island of Ireland: aided and abetted by those currently in charge of UK and Irish establishments as they poke and prod the tribal emotions that have barely had time to calm down since the last bout of tribal madness.
The UK/Irish Common Travel Area takes care of movement of people as the ports of entry to Ireland and Britain will continue to be the exterior border posts for the Common Travel Area. This is simplified by the fact that the Republic of Ireland is not part of the EU's Schengen Area.
As for movement of goods, technological systems already deal with this effectively for trade across the world. All very straightforward in this new global age.
The Irish Backstop, as outlined in the Irish Protocol part of the EU Withdrawal Agreement, amounts to a declaration of British surrender to the EU, enabling the slow and painful break-up of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It will not make it through the House of Commons and I don't think any knowledgeable person ever really thought it would: for legal reasons if nothing else.
A sea border separating Northern Ireland from the rest of the nation? Where are their heads at?
But that won't be the end of it all of course. Its all part of the overall strategy to frustrate and wear us down. The next phase will kick-in immediately and the phases will keep kicking-in until we actually Leave the EU for real. Regardless, March 29th, 2019 is the date when the UK government is bound to deliver the democratic wish of the people and completely leave the EU.
So, once that's all sorted ..... it will be time for all of us to move on and examine the potential glorious opportunities out there in the great wide world. In particular on the island of Ireland, as we continue centenary commemorations, it is time to grasp the glorious opportunity for a potential positive pivotal moment in the history of our wee island.
As centenaries of Irish Home Rule and Irish Civil War approach, enter Irexit on to the stage. A new political movement has been formed to achieve an Irish exit from the EU. Also check out @IrexitFreedom on Twitter.
Many reading this will automatically scorn and scoff at the idea of Irexit being possible. People who live in bubbles: in controlled comfort zones, usually do scorn innovative alternatives to their reality. But the Irish Republic is not part of the EU's Schengen Area, is part of the Common Travel Area with UK and can connect with a Euroscepticism that is rapidly increasing right across Europe.
The main thrust for Irexit however will be the notion of regaining sovereignty. Proponents of Irexit will argue that gaining independence from one foreign power [UK] only to throw it all away to another foreign power [EU] constitutes being highly disrespectful to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for Irish sovereignty.
As for the constitutional link between Northern Ireland and the Republic, again, the genesis for a solution to that logistical difficulty can be found in the Common Travel Area.
This glorious opportunity can come to fruition if we can respect our differing constitutional aspirations and the fact that our respective forebears fought for essentially the same freedom.
We are all On The Road To Freedom Now.
https://soundcloud.com/dmcclean/road-to-freedom
http://www.theulsterfolk.com/2018/05/on-road-to-freedom-now.html


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WHAT IS ROAR?
ROAR! is NASCAR's only twice-weekly digital magazine. ROAR! has 74 different editions starting in February and ending with the Champions Edition in late November.
WHAT DOES ROAR! FEATURE?
ROAR! is a photo and feature driven publication with a behind-the-scenes look at drivers from all NASCAR series. ROAR! has an extended photo section in each issue, offering readers a chance to see drivers with their families, in the garage, on the grid and in their racecars. ROAR! also has race previews, predictions, crew member features, historical content, paint scheme spreads and more.
WHY SHOULD YOU SUBSCRIBE?
ROAR! is a free publication that is published with the mission of getting fans excited about the upcoming week's race. We hope to inform and entertain, and also offer contests and give-aways throughout the season.


Renting "Sustaina-Billies" as Public Contractors
Let them eat blackberries, and ivy too.
Author: John Abbotts
By now, almost everyone's heard of using goats to clear unwanted weeds. It's popular enough in Northwest precincts to have spawned a friendly lampoon by Pemco insurance:
Yet goats are a lot more than a lifestyle choice in a quirky region. Local and regional governments are, of course, responsible for managing their own properties, such as parks, playgrounds, and schoolyards. Faced with reduced funding but increased responsibilities in a troubled economy, some governments have seized on goats as an organic way to remove noxious weeds without using toxic chemicals. Goats can remove weeds from the toughest spots, such as steep slopes where pulling by hand may be impractical, or river areas where required buffer zones may forbid herbicide applications. Best of all, there's some evidence that goats are not just effective but also cost-efficient: they don't just clear weeds, they save money too.
Scientists from the University of Northern British Columbia partnered with their home city government in Prince George to test two organic methods, acetic acid (vinegar) and goats, to control the noxious weed Canada thistle. The two-year study determined that either method succeeded in controlling thistle, and either method is as cost effective as chemical herbicides, while posing fewer concerns over impacts on human and ecosystem health. The study results were published in a scientific journal in 2009, summarized here; and reported on Canadian television.
In both urban and rural settings, Northwest goat success stories abound:
The Peace River Regional District in northern British Columbia rented 500 goats to control the noxious invasive weed Dalmatian toadflax in the city of Fort St. John. The goats consumed a patch of weeds located on a steep bank of the Peace River, where herbicides are to be avoided and hand-pulling is not practical.
The city of Wilsonville, Oregon hires about 450 goats to clear invasive weeds from city parks and green spaces. Wilsonville sponsors a Goat Appreciation Day each year before the herd leaves, allowing members of the public and their children to pet the goats and learn of their role in land management.
The Central Oregon Irrigation District used goats to clear noxious weeds, and Bend Municipal Airport also used goats to clear land.
In King County, Washington, goats have been hired to clear brush at a Metro bus depot in Bellevue. Meanwhile Seattle Parks and Recreation has employed goats, and Seattle City Light hires goats to remove blackberry brambles and other brush from electrical substations.
Boise hired about 600 goats to clear weeds from public lands in the northwest foothills, and the effort was successful enough that the city expects to rent goats in the future.
The Blaine County Recreation District in Idaho reached agreement to use about 700 goats as an alternative to herbicides in a three-year pilot project to clear knapweed from public parks along a pedestrian and bicycle path that stretches the length of the Wood River Valley.
It's no wonder that so many places are turning to goats. Like most of North America, the Northwest has a real problem with invasive plant species, sometimes called "noxious weeds." Such weeds can be transported beyond their native habitats through international commerce, or sometimes are introduced intentionally, as with ornamental plants for garden use. Once these weeds are removed from the wildlife and other natural controls of their native habitats, they may grow unchecked, in the process threatening ecosystems, their new habitats, agriculture and domesticated animals, and at times, even human health. A typical example is English ivy, native to Europe and western Asia but introduced elsewhere as an ornamental. Oregon and Washington State each designated this species noxious, because it chokes out other plants and can overwhelm trees. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedera_helix In fact, climate change is likely to make the region's weed problem worse: warmer summers and winters can make it easier for non-native weeds to gain a foothold and spread.
The secret to goats' success is their biology. They are browsers, not grazers, which means they eat brush, leaves, twigs, and other foods before grass. They leave plant stalks, which hold the soil in place, preventing erosion. And while, contrary to folklore, goats do not actually eat tin cans, they are remarkably omnivorous; they'll munch the paper labels from cans, while thistles and thorns, such as those in blackberry brambles, do not seem to faze them. In addition, goats destroy seeds by grinding them with their molars, while their stomach acids can prevent weed seeds from germinating.
Goats are likely not a silver bullet to the Northwest's invasive weed problems, but they are a promising way for land managers to save money, conserve resources, and reduce the use of hazardous toxic chemicals. You might even say that local and regional governments can use goats to "make sustaina-billy legal."
John Abbotts is a former Sightline research consultant, who occasionally submits material that Sightline staff turn into blog posts. Inspiration for the title of this post came from the Ashland Daily Tidings, here.
John Abbotts
John Abbotts, research contributor, has an undergraduate degree in chemistry; and a graduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Washington. If "a little knowledge is dangerous," then John is very dangerous in multiple areas. He served in Admiral Rickover's Nuclear Submarine Force, in EPA's Office of Pesticides, and as UW Research Scientist evaluating public policy issues related to the Hanford cleanup. He has served as Sightline research consultant and contributor for many years. He tells us his beard contains more "salt" (and less "pepper") every day.
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Jon Cecil, AICP
By all accounts the trial use of goats in the Boise Foothills in 2011 was a great success and one that will be repeated in the future. See http://www.ktvb.com/home/600-goats-take-over-the-foothills–125911908.html
Not to mention this tragic accident in Seattle a few years ago. I assume brush-clearing goats haven't trampled anyone yet.
Thanks for the positive feedback.
Matt's comment sent me back to the internet. I should confess my own ignorance of goat behavior. For this post, I found a couple of examples of billies clearing weeds in each of the states/province that lie completely within Cascadia. From all of those examples, I saw no cases of goats harming people.
But several articles left the impression that rented goats are often supervised. Dogs herd them, and also deter predators. Their owners have to keep them away from weeds that are poisonous. And for events such as Goat Day in Wilsonville, I'm guessing that their owners would be around to head off any trouble.
But I did find one case where humans were the greater threat, stealing a goat clearing weeds in Portland, at http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/08/update_goats_owner_disappointe.html
Even then, the thieves may have felt like the "dog who catches the car." Goats butt heads to establish dominance, and there are videos on YouTube of goats attacking people. And, if you catch a goat, you have to feed it, or it might turn its horns on you. This might explain why when police investigated in Portland, they found the "stolen" goat roaming the streets.
Thanks again for your comments and interest.
In the CA Sierra foothills area, they have long used goats and grazing sheep for clearing purposes. You can see them in various residential and commercial areas along I-80 from Sacramento all the way to Tahoe. They have proven to be a wonderful alternative – both environmentally and economically.
Jorgy in PDX
Do they eat Scot's broom?
niall dunne
Nice post, John. But I'm guessing one limitation in the use of goats to clear weeds/invasives is that they don't discriminate between the undesirable plants (weeds) and the desirable ones (natives)? Even under supervision, I imagine it must be hard to keep track of what each goat is eating….unless, of course, there's one supervisor per goat…
Thanks again for the positive feedback.
I did a search on Jorgy's question, and found web pages reporting that goats will eat Scotch broom (I'm guessing that is the same weed).
On Naill's comment, I went back to Wikipedia, which tells me that goats prefer shrubbery and weeds over grasses. I also found a goat renter's page, which advised that desirable plants can be wrapped or fenced off from goats beforehand; and/or the goats can be controlled in their roaming by surrounding them in three dimensions with an electric fence.
But please see my comment above, admitting my ignorance about goat behavior. Folks with more questions about goat diets or control would get better answers by doing their own web searches, or checking the web pages of goat owners who rent their herds to clear weeds.
Sorry, Niall, for the misspelling.
Jan Steinman
You mention "billies," which are intact males (more properly called "bucks"), but I doubt any reputable goat-rental shop would use bucks because their testosterone can get in the way.
More likely, the rental goats are all does, females that are generally much more docile and easily managed.
To Jorgy: goats love Scotch Broom! In fact, we work with the local conservancy who bring us truckloads of the stuff for our goats. When they're done with it (the green stuff and sometimes even the bark), we run it through a wood chipper and put it on our paths. It's high in tannins and suppresses weeds. It's so darn useful, I'd plant the stuff if I didn't think I'd be lynched…
What about english holly? Real problem in natural areas and total tenacious.
Interest in this post seems to be tapering off (a normal development), so I worked on the question on holly. My web search found one goat owner east of the Mississippi who put a list on his page of plant matter that goats will eat and/or that is toxic to goats. The and/or comes from that web page originator, who notes that his conclusions are based on personal knowledge, information from other herders, and other sources. His caveat is that some weeds have been put into both categories by his collective sources, and his list is not meant to be comprehensive. That said, his web page noted that holly (presumably english or other varieties) is toxic to goats, both through its berries and sharp leaves.
That's it for my tolerance of questions on goat diets. My information source on those questions is the web, and Sightline readers are probably more adept that I in doing searches.
That said, I do appreciate the expressed interest in the post, including Jan's fact-checking and report back. I'd say that testosterone makes slaves of us all, but some people might take me too seriously (so warning, this was an attempt at humor!). Thanks again.
Sue Lani Madsen
I love the play on words of "sustaina-billies." Would also like to add to Jan's comment on the question of billies/bucks and grazing operators. Our bucks stay home on the farm with me while my husband takes our traveling herd on the road to projects like the ones for King County Metro and Seattle City Light. Our traveling herd is a combination of does, doelings (does under one year) and wethers (fixed males). We usually keep a core of mature wethers to serve as the "wether-guard" for
the herd of about 250. They are aggressively curious about visitors and their impressive horns and size generally deter goatnappers.
Thanks to Lars & Eva Johansson for supporting a sustainable Northwest.
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Home Food News Restaurants
This Giant Starbucks Roastery Is Every Coffee Lover's Dream
Brooke NelsonUpdated: Nov. 08, 2019
via starbucks.com
You won't believe your eyes when you step into this one-of-a-kind java joint.
Coffee lovers, grab your reusable tumblers! America's favorite coffee chain just revealed what has been described as the "highly-caffeinated amusement park" of your dreams. (Even true fans may not know these secret menu goodies.)
Don't believe us? Just wait until you get a peek inside the newest Starbucks Reserve Roastery, a massive 43,000-square-foot, four-story java joint. It's set to open on Chicago's Magnificent Mile on November 15, 2019.
"Chicago's Magnificent Mile brings in millions of visitors from across this globe and is the perfect location for a world-class coffee destination," former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement back in 2017. "This Starbucks Reserve Roastery will be an investment in Chicago and a strong addition to Michigan Avenue, where residents and visitors can enjoy incredible coffees from around the world in a remarkable environment."
Have you ever wondered how Starbucks got its name?
The location is billed to include an in-house bakery as well as delicious specialty beverages (caffeinated, of course!) around every corner. Plus, visitors can get an exclusive look at the company's unique roasting process. The Roastery will also be serving alcohol courtesy of Annie Beebe-Tron of Fat Rice and Rachel Miller of Community Tavern. On top of that, Starbucks is also opening their Italian mini-chain, Princi. Even if you don't live in the area, you'll want to book your flights ASAP.
Need to go as soon as it opens? Here are the official operating hours:
Monday-Thursday: 7 a.m.-11p.m.
Friday: 7 a.m.-12 a.m.
Saturday: 8 a.m.-12 a.m.
Sunday: 8 a.m.-10 p.m.
This will be the third Roastery to open in the United States so far, the company said. Starbucks' hometown of Seattle opened the first Roastery in December 2014, and another has opened in New York. Starbucks has also opened Roastery stores in Shanghai, Milan and Tokyo.
Nowhere near those locations? No problem. Starbucks plans to eventually open 20 to 30 Roastery flagships and 1,000 Reserve stores around the world. Odds are, one will come to your area soon. But once you go, don't pay for refills; here's why that's a waste of money.
Originally Published: November 08, 2019
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