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Are You a Fit for Nancy's CareerDNA Signature Program?
You're likely a GOOD FIT if you…
consider yourself a top performer / high achiever / committed to being your best self
have realized success in your career and are committed to excelling in the corporate world or entrepreneurship; either way you have a big vision + desire to achieve, contribute, and do work you love
are excited about committing a few hours / week to (literally) change your career and life
are passionate about making positive change and investing time + resources into yourself
are someone who takes ownership of your career and life
You're likely NOT A GOOD FIT if you…
don't feel excited about leveling up, building momentum, and moving your career forward
view the concept of investing in yourself as a greater risk vs. the risk of using the same job/career search process you have in place today (which isn't getting you all that much traction...)
blame others for what's happening in your life
don't have the financial capacity to invest in changing your career and life
are not emotionally ready to make a positive transition in your career and life
This is a note of enormous gratitude to you, Nancy, because without your wisdom and insights, I'd never have made this life-changing move. THANK YOU. Last year, after leaving a senior corporate role to pursue something new, I was plagued by doubt and yes, good old fear. I chanced upon Nancy and loved the message she expressed. Working with her on this major career transition was an incredibly timely gift, and her observations and guidance were just what I needed. "Reinvention catalyst" is a very, very appropriate description for Nancy.
- Debra Langley, Singapore
I attended an alumni event my university in which Nancy was the keynote speaker. At this point, I was feeling stuck in my career with no end in sight. I had spent the past four months applying to hundreds of jobs, speaking with recruiters, and sending my resume out through countless job boards and getting nowhere. I felt defeated. I decided to explore the idea of utilizing a career strategist and had started my research. When I saw the opportunity to hear what Nancy had to say I took to it immediately. From the moment Nancy began her lecture I knew I wanted to work with her, it was as if she knew my story before we even had our first conversation — mid-career, feeling stuck and unsure where to begin. Nancy's coaching program not only resulted in a new position at a company that was aligned with exactly what I was looking for but it also gave me the tools I needed to understand who I was professionally and personally and identify strengths that were unique to me that I could offer to future organizations. Nancy was there to guide me through every step of the way; she helped me develop and refine the communication skills and confidence I needed to navigate my way through both my job search as well as the interview process. Nancy is not only knowledgeable of the job market's ever-changing environment but is able to lend incredibly valuable advice that comes from her own amazing career. Having the ability to relate to my situation on a personal level truly helped me to have a successful and productive working relationship with her. I absolutely cannot thank Nancy enough and am SO happy I chose to work with her!
- Alyssa Mirigliano, NYC
Steadfast and committed to my success, Nancy's counsel has been invaluable. She's provided me a solid understanding of the current job market, helped me expand my network, and coached me to present myself with poise and confidence.
- Sarah G., Portland, OR
Nancy's career advice is engaging, counterintuitive and inspiring. I hit a wall in my career and was feeling really down. I was so lucky to find her. Her process is thoughtful, thorough, and focused. She's so knowledgeable about the current job market and what it takes to find a great job. I finally saw a way out of feeling like I had to stay stuck in a job that I truly loathed! She helped me quickly figure out what I really wanted to do and how to go after it. Plus, she's just so uplifting and motivating. My confidence was immediately boosted. Nancy is a sure shot!
- Peter N. Washington D.C.
It was quickly clear that Nancy is a person who is genuinely invested in my success. She has totally transformed my view on my professional future. Not only did I get a fantastic new job, I also feel equipped with the confidence and tools I will need to take action and continue to achieve my career goals, all thanks to Nancy!
- Ben R., Providence, RI
Exuberant spirit, quick wit, and an acute-listener, Nancy is a rare find. She coached me back from a major career set back with total commitment and instilled confidence in me that was key to my success. Her passion and business savvy are amongst her greatest gifts.
- Paul A., Chicago, IL
Nancy is a conduit for the wonderful energy of discovery. Her tactical and thoughtful system is excellent, and her illuminating, exuberant spirit is a delight. My results from working with her couldn't have been more satisfying and complete!
- Jay S., Boston, MA
What I value most about Nancy's style of coaching is not only her wisdom and veteran knowledge, but her deep understanding of what it takes to get a job in today's marketplace. I was using old job search techniques that were leaving me totally discouraged and frustrated, until I began working with her. Then, everything changed.
- Tara J., Los Angeles, CA
After years of being unhappy I reached out to other career experts and was sorely disappointed with the results. When I connected with Nancy, I was skeptical after my previous negative experiences, but quickly realized our chance meeting was an absolute blessing! Her excellent program, positive attitude, and her extensive career experience enable us that are lost to hone in on what makes us happy and determine how we can merge that into our careers. She was instrumental in reinforcing my core values to drive home what is essential to me, but more importantly taught me how they can be used in a career setting going forward. I'm now have received a promotion at work in a role that is MUCH closer to what it is I want to do. It's amazing what can happen when you realize that what you genuinely like to do and how your inherent value system can be a part of your work life. Nancy can lead you there!
- Jacquelyn Hayward, Boston, MA
I met Nancy a few months ago when I attended one of her webinars. I was so moved by her presentation that I set up a Strategy Call and I felt an authentic connected with her immediately. Her program and deep knowledge of transitioning careers was nothing short of amazing, she was right there with me every step of the way, and really got me on a track to achieve success! Investing in working with Nancy was life-changing and has been the absolute BEST decision I have EVER made!
- Andrea Bell, Boston, MA
After a hiatus from the corporate world, I was overwhelmed by how to go about getting back in the game. Working with Nancy was a tremendous help in boosting my confidence and guided me to figure out what I wanted to do and how to create a network to get me there.
- Georgiana S., Nashville, TN
Highly competent and engaging, Nancy prepared me in great depth to successfully interview and negotiate my compensation. I've undervalued myself too often in my career, but this time I got what I wanted, and Nancy gave me all the confidence and tools to do it!
- Dennis V., Dallas, TX
Nancy guided me to reframe how I present myself so that I could confidently network and make valuable contacts, which ultimately lead me to getting an awesome new job! She has that rare ability to take your story and make it cohesive and compelling. Working with Nancy has really built my confidence and seriously turned my professional life around! She's a masterful career coach, one you need in your corner.
- Shawn G., Syracuse, NY
Nancy has forever changed the way I think about my job search and my career.
- Steven T., Morristown, NJ
Honest and whip-smart, Nancy was the pathway to my new future when I lost my job. She is a compassionate person and knows exactly how to find a great job in today's economy. Nancy's commitment to my success was abundantly clear. I'm so grateful to have had her as my coach.
- Helena M., Chicago, IL
Nancy's inspiring approach and excellent system set me up for success bringing clarity, illuminating my best work in the world, and served as a template to support my developing an action plan leading me to my best career choice. She took all the guesswork out of it. Using her tactical action steps, I was excited to follow Nancy's system which resulted in my dream job offer!
- Rob J., Miami, FL
Strong spirit, inquisitive, acute-listener, and a loving nature, Nancy is a rare find. She coached me back from a major career set back with intense commitment and instilled confidence in me that was key to my success. Her passion and infectious love of life are amongst her greatest gifts. This career coach is a natural and a true gem.
- Elizabeth A., Chicago, IL
Nancy has an infectious sense of humor, acute attention to detail, and is a true delight. She brings high-energy and a rare commitment to being a modern day career coach. Her steady hand created a warm, safe, and comfortable environment for me to identify who I really am as an individual. She helped me to build a fresh path centered around my deepest passions and strengths, and guided me to creating a plan to jump-start my career.
- Megan T., Carlsbad, CA
Nancy is an amazing motivational and inspirational career coach. She is a curious, creative, and passionate person and lends a keen perspective. With her program, I learned exactly how to develop a plan to execute my search and put it into action. Nancy helped me see what I couldn't see and taught me exactly how to get the offer to my dream job.
- Jenna R., Washington, D.C.
Nancy came into my life about four years ago, when I was at a crossroads in many areas of my life, not least in my career. I credit her with much of the success for where I am today. While partial and independent, Nancy's personal job experiences and wealth of understanding help inform her approach. It's such a relief to be working with someone who "gets it" straight away. Nancy has helped me on two levels. Firstly, on the practical level. She helped identify my strengths and opened my eyes to different options I had not even considered. She will take you through every stage of the process, piece by piece, until it all comes together. She sets your sights high, and then helps you craft a plan to achieve it. She was true to her word and stuck by me, pushing me (she'd call it "motivating me"!) to make things happen, and they did. The second level is emotional. Nancy is an expert coach, a calm and considered voice that fills me with confidence. Knowing I have a real advocate in my corner is invaluable. I would thoroughly recommend Nancy whether you are at the beginning of your career journey, thinking of making a move, or looking to get back into the market. Nancy is my secret weapon.
- Jane Mathews, Sydney AU
After college, I took a job and I found myself miserable. Approaching my early 30s I became really worried that I'd never be happy professionally. Finding Nancy was a huge relief! She guided me to find my footing and get on track. Her system makes all the sense in the world, it really worked for me!
- Simon H., San Francisco, CA
I really had no clue where to begin—until I found Nancy. Working her program has been an absolute positive experience for me. She has boosted my confidence and has given me a new lease on my career and my life. Simply wonderful!
- Sandra K., Santa Barbara, CA
I, like many, was stuck in a career rut, feeling hopeless. Working with Nancy has opened me up to a whole new world of possibilities. I was terrified to network and now I feel like a pro! I've made great professional contacts that I'm really proud of. I'm just so glad I finally took control of my life and hired Nancy. She's an ace!
- Lauren B., St. Louis, MO
Nancy's tactical and thoughtful program is excellent and her exuberant spirit is SO motivating! This coach tells it like it is and has held me accountable to stay on track. My results from working with Nancy couldn't have been more satisfying and complete.
- Jason S., Boston, MA
I never knew how powerful LinkedIn was in a career transition, until Nancy showed me how to maximize it as a valuable research tool. Her step-by-step program is seriously amazing. I credit her with my success in transitioning to a whole new industry and a great job … FINALLY!
- Lee T., San Francisco, CA
Nancy gave me inspiration and hope right from the start! Through her excellent program she magically helped me identify my leadership strengths and values, which I now realize needs to be central to my work. Through our time together, I found my transition to actually be exciting instead of fearful. Ultimately, I was thrilled to get two great job offers!
- Patty G., New York City
Nancy has an infectious sense of humor, acute attention to detail and is a true delight. She brings high energy and a rare commitment to her life calling as a career coach.
- Dan T., Tenafly, NJ
Honest and whip-smart, Nancy was the pathway to my new future when was in (deep) need of a change. She is a most compassionate person, seriously understands people, and knows exactly how to transition careers in today's economy. Aside from her quick wit, she has a laser-focused commitment, guiding me at the most difficult time of my life. Aside from her enthusiasm for life, which is infectious, she has developed a great career search process that delivers results customized to specification. Simply put: Nancy is awesome!
- Katrina M., Chicago, IL
I felt so lost as to how to best relaunch my career. I'm so grateful to have found Nancy. With her career veteran know-how and her step-by-step system, I ultimately made a career transition that I never thought possible. Thank you, Nancy!
- Steven O., Pittsburg, PA


Lists & Insights
liammgaughan
~ Movie Reviews
The Legend of Tarzan- Movie Review
Posted by liammgaughan in Action, Uncategorized
Action, Action Movies, Alexander Sarsguard, David Yates, Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson, Summer movies, Thr Legend of Tarzan
The Legend of Tarzan is not as bad as one may expect, but it's also not particularly good either, and that's were the film suffers most. It's a well-acted film and a thrilling adventure at times, but ultimately there's something missing. However, the missing element is oneof the film's essential qualities, and that's making the character of Tarzan interesting.
Tarzan (Alexander Sarsguard) is adjusting to normal life with his wife Jane (Margot Robbie). When the explorer George Williams (Samuel L. Jackson) tells him of a slavery operation taking place within the Congo, Tarzan returns to his home to save it from the ruthless trader Ron (Christoph Waltz).
Despite script issues, the performances are quite good. Sarsguard is compelling enough as Tarzan, Robbie is believable and gives the film much of its heart, Waltx hams it up as the villain, and Jackson gives by far the film's best performance as an old war veteran turned explorer. The issue though is Tarzan never really grows or evolves as a character, and despite the film's attempt to brandish its ensemble, it really needs more of its titular character.
The film certainly isn't unwatchable, with several great action sequences and a surprising amount of racial sensitivity for such a major studio film. However, these elements don't exactly do much when The Legend of Tarzan needs more Tarzan. It's an admirable attempt, but for all its schlocky joys, it's an empty film. Grade: C+
Free State of Jones- Movie Review
Posted by liammgaughan in Drama
Drama, Free State of Jones, Gary Ross, Matthew McConaughey
Free State of Jones is a shockingly incompetent film, not due to any sort of technical incompetence, but due to the overall lack of a narrative line. The film simply meanders from point to point, inexplicably wandering through decades of history without giving any emotional weight to the story or characters. What's disappointing is that there is good content here, and has the makings for a great miniseries or documentary, but completely fails as a three act film.
Newton Night (Matthew McConaughey) is a drafted Confederate soldier who's brought to the frontline of the Civil War. After his son is killed, Night begins to question the reasons for fighting, starting an inner rebellion of soldiers against the rich Confederate aristocrats. It's an admirable story, but Director Gary Ross's decision to cover so much time that the real life story doesn't feel respected, and feels much less personal and powerful than it should be.
The word "boring" may be a childish description of the film, but there's simply too much content, and while much of it is good, it's just jammed together, forming a loose collection of scenes that rarely relate. Matthew McConaughey delivers an excellent performance, and while the cast is uniformly excellent, the weird time gaps seems to impede character development. The film is a letdown, an unfortunate squandering of an inspiring true story. Grade: C
The Shallows- Movie Review
Posted by liammgaughan in Action, Drama
Action, Action Movies, Blake Lively, Drama, Jaume Collett-Serra, Summer movies
The Shallows is a surprisingly effective thriller, benefiting from its contained environment and minimal run time. Blake Lively proves herself as an action star, and while there are very few shocks in the story, the film is aware enough and maximizes the premise. Yes, it's very silly at points, and it's surely predictable, but the film is well made enough that its compelling throughout.
Nancy (Blake Lively) is trying to escape a painful experience at home by visiting a special beach of the coast of Mexico where her mother visited. When a shark attacks a group of surfers, Nancy is stranded in the middle of the Ocean with the impending threat of death and only the will to survive.The simple survival premise allows for a personal and raw performance from Blake Lively, who gives the film much of its strength and delivers an emotional punch to the action.
There's not much to be discussed regarding the story, but Director Jaume Collett-Serra gives a surprising amount of grittiness and brutality to the thin story. Is it particularly original or inventive? No, but it's well done, a smart, scary little thriller. Grade: B
The Neon Demon- Movie Review
Drama, Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Keanu Reeves, Nicholas Winding Refn, The Neon Demon
The term "style over substance" is generally a derogatory term aimed at the most egregious blockbusters, in the case of The Neon Demon it can be considered a good thing. The film is extravegently weird, with each hypnotic sequence outdoing the next, filled with dazzling cinematography and gorgeous visuals. While the themes may be more simplistic that Nichlas Winding Refn's other films, its a beautiful film to watch, a sensual and sneaky thriller.
Jessie (Elle Fanning) is an aspiring model headed to Los Angeles to break out, and she quickly finds success by signing with an agency. As she rises to the top, other models begin to despise her, loathing her easy success.With the world ahead of her, Jesse fears what happens as she continues, with others out to take what she has.
Not enough can be said about the visual mastery of Refn, with each shot looking like a painting, creating a dazzling spectacle that almost requires no audio. Thankfully though, the score is beautifully synthetic, and works with visuals to create stunning, dreamlike sequences of wonder and terror. Thematically, the film relies on motifs and metaphors, and the shot composition puts the film's emphasis on symbols, much more than story.
The story is strong though, presenting a nasty look at being successful, and commenting on the perception and reality of beauty. The story does take a dive from the deep end by the end, but Elle Fanning gives a beautiful performance that distracts from the film's grotesque nature. It's a stunning spectacle, one that will beg for discussion and analysis, and definitivley one of the most screwed up movies in recent memory. Grade: -A
Independence Day: Resurgence- Movie Review
Posted by liammgaughan in Action
Action, Action Movies, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Jesse Usher, Judd Hirsch, Liam Hemsworth, Maika Monroe, Roland Emmerich, Sci-Fi, Summer movies, William Fichtner
Independence Day: Resurgence is hardly a film that's offensively bad, but more suffers from the fact that it's just so bland overall. it's one thing for blockbusters to be generic, as many are, but the film doesn't really set itself up for any rewards or payoffs. This stilted mediocrity only accentuates the film's flaws, namely awful dialogue, boring characters, and rather simplistic action sequences.
Twenty years have passed since the first alien attack, and mankind has used the alien technology to build a safer planet.When David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) travels to the crash site of the wrecked ship, he discovers a distress signal, signaling for another invasion. As mankind struggles to unite Patricia Whitmore (Maika Monroe), Jake Morrison (Liam Hemsworth), and Dylan Hiller (Jesse Usher) must lead humanity against the threat of extinction.
There are dozens upon dozens of logical questions begged by the film, but the most egregious remains: why should we care? While the original film possessed a gleeful innocence, the sequels starts with meandering melodrama between uninteresting new characters, and ends with a series of bland action sequences, which hold little emotional or dramatic weight. The only bright spot here is the film's returning cast; Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch, Brett Spiner, and Bill Pullman know they're in a stupid movie, and at least try to make the most of it.
Independence Day: Resurgence is a letdown, but many of the film's logical missteps or bland characters could've been forgiven if there seemed to be any sort of effort. There isn't. The film just goes through the phases, and unfortunately can't even make a big, bombastic summer movie fun in any way. It's an obvious quality gap from the first film, and the summer's first big disappointment. Grade: C-
Central Intelligence- Movie Review
Posted by liammgaughan in Action, Comedy
Aaron Paul, Action, Action Movies, Central Intelligence, Comedy, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Bateman, Kevin Hart, Summer movies
The shocking thing about Central Intelligence isn't that it's a mediocre action-comedy, but that it's a mediocre action-comedy brought about by an earnest and genuine desire to be great. Sure, Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart could sell a movie regardless of the quality, but the film definitely switches up their presumptive roles, as well as adding a solid action subplot with an inspired piece about bullying. While these aspects coexist less than ideally, there's an earnest nature to the film that gives it charm, even when it's in over its head.
Calvin Doyer's (Kevin Hart) life is in somewhat of a panic mode; despite being promised great things when he was youthful, is life hasn't panned out, with his personal and professional relationships breaking down. Calvin's life is turned upside down when he reunites with Bob Stone (Dwayne Johnson), an old friend from high school who worships Calvin, and now operates for the CIA. When Bob drags Calvin into a conspiracy, their friendship is put to the test and Calvin must face his future, with Bob facing his past.
What's fascinating is how interesting Calvin and Bobs' relationship is; the story is one of potential and consequences, and the mismatched comedy of seeing the evolution of a relationship makes for an intriguing and fun story, even without the CIA action elements. What's more impressive? The fact that the action does work, with a rather smart plot about CIA operations and a series of well choreographed fight scenes. The film also musters in a message about anti-bullying and acceptance, that while a little corny is also rather honest and sweet.
To say these elements blend perfectly would be a lie, but it's the chemistry between Johnson and Hart that drives everything. Yes, there are scenes based around one gag, but they work, and the roles are cleverly swapped with Johnson doing the comedic heavy lifting and Hart playing the straight man. These guys are stars for a reason, and the charisma and energy they bring to such a strange film somewhat justifies the strange choices.
Put plainly, Central Intelligence could've been an autopilot film: little ambition, minimal reward. But as it stands, the film is a fun, beautiful mess of a comedy. It doesn't make a ton of sense, and it's predictable at points, but the overall effort put into is worth noting, and worth recommending. Grade: B
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows- Movie Review
Action, Action Movies, Comedy, Megan Fox, Steven Amell, Summer movies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Tyler Perry, Will Arnett
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows doesn't represent a failure conceptually, but a failure in potential. It's unfortunate when a film gets this much right with its characters, presenting unique and interesting versions of its titular characters, but fails to grasp any logic for its story. While there are many good things in how the characters are handled, the story is all over the place, and the lack of development and ridiculous side characters make for a disappointing sequel.
Sensei Shredder (Brian Tee), the world's most dangerous criminal, has escaped police custody with his sidekicks Bebop, and Rocksteady, joining forces with the mysterious alien Commander Krang. When Shredder threatens to destroy the world, it's up to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to stop them, alongside allies April O'Neil (Megan Fox) and Casey Jones (Steven Amell). Along the way, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michaelangelo must learn to work as a team, and embrace their differences to save the world.
Similar to the first film, the Turtles are handled wonderfully, given unique personalities and each getting their moment to shine. However, the film really stumbles with its villains: Krang is completely ridiculous and appears out of no where, Shredder is underused and uninteresting, and Bebop and Rocksteady prove to be unnecessary and quite irritating. Steven Amell gives his best as Casey Jones, but the character is severely underwritten and comes off as very shallow.
However, the film really fails with its story, as Krang's plot for domination merely ties action scenes together and ultimately fails to make logical sense. There are fun moments for sure, but the overall weakness in characters that aren't the turtles really lowers the film. The film isn't uninspired, but it's certainly underwhelming and a failure in living up to the characters' legacy. Grade: C
The BFG- Movie Review
Action, Bill Hader, Drama, Mark Ryllance, Rebecca Hall, Steven Spielberg, Summer movies, The BFG
Steven Spielberg is considered by many (myself included) to be the greatest filmmaker of all time. Outside of his catalogue of classics, Spielberg displays a profound variety in his films, tackling numerous genres and audiences, making each film feel unique. The BFG is a film that benefits from Spielberg's touch; a lesser filmmaker would've relished in a silly, superficial style of bringing the characters to life, where as Spielberg embraces the vastness of the world, and engages in the childlike wonder of the story,
Sophie (Ruby Barnhill), is a young orphan who's isolated from the world, hating her orphanage and dreaming of better things. When a mysterious giant (Mark Rylance) kidnaps her, traveling to a mysterious new land of mystery and magic. Hunted by a group of merciless giants, the unlikely duo travels across both worlds, learning from each other along the way.
The BFG is relatively light on story, but it's the interplay between the two main characters that make the film so strong. Barnhill gives a remarkably strong performance as Sophie, bringing an innocence and depth to the character, and Rylance develops an instantly lovable character in the BFG. The special effects that bring the BFG to life are incredible in the motion capture, and the film's innumerable CGI effects develop the world of giants. If anything, the CGI environments only give more time for the characters to interact with each other.
Spielberg's films transport the audience to different worlds, taking time and care to create something that is both magically unique and familiar emotionally. While The BFG is a slow burn, it's evident the care Spielberg took to create such a bold fantasy. It's another film to put on Spielberg's record, as Spielberg makes a film that's not just for children, but for the child in all of us. Grade: B+
Now You See Me 2- Movie Review
Action, Action Movies, Daniel Radcliffe, Dave Franco, Jessie Eisenberg, Lizzy Caplan, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Now You See Me 2, Woody Harrelson
Now You See Me 2 is a very satisfying sequel, not just in its similarity to the first film, but in the sequel's confidence in its own storytelling. Yes, it's completely ridiculous and requires a massive suspension of disbelief, but ultimately the film's uniquely paced action and humor make for a unique franchise. What the film lacks in any sort of logic, it makes up for with a brilliant cast and a lack of self-seriousness that prevents it from cynicism.
The Four Horsemen are the most talented and celebrated magicians in the world, and following their plot to reveal a mastermind, Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Wilder (Dave Franco), and Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) have remained in obscurity. After a plan to unveil a corrupt businessman goes wrong, the Horsemen escape with the help of a new recruit (Lizzy Caplan), only to find themselves at the mercy of a charismatic corporate head (Daniel Radcliffe). However, at this point the plot is almost secondary, with the emphasis on how the film can pull of its next big trick.
The returning cast are uniformly solid, with Eisenberg and Ruffalo combating for the film's lead, and both managing to turn in solid performances despite the ridiculous material. Harrelson and Franco play smaller, more comedic parts, but do it well, and Lizzy Caplan's addition, as tacked on as it is, does add some humor and wit to the story. However, the film's best performance is by far Daniel Radcliffe's, who brings a quirky egotism to the film's antagonist, and presents the Horsemen with a very compelling foe.
There's no way to logically break down the vents of the film, but it doesn't drag at any points, and leaves nothing to be desired in terms of visual spectacle. Magicians, and there importance, are discussed at length, and as the film makes an argument for its own relevance, it so too offers a window into the world of magic. As sequels go, Now You See Me 2 is tour basic "when it happens again", but it's a welcome invitation that is worth the ride. Grade: B-
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping- Movie Review
Posted by liammgaughan in Comedy
Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Comedy, Imogen Poots, Joan Cusack, Maya Rudolph, Sarah Silverman, Seal, Tim Meadows
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is a highly entertaining, yet infuriatingly competent satire of the modern music industry. The film's premise has the potential for an instant classic, and while there are flashes of brilliance in the opening act, the film ultimately settles for an amusing ride rather than a modern This is Spinal Tap. It's funny, and even brilliant at points, but while the film satisfies in its finale, it doesn't leave a leading impact.
Conner4real (Andy Samberg) is the hottest star in the world, coming off of an acclaimed solo album following his departure from a boy band. With his second album and world tour approaching, Conner faces a growing threat when his friends and fans come to he same conclusion: he actually has no talent. As his tour takes a turn for the disastrous, Conner faces the threat of becoming forgotten, and having to reconnect with those caught in his shadow.
With the character of Conner4real, Samberg has achieved a small wonder: creating a despicable indictment of modern popstars, that's in a way very tragic, and even relatable. Samberg plays Conner to a point that's very close to caricature, and while his ridiculous antics continue to cross the brink of believability, it's the surprising comparisons to modern artists that makes the character so irreverent. Accompanying Samberg is a hefty supporting cast, and while the cameos and smaller roles make up much of the film's satire, they also distract from the rather thinly written story.
Popstar is most effective where it's able to relish in its own ridiculousness, but it's the story that becomes the film's really villain by the end. The story begins to meander through the second act, and to make up for the generic story, the film begins to make up with easy gags and gross out humor. While the major dip in quality is evident, the film recovers in its end, which gets back to the satirical elements that made the film successful initially.
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is a admirable effort, and while it ultimately squanders it's potential for greatness to appeal to a wider audience, there are shards of brilliance within. Samberg has successfully made the transition to movie star, and as comedies go, Popstar is one of the more bold and original in recent memory. Grade: B-
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DepEd guarantees restoration of P4k net take home pay beginning October 30
by DepEd Resources · Published November 4, 2017 · Updated November 4, 2017
PASIG CITY, October 30, 2017 – The Department of Education (DepEd) on Sunday assured all teachers and personnel of the restoration of their P4,000 net take home pay (NTHP).
Those who received less than the said threshold for the month of October due to deductions for the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) will receive the remainder on Monday, October 30, through their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards, per the advice of Undersecretary for Finance Victoria Catibog.
The Department prioritized the reinstatement as part of its commitment to ensure that teachers and personnel will receive no less than P4,000 for their NTHP as mandated by DepEd Order No. 55, s. 2017 entitled "Revised Guidelines on the Implementation of P4,000 Net Take Home Pay for the Department of Education Personnel," signed by Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones.
The said order further states that contributions or obligations of premiums and loans to the GSIS and HDMF shall be given priority in deductions from salaries of employees pursuant to Section 47 of the General Provisions of Republic Act (RA) No. 10924, or the "General Appropriations Act of 2017." The same primacy shall be accorded to payments for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
The net pay may increase or decrease, depending on the GSIS and HDMF deductions, but DepEd assures teachers and personnel that their net pay will not go lower than P4,000.
The Department likewise reminds them to personally settle dislodged payments for their loans from Private Lending Institutions (PLIs) over the counter.
In view of all these, DepEd is continuously identifying measures to protect its employees and their families from financial and legal implications of non-payment of debts.
Source: Department of Education Press Release
Tags: department of educationDepEdDepEd guarantees restoration of P4k net payGeneral Appropriations ActHome Development Mutual Fundnet take home payPress Release
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Sorsogon's Literacy Champion Vies for Global Teacher Prize | DepEd Press Releases
by DepEd Resources · Published January 31, 2018
Effective Use of Open School Data Addresses Education Concerns, Battles Corruption
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100% Vegan Fashion Standard Launches As Demand For Cruelty-Free Apparel Skyrockets
FashionAlt MaterialsVegan
By Sally Ho Last updated Sep 17, 2020
New guidelines have been set out by the retail industry in response to the spike in demand for ethical, cruelty-free and vegan products. The new standards will ensure that vegan fashion items – including clothing, accessories and shoes – must be 100% free of animal products across its supply chain. Though animal welfare and environmental concerns about the fashion industry have not undergone as much scrutiny as other industries such as meat production, experts say that growing awareness will mean that retail businesses should expect more consumer demand for animal-free products.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has just set out new guidelines for businesses to follow to ensure that vegan fashion items are 100% free of animal and animal-derived products. The move by the trade body for stores and online sellers comes as the number of retail buyers trying to source vegan products for the first time has increased dramatically due to the demand for vegan fashion from consumers.
In addition to making sure products do not contain any popular animal-based materials such as leather, suede and wool, the new standard will require businesses to prove that every material and ingredient used in the product, including glues, dyes and waxes, must be 100% animal-free. According to policy adviser Leah Riley Brown at the BRC, if retailers follow the guidelines, then shoppers can be confident that the products they have purchased are indeed 100% vegan.
The BRC has also stipulated that companies should not market a product as "sustainable" just because it can be considered vegan, which only reflects that the item contains no animal-based materials or animal-byproduct ingredients.
BRC's move comes as shoppers are increasingly in search of ethical, cruelty and animal-free products. While the fashion industry has trailed behind the food sector when it comes to demand for plant-based and vegan products, the vegan fashion market has rapidly begun to pick up due to growing concerns about the climate crisis and the role of fast fashion. According to a poll by research firm Mintel, two-thirds of all Generation Zs – those aged 16 to 24 – were actively trying to make more animal and planet-friendly fashion consumption choices compared to one year ago.
Another study by the Center of Sustainable Business (CSB) at New York University revealed that shoppers across the board are buying more products marketed as ethical and sustainable than ever before, and that this trend is consistent in every consumer product category.
Speaking to the Guardian, research analyst at Mintel Chana Baram said: "It's no longer enough for clothing to be priced well or to reference the latest trends. Many young people today are likely to be influenced by the Attenborough or Greta effects and are becoming far more aware of the negative effects of fast fashion."
Globally, vegan-friendly and sustainable fashion businesses are set to experience a watershed year. Not only have a number of independent boutique brands emerged in the market to offer more vegan-friendly choices to shoppers, established brands have taken heed as well to retain customers. Iconic footwear brand Dr. Marten's, for instance, saw the sales of its vegan boots skyrocket by an astonishing 279%. Meanwhile, Swedish fast fashion behemoth H&M will be making a number of eco-friendly and plant-based products using vegan leather derived from wine waste, and global sportswear giant Reebok revealed its launch for the first plant-based performance running shoe.
Certification for animal-free isn't the only new standard being set out for the fashion industry amid shifting consumption habits. Recently, Friend of the Earth, a certification body of the World Sustainability Organisation (WSO), launched a new standard for sustainable fashion which covers sourcing, production methods and waste reduction amongst its requirements.
Lead image courtesy of Freepik / Iconfinder / Green Queen.
Human-Caused Methane Emissions Have Been Severely Underestimated
Where To Eat (Plants) This February: New Vegan Restaurant Openings, Menus & Food News


Home › Yakovlev Yak-11
Item Number: 95
Yak-11 airplane model. Sometimes equated with the North American T-6 trainer in terms of its widespread use, 3,859 basic Yak-11s were produced through 1956. Although production then ceased in Russia, it continued in Czechoslovakia, where it had been licensed to LET in 1953 with the designation C.11. An additional 707 of those aircraft were manufactured by LET. Many of the Yak-11's still operational in the USSR were replaced in 1958 by the Yak-11U, a tricycle-geared variation of the aircraft intended for training jet fighter pilots. Yak-11/C.11's were used not only by Warsaw Pact nations, but also by various other communist countries around the world.
While it is no longer a front-line aircraft, the Yak-11 has gained a new lease on life as a popular "warbird" thanks to its World War II Yak-3 lineage. Modified (in several instances as high-performance single-seat racers) and equipped in some cases with Pratt and Whitney engines, Yak-11s may currently be found in civilian use from Reno, Nevada to Western Australia, with specific airframes known to be in service in Belgium, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden and the Czech Republic.
Mahogany Wood. Scale: 1/32. Wingspan 16 1/2 inches, Length 15 inches.


<A lot of big dreams
90 Miles Theatre Company will go "Back to the '80s" at their upcoming cabaret>
Lacey Schwartz Delgado, in her own right
by Jesse J. Smith/ March 27, 2019 /Comments closed
When Antonio Delgado secured the Democratic Party nomination to take on incumbent Republican John Faso for his 19th Congressional District seat, some political insiders expressed concern. The Harvard educated lawyer was a charismatic candidate who had displayed his political chops in a tumultuous seven-way primary. But he was a Schenectady native, born outside the district. He'd moved to Rhinebeck from Montclair New Jersey shortly before launching his campaign after spending the previous decade and a half pursuing a career as a rapper in Los Angles and a corporate litigator. The "Carpetbagger" label had helped sink previous Democratic efforts to take the 19th district seat and some feared it would stick this time too. But for Lacey Schwartz Delgado, the candidate's wife and frequent companion on the campaign trail, the "outsider" label rang hollow and the couple's move to the Hudson Valley felt less like an opportunity and more like homecoming.
"For us, it was always about coming back home and about [the Hudson Valley] being both of our homes," says Lacey Delgado sipping a latte on a lunch break in Rhinebeck's Bread Alone bakery. "That's not a political narrative, it's actually our narrative. That's the reality of our story and the reality of our lives."
Lacey Delgado's narrative runs squarely through Ulster County and along fault lines of race and community that have informed her work as a filmmaker and her interest in using the arts to make an impact on issues she cares about. Delgado tells her story in her 2014 film Little White Lie which aired on the PBS documentary film series "Independent Lens."
Born Lacey Schwartz in 1977 she grew up the child of CPA father and a business-owner mother who had migrated first to Accord in Ulster County, then to Woodstock from Brooklyn in the early 70's. The film details her upbringing in a close knit Jewish family and the questions about her identity that began to gnaw at her as a youth. Growing up, Delgado said, people frequently assumed that she was black or questioned her racial identity with the query "What are you?" Delgado would explain that she was white, Jewish and owed her bronze complexion and curly hair to a Sicilian grandfather. When she went to college at Georgetown University she was invited — based on a picture — to join the Black Students' Association and began identifying as a black woman. But it was not until midway through her freshman year that she confronted her mother and learned the truth, that she was conceived through a long-running affair between her mother and an African American man that she'd met while working at a New York City Park just before her marriage. In Little White Lie Delgado uses home movies, footage from therapy sessions she recorded in college and interviews to tell the story of her upbringing, including the dissolution of her parent's marriage when she was a teen and the painful emergence of a family secret that had been hiding in plain sight her entire life.
"For my own health I needed to go through that process," said Delgado of her decision to tell such a deeply intimate story on film. "My take on difficult conversations is that they're never as difficult in reality as they are in your head."
While the story of her parentage would have an impact on her life later, Lacey recalls her childhood as solidly middle class and Jewish. She attended Bennett Elementary and Miller Junior High and spent holidays at the Woodstock Jewish Congregation. She was, she said, a bookish kid who grew up near the Woodstock Golf Club and absorbed the artsy-rural atmosphere of the town.
"I didn't realize until I went away to college how much Woodstock had had an impact on me and how much a different world it was from a lot of people who had grown up in a more conventional space," recalls Delgado of her Woodstock upbringing. "It's just a different way of thinking about a lot of things."
At Kingston High School Delgado began to focus on a career in the law after she became a "die hard" member of the mock trial team headed by legendary KHS teacher, the late Emil "Butch" Zullo. Zullo's Mock trial teams won a string of state championships, won praise from legal experts and inspired generations of KHS students to pursue careers in law. For Delgado, the experience coalesced into an ambition to become a civil rights impact litigator following the footsteps the men and women who fought complex and high stakes legal battles to secure equal rights for all Americans.
"That combination of logic with organizing, with passion with inspiration just hits me hard," said Delgado of her civil rights heroes.
Armed with a recommendation letter from longtime Hudson valley Congressman, the late Maurice Hinchey — for whom she interned — Delgado was accepted at Georgetown University. There, she studied government and minored in studio art with an emphasis on photography. Then came Harvard Law School where she realized that her path lay in a film editing room, not the courtroom. She was able to convince administrators to allow her to take film classes to learn the craft, then put those skills to use submitting films instead of papers for her law school projects. She earned her Juris Doctorate in 2003 and passed the bar "as a backup" in case her career as a filmmaker didn't pan out. It was also at Harvard Law where she met the man who would become her husband. At the time, she said, they bonded over their shared status as law students with ambitions in the arts and a desire to make an impact on the world.
"We both dealt with law school in similar ways," recalls Delgado. "We were using the arts to find our way through the issues that we cared about."
After graduation, the couple parted ways for eight years. Antonio Delgado moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a rapper and hip-hop executive. Lacey took up residence in New York City where she worked on film and TV projects and as a D.J. In 2011, they reconnected and married in a ceremony at the Katterskill Inn and Farm in Catskill. The couple lived in New York City and Montclair while Antonio took up legal practice at the corporate law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Lacey continued to run her film production company "Truth Aid." In 2013, the couple had twin sons, Maxwell and Coltrane.
During the campaign, as insiders predicted, Delgado was hit hard with the "Carpetbagger" label. Attack ads funded by outside political action committees took an even harsher track depicting Delgado as an "LA Rapper" who trafficked in anti-American rhetoric, misogynist language and who didn't share the values of his would-be constituents. To their critics, the ads were a transparent dog-whistle to racist sentiment in a largely white district where even supporters worried that a black candidate might struggle to win support. But Lacey Delgado said that she saw the attacks and the campaign as a whole as an opportunity, one that played into her interest in tough conversations and finding common ground among diverse communities.
"It wasn't an easy process for us personally, but it was incredible to see the community go through that process and come out the other side" said Delgado. "We all need to do the work, but this community is poised to do that work."
Now, Antonio Delgado commutes between Washington D.C., and the district while Lacey remains in Rhinebeck with the twins. The schedule is hectic, but she's thankful — other members of congress make the commute to California. Meanwhile, Delgado said she's working on both scripted and documentary film projects while making her own efforts on behalf of the region's creative economy. She recently appeared on a women's panel at the Woodstock Film Festival and has taken an interest in actor Mary Stuart Masterson's Stockade Works, a Kingston based film production company that trains area residents for careers in film and TV. Earlier this year, her youthful inspiration by the civil rights movement came full circle when she and her husband accompanied movement icon and Georgia Congressman John Lewis on his annual pilgrimage to significant sites in the struggle.
"I still want to tell stories about the issues I care about," said Delgado. "I see that as my way of having an impact on those issues."
Gardiner volunteer honed her skills on national park issues
Historic Holsted House donated to Unison Arts Center


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About Rosemount
Rosemount is one of the best known Australian wine brands, and has been gracing the shelves of the UK market for over 15 years. Created in 1969, by owner Bob Oatley, the Rosemount brand is all about helping wine drinkers through a range of clearly labelled and defined wines, from fruity easy-drinking, everyday wines, to some of the most premium, and award-winning wines from Australia. The Rosemount winery was first established in the Hunter Valley, on a site dating back to 1864.
Back in the early years of the 2000 decade, Rosemount was the number one brand in the UK. A change of strategy, and the rapid influx of many other brands, toppled it from that position, and Rosemount has had a quiet presence in recent years. However a new range is planned for the UK, later this year, with a plan to reposition the brand, and bring some exciting new wines to the market.
The charismatic Bob Oatley's vision, back in 1969, was to produce top quality wine, at every level of the scale, and to market this in a way which would be easy for the consumer to try a wide variety of styles, and across a range of prices, from the everyday to the very highest award winners.
With the launch of the Rosemount brand, based from the historical Rosemount vineyard of 1864, Oatley went about purchasing vineyards in prime locations around South Australia, in order to ensure top quality grapes for his brand, and ensuring the benefit of different locations and soil types, matched the ideal grape variety for each particular site, including the now home of Rosemount, land and wineries in the McLaren Vale.
The first vintage was in 1974, and by the early 80s, Rosemount was winning awards all over the world, including double gold at the UK International Wine & Spirit Competition, for its Rosemount Estate Show Reserve Chardonnay. Until the end of the 20th century, Rosemount stormed ahead all over the world, establishing an almost unique brand presence, from its classic varietals, through regional wines, to its flagship Balmoral Syrah. By 1999 Rosemount Diamond Label Shiraz had become the top selling Australian red wine brand in the US.
For Australia, the 1990s were the original golden years, with the wine market booming, and Australian wines, in particular, taking the market by storm, and vying for space on supermarket shelves and for wine drinkers' attention. Rosemount had a simple point of difference; rather than focus on the heritage, which many of its competitors were doing, what made Rosemount unique, was its packaging and brand positioning. At a time when cork was still the traditional method of closure, Rosemount launched its classic varietals with rubber corks of different, bright colours. The bottles were distinctive, embossed, with wide flange-lipped tops, and eye-catching, easily recognisable, and uncomplicated diamond labels.
Rosemount set out its stall, as a modern Australian brand, with a bold and very different approach. It was also the first brand to sell wines of the current vintage, leading the trend, towards younger, fresher, fruitier and more accessible styles of wine.
By 2001, Rosemount was the number 1 Australian brand in the UK, and yet today, is not even in the top 10; in 2001, Rosemount merged with top Australian wine company Southcorp, in a reverse takeover, followed by further takeovers over the years, and started to lose its way. Stronger brands overtook it, although there is still good distribution, and a loyal following for this innovative brand, which gave a whole new meaning to the words 'fruit-driven wine'. In Australia, Rosemount continued to perform strongly, and in 2012 won 'best producer in show' at the 2 top Australian wine competitions.
What Styles Of Wine Do Rosemount Produce
Right from the outset, the philosophy at Rosemount was to move away from the traditional and put a modern and new twist of winemaking styles. Instead of conventional wine making styles, the winemakers of Rosemount focussed on bringing young, fresh, immediately appealing wines, both white and red, to wine drinkers, and were a leading light in marketing wines, in the same year that they were made, which is now an accepted norm for the majority of New World wine producers.
Rosemount cover the whole gamut of styles and prices within Australian wine, but all with the distinctive diamond label, in various guises. Whilst a major relaunch is planned for later this year, the classic Diamond label wines, in their distinctive bottles, with an octagon shaped base, still demonstrate the modern, fruity style, which has been the hallmark of the brand.
Estate and Show Reserve - The Estate and Show Reserve are the classic, premium quality wines from Rosemount, showing true regional and varietal styles, from specific areas and vineyards. The range includes the award-winning Show Reserve Chardonnay, as well as a sumptuous Coonawarra Cabernet and an intense, velvety Shiraz.
Rosemount Diamond Cellars - This range comprises the classic dual varietals of Semillon/Chardonnay, Semillon/Sauvignon, Cabernet/Merlot, and Shiraz/Cabernet. There is also a range of single varietals, showcased in a modern style, with a creamy, tropical Chardonnay, and 3 classic reds, a fruity, plummy Merlot, intense, smooth and currant Cabernet and a bold, spicy Shiraz.
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Mazda Picks Diesel over Hybrid
Eric Loveday April 7, 2009 Comment Now!
A while back we informed you that Mazda had no intentions of bringing a hybrid to the U.S. market, surprisingly, that info has not changed. Instead of hybrids, Mazda announced that they will bring a diesel to the U.S. market. What is Mazda thinking?
Mazda's senior vice president of research and development Robert Davis has this to say of hybrids, "When you're talking about 100,000 units in the U.S., it's difficult to bring that technology over and make it business viable."
Ford Motor Company has a small stake in Mazda, and Mazda would be able to borrow technology from Ford to make a hybrid vehicle. Instead Mazda opts for diesel which sells in extremely low numbers in the U.S.
Would be diesel buyers still remember the racket, clouds of smoke, and stench of diesels made in the U.S. two decades ago and are unlikely to forget it anytime soon.
Mazda's plans are quite shocking as most other automakers have put diesel plans for the U.S. market on hold to focus instead of hybrids and electric vehicles.
Automakers who have cancelled plans for diesels in the past year include Kia, Hyundai, Honda, Acura, Nissan, Toyota, and in light trucks GM and Ford.
Only time will tell if Mazda is indeed making the right move.
Source: Wards Auto
Electric Cars News
Electric Vehicle: Mitsubishi i Tops Greenest Car List, Edges Out CNG... Electric Vehicle: Conquering Electric-Car Range Anxiety: A Complete Guide Hybrid Vehicle: Honda Sells 300,000 Hybrids Worldwide and Promises a... Ford Hybrid: Ford Focus BEV to be Featured on the Green Car... Ford Motor Company: Who Will Own Model E Trademark: Tesla, Or Ford? Hybrid Electric Vehicle: Fisker Karma Plug-In Preview, German Debut At...
Eric Loveday - Author


Dale Anderson, Soup Supper Superhero
For the past six years, the success of Presbyterian Manor's annual Soup Supper can be partially traced back to one man—Dale Anderson, who hits the streets each year to sell tickets to the event all over town.
Dale's reasons for being involved in the supper are a mix of personal and charitable.
"I do it for two reasons. First, I've been here in Salina for many years and know a lot of people, so I get to see a lot of them this way. Second, the funds go to the Good Sam program," said Dale.
On average, Dale sells between 600-800 tickets each year—although he says doing so in recent years has become relatively easy.
"I really don't have too much of a sales pitch anymore," said Dale. "They see me coming and they get out the checkbook."
Dale has been slowed a bit this year due to injuries, but he sees his continued involvement in the event as a personal blessing.
"It gives me a chance to get out," said Dale. "This year has been extremely hard because I had to have a hip replaced in 2016, and then I broke a femur bone in my right leg in 2017, and then in 2018 I came up with a fractured vertebra, so I have to use a walker which makes it more of a chore."
Dale has been a resident at the community for close to six years, and when he's not selling tickets, he maintains an active schedule.
"I don't have much spare time," said Dale. "I should have all of the time in the world, but I don't."
Here's hoping Dale will continue to find the time to lend a hand to the Soup Supper for years to come.
We hope you can join us for the 38th annual Soup Supper on Friday, October 26 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Advance tickets are $8 and tickets at the door are $9.
PMMA's Good Samaritan Program provides funding to assist residents who outlive their resources through no fault of their own. Thanks to this critical program, no resident has ever been asked to leave a PMMA community based on their inability to pay..
Posted on September 22 by Cindy Kelly filed under
Good Samaritan Program
2601 E. Crawford St.
Salina Presbyterian Manor is a not-for-profit, faith-based organization and a proud member of the Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America family.
Copyright ©2020 | Salina Presbyterian Manor


Reviews	• Stratford-upon-Avon	Published 27 April 2012
Royal Shakespeare Theatre ⋄ 30th March - 19th May, and 13th July - 7th October 2012
A thrust stage of which the Bard would've approved.
Neil Dowden
In the week of the Bard's birthday, the World Shakespeare Festival has kicked off in London and Stratford. The Royal Shakespeare Company's 'shipwreck trilogy' of The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night and The Tempest explores different treatments of the overlapping themes of family separation and reunion on magical islands, where the destructive power of the sea is countered by redemptive powers of healing, in plays from the early, middle and late parts of Shakespeare's career.
David Farr's interesting but flawed modern-dress production of The Tempest offers an unconventional interpretation of what used to be romantically seen as Shakespeare's elegiac farewell to theatre. At forty years old, Jonathan Slinger is much younger than most Prosperos, and after 12 years' enforced exile he is chomping at the bit for revenge on those who deposed him as Duke of Milan and eager to get back into the fray of court life, rather than looking for quiet retirement. This is not the usual scholarly magician controlling events with sage-like calm, but a fiery man who cannot keep his own tempestuous moods under control, as he veers unpredictably from vengeful anger to gentle generosity.
Wielding a big stick more like a weapon than a wand, this tyrannical Prospero rules his island with a rod of iron, demanding submission not only from his slave Caliban and 'airy sprite' Ariel, but also his daughter Miranda. It seems that at the outset by conjuring up the tempest to shipwreck his enemies his plan is to vent his anger on them once they are in his power, rather than teach them the error of their ways, and it is only during the course of the drama that he softens and decides to forgive them, choosing reconciliation over punishment.
The production's opening sea-storm is distinctly underwhelming, with the ship's passengers making stylized synchronized movements and their voices muffled within a perspex box, and despite projections of huge waves there is little sense of a real danger of drowning. It seems to be more a product of Prospero's mind, confirmed when afterwards he himself steps out of the box. But once the conflict on the island begins the dramatic impact increases, with (the oddly female) Sebastian's plot to kill brother Alonso, King of Naples, echoing Antonio's overthrowing of Prospero, while Stephano and Trinculo's drunkenly stumbling efforts at taking over the island's governance are executed with comic glee. The masque scenes are also well done, with magical sleight of hand.
Farr manipulates the action with consummate skill though by the end we do not feel we have come through a spiritual journey. Jon Bausor's impressive design features a hulking wreck in the background with the stage made of splintered planks (from beneath which performers emerge) and mysteriously sculpted rocks, while an ingeniously mirrored cube represents Prospero's cell. Adem Ilhan's eerily chiming music adds much to the otherworldly atmosphere of an 'isle full of noises, Sounds and sweet airs'.
Slinger is a passionate, restless Prospero, projecting inner conflict rather than mystical knowledge, speaking the verse powerfully even if he overdoes the shouting a bit. However, it is difficult to believe in his paternal relations with Emily Taaffe's sweetly naïve and ardent Miranda does not really work. More successful is his touching master/servant relationship with Sandy Grierson's similarly besuited, graceful Ariel, longing for freedom but reluctant to leave. Amer Hlehel's Caliban is a nicely contrasting corporeal presence but there is not enough threat in his rebellious resentment.
Overall, the production makes good use of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre's reconfigured thrust stage, setting up a dynamic immediacy with the audience of which Shakespeare himself would surely approve.
Neil's day job is working as a freelance editor for book publishers such as HarperCollins, Penguin, Faber and British Film Institute Publishing, but as a night person he prefers reviewing for Exeunt. He has also written features on the theatre and reviewed films, concerts, albums, opera, dance, exhibitions, books and restaurants for various newspapers and magazines, including The Stage and What's On in London, as well as contributing to a couple of books on 20th-century drama and writing a short tourist guide to London for Visit Britain. He insists he is not a playwright manqué but was born to be a critic and just likes sticking a knife into luvvies. In fact, as a boy he wanted to become a professional footballer, but claims there were no talent scouts where he then lived on the South Wales coast, and so has had to settle for playing Sunday league for a dodgy south London team. Apart from the arts and sport, his other main interest is travel, and he is never happier than when up a mountain, though Everest Base Camp is the highest he has been so far. He believes he has not yet reached his peak.
Read more articles by Neil Dowden
The Tempest Show Info
Directed by David Farr
Cast includes Ankur Bahl, Sarah Belcher, Amie Burns Walker, Kirsty Bushell, Nicholas Day, Sandy Grierson, Stephen Hagan, Felix Hayes, Amer Hlehel, Solomon Israel, Jan Knightley, Bruce Mackinnon, Jonathan Mcguinness, Kevin Mcmonagle, Cecilia Noble, Jonathan Slinger, Emily Taaffe, Sargon Yelda.
Link http://www.rsc.org.uk
Running Time 2 hrs 35 minutes


Senator: Amtrak President to Be Fired
WASHINGTON – Amtrak's board called a meeting for Wednesday and plans to fire President David Gunn, according to Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
Gunn has clashed with the Bush administration since assuming the post in 2002. He has said Amtrak can't survive without federal subsidies while the administration has pushed to eliminate them.
The board scheduled a meeting for 2 p.m. and plans to fire Gunn, Schumer told The Associated Press, citing "a very high and reliable source."
Schumer called Gunn's removal "a crushing blow to Amtrak's hopes for success and reform," and praised him as "a brilliant manager."
Gunn, who came to Amtrak after having headed transit systems in New York City, Washington and Toronto, could not be reached to comment. A call to Amtrak's chairman David Laney was not immediately returned.
In September, Amtrak's board approved a resolution authorizing splitting off the Northeast Corridor, which accounts for the largest share of the railroad's ridership. That region could be operated by a federal-state consortium.
The Bush administration favors the idea, but critics say it will destroy Amtrak.
Amtrak has never made money in its 34-year history and an operating loss of more than $550 million was expected for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. The railroad has a debt of more than $3.5 billion.
The White House has called for an end to subsidies for Amtrak, but the House has approved an appropriation of nearly $1.2 billion for this budget year.
In recent months, Amtrak has been besieged by problems up and down the line, from equipment breakdowns to big-ticket budget woes.
Earlier this year, Amtrak suspended all high-speed Acela service between Washington, New York City, and Boston, due to cracks discovered in the brakes.
A report issued last week by the Government Accountability Office, the auditing arm of Congress, said the company needs to improve the way it monitors performance and oversees its finances in order to reach firm financial footing.
"The company is likely to need outside help in developing a comprehensive approach to address internal control weaknesses and improve the financial information for management and external stakeholders," the report found.
The GAO recommended that the transportation secretary direct the Federal Railroad administrator to: require Amtrak to submit a plan laying out specifically how it will improve its financial operations; provide Amtrak with direction on how to do so; and monitor the railroad's performance and report to Congress on Amtrak's progress.
Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta later called the report "unusual, if not unprecedented, in the scope of its review and the severity of its indictment." He urged the board to "stop and take a fresh look on how to proceed in the face of this nonpartisan, objective report of systemic failure."


British lawmaker defends 'Jewish lobby' comments
(JTA) — A British Parliament member defended his reference to a "Jewish lobby" during a House of Commons debate on a symbolic motion to recognize Palestine statehood.
On Tuesday, Andrew Bridgen of the Conservative Party stood by his statement during discussion of the motion a day earlier that "the political system of the world's superpower and our great ally the United States is very susceptible to well-funded powerful lobbying groups and the power of the Jewish lobby in America," Britain's Jewish News reported. The motion passed by a vote of 274 to 12.
"I had the pleasure of visiting the U.S. Congress and the Senate in the summer. I met with many congressmen and senators of both parties, and it was alleged to me that no American politician would be remotely critical publicly of anything Israel does because as they put it, if they do, their opponents in the elections or in the primaries would have millions of dollars dropped into their campaign fund, without even asking, to get rid of them," Bridgen said.
He added: "I used the language that I recall was used to me. I see this issue as a huge problem and I am certainly not anti-Semitic, and if push comes to shove I have historically sided with the Israelis on matters debated in our chamber."
Meanwhile, another Parliament member, Mike Freer, sacrificed his post as parliamentary private secretary in order to vote against the Palestine statehood motion.
House of Commons protocol requires ministers and parliamentary private secretaries to abstain from backbench votes. In order to reject the motion, Freer, the Tory Parliament member for the Finchley and Golders Green constituency, had to relinquish his private secretary post to the business minister, Nick Boles.
Freer had the option to remain in his post and abstain from voting, but told the Jewish News, "I had to vote and it was therefore easy to quit."
His constituency has the largest Jewish population in the United Kingdom.
"It's an issue I feel strongly about and it was the right thing to do for my constituents," Freer said. "This decision was rooted in my personal beliefs, not just the constituency."
The vote to recognize Palestinian statehood is nonbinding and thus has no impact on government policy.


Dr Andrew Clark
Gaskell Building 258
Email: andrew.clark@brunel.ac.uk
Centre for Culture and Evolution
Department of Life Sciences
Impact and outreach
I did my undergraduate degree in Animal Behaviour at the University of Toronto from 1995 - 1999. My PhD (2000 - 2005) was completed in the psychology department at McMaster University under the supervision of Martin Daly and Margo Wilson. I then moved (back) to the UK to do a post-doc at the University of Bristol until 2009, and took up my current position here at Brunel in 2010.
PhD Psychology (McMaster)
BSc Animal Behaviour (University of Toronto)
Newest selected publications
Clark, AP., Howard, KL., Woods, AT., Penton-Voak, IS. and Neumann, C. (2018) 'Why rate when you could compare? Using the "EloChoice" package to assess pairwise comparisons of perceived physical strength'. PLOS ONE, 13 (1). pp. e0190393 - e0190393. ISSN: 1932-6203 Open Access Link
Lefevre, CE., Etchells, PJ., Howell, EC., Clark, AP. and Penton-Voak, IS. (2014) 'Facial width-to-height ratio predicts self-reported dominance and aggression in males and females, but a measure of masculinity does not'. Biology Letters, 10 (10). pp. 1 - 4. ISSN: 1744-9561 Open Access Link
Scott, IM., Clark, AP., Josephson, SC., Boyette, AH., Cuthill, IC., Fried, RL., Gibson, MA., Hewlett, BS., Jamieson, M., Jankowiak, W., Honey, PL., Huang, Z., Liebert, MA., Purzycki, BG., Shaver, JH., Snodgrass, JJ., Sosis, R., Sugiyama, LS., Swami, V., Yu, DW., Zhao, Y. and Penton-Voak, IS. et al. (2014) 'Human preferences for sexually dimorphic faces may be evolutionarily novel'. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111 (40). pp. 14388 - 14393. ISSN: 0027-8424 Open Access Link
Scott, IML., Clark, AP., Boothroyd, LG. and Penton-Voak, IS. (2013) 'Do men's faces really signal heritable immunocompetence?'. Behavioral Ecology, 24 (3). pp. 579 - 589. ISSN: 1045-2249 Open Access Link
Scott, IML., Clark, AP., Boothroyd, LG. and Penton-Voak, IS. (2013) 'Response to comments on Do men's faces really signal heritable immunocompetence?'. Behavioral Ecology, 24 (3). pp. 596 - 597. ISSN: 1045-2249
More publications(21)


Keeping hope alive
Laureate Freedom from Fear Award 2006
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Laureate Freedom from Fear Award 2006
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi —daughter of the martyred champion for independence, General Aung San – has for the last two decades committed herself to fighting for the democratic rights and freedoms for her people. She was born in 1945 in Yangon but left her native country in 1960 after her mother was appointed ambassador to India. In 1964 she went to St. Hugh's College at Oxford University where she received a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. When she went back to Burma to care for her dying mother, she was confronted with the brutal repression of the pro-democracy movement by the country's military regime. Provoked by this terrible injustice and the suffering of her people, she began to speak out against the Burmese junta and formed the National League for Democracy (NLD). Having promoted the cause of democracy using Gandhi's philosophy of non-violent protest for less then a year, she was placed under house arrest by the military authorities for six years. The NLD won the general elections by a landslide, but the military junta declared the results void..
In honor of her efforts for justice and human rights, Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Although being confined to her house, Suu Kyi persisted in her struggle and was eventually released in 1995. But the military junta continued to thwart her activities, denying her freedom of movement. When she tried to leave for an NLD meeting in 1998 she was prevented from completing her journey and was forced to remain by the side of the road for 13 days, causing her to suffer from severe dehydration. In 2000 she was placed under house arrest yet again for twenty months. One year after her release in May 2002, she was detained once more. At the moment she still lives under house arrest. Despite this terrible harship, she continues her struggle. In her own words, "the only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear."
The Freedom from Fear Award is awarded to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for keeping alive the hope of freedom, justice and democracy for the people of Myanmar and being the world's most eloquent voice for social justice.


Home » World News » Mourning and celebration: Melbourne marks January 26
Mourning and celebration: Melbourne marks January 26
An Invasion Day rally has once again drawn tens of thousands of people to Melbourne's CBD on January 26, as the controversial date evoked mixed feelings across the city.
The protest dwarfed any official Australia Day event in Melbourne – organisers estimated 80,000 people attended the march, but that number is unverified by authorities – but Victorians also flocked to beaches, parks and urban centres on the public holiday.
Invasion Day protestors outside Flinders Street Station on Thursday. Credit:Paul Rovere
For the first time, many employers let workers choose whether to ignore the holiday and take the day off at another time, but hundreds still turned up for official festivities at Federation Square.
But some, like Geelong resident Tigah, were disappointed that the Australia Day parade was cancelled.
"There's no atmosphere," said Tigah, who did not want her last name included. She said she had been looking forward to listening to music from Aussie icons such as Jimmy Barnes.
The parade was cancelled in 2021 due to COVID-19 and did not return in 2022. Acting Premier Jacinta Allan said at the time that it was because of "how we choose to mark the day differently".
But Tigah said cancelling the parade was "a disgrace".
"Why did they stop the parade? " she said. "My dad died while serving in the army, he was 46. He did not go overseas for this to happen."
Wearing an Australian flag as a cape, Lorraine of Ferntree Gully, who also did not want her surname included, was similarly disappointed, describing the government's alternative event at Fedearation Square as "pathetic".
"For years and years, I've been coming to the Australia Day parade. They had all sorts of cultures represented. It was a nice feeling," she said.
Lorraine of Ferntree Gully making her way through the Melbourne CBD to celebrate Australia Day. Credit:Paul Rovere
The mixed feelings of how to mark the day was reflected across the city's 31 councils, which, until recently, all held citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day.
Some councils, including Darebin City Council and City of Yarra, did not mark the day at all, with Darebin issuing a statement outlining its opposition to Australia Day and lowering its Aboriginal and Torres-Strait Islander flags to half-mast.
Stonnington and Moonee Valley hosted healing ceremonies to pay respect to First Nations people, while a mourning reflection service at dawn was held in Port Phillip.
But other councils, such as Greater Dandenong, held their regular celebrations, including an Australia Day awards ceremony, which featured a band and a fun run.
Ayesha Sunnooman, her husband Mohammad and their daughter Zaynab on Altona Beach on Australia Day. Credit:Scott McNaughton
It briefly turned ugly in Merri-bek, which held a citizenship ceremony on Tuesday instead of Australia Day, when neo-nazis attempted to disrupt the council's Aboriginal mourning ceremony at Coburg Town Hall.
A group of about 20 black-clad, masked individuals gatecrashed the event and appeared at other spots in Melbourne's inner-north throughout the day, performing nazi salutes and holding banners displaying racist slogans.
Police said they would investigate "whether an offence occurred" in Coburg. The state government signalled it could beef up anti-vilification laws if police determined the behaviour wasn't technically a crime.
"The government will continue to monitor the use of hate symbols and vilification and may consider further legislative reforms at a later stage," a spokesman said.
Police formed a barrier between the neo-Nazis and local residents at Coburg Town Hall on Thursday.
But Shadow Attorney General Michael O'Brien said it would be "hard to believe that existing laws can't deal with this conduct".
"Victoria's equal opportunity, anti-vilification and public order laws should be able to deal with these attempted provocations from a sad little rabble," he said.
Meanwhile, at Melbourne's Town Hall, Lord Mayor Sally Capp said this year's event may have been the last Australia Day in which the council hosts citizenship ceremonies, following a repealed a Coalition rule that forced councils to hold the ceremonies on Australia Day.
"I think change is coming," she said. "I'm not sure how quickly that is coming, whether that's in the next 12 months, but definitely change is coming, so we will respect and move with those changes."
Capp welcomed 200 new Australian citizens from 50 countries in the council's largest-ever citizenship ceremony at Melbourne Town Hall, including Vikas Gadoo, who moved to Australia from India 10 years ago.
Attending the ceremony with his one-year-old daughter, he said it was an honour and a privilege to become an Australian citizen.
"I'm proud of being Australian today," he said. "I'm feeling very emotional and very proud."
Gadoo said that while January 26 was a controversial date in Australia, in India, the date marked the country's Republic Day.
Vikas Gadoo with one-year-old daughter Tiana, received his Australian citizenship at Melbourne Town Hall on Thursday. Credit:Paul Rovere
"It comes down to personal views that people have but for me, this is already a very special day," he said. "It's good to have Australia Day on January 26."
There were similar sentiments at Altona Beach, where Ayesha Sunnooman, 38, a GP from Deer Park, was having a lovely day at the beach in Melbourne on Thursday with husband Mohammad, 41, and their children Zaynab, 1, and Zakiya, 3.
Sunning on the beach, Sunnooman said she didn't think Australia Day should be scrapped. Originally from Mauritius, she said Australia offered more opportunities for work and life.
"I think it's good to be patriotic and remember your country. It reminds us we are all one country. We are diverse people but we are all Australians."
With Caroline Schelle
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Latina Blues Singer Releases New CD
Evelyn Rubio Releases Sexy and 'Saxy' New CD
270p | 7.4MB
Blues singer Evelyn Rubio has released a new CD that shows her abilities as a singer, songwriter and saxophone player.
Ms. Rubio was born in Mexico but now lives in Houston, Texas, in the southwestern United States.
She sings in English and Spanish.
She plays the saxophone with jazz and blues bands, but she began her career as a singer in Mexico.
"I start my career singing. I have been singing all my life and saxophone came later just for fun."
She says record companies have shown interest in her music. But she decided to use her own money to make her CD and music video. Because she works independently, she controls what songs she sings. But she must pay for her own photographs, videos and publicity campaigns.
"Before, you used to think that somebody is going to discover you. I don't think it works like that anymore. Well, maybe for some people. But right now, you need to do, as an independent artist, a lot of work."
She paid a professional crew to produce a music video in New York. Many people have watched it on YouTube.
One of her most popular songs is called "Hombres," the Spanish word for "men." She says she wrote it to protest the many blues songs that say bad things about men.
"Most of the blues songs that talk about guys, they talk about the bad stuff you know the cheating, the running around, the brawls, blah, blah, blah. And I really think there are so many good guys out there that they deserve to have a nice song talking about them."
Evelyn Rubio also recorded her songs in Spanish and produced a separate, Spanish-language CD for Hispanics in the United States and Mexico.
She says her kind of music is becoming popular in Mexico.
"Mexicans like and enjoy jazz and blues. Blues is about your soul, about your heart, and everybody can relate with that."
I'm Marsha James.
VOA Correspondent Greg Flakus reported this story from Houston. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
publicity campaign – n. the activity or business of persuading people to give attention to someone or something
professional – adj. relating to a job that requires special education, training or skill
cheat – v. to break a promise made to (someone, such as your wife or husband) by having sex with someone else
brawl – n. a noisy fight, usually in a public place
Do you like jazz? Do you like blues music? What kind of music do you like? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the comments section.
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OpinionHigher education
Scholarly squeeze
Tristram Hunt
Allowing undergraduates into the British Library's reading rooms has led to exclusion, not inclusion
Sun 28 May 2006 19.03 EDT
Eduardo Paolozzi's Newton is one of Britain's finest 20th-century statues. Commanding the forecourt of the British Library in London, it depicts the sombre Newton as William Blake imagined him - bent over equations, methodically deciphering the mysteries of the universe - and is a daily inspiration to the library's thousands of users. Currently, it has a dirty bathtub leaning up against it. Inscribed in the scum is an advert for the library: "The second best place to find inspiration for business ideas." This aesthetic and intellectual desecration tells you all you need to know about the current management of the library.
The director, Lynne Brindley, is now steadily dismantling a world-class cultural institution under the wholly disingenuous banner of access and inclusion.
First, the good news: the BL remains one of the great libraries of the world. The virtues that led Karl Marx to spend most of the 1850s under its roof continue to this day: the professionalism of the staff; relatively quick access to the collection; well-curated public galleries; involvement with the local community; and (so long as you are there early enough) a wonderfully scholarly setting.
But that's where the problems begin. The library last year decided to let the undergraduate masses into the reading rooms. On the face of it, a good idea. The BL is a national collection funded by taxes, so why should its material be limited to a small band of researchers? But the past 12 months have witnessed a catastrophic collapse in its working environment. The studied calm of the reading room has given way to a hum of mobile phone ringtones, chit-chat and pubescent histrionics. It is difficult to get any work done. As one letter of discontent to Brindley puts it: "Many new readers are simply idling away the hours in the library in time-honoured undergraduate fashion, when one of the great characteristics of the BL used to be a sense of communal hard work and endeavour by professionals of all ages."
Worse, it is proving ever more difficult even to get a seat. Finding somewhere to read any time after midday is all but impossible. And thanks to the swelling users the management has limited the number of books you can order in a day - a serious impediment to scholarly researchers. There is absolutely no need for undergraduates to use the library. Across London there exists a multitude of university libraries catering for their limited reading lists. But there are researchers, translators, academics and doctoral students who need the world-class resources of the BL. And they are being squeezed out.
The management has publicly refused to concede there is a problem. But their internal documents say otherwise. Amazingly, they have now established "two quiet spaces for readers who are waiting to access collections" - when most people assume libraries themselves were meant to be quiet places.
The result of this misguided access agenda is not inclusion but exclusion. While wealthy London undergraduates have a "cool" place to hang out, researchers coming from Staffordshire, Bristol or Southampton for the day find themselves with no place to work or books to order.
In a desperate attempt to attract corporate clients, tourists and "creatives", the management has splurged money on TV plasma screens, wireless broadband access, and more cafe places. It is depressing when an institution that functions well, is valued by staff and users and is respected around the world starts to get buggered up. But unless an arrogant and disinterested management can be stopped, that is the fate Paolozzi's Newton will be the unfortunate witness to.
· Tristram Hunt is the author of Building Jerusalem: the Rise and Fall of the Victorian City
tristramhunt@btopenworld.com


$55m debt: Court adjourns FG, Agip suit until May
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, on Wednesday adjourned until May 28, the hearing of a $55 million debt recovery suit by the Federal Government against Agip Oil Company Ltd.
The Federal Government had filed several suits seeking to recover about $12 billion in missing crude oil revenue from some International Oil Companies (IOCs); from Agip, it is claiming $55 million.
The Federal Government was represented by Chineme Onuoma, while Agip was represented by Oladimeji Ojo.
At the commencement of the trial, Onuoma told the court that the case was scheduled for trial and that the plaintiff was ready but that the defendant had a pending motion before the court.
The defendant said that their motion was to amend their previously amended statement of defence.
Ojo informed the court that it was necessary for the defendant to amend their documents and attach other vital ones in their defence.
Attached to the motion was an affidavit deposed to by Ibukunoluwa Owa, an exhibit and a written address.
The motion was moved and Onuoma said that he would not object to the application to enable the case go on speedily.
The court granted the application but expressed displeasure that since the case was brought before it there had been so many applications which had stalled the progress of the suit.
The case was consequently adjourned until May 28 for trial.
The suit was filed by the Federal Government through its counsel, Prof. Fabian Ajogwu (SAN) in 2015 against some International Oil Companies (IOCs).
It was to recover lost revenues arising from undeclared and under-declared crude oil shipments from Nigeria to different parts of the world.
The Federal Government had also sued Total E&P Nig. Plc, alleging that the oil company under-declared the volume of crude oil it shipped out of the country between January 2011 and December 2014.
As a result, the Nigerian government was shortchanged to the tune of $245 million due to the alleged shipment of several barrels of crude oil out of Nigeria without appropriate remittance to the government.
It had also filed similar suits against Chevron Nigeria Ltd, Chevron Petroleum Nigeria Ltd, Shell Western Supply & Trading Ltd among others.
$55m crude oil shipment: FG closes case in suit against Agip
$69m oil shipment: Court adjourns FG's suit against…
Court to deliver judgment in Agip oil theft case in April
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Ursuline School
This project consisted of a 12 classroom extension to the existing school in Ballytruckle, Waterford. The project included an open plan office space, with separate offices and meeting room, together with toilets and other service areas. The high spec finish included bespoke joinery and fitted furniture complete with a range of internal wall and floor finishes such as ceramic tiles, carpets and vinyl. The ceiling consisted of lay in grid ceilings with feature bulkheads. The works also included a full mechanical, electrical and security installation. The new facility is linked to the existing school and the works were carried out whilst the school was in full operation. At the early stages of the project the removal of asbestos was required.
Client: Ursuline School Board of Management
€1.05m
CJ Falconer & Associates
Quantity Surveyor:
Nolan Ryan Partnership
Castleknock College


Using Young People's Blood to Prevent Aging Has No Proven Clinical Benefits, FDA Warns
By Anna Edney / Bloomberg
Updated: February 19, 2019 5:01 PM ET
(Bloomberg) — Taking a young person's plasma and infusing it into an older person to ward off aging — a therapy that's fascinated some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley — has no proven clinical benefit, the Food and Drug Administration said.
The agency issued a safety alert on Tuesday about the infusion of plasma from young donors for the prevention of conditions such as aging or memory loss, or for the treatment of such conditions as dementia, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease or post‐traumatic stress disorder.
"There is no proven clinical benefit of infusion of plasma from young donors to cure, mitigate, treat or prevent these conditions, and there are risks associated with the use of any plasma product," the FDA said in a statement from Commissioner Scott Gottlieb and Peter Marks, head of the agency's biologics center.
The idea of infusing young blood to fight aging has attracted technology entrepreneurs like billionaire Peter Thiel and was lampooned in a 2017 episode of the HBO show "Silicon Valley." Thiel's reported interest was sparked by a company called Ambrosia, which has locations in five states across the U.S. and sells one liter of blood plasma from donors between the ages of 16 and 25 for $8,000, according to its website.
Ambrosia's website was updated Tuesday to say it has "ceased patient treatments" in compliance with the FDA's advisory.
Gottlieb and Marks said none of the plasma treatments has gone through the rigorous testing required by the agency. Ambrosia says "experiments in mice called parabiosis provided the inspiration to deliver treatments with young plasma." The FDA approval typically requires human trials before companies can make a specific health claim about a product.
"The reported uses of these products should not be assumed to be safe or effective," Gottlieb and Marks said. "We strongly discourage consumers from pursing this therapy outside of clinical trials under appropriate institutional review board and regulatory oversight."
Plasma, the liquid portion of blood, contains proteins to help the blood clot. Plasma infusion is an approved use by the FDA in trauma settings or in patients whose blood doesn't coagulate. But, the FDA says, there are risks, including allergic reactions, circulatory overload, lung injury and infectious disease transmission.
"We're concerned that some patients are being preyed upon by unscrupulous actors touting treatments of plasma from young donors as cures and remedies," Gottlieb and Marks said. "Such treatments have no proven clinical benefits for the uses for which these clinics are advertising them, and are potentially harmful."


"Never give up building bridges!"
From becoming Martin Luther King's Nobel Peace Prize mail translator to thinking about his legacy
One of the greatest honors in my life occurred in May 1965 when I met Martin Luther King, Jr, who invited me to become his Nobel Peace Prize Mail translator. The parents of one of my American exchange sisters, Ruth Ewy White (the 1961-62 Bethel College exchange student at Wuppertal, my hometown), had invited me (the 1964-65 Wuppertal exchange student at Bethel College) to join them in visiting their daughter who was working as a civil rights worker at the Ebenezer Church and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Ruth promised that she would introduce us to Dr. King.
The Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta was crowded with church goers. I am ashamed to say that white Americans stayed away in droves. Ruth, her parents, and I were four of maybe six or so non-Africans that Sunday morning to hear the most famous living American (as Kennedy had already been assassinated). Many Americans at that time looked at King with suspicion. After all, he was preaching equality of all human beings and that meant the likely loss of cheap labor in the South and negroes (as African-Americans were called in those days) who would become "uppity and cause trouble."
I am a happy agnostic, but I must admit his sermon spoke to me on several levels. I will never forget his encouragement to everyone in the congregation: "Never give up building bridges," he said, and people nodded and cheered him on. After the service, Ruth introduced us to the "Mahatma Gandhi of the United States." He welcomed us, shook our hands, and I asked him to sign two books that he had written. He smiled, nodded, and signed. And then I asked him whether he could show me his Nobel Peace Prize. "Sure," he said, and then he looked me straight in the eye, doubt wrinkling his forehead. "Frankly," King said, "I don't know where I have that thing!"
Photo courtesy Washington Post
The world's greatest honor—"that thing." I realized that he was an extraordinarily busy man, but this sophomore from Germany really wanted to see the Nobel Peace Prize. I literally begged him: "Please, I REALLY would like to see it!" "All right," said one of America's busiest men. "Let me try to find it. Come and see me tomorrow." I could not sleep that night. After all, how often does a young college student get invited to see a Nobel prize in person. The next day, with great anticipation, I walked into his office at the SCLC which he headed. What struck me was the contrast between the area itself which looked economically deprived, even neglected by society, and the gold medal—the world's most famous honor—in the midst of this poverty. It seemed to me that the people of Scandinavia valued King's work more than many Americans, and that saddened me.
I was in awe holding King's Nobel Peace Prize in my hand, a gold medal with an image of Alfred Nobel on one side and the inscription "Pro pace et fraternitate gentium" ("For the peace and brotherhood of men") on the other side. Dr. King even had brought along a blue box for me. When I opened it, I unscrolled a parchment-like document which identified him as the winner of the Nobel Prize for 1964. It was signed by the King of Norway. I felt so honored that I asked right away whether I could do something for Dr. King. "I don't know," he said. And for the first time in my life I heard myself say that I was bilingual: able to speak and write German and English fluently. "Oh, German," he said, "there are all those letters."
Within minutes I found myself sitting at King's typewriter and translating letters from all over Germany, both East and West, and the whole of Eastern Europe where German was still the lingua franca. Every single one of the writers was thrilled about his award. I clipped my translations together with the originals and placed the most important one on top of the pile: an invitation from the Thomaner Kirche (Thomas Church) of Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig, (then) East Germany, an invitation that the Nobel Peace Laureate could not accept as he had been maligned as a Communist in the US and did not dare to visit the Thomaner Kirche in Leipzig. Years later I found out that he had briefly visited East Berlin, but the pressure back in the US was too great to travel further and meet fellow ministers, theologians, and the oppressed people of Communist East Germany.
Originally published on henrikeger.com, January 21, 2008