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The corona economy: Will Europeans face the challenge with solidarity, or splinter apart?
Massive rescue packages on both sides of the Atlantic have been passed to bail out the hardest hit industries, prevent layoffs, provide fast relief to those unable to work and in other ways dampen the worst immediate impact of the new recession. Italy, together with France, Spain and a handful of the other EU countries suffering most acutely, have pressed for Eurobonds. However Germany and the Netherlands appear unlikely to budge in their opposition. A fairly deep recession is expected, though without an effective pan-European action it will strike very unevenly across the continent.
Retail Deposit Interest Rates
Europe's largest economies see turnaround in retail rates, now ticking upward
The European Central Bank's latest release of interest rate data – from each European market as of January 2020 – shows that, already prior to the coronavirus outbreak, rates had shifted direction, now moving upward.
This increase was driven primarily by Germany, France and Italy, with the UK and Sweden outside the Eurozone, along with several smaller countries in and outside the zone, also seeing small jumps.
Current Retail Deposit Interest Rates in the EU
Average interest rate for new deposits, private households; maturities ≤ 1 year, ECB data. Note: The Dutch Central Bank time-series for deposits with maturities up to one year includes a country-specific "construction depot" with higher average rates than overnight and term deposits.
Comparing Top Offers: Biggest Banks vs. Markets' Best Rates
Germany leads a limited upswing, Spain remains stuck, while UK and Ireland continue to sink
Data collected by Raisin at the end of March for 9 Eurozone markets and 6 non-Eurozone markets indicates even stronger increase of close to 25% in both 1- and 3-year interest rates in Germany, with both terms now averaging over 1%. It is the first time German average 1-year rates have topped 1% since July 2019.
The Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and Poland also saw significant upward movement on both 1- and 3-year average interest rates, after all ending 2019 with stagnation or decreases.
Top rates on 1- and 3-year deposits in the UK, Ireland and Austria, on the other hand, all continued to fall into 2020, after steadily sinking in the final months of 2019. Top offers in Ireland are especially low, with a crushing 0.07% average interest on a 1-year term deposit.
Comparison: Highest Retail Deposit Interest Rates in the EU
Average of the top 3 term deposit offers for retail customers based on local comparison sites as of 25/03/2020. Criteria: EUR 10,000 deposit; 1 product per bank; offers for both new and existing clients.
While biggest banks stay stuck at rock bottom rates, top offers fall and rise capriciously
Across Europe, the differences between a market's top available offers and its biggest banks' offers remain a striking measure of stagnant low rates at the large banks. Since the start of 2020 the significant changes have occurred in top retail offers available to consumers outside of the largest banks.
Most notably in Germany, the three biggest banks continue month after month to offer on average just 0.01% interest on a 1-year deposit. Meanwhile the average of the country's best available offers has been much more volatile: dropping from January's 0.88% to 0.80% in February, only to leap up to 1.02% in March.
As a result, the ratio of the biggest banks' average rate to the averaged best offers – know in Germany as the interest rate shears or interest gap – has narrowed and then gaped back open. The top available 1-year offers are currently 175 times higher than the big banks' deposits.*
* The top offers in our analysis exclude those available on Raisin's platforms.
Comparison: Retail Deposit Interest Rates of the 3 Largest Banks
Average of 1-year term deposit offers for retail customers offered by the 3 largest banks in the local market; as of 25/03/2020. Criteria: EUR 10,000 deposit; offers for both new and existing clients. Usually, largest banks based on balance sheet size, which offer term deposits.
Corporate Deposit Interest Rates
Largest European markets see corporate rates plunge, though Germany escapes the collapse
The new year saw interest rates for corporates tumble, with large decreases sweeping from Austria through Italy to France, Spain and Ireland along with several Baltic and Eastern European states.
Of Europe's large economies only German corporate deposits experienced an echo of the increases in the retail deposit market with a small upward movement of 11 basis points. However German companies can hardly rejoice: their average interest rate on deposits of up to 1 year is still below zero.
Corporate rates in Italy and Spain meanwhile began 2020 with drops of 58 basis points, the largest decreases in Europe. For Spain this reversed several months of significant increases at the end of 2019. But for Italy the fall is a continuation of months of decline in corporate interest rates, from 0.44% in November 2019 to January 2020's -0.20%.
Current Corporate Deposit Interest Rates in the Euro Area
Average interest rate for new deposits, corporates, maturities ≤ 1 year, Euro Area Statistics.
European Central Bank, Raisin, Bloomberg, FT
Image: Markus Spiske on Unsplash
A trailblazer for open banking and the leading pan-European one-stop shop for online savings and investments, Berlin-based fintech Raisin was founded in 2012 by Dr. Tamaz Georgadze (CEO), Dr. Frank Freund (CFO) and Michael Stephan (COO). Raisin's platforms — under the brand WeltSparen in the German-speaking world — are breaking down barriers to better savings for European consumers and SMEs: Raisin's marketplace offers simple access at no charge to attractive and guaranteed deposit products from all over Europe, as well as globally diversified, cost-effective ETF portfolios and pension products (currently available in Germany). With one online registration, customers can choose from all available investments and subsequently manage their accounts. Since launch in 2013, Raisin has placed 21.5 billion EUR for more than 245,000 customers in 28+ European countries and 90 partner banks. Raisin was named to Europe's top 5 fintechs by the renowned FinTech50 awards and is backed by prestigious European and American investors such as btov Ventures, Goldman Sachs, PayPal Ventures, Thrive Capital, Index Ventures, Orange Digital Ventures and Ribbit Capital. Raisin UK in Manchester, banking-as-a-service provider Raisin Bank in Frankfurt, pensions specialist fairr, and Raisin Technology (formerly Choice Financial Solutions) all belong to Raisin.
Maggie Bell


New Generation: Mari McKinney
Engel Lauren
"I really appreciate everything I was able to do these past 11 years of modeling. You have to grow up really fast when you travel but it makes you a stronger person."
Ever since the 1960s with Naomi Sims, there has been a growth in diversities reaching the runway, appearing in front of fashion covers editorials internationally. Our latest series brings you mixes of all races around the world–the hottest new generation. Inspired by National Geographic's Changing Faces article.
Mari McKinney, Brazil
Photographer: Lauren Engel
Stylist: Simone Wasserman
Tell us about your upbringing and how did it shape the person you are now?
My name is Marianne fonseca, I'm from Brazil and I've model for 11 years now. I grew up with my little sister Luíza in a small town in Brazil. My parents are divorced since I was 9 and my mom got married again when I was 12. I grew up playing volleyball and dancing ballet, I've always loved sports and I was a very active kid, I also had good grades in school. Ever since u was a little girl I always had a dream of being a model. I didn't even know what a Model really was but I remember watching fashion shows on tv and wanted to be like Gisele B. Our family is very religious and I would pray every night for God to make my dream come true. When I was 15 I had the opportunity to move to São Paulo and sign with a modeling agency.
Talk us through your modeling career
I started modeling when I was 15 years old, I left my little town in Minas Gerais Brazil to live by myself in São Paulo where I signed my first contract with a modeling agency there. My mom wanted me to finish high school so I would go to school in the morning and do my castings or modeling jobs in the afternoon. It was really exciting to be doing my dream and living without my parents in a big city but it was also very hard. I had to deal with a new school and new friends, trying to understand what the modeling industry really is, having to deal with agents that sometimes weren't very helpful or having to constantly compete with other models. This is a very competitive career with a lot jealousy. People are not really interested in helping you and so many times I felt lonely and scared that I would never make it. After one year living in São Paulo and working there I got a taste of what being a model is like. I learned how to pose and how to bring the attitude the clients needed. How to be responsible and be on time, always look good, etc. Then I got an opportunity to travel out of the country for my first international trip. I went to china and I lived there for a year. Then I went to other countries in Asia like singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong. I would always be back in Brazil every year to visit my family. Then I wanted to take a new step in my career and try the European markets. So I went to Turkey and then I went to almost every country in Europe for a couple months at a time. Germany, Italy, Greece, Israel, Spain, England and I also lived in South Africa. Living in Europe was an amazing experience. I shot some of the best photos of my career there. I also did a lot of magazines and learned so much about the fashion world. After Europe I had enough experience and photos to apply for an american visa and try to come to Ny which was my dream since I left Brazil to go to china. So I got my first visa four years ago and I've been in the usa ever since. I remember the first time I ever walked in Times Square and I saw my photos on the billboards for the Aerie campaign I shot a couple months before making it to the big apple. Being in the USA and making it here as a model is my dream come true.
Have you ever had insecurities with modeling from bookers/clients constantly critiquing your looks? If so, how did you overcome it and become thick skinned at a young age?
Being a model can be very intimidating especially when you first start. You don't really know how to dress for castings, sometimes you don't really have the attitude or confidence and people can be mean. I like to think that all of it was a learning experience for me but there were times where bookers would criticized me instead of helping me to look more like a "model" should look. As a 15 year old girl you don't know how to have a healthy diet and exercise correctly without someone showing you.
I can still remember times when people were mean to me because of my looks in the beginning. But thank God I never quit. To all the bookers, clients and models out there, there's no need to be mean to the young and inexperienced. This industry is hard enough without the extra negativity they sometimes bring. I learned the hard way so whenever I can help younger girls or friends that are having a hard time in the industry, I always try to help and be encouraging.
"Getting married and committing your life to someone else forever comes with a lot of responsibilities, but also being able to trust someone so deeply is the best feeling in the world."
What have you learnt from traveling and modeling in so many countries around the world?
I've learned so much. I've experienced many different cultures in the countries I've visited. There are so many different markets and styles every country has for modeling and how fashion is expressed in their culture. When you're young and traveling alone it can be scary but I was always more excited than afraid to see the world. I can honestly say that I've had a lot more good moments than bad. I've made lifetime friendships, met some of the most amazing people that helped me and I still keep in touch with, got to learn different languages and go to places that I'd never thought I would ever get to go to. For the rest of my life I will always have some of the most special memories from every country I've been to. I feel very blessed that I'm able to live my dream and travel all over the world at such a young age. I really appreciate everything I was able to do these past 11 years of modeling. You have to grow up really fast when you travel but it makes you a stronger person. Because of all the different cultures and countries I've experienced I've gotten a better perspective on life and what's truly important. I'm a better person because of it and I miss so many places I've been.
Do you see yourself getting into acting after modeling?
Not necessarily after modeling. I never wanted to be that girl that starts acting when she gets older after her modeling career is starting to slow down. I think acting is an art form and beautiful. You have to learn a lot and have a heart for it because it's a though industry and not something you can just jump into one day. I've studied acting some and I have shot a couple short films and tv commercials and I really enjoyed it! So yes, I would love to act. I've been having this desire more and more and I'm gonna give it a shot for sure, once I feel more ready for it. But not as a transition after modeling.
Do you feel that you have changed after you got married compared to while you were dating?
Yes. I feel like I have a safe place now because for years I was traveling by myself, lonely and not letting myself trust a lot of people. Getting married and committing your life to someone else forever comes with a lot of responsibilities, but also being able to trust someone so deeply is the best feeling in the world. My husband and I always talk about how amazing it feels to be with each other forever. It's such a comforting feeling to be by each other's side for both the good and the bad. We believe God brought us together and we are so lucky to find one another. We are best friends and we help each other through the ups and downs in our careers (he is an actor). Getting married to my husband was really the best thing that ever happened to me.
What is your perception on true love?
True love for me is simply to give. Give without expecting anything back. Love is selfless and I believe the most true love is when you give all you have and you are fully content with it.
Mari McKinney
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Tag Archives: Sony Pictures Post Production
Sundance: Audio post for Honey Boy and The Death of Dick Long
By Jennifer Walden
Brent Kiser, an Emmy award-winning supervising sound editor/sound designer/re-recording mixer
at LA's Unbridled Sound, is no stranger to the Sundance Film Festival. His resume includes such Sundance premieres as Wild Wild Country, Swiss Army Man and An Evening with Beverly Luff Lin.
He's the only sound supervisor to work on two films that earned Dolby fellowships: Swiss Army Man back in 2016 and this year's Honey Boy, which premiered in the US Dramatic Competition. Honey Boy is a biopic of actor Shia LaBeouf's damaging Hollywood upbringing.
Brent Kiser (in hat) and Will Files mixing Honey Boy.
Also showing this year, in the Next category, was The Death of Dick Long. Kiser and his sound team once again collaborated with director Daniel Scheinert. For this dark comedy, the filmmakers used sound to help build tension as a group of friends tries to hide the truth of how their buddy Dick Long died.
We reached out to Kiser to find out more.
Honey Boy was part of the Sundance Institute's Feature Film Program, which is supported by several foundations including the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Family Fund. You mentioned that this film earned a grant from Dolby. How did that grant impact your approach to the soundtrack?
For Honey Boy, Dolby gave us the funds to finish in Atmos. It allowed us to bring MPSE award-winning re-recording mixer Will Files on to mix the effects while I mixed the dialogue and music. We mixed at Sony Pictures Post Production on the Kim Novak stage. We got time and money to be on a big stage for 11 days — a five-day pre-dub and six-day final mix.
That was huge because the film opens up with these massive-robot action/sci-fi sound sequences and it throws the audience off the idea of this being a character study. That's the juxtaposition, especially in the first 15 to 20 minutes. It's blurring the reality between the film world and real life for Shia because the film is about Shia's upbringing. Shia LaBeouf wrote the film and plays his father. The story focuses on the relationship of young actor Otis Lort (Lucas Hedges) and his alcoholic father James.
The story goes through Shia's time on Disney Channel's Even Stevens series and then on Transformers, and looks at how this lifestyle had an effect on him. His father was an ex-junkie, sex-offender, ex-rodeo clown and would just push his son. By age 12, Shia was drinking, smoking weed and smoking cigarettes — all supplied to him by his dad. Shia is isolated and doesn't have too many friends. He's not around his mother that much.
This year is the first year that Shia has been sober since age 12. So this film is one big therapeutic movie for him. The director Alma Har'el comes from an alcoholic family, so she's able to understand where Shia is coming from. Working with Alma is great. She wants to be in every part of the process — pick each sound and go over every bit to make sure it's exactly what she wants.
Honey Boy director Alma Har'el.
What were director Alma Har'el's initial ideas for the role of sound in Honey Boy?
They were editing this film for six months or more, and I came on board around mid-edit. I saw three different edits of the film, and they were all very different.
Finally, they settled on a cut that felt really nice. We had spotting sessions before they locked and we were working on creating the environment of the motel where Otis and James were staying. We were also working on creating the sound of Otis being on-set. It had to feel like we were watching a film and when someone screams, "Cut!" it had to feel like we go back into reality. Being able to play with those juxtapositions in a sonic way really helped out. We would give it a cinematic sound and then pulled back into a cinéma vérité-type sound. That was the big sound motif in the movie.
We worked really close with the composer Alex Somers. He developed this little crank sound that helped to signify Otis' dreams and the turning of events. It makes it feel like Otis is a puppet with all his acting jobs.
There's also a harness motif. In the very beginning you see adult Otis (Lucas Hedges) standing in front of a plane that has crashed and then you hear things coming up behind him. They are shooting missiles at him and they blow up and he gets yanked back from the explosions. You hear someone say, "Cut!" and he's just dangling in a body harness about 20 feet up in the air. They reset, pull him down and walk him back. We go through a montage of his career, the drunkenness and how crazy he was, and then him going to therapy.
In the session, he's told he has PTSD caused by his upbringing and he says, "No, I don't." It kicks to the title and then we see young Otis (Noah Jupe) sitting there waiting, and he gets hit by a pie. He then gets yanked back by that same harness, and he dangles for a little while before they bring him down. That is how the harness motif works.
There's also a chicken motif. Growing up, Otis has a chicken named Henrietta La Fowl, and during the dream sequences the chicken leads Otis to his father. So we had to make a voice for the chicken. We had to give the chicken a dreamy feel. And we used the old-school Yellow Sky wind to give it a Western-feel and add a dreaminess to it.
On the dub stage with director Alma Har'el and her team, plus Will Files (front left) and Andrew Twite (front right).
Andrew Twite was my sound designer. He was also with me on Swiss Army Man. He was able to make some rich and lush backgrounds for that. We did a lot of recording in our neighborhood of Highland Park, which is much like Echo Park where Shia grew up and where the film is based. So it's Latin-heavy communities with taco trucks and that fun stuff. We gave it that gritty sound to show that, even though Otis is making $8,000 a week, they're still living on the other side of the tracks.
When Otis is in therapy, it feels like Malibu. It's nicer, quieter, and not as stressful versus the motel when Otis was younger, which is more pumped up.
My dialogue editor was Elliot Thompson, and he always does a great job for me. The production sound mixer Oscar Grau did a phenomenal job of capturing everything at all moments. There was no MOS (picture without sound). He recorded everything and he gave us a lot of great production effects. The production dialogue was tricky because in many of the scenes young Otis isn't wearing a shirt and there are no lav mics on him. Oscar used plant mics and booms and captured it all.
What was the most challenging scene for sound design on Honey Boy?
The opening, the intro and the montage right up front were the most challenging. We recut the sound for Alma several different ways. She was great and always had moments of inspiration. We'd try different approaches and the sound would always get better, but we were on a time crunch and it was difficult to get all of those elements in place in the way she was looking for.
Honey Boy on the mix stage at Sony's Kim Novak Theater.
In the opening, you hear the sound of this mega-massive robot (an homage to a certain film franchise that Shia has been part of in the past, wink, wink). You hear those sounds coming up over the production cards on a black screen. Then it cuts to adult Otis standing there as we hear this giant laser gun charging up. Otis goes, "No, no, no, no, no…" in that quintessential Shia LaBeouf way.
Then, there's a montage over Missy Elliott's "My Struggles," and the footage goes through his career. It's a music video montage with sound effects, and you see Otis on set and off set. He's getting sick, and then he's stuck in a harness, getting arrested in the movie and then getting arrested in real life. The whole thing shows how his life is a blur of film and reality.
What was the biggest challenge in regards to the mix?
The most challenging aspect of the mix, on Will [Files]'s side of the board, was getting those monsters in the pocket. Will had just come off of Venom and Halloween so he can mix these big, huge, polished sounds. He can make these big sound effects scenes sound awesome. But for this film, we had to find that balance between making it sound polished and "Hollywood" while also keeping it in the realm of indie film.
There was a lot of back and forth to dial-in the effects, to make it sound polished but still with an indie storytelling feel. Reel one took us two days on stage to get through. We even spent some time on it on the last mix day as well. That was the biggest challenge to mix.
The rest of the film is more straightforward. The challenge on dialogue was to keep it sounding dynamic instead of smoothed out. A lot of Shia's performance plays in the realm of vocal dynamics. We didn't want to make the dialogue lifeless. We wanted to have the dynamics in there, to keep the performance alive.
We mixed in Atmos and panned sounds into the ceiling. I took a lot of the composer's stems and remixed those in Atmos, spreading all the cues out in a pleasant way and using reverb to help glue it together in the environment.
The Death of Dick Long
Let's look at another Sundance film you've worked on this year. The Death of Dick Long is part of the Next category. What were director Daniel Scheinert's initial ideas for the role of sound on this film?
Daniel Scheinert always shows up with a lot of sound ideas, and most of those were already in place because of picture editor Paul Rogers from Parallax Post (which is right down the hall from our studio Unbridled Sound). Paul and all the editors at Parallax are sound designers in their own right. They'll give me an AAF of their Adobe Premiere session and it'll be 80 tracks deep. They're constantly running down to our studio like, "Hey, I don't have this sound. Can you design something for me?" So, we feed them a lot of sounds.
We played with the bug sounds the most. They shot in Alabama, where both Paul and Daniel are from, so there were a lot of cicadas and bugs. It was important to make the distinction of what the bugs sounded like in the daytime versus what they sounded like in the afternoon and at night. Paul did a lot of work to make sure that the balance was right, so we didn't want to mess with that too much. We just wanted to support it. The backgrounds in this film are rich and full.
This film is crazy. It opens up with a Creed song and ends with a Nickleback song, as a sort of a joke. They wanted to show a group of guys that never really made much of themselves. These guys are in a band called Pink Freud, and they have band practice.
The film starts with them doing dumb stuff, like setting off fireworks and catching each other on fire — just messing around. Then it cuts to Dick (Daniel Scheinert) in the back of a vehicle and he's bleeding out. His friends just dump him at the hospital and leave. The whole mystery of how Dick dies unfolds throughout the course of the film. The two main guys are Earl (Andre Hyland) and Zeke (Michael Abbott, Jr.).
The Foley on this film — provided by Foley artist John Sievert of JRS Productions — plays a big role. Often, Foley is used to help us get in and out of the scene. For instance, the police are constantly showing up to ask more questions and you hear them sneaking in from another room to listen to what's being said. There's a conversation between Zeke and his wife Lydia (Virginia Newcomb) and he's asking her to help him keep information from the police. They're in another room but you hear their conversation as the police are questioning Dick Long's wife, Jane (Jess Weixler).
We used sound effects to help increase the tension when needed. For example, there's a scene where Zeke is doing the laundry and his wife calls saying she's scared because there are murderers out there, and he has to come and pick her up. He knows it's him but he's trying to play it off. As he is talking to her, Earl is in the background telling Zeke what to say to his wife. As they're having this conversation, the washing machine out in the garage keeps getting louder and it makes that scene feel more intense.
Director Daniel Scheinert (left) and Puddle relaxing during the mix.
"The Dans" — Scheinert and Daniel Kwan — are known for Swiss Army Man. That film used sound in a really funny way, but it was also relevant to the plot. Did Scheinert have the same open mind about sound on The Death of Dick Long? Also, were there any interesting recording sessions you'd like to talk about?
There were no farts this time, and it was a little more straightforward. Manchester Orchestra did the score on this one too, but it's also more laid back.
For this film, we really wanted to depict a rural Alabama small-town feel. We did have some fun with a few PA announcements, but you don't hear those clearly. They're washed out. Earl lives in a trailer park, so there are trailer park fights happening in the background to make it feel more like Jerry Springer. We had a lot of fun doing that stuff. Sound effects editor Danielle Price cut that scene, and she did a really great job.
What was the most challenging aspect of the sound design on The Death of Dick Long?
I'd say the biggest things were the backgrounds, engulfing the audience in this area and making sure the bugs feel right. We wanted to make sure there was off-screen movement in the police station and other locations to give them all a sense of life.
The whole movie was about creating a sense of intensity. I remember showing it to my wife during one of our initial sound passes, and she pulled the blanket over her face while she was watching it. By the end, only her eyes were showing. These guys keep messing up and it's stressful. You think they're going to get caught. So the suspense that the director builds in — not being serious but still coming across in a serious manner — is amazing. We were helping them to build that tension through backgrounds, music and dropouts, and pushing certain everyday elements (like the washing machine) to create tension in scenes.
What scene in this film best represents the use of sound?
I'd say the laundry scene. Also, in the opening scene you hear the band playing in the garage and the perspective slowly gets closer and closer.
During the film's climax, when you find out how Dick dies, we're pulling down the backgrounds that we created. For instance, when you're in the bedroom you hear their crappy fan. When you're in the kitchen, you hear the crappy compressor on the refrigerator. It's all about playing up these "bad" sounds to communicate the hopelessness of the situation they are living in.
I want to shout out all of my sound editors for their exceptional work on The Death of Dick Long. There was Jacob "Young Thor" Flack and Elliot Thompson, and Danielle Price who did amazing backgrounds. Also, a shout out to Ian Chase for help on the mix. I want to make sure they share the credit.
I think there needs to be more recognition of the contribution of sound and the sound departments on a film. It's a subject that needs to be discussed, particularly in these somber days following the death of Oscar-winning re-recording mixer Gregg Rudloff. He was the nicest guy ever. I remember being an intern on the sound stage and he always took the time to talk to us and give us advice. He was one of the good ones.
When post sound gets a credit after the caterers' on-set, it doesn't do us justice. On Swiss Army Man, initially I had my own title card because The Dans wanted to give me a title card that said, "Supervising Sound Editor Brent Kiser," but the Directors Guild took it away. They said it wasn't appropriate. Their reasoning is that if they give it to one person then they'll have to give it to everybody. I get it — the visual effects department is new on the block. They wrote their contract knowing what was going on, so they get a title card. But try watching a film on mute and then talk to me about the importance of sound. That needs to start changing, for the sheer fact of burnout and legacy.
At the end of the day, you worked so hard to get these projects done. You're taking care of someone else's baby and helping it to grow up to be this great thing, but then we're only seen as the hired help. Or, we never even get a mention. There is so much pressure and stress on the sound department, and I feel we deserve more recognition for what we give to a film.
Jennifer Walden is a New Jersey-based audio engineer and writer. Follow her on Twitter @audiojeney
This entry was posted in Audio, Audio Mixing, Sound Design, Sundance and tagged Dolby Atmos, Sony Pictures Post Production on February 6, 2019 by Randi Altman.


Never succumb to beige!
Tag: opinion
Who will COP the flack if our leaders can't agree?
Published on November 3, 2021 by Frances ManwaringLeave a comment
With Cop26 underway, how do you feel? I'm a bit jittery — it's so important, and I find myself moving from upbeat optimism to pessimistic defeatism in the space of a nano-second. After all, what are the odds that this Conference of Parties will ultimately achieve more than exhaling a lot of hot air?
And yet they must, while the rest of us sit it out, holding our collective breath. The alternative is unthinkable. We, humans, are an increasingly fractious and divergent bunch. We squabble over which statues and people to cancel, 'doing a Nero' and fiddling while our world burns. Imagine how much worse these divisions will become if we don't pull our heads in and find the global will to grasp the nettle and get ourselves off the horns of the climate dilemma.
It's so easy to get disillusioned and question the point of individual action. And yet, every day, so many people and organisations demonstrate that we all can make a difference. We all do what we can as individuals, families, communities. But we need more. We need our global leaders to liberate the genie in the lamp and pull at least one giant rabbit from their magic hats. Where are Harry Potter and his "Expelliarmus" spell when we need them?
Wouldn't it be nice if some high wizard could just wave their wand, utter the magic words, and hey presto, all the bad stuff like Covid and Climate Change, war, famine, and aggro of any sort are sealed back into the contemporary Pandora's box we opened through our carelessness. So far, so good though — it does look like there are a few wins coming through. I'm keeping my fingers well crossed that hope triumphs over experience this time.
Categories Inspiration, Soapbox, Worldview•Tags ClimateChange, COP26, opinion
Do the Covid Shuffle?
Published on June 19, 2020 June 19, 2020 by Frances ManwaringLeave a comment
"Did you have a good lockdown?" the wags are all asking since we moved back to Level 1. As if it really was a war. Maybe it was? Thinking about it, if it was a war, it's still very much alive on many fronts. The phantom menace we're 'fighting' — the pesky Coronavirus — still stalks the earth.
It's still hard to take in. It's as if a fictitious dystopian future has jumped off the page.Life BC seems to have happened in some parallel universe … far, far away. "Unprecedented" they say. Unprecedented, 'they' say a lot. It's le mot du pandemic. The top cliché of our coronavirus times. In these times, our vocabulary has extended — flatten the curve, epidemiology, self-isolation, social distancing and bubble love. 'Quarantinis' replaced martinis for the fashionable set, and the WFM brigade came out of lockdown Zoomed-out, near Zombies reeling from Zoomchosis. You know the drill? All that pacing up and down the living room, head shaking purposelessly from side to side, unfocused eyes looking inward to some analogue paradise of yore.
Coronavirus pushed us to a locked-down standstill. A global pause. Emergency workers diced with death, the rest of us dug in at home and were forced to deal with whatever daily reality home represented. We got creative and entertained each other in profound and emotionally charged ways. We laughed We cried. We grieved. We rejoiced. We lost our jobs. We worried about our jobs. Our businesses. We valued things we didn't before. We applauded new heroes. We teared-up as plucky, indomitable Major Tom shuffled his Zimmer-framed way back and forward across his garden earning staggering amounts for the British National Health Service. Those of us who could, counted our blessings.
We did the COVID Shuffle. That excruciating manoeuvre as you step off the pavement to maintain the requisite distance from an approaching person or bubble, whilst simultaneously smiling like the Cheshire Cat and offering hearty greetings to avoid causing offence. Also, to have a precious moment of human connection.
It's a bleak time for the party animals in our midst — "introverts, your extrovert friends need your help" was one of the more entertaining and ironic truths coming through from the meme land. Life in the time of Lockdown was also something of a bonfire of the vanities. What's the point blinging-up a storm to sit at home? Actually, I did smear a bit of make-up around most days — Zoom has a certain motivating quality on that score. Occasionally ditched the leggings for a skirt, or even a dress.
But hey, we succeeded. We flattened the pesky curve. For an intoxicating number of consecutive days, no cases at all — existing, new or prospective. "FOR NOW!" said our Prime Minister, another hero of the moment. Jacindamania isn't only a New Zealand phenomenon. I know Aussies who've asked her to invade and spare them from the bigoted, climate denying MAN they're lumbered with. How right she was as we now three new cases delivered to our doorstep by returning residents. This was always likely and wouldn't be too troublesome if the border quarantine procedures hadn't turned out to be a monster cockup. Jacinda and her plucky little team of five mission are now royally pissed at whatever 'them' was responsible. We've all eaten our greens and done what we've been told at … er … unprecedented cost. Why should other people be allowed to break curfew, even on compassionate grounds? Hey, ho, it is what is.
So, on reflection, it has been a sort of is a war. For more than two months, we sequestered ourselves in our home shelters while the Coronavirus sent its silent but deadly aerosols into our communities and ravaged our economy. Many of us wondered what will be left when the dust settles. For now, we Kiwis have won a battle, but the war itself rages on around the world and the breakout this week shows how easily we could get sucked back in. But it's not just the pandemic. As we navel-gazed our way through the Lockdown fog, pondering the meaning of life the universe and everything, for even the most fervent deniers, it was hard to ignore the inconvenient truth that our planet and our lives are globally and intimately linked. And that our certainties can be upended in a heartbeat. We now understand in a visceral and undeniable way that there are bigger and deadlier risks on the horizon if we don't dramatically shift our values, and how we live, spend and consume.
Countries are struggling to meet their sustainability commitments. People are worried — time is not our friend. It's as if the Coronavirus has swept the lid off a contemporary Pandora's Box and out has poured the sickness, death and other evils which have blighted the world while we watch the horror unfold with horror and incredulity in real-time on our devices. The gap between the super-rich and everyone else yawns like a gaping chasm that can't be bridged. Extreme weather events get more extreme. It seems as if we're fiddling while the Outback burns.
We make pacts with our higher powers that the future will be better. That sustainability won't be thrown out with the bathwater. We talk about "the new normal" as if it's a point in time we are waiting to arrive at. But there's no pre-ordination involved. The new normal is a blank canvas waiting for our artist's brush. The only question is what do we paint? Will it be a beautiful harmonious landscape? A primal scream? A world where no-one is left behind? I'm putting my money on the latter.
Crises serve up latitude to break moulds. To change the status quo. Shock allows for more shock. We've been through so much, what's a little more if it turns this moment to benefit? As New York Times opinion writer Charlie Warzel put it, "Right now, in the midst of a series of cascading, intersecting crises (racial and economic inequality, climate change, mass unemployment, a pandemic) what's possible feels more of an open-question than any other moment in recent times."
My sudden addiction to The Chase during Lockdown, did kick up a useful piece of trivia. Pandora's Box didn't only contain all the bad stuff. It also held Hope and we need Hope to soar around the world and work its magic. With hope loose in the world, I'm backing us humans to open our minds to the possible and make all the sacrifice mean something.
Categories Soapbox, Uncategorized•Tags Coronavirus, Covid-19, humour, life, lockdown, opinion, Pandemic, philosophy
May we not live in interesting times
Published on November 17, 2019 November 17, 2019 by Frances Manwaring3 Comments
I'm sure you know the expression "may you live in interesting times". This is sometimes referred to as 'the Chinese Curse'. On the surface, it seems to be a positive wish, it's typically used ironically with the "interesting" bit referring to moments when there is disorder and conflict rather than peace and stability. I should point out here that the cultural appropriation appears to be … er … not cultural … as there is apparently no known equivalent translation in Chinese.
Anyway, I'd say we're certainly living in interesting times. In fact, you could likely put up an argument these are the most interesting times ever. In the proverbial sense, it doesn't get much more interesting than the prospect of cataclysmic climate change that we're facing, not to mention the seismic shifts going on in politics around the world.
In this sense, my last couple of months could also be described as "interesting". I've been to three conferences focussed on sustainability and social justice issues, joined 40,000 others who marched to our Parliament building in Wellington's Climate Strike, learned a useful new word, Zweckpessimismus, and sung in a big production of Carl Orff's immortal and highly bawdy Carmina Burana. You might struggle to see the connections, but 'bear with' …
With the exception of singing Carmina, which was tremendous, the common denominator linking the other threads was how easy it would be to get cynical and lose hope in the face of all the issues. For sure, the various conferences dished up some inspiring instances of people who clearly give a lot of damns doing amazing things, they also underscored a few home truths. While a lot of it was stuff I already knew, such as the awful state of our oceans with all that plastic choking the life out of everything in them and the shame of places like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, it's still shocking to listen to researchers who've seen these horrors up close and personal and measured the impact. I knew it was bad, but the scale is staggering. And that's just the oceans!
I was a bit depressed at the end of this run of events, wondering if it really is possible for us to get the lid back on the Pandora's Box we've opened. Wondering why so many people are still in denial that it actually exists, let alone has been opened? Then I came across the concept of Zweckpessimismus which helped me understand why so many of us seem transfixed like deer in the headlights, unable to pull their heads out of the sand.
Zweckpessimismus is one of those complicated German compounds which translates as something like pessimism on purpose. In other words, the attitude of expecting the worst in order to feel relief when the worst doesn't happen. This is undoubtedly one way of coping in a very uncertain world, but it seems like the sort of self-fulfilling prophecy that we should avoid like the plague. Surely, we should be going hard out for the opposite — what can go right will go right?
Zweckpessimists, with their doomsday thinking are actually dangerous in these super-intersting times when we need hope and optimism above everything else. While it might be a wonderful feeling when you have expected the worst and it doesn't happen, it is pushing out a form of negative energy that infects others with alarm and fear. Instead, let's pool all the good vibes we can call forth to create an unstoppable wave of positivity to inspire our Simian ingenuity and creativity to find solutions. Perhaps then, the tipping point we seem to be reaching, will skew in the direction of a world we would like to see. Let's opt for uninteresting times and be bored in perpetuity by the serenity of global peace and ecological abundance rather than the dystopian alternative that is the other option.
Coming back to performing Carmina Burana. It was a true celebration of what people can achieve in harmony. Without blowing my own trumpet (both puns intended), it was a great night. Close to 2,000 people — audience and all the performers — left the concert on a high. This high — a palpable energy buzzing around the auditorium connecting us all — stayed with me long after the strains of the music were done. I hope that is true for others who were there. If we could always feel this way, how amazing would our lives be? Imagine the transformation that would follow if every Zweckpessimist out there expected the best instead of the worst. Someone should coin a word for that!
Categories Inspiration, Uncategorized, Worldview•Tags Carmina Burana, climate change, human nature, Inspiration, life, opinion, viewpoint
Counterfeit World?
Published on August 25, 2019 November 17, 2019 by Frances ManwaringLeave a comment
Haven't written a post for some time. When I turned 60 in March I came over all introspective and had an unaccountable urge to start writing my auto-biography. This was all going quite well until I got into a funk about how much of my life and times I actually want to share … honestly … and so I 'pivoted' (the moniker the start-up community apply to a whopping change of direction) and am now a funk-free zone.
However, today I read an article that actually made me get my blog groove back on. The article was about the fact that for several years, a number of the (credible) scientific community around the world have been testing the possibility that we are part of a simulated world. Oh great, another fear to be factored into the growing list. To be sure, this is not at all a new concept. In the seventies, I can remember reading sci-fi books like Counterfeit World (or Simulacron-3 as it was published, for some unaccountable reason, in some places) written by Daniel F Galouye in 1964.
Counterfeit World featured a total environment simulator created by a scientist to advance market research by reducing the need for opinion polls. The world's inhabitants are unaware they are only electronic impulses in a computer. As the story unfolds, the protagonist progressively grasps that his world is likely not "real" and struggles with inchoate madness brought on by this realisation. Well, you would wouldn't you? Things get pretty nasty before they get better as the 'gods' controlling his 'world' try to keep the lid on their unravelling experiment. I wonder if this fab little book provided inspiration for the spine-chilling gold standard for simulated worlds, The Matrix (1999)?
While I don't actually believe that we are part of a simulated world, the fact remains that computer simulation has become a norm, even if we aren't yet capable of creating actual populated worlds. As the article points out, since the 90s, computer simulations have been set up to try to get answers to Big Questions. Questions like "What causes war?", "How will climate change affect global migration?" and "Which political systems are most stable?" Does anyone else wish someone would answer the biggest question "How do I win Lotto? … and please, I want more than the standard "Buy a ticket".
As things stand though, computers aren't really up to the job of mimicking the extraordinary complexity of our world. Or, at least, not very well. Anyone hear the "yet" hovering at the end of this sentence. I'm open to believing that someday they might be. That it's not beyond the realms of possibility that they could achieve a state of sophistication where they could create simulations of people in computer code who are to all intents and purposes just like you and me in the way they think and behave. Scary shit huh? But there are people out there — and not just ANY old people, people with the sort of credentials that give them a seat at the table — who think this may already have happened, that we actually are living in a computer simulation created by a more advanced civilisations.
As far back as 2003, the philosopher Nick Bostrom suggested that if you can believe that we might one day be running many simulations from an anthropological point of view to better understand our ancestors and the history of our civilisation, it is logical that we are living in one of them right now. And why would that be? According to Bostrom, "If people eventually develop simulation technology — no matter how long that takes — and if they're interested in creating simulations of their ancestors, then simulated people with experiences just like ours will vastly outnumber un-simulated people."
This would mean that our current world could then just be one of many because any anthropologist historian wishing to get beyond The Age of Empires as a way of understanding the rise and fall of civilisations will make many simulations involving millions or even billions of people to assess all the possible scenarios. As tainted genius Elon Musk sees it, "the odds that we are NOT simulations are one in billions."
While this sounds like so much more conspiracy bollocks, since 2012, at least some members of the scientific community have been testing Bostrom's thinking, including a bunch of physicists at the University of Washington. I'm no conspiracy theorist and I'm too lazy to try and decode how they are going about the testing — and why bother? After all, if we are living in a simulation or controlled experiment, ignorance has to be bliss.
The sinister aspect to testing whether we are indeed a simulation and actually proving that we are, is that if we knew for sure we are living in our own counterfeit world, we would become pointless to our controllers and they would likely end the experiment. It's like when new drugs are tested for efficacy. It's important that the patients involved don't actually now whether they're on the drug or taking a placebo. If they find out, the trial loses its point and will be cancelled. As Green calls it, a 'simulation shutdown' would occur and then what would become of us.? I'd say, whatever the truth, let sleeping dogs lie!
Categories Worldview•Tags conspiracy theories, humour, life, Nature, opinion, viewpoint
Wag the (alien) dog?
Published on February 17, 2019 August 25, 2019 by Frances ManwaringLeave a comment
I just read a wonderful hypothesis outlining a genius way of mitigating the threat of global warming. The hypothesis is that we need to invent a new and super-scary existential threat — like aliens threatening to annihilate the world if we don't instantly come up with a convincing plan for drastically cutting emissions. Think about it for a moment, it's a perfect concept!
The central tenet of this inspired piece of thinking is that we need a total "re-imagining" of the world political order. That business as usual just won't cut it if we are to do enough, quickly enough. While that's not exactly visionary — I could have come up with that bit — I wouldn't in my wildest dreams have imagined inventing a threat from some green-minded ETs to get us fully focussed on the important stuff. As far as I am aware, this let's pretend it's aliensthat are causing all the problems thing is genuine blue sky thinking by NY Times OpEd writer Farhad Manjoo.
But why on earth (pun intended) would we do that? Well, according to the marvellously creative Mr. Manjoo, our current reality of fake news, alternative facts and outright, barefaced lying opens the door to bending the truth for the greater good. Let's face it, playing 'let's pretend' for something of paramount importance would be a refreshing take on the now seemingly acceptable art of the untruth.
In Manjoo's Wag the Dog scenario (by the way if you haven't seen this marvellous Hoffman/De Niro black comedy about a spin doctor and a Hollywood producer who fabricate a war to distract voters from a presidential sex scandal, you really should — it's hilarious) the threat of an alien invasion is the lever to get humanity off its collective arse and working together to save it's collective bacon. Imagine if you will, the world receives a tweet from the alien leader "We will boil your planet alive. Only a carefully designed plan for cutting and capturing emissions will save you now, suckers!" It might be a bit of a stretch that said alien leader has such a good command of the English vernacular. Maybe she was equipped with one of those Babel Fish so useful to travellers in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? You know the ones, when played in your ear, these clever fish will live there and translate any form of language for you. Yup, I believe everything I read.
All joking aside, we humans have always been stellar at responding to external threats. We're not so flash at changing our own behaviours, particularly if it means trading off some of our comforts and taking decisions that will hit our wallets. But seeing off a threat from potentially "murderous aliens" to save the planet might just galvanise us.As Manjoo says, "Even for people who do believe in global warming, pretending that aliens are attacking the earth accomplishes a neat mental trick. It helps to frame the scope of the threat — civilizational, planet-encompassing — while also suggesting how we might respond: immediately, collectively and for as long as it takes."
And it could work! All you have to do is consider the hysteria that broke out in the US on October 30, 1938, when a 62-minute radio dramatisationof The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells (confusingly produced and narrated by Orson Welles) was broadcast. Apparently even people who had never heard Welles reading the HG Wells story about invading Martians wielding deadly heat-rays later claimed to have been terrified. Welles used simulated on-the-scene radio reports ostensibly by the military and air force about aliens advancing on New York City to pep up the story. According to popular myth, thousands of New Yorkers fled their homes in panic, with swarms of terrified citizens crowding the streets in different American cities to catch a glimpse of a "real space battle". While this over-reaction has lately been outed as largely urban myth it's not hard to imagine something similar happening in our current reality. I'm thinking about the arsenals of special effects available to film makers that could achieve genuine mass hysteria and harness it for good. Sadly, it's also totally imaginable that we could harness it for worse, but let's give humanity the benefit of the doubt here and assume we'd do the right thing.
OK so this is just fantasy, but it's the most engaging solution I've read so far. Let's face it, if we hit or exceed two degrees further warming, the scale of potential devastation will be catastrophic. This is not something even progressive governments can tackle in isolation, however well-meaning. Mitigating climate change is no longer just one item on a governmental 'to do' list. If we don't act now, it will become the only thing that matters a damn. The build a wall thinking, the isolationist 'dwarfs are for dwarfs' ignorance imaged in C S Lewis's Narnia finale The Last Battleunderpinning MAGA and, slightly differently, BREXIT, will be patent nonsense in the face of what is to come. Go aliens — pretend or otherwise — save us from ourselves.
P.S. Farhad Manjoo's articleis entertaining and (by my way of thinking) totally on the money if you have a few minutes to spare.
Categories Soapbox•Tags aliens, climate change, fake news, global warming, humour, opinion, War of the Worlds
Statements of the bleeding obvious #201: Nice doctors really do make a difference!
Published on January 29, 2019 January 29, 2019 by Frances ManwaringLeave a comment
It's amazing how many times what's billed as breakthrough new research really just confirms what we already understand from experience. Stuff like the fact that singing is good for us and can prolong our lives. That dogs and other animals lift the spirits of long-term hospital patients … as well as mostly everyone else. That laughter is infectious. That lovesickness is a genuine state.
OK, so we're in an era where it's possible and considered desirable to research esoteric and non-fundamental subjects. I'm cool with that — non-fundamental subjects like these actually make a lot of difference to our daily lives bringing cheer and happiness, often in dark times. So providing evidence that they really do achieve what we intuitively feel they do is fab … even if the headlines they provoke seem more like statements of the bleeding obvious than radical insights into the human psyche.
It most definitely is good to know that singing regularly could prolong my life — I do enough of it after all. It's a bonus to know that, as well as the immediate buzz from opening your larynx and letting rip, it's a gift that keeps on giving in the all-of-life context. Also great to know empirically that my love of animals — near obsession it has to be said — is healthy. That bringing animals into hospitals is genuinely therapeutic and can bring comfort to people in pain or despair. Who hasn't ever listened to a friend break out into a great belly laugh and been been compelled to laugh too? Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone … so true. And love sickness? Well, it's been a while since Apollo fired an arrow into my tender heart and catalysed all the turbulent symptoms I described in an earlier blog You Make Me Sick! But I haven't forgotten the visceralality of it all — there's no question in my mind, it's a lurg just as debilitating as a fluey cold.
At the weekend, I read another about one of these completely unsurprising research findings. Can A Nice Doctor Make Treatments More Effective? Well dear reader, if you were in any doubt on this count, according to new research by Stamford University in the US, having a doctor who is warm and reassuring actually improves your health. REALLY? Who knew? Most of us I would have thought. I found this astonishing non-news in weekly round up of good news from the New York Times. It's full of great stories and I love it.
Last week comes Romeo the Sehuencas water frog to my inbox. Romeo is a very rare creature. He was thought to be the last of his type. No Juliet to be found anywhere, let alone on 'yonder balcony'. Day after endless day, sad Romeo croaked out "Juliet, Juliet, wherefore art thou Juliet?" from his home in a Bolivian museum. Actually what he said was, "ribbet, ribbet, ribbet …" but where's the poetry in that? Cutting to the chase, biologists had pretty much given up their search in the remote and inaccessible areas of Bolivia where said Juliet might have been found. Then behold! There she was. Juliet the miracle frog — a potential mate for our lonesome hero. Being the only two Sequencas water frogs in existence, it was set to be a fine romance and I'd love to be able to say, "and they both lived happily ever after". But even for a frog with only one possible mate, the chemistry still has to be right. Imagine the pressure! Without mincing words, would you be prepared to shag some random stranger to preserve our species? Fine if it's George Clooney. Not so fine if … well, the list is endless. But then again, unlike Romeo, no one I know is faced with the decision to take one for the future of our species and it's easy to be precious when we're in no imminent danger of extinction … unless we keep messing with our natural habitat that is. All joking aside, a lot is riding on our precious frog prince. Let's hope the chemistry is there and they soon start producing copious numbers of wee froglets to perpetrate their froggy line.
But back to nice doctors. Apparently the simple things a doctor says to you can have an impact on your health outcomes. Even a brief reassurance can relieve symptoms faster. The reassurance is more efficacious when it's said in a kindly manner rather than barked out as a "you'll be fine" afterthought when you leave the surgery. You can't quite get away from the fact that the doctor has to be skilled and competent as well as nice. However, most of us have been on the receiving end of one of those grumpy types whose you mistake me for someone who cares demeanour is more likely to cause you to lose the will to live altogether than get well. Their cool indifference renders you as articulate as … well .. a frog .. when you try to describe the pain that was giving you hell until it magically disappeared nano-seconds after you made the appointment..
Anyway, the conclusion of the research was that doctors who don't connect with their patients my risk undermining a treatment's success. Apparently doctor-patient rapport is much more than the sum of it's feel good parts. It's a important aspect of medical care that significantly affects a patient's physical health. Are you kidding me? It really does feel like a statement of the bleeding obvious that someone who is kind and sympathetic as well as good at their job is likely to achieve a better result.
The article ended by questioning what this means in the brave new world of artificial intelligence. AI opens the possibility of not having to go to the doctor for minor health issues. If interacting with a human being and hearing words of encouragement is part of the cure, this begs the wider question of whether our increasing isolation is actively bad for our health. As the opportunities and need for actually connecting with a fellow human in many aspects of our lives become progressively fewer, what collateral damage are we setting ourselves up for. Romeo the frog couldn't help his plight. We can, and yet we continue to write people out of the script of our lives. When us humans humans actually get together face-to-face is, we open up the possibility for laughter and love. For conviviality and banter. We get to share the good and help each other through the bad times. You don't need to be a Stamford luminary to recognise that gentle and kind connections with other people — Doctors and the rest — are seriously good for our health and unkind, cruel ones are not. Comforting to know this is now "proven by scientists".
Categories Inspiration, Love, Soapbox, Uncategorized•Tags frogs, health, humour, Inspiration, life, opinion, Sehuencas water frog, wellbeing
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Never Succumb to Beige
What if the winner didn't take it all?
Would you trust this man?
An inconvenient wheeze
The surprising seductiveness of slow
Laugh kookaburra, laugh
Ride on the peace train!
Because you don't know what it means to me
Happy New Year … you're under arrest!
Ghosts from Christmases past #2: Hip hip hooray!
Ghosts from Christmases past #1: What a cracker!
Peace on earth and good will to all?
Riding the kindness wave
A good man and true
Smile … an everlasting smile
Thrift — the new black?
Be yourself no matter what they say
Those little joy things
She started it!
Happiness is a warm puppy
You make me sick!
Take your shoes off when you're wiping your feet on me!
A dystopia of demagogues?
Clothes to dye for!
#upshitcreek #nopaddle
All I want for Christmas is …
Stranger in a strange land?
I'm in with the in-crowd
I blame Coco Chanel!
A man's a man for 'a that
Carpe Diem Baby!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder… get it out with Optrex!
About that albatross round your neck
British and Irish Lions 2017 tour — a world in union!
Sing long and prosper!
We don't get fooled again?
Where have you gone Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby?
The malice of a good thing is the barb that makes it stick!
Where's the 'honour' in killing?
I'm sorry, you're not equal!
Sealed with a loving kiss
Forget the worm … this early bird's on a different quest!
What next — locusts?
There will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth!
If you have to go to work before breakfast, have breakfast first
Trump l'oeil!
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A Top 25 Dentist in The Country
Do you know a geriatric senior who needs dental work but can't leave their home? We can help. Serving Manhattan.
Dr. Alisa Kauffman is a top 25 Dentist in the United States
In the dental community, there are a number of patient populations that are considered underserved. Alisa Kauffman, a top 25 dentist, is working to provide care for one of those underserved communities, the elderly. More specifically Kauffman treats geriatric, homebound patients in their homes as well as in nursing homes across New York City. She relishes the opportunity for constant change and movement as well as the opportunity to work in a variety of different and new offices on a daily basis. To some, house call dentistry may seem like a foreign field, but Kauffman has been practicing successfully for the last 29 years. Kauffman is also the Clinical Director of Faculty Practices at The University of Pennsylvania, her alma mater, where she's helped develop the Living Independently For Elders (LIFE) Center within the school of nursing.
"I created this project from the ground up, everything from building out the room to developing the curriculum," Kauffman said. "The LIFE members could virtually have any treatment necessary for them to maintain the best quality of life. This program would also bridge teaching between the disciplines of nursing and dentistry."
In the LIFE program, students rotate on a weekly basis, learning to work in a different environment with different materials and using different instruments that they don't get to try in dental school.
"I show them reality videos that I made of me treating geriatric patients in their apartments and at the LIFE center," she said. "I can tell you that they really are paying attention to them and I know I have inspired a few to become geriatric dentists."
The Life Program has been a force for good in the geriatric community.
Since she first created the LIFE program from the ground up, it has become a very successful project that Kauffman is very proud of. Between all the center has accomplished and the quality dentists it has produced who are now well versed in the ways of geriatric medicine, the LIFE program has been a force for good in the geriatric community.
"I also love the students I mentor and it makes me so happy that they are all becoming so successful," she said. "My advice to my students is to do what you love, and you will never work another day in your life. If you can find that love, you will find happiness at work."
Kauffman is most thankful to her family for the support they've provided to her over the years. Between her parents who always kept her on the right path and encourage her to keep learning and growing, and her husband who is the glue that holds everything in her life together for the past 26 years, Kauffman considers herself very lucky. She also has a daughter whom she is very proud of and who she divines inspiration from daily as a young woman entering adulthood while working to accomplish some very lofty goals.
"I think that the number one thing I've learned from my journey is that I am still on a journey," she said. "I believe in myself and know that there are many achievements and goals that still need to be fulfilled on my work bucket list before I retire."
Dr. Alisa Kauffman teaches caregivers how to perform oral care on those who refuse or are unable to care for their own teeth. Alisa always tells her patients, "we only brush the teeth that we want to keep!"


Home > Global War > Global War 2025 > 3d Printed > U.S.A. > U.S.S. Midway (CV-41) (3d Printed) xONE
U.S.S. Midway (CV-41) (3d Printed) xONE
3d Printed in Light Grey
USS Midway (CVB/CVA/CV-41) is an aircraft carrier, formerly of the United States Navy, the lead ship of her class. Commissioned 8 days after the end of World War II, Midway was the largest ship in the world until 1955, as well as the first U.S. aircraft carrier too big to transit the Panama Canal. She operated for 47 years, during which time she saw action in the Vietnam War and served as the Persian Gulf flagship in 1991's Operation Desert Storm. Decommissioned in 1992, she is now a museum ship at the USS Midway Museum, in San Diego, California, and is the only remaining inactive U.S. aircraft carrier that is not an Essex-class aircraft carrier.
Midway returned to San Francisco Bay Shipyard on 11 February 1966 for a massive modernization (SCB-101.66), which proved expensive and controversial. The flight deck was enlarged from 2.8 to 4 acres (11,300 to 16,200 square metres (122,000 to 174,000 sq ft)), and the angle of the flight deck landing area was increased to 13.5 degrees. The elevators were enlarged, moved, and given almost double the weight capacity. Midway also received new steam catapults, arresting gear, and a centralized air conditioning plant. Cost overruns raised the price of this program from $88 million to US$202 million, and precluded a similar modernization planned for Franklin D. Roosevelt. After Midway was finally recommissioned on 31 January 1970, it was found that the modifications had worsened the ship's seakeeping capabilities and ability to conduct air operations in rough seas, which made further modifications necessary to correct the problem.
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Peacekeeper ICBM (3d Printed) x 5
F-18 Super Hornet (3d Printed) x 5
F-111 Aardvark (3d model) x 5
B-21 Stealth Strategic Bomber (3d model) x ONE
M110 SP Howitzer Artillery (3d Printed) x 5
Gerald R. Ford Class Carrier (3d Printed) xONE
3d Printed > Cold War > United States > Naval
3d Printed > Modern > United States > Naval


Moscow's "tougher response" to Georgia over Abkhazia
A fresh row has erupted between Moscow and Tbilisi over Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia, with Russia accusing its neighbour of provocation – and promising a tougher response.
It follows the arrest of four Russian servicemen by Georgian police last week.
The men were transporting anti-tank rocket-propelled grenades to their camp. Georgia says they acted illegally and the arrest was filmed by Georgia's TV crews.
Now Russia warns its patience is wearing thin. President Dmitry Medevedev said: "We will not allow this type of treatment towards out peacekeepers. They are stationed on Georgian territory in accordance with an international agreement and are performing their mission with dignity and professionalism."
Earlier this week, Russia's military officials were even more specific. General Aleksandr Burutin, First Deputy Chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, said: "The Russian peacekeepers had a right to use weapons. But they practiced restraint to avoid casualties. We cannot guarantee that the servicemen will act as patiently as they did."
The four servicemen have since been released. One of them, Roman Dolgalyov, says the peacekeepers were beaten up and had their weapons taken in what looked like a well-planned ambush.
Russia now wants the confiscated peacekeepers' ammunition and vehicle, calling the incident a criminal attack.
Things heated up again last Wednesday when two explosions rocked a railroad platform in Abkhazia's capital Sukhumi. No one was injured. Meanwhile, a Russian railroad battalion was recently deployed in the breakaway republic to help rebuild the region's infrastructure.
Russian peacekeepers have now been in Abkhazia for the past 14 years. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the region declared its independence from Georgia. A bloody conflict with Tbilisi ended after a UN brokered ceasefire and Russian peacekeepers together with UN observers moved in. But Georgia wants the Russian peacekeepers out and has often accused the Kremlin of plans to annex the territory.


Obituary: James 'Jim' W. Willer, Sr.
By Door County Pulse, Peninsula Pulse – December 22nd, 2016
James "Jim" W. Willer, Sr., 77, of Egg Harbor, and Marco Island, FL, formerly of Brookfield, died Dec. 12, 2016 at his home in Egg Harbor following a battle with cancer.
He was born July 22, 1939 in Richland Center, the son of the late Kurt and Blanche (Berry) Willer. Jim was graduated from Messmer High School in Milwaukee. He founded Willer Tool Corporation in 1970 in Butler, WI. The company continues growth and success as run by his sons and proud to be family operated in Jackson, WI.
On August 27, 2003, he married Mary Ann Moore. Together they have enjoyed their time in Egg Harbor and Marco Island, FL golfing, daily interest and trading in the stock market, and socializing with friends. Jim had been active and participated in the Egg Harbor Lions Club projects over the years and the Marco Island Moose Lodge #1990 and Hideaway Beach Marco Island.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Ann Willer of Egg Harbor and Marco Island; four children, Kathryn (James) Spaude of Grafton, Kurt (Connie) Willer of Hartford, Mary Beth (Rick) Waters of West Bend, Jim Jr. (Karen) Willer of Grafton; twelve grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren; and his brother Gene Willer of Menomonee Falls.
Jim was preceded in death by his parents, Kurt and Blanche Willer; step-son, Brian Bretschneider; two sisters, Colleen and Mary Jane.
A celebration and gathering of family and friends in Jim's honor will be held at Galioto's Twelve21 on Dec. 19.
***Please No Flowers.***
Memorials may be made in Jim's memory for DOOR CANcer, Inc. (P.O. Box 423, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin 54235).
Huehns Funeral Home & Cremation Services in Sturgeon Bay and Mueller Funeral Home & Crematory in Cedarburg are assisting the Willer family with arrangements. Condolences and guestbook signing may be offered at www.huehnsfuneralhome.com and www.muellerfuneralhome.com.
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Frontrunner's Paradise
Texas Longhorns Vs. Sam Houston State: Longhorns Look For Fourth Win
By JP Starkey Nov 23, 2010, 5:09pm CST
Share All sharing options for: Texas Longhorns Vs. Sam Houston State: Longhorns Look For Fourth Win
The Sports Network
By Scott Haynes, Senior College Basketball Editor
FACTS & STATS: Site: Frank Erwin Center (16,734) -- Austin, Texas. Television: LSN. Home Record: Sam Houston St. 2-0, Texas 2-0. Away Record: Sam Houston St. 0-0, Texas 0-0. Neutral Record: Sam Houston St. 0-0, Texas 1-1. Conference Record: Sam Houston St. 0-0, Texas 909. Series Record: Texas leads, 11-2.
Coming off a strong showing in the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer, the 20th-ranked Texas Longhorns return home to play host to instate foe Sam Houston State this evening.
Rick Barnes' Longhorns almost took home the tournament title in New York City last week, knocking off then 13th-ranked Illinois (90-84 OT) in the semifinals and then narrowly losing to fifth-ranked Pittsburgh (68-66) in the championship game. The loss to the Panthers was the first on the year for Texas, which jumped into the top-25 nevertheless. The team will try once again to help Barnes earn his 500th career victory.
Sam Houston State has yet to taste defeat on the young season, having made light work of both Mary Hardin-Baylor (72-47) and Northwestern Oklahoma State (90-68). Needless to say, Texas represents a huge leap in competition for the BearKats.
This is the 14th meeting in this series, with Texas winning 11 of the previous 13 matchups, including a 122-71 rout in the last meeting in 2003.
The BearKats shot over 50 percent from the floor in both the first and second half and finished at 53 percent overall, in routing NW Oklahoma State last time out. All five starters finished in double figures and six total for SHSU. Gilberto Clavell led the way with a huge game in the paint, finishing with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Lance Pevehouse followed with 15 points, while Antuan Bootle (12 pts), Josten Crow (11 pts), Nafis Richardson (11 pts) and Drae Murray (10 pts) were all heard from as well at the offensive end. Murray joined Clavell with a double-double of his own, dishing out 11 assists and turning the ball over just twice in 31 minutes of action. After just two games, Clavell (17.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg) and Crow (16.0 ppg. 10.0 rpg) have proved to be a formidable tandem in the frontcourt. Pevehouse (11.0 ppg) has provided some perimeter balance.
The Longhorns certainly proved they belonged with the big boys at Madison Square Garden last week, as they took the fifth-ranked Panthers to the brink, before dropping a two-point affair. Sophomore Jordan Hamilton certainly had a strong outing, hitting five three-pointers en route to a career-high 28 points, while adding a team-high eight rebounds as well. J'Covan Brown finished with 14 points, while freshman Tristan Thompson chipped in with 11 points and six boards. Texas possesses an impressive young nucleus with Hamilton (24.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and Thompson (15.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg) leading the way. Senior forward Gary Johnson (13.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg) completes a potent frontcourt for the Longhorns. As a whole, Texas has shown the ability to dominate at both ends of the floor, boasting of a +16.5 scoring margin. The team is averaging 82.0 ppg on .460 shooting, while allowing just 65.5 on well under 40 percent accuracy from the field (.358).
These are two of the winningest programs in the state of Texas over the last few seasons, but that won't prevent Texas from winning a lopsided affair here. The Longhorns are much better than anticipated and should have little trouble getting Barnes his 500th career win at home tonight.
Longhorns Cruise Past Sam Houston State 84-50
Texas Rolls Past Sam Houston State 84-50
Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.


Iran not the only country subjected to US pressure campaign: Rouhani
Press TV – President Hassan Rouhani says Iran is not the only nation that is bearing the brunt of the economic woes caused by the US pressure campaign.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Rouhani referred to his meetings with world leaders that took place on the sidelines of the Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019 last week and said, "In a four-way forum, participated by Iran, Malaysia, Turkey and Qatar, we realized that other countries are also experiencing difficulties in their interactions with the US."
The leader of one of the participating states, President Rouhani recounted, talked about the weapons his country had purchased from the US and the problems they were now facing in procuring spare parts, because the Americans were demanding several times the actual price of those weapons for maintenance services.
The Iranian chief executive also noted that there was consensus among several participants in the Kuala Lumpur Summit on the need for ditching the dollar.
"Cryptocurrency and exchanges of national currencies and gold were among the issues raised at the summit, and the four aforementioned countries agreed to find ways" to promote those mechanisms, Rouhani said.
The problems currently facing the Iranian nation are more or less similar to those the other states are grappling with, he pointed out, stressing that all countries, including those that took part in the Kuala Lumpur Summit, blame the US for the pressure campaign on the Iranian nation.
"Nobody has doubts about the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran has completely fulfilled its commitments and taken steps within the framework of regional and global peace, stability and security," Rouhani said, adding that "It is the opposite side that has violated its obligations."
He was referring to Tehran's commitments under a nuclear deal it signed in 2015 with the P5+1 group of states — comprising the United States, the UK, France, Russia, and China plus Germany.
In May 2018, the US unilaterally withdrew from the deal that had been endorsed by the UN Security Council Resolution 2231.
Since then, the administration of President Donald Trump has unleashed the "toughest ever" sanctions against Tehran, notably targeting its key oil exports.
Washington's JCPOA exit and subsequent re-imposition of sanctions against Tehran have left the future of the historic agreement in limbo.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani expressed Iran's readiness to hold talks with the P5+1 countries if they show their resolve to fulfill their commitments and attempt to make up for their past mistakes.
Both Iran and Japan, he emphasized, have put forth proposals in that regard.
Hassan Rouhani, Kuala Lumpur Summit, US pressure campaign, US sanctions against Iran	December 25, 2019
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Keeping the Maltese culture in San Francisco alive: A…
Keeping the Maltese culture in San Francisco alive: A history, a community, and a call for support
Albert Galea Monday, 9 December 2019, 14:41 Last update: about 2 months ago
Sitting some 15 miles south of San Francisco, Millbrae is in many ways a typical American suburban town. However, there are hints of things which set it apart from other such towns; subtle hints such as small stickers of flags and plaques indicating the origin of family names.
Most striking, and perhaps even most out of place however, is a large piece of rock. Adorned with intricately carved patterns and sitting outside the Town Hall, the rock is accompanied by a plaque which explains that it was once part of the Mosta parish church, some 6,700 miles away.
Millbrae is in fact paired with Mosta – they are sister cities. This owes to the fact that among its 21,000 or so strong population, Millbrae is home to a significant community of Maltese emigrants – a community which is also pockmarked across nearby San Bruno and the marvelous city of San Francisco.
Tucked away just off the main road which passes through Millbrae is an average looking small office block, no more than two storeys, and with signs and service adverts leaning against the full length glass panel that runs across its side. Again, standing out from these is the seal of the Republic of Malta. However, it is not until one enters the building, walks down the main, wood-lined hallway and enters one of the office doors that they find out the reason for this seal's presence.
Indeed, nested at the back of the office of the Millbrae Chamber of Commerce is a small room. "You are now on Maltese territory", Louis Vella says with a smile as he takes his seat behind his desk and under a large, handmade wooden Maltese seal – one of only five ever made.
Despite being halfway across the globe from Malta, Vella isn't technically wrong – his office is one of 13 Honorary Consulates of Malta in the United States, and he is the Honorary Consul for San Francisco and most of the state of California.
His job is essentially to be the bridge between the community in the area and the Maltese government. He can sign off on the power of attorney for a person, help them with renewing or acquiring a Maltese passport, or with acquiring dual citizenship, while also representing the community or even the embassy – which is based six-hours away in Washington DC – in certain matters.
However, where does the Maltese presence in California originate from? It is a well known fact that Malta's emigration history is one which spans across many years and many parts of the globe. California is perhaps one of the more far-flung destinations, but in spite of its location, it has played home to Maltese for over 150 years to the 1850s.
The American West was, back then, something of a lawless state when compared to the continent's east coast. Anybody who dared to venture past the city of St. Louis in Missouri was entering practically lawless territory. However, in the 1850s gold was found in the Californian Mountains, giving rise to the gold rush.
Although there is no physical documentation of them, a number of Maltese were among the thousands who flocked to California in the hope of getting rich off of the gold, Vella explains when asked about the origins of the Maltese community in the state.
Documented evidence however shows that there was definitely a Maltese presence in San Francisco by the end of the nineteenth century, and they were present in the city when a third of it was leveled in the famous earthquake of 1906, Vella explained. The city however recovered, and in 1914 and 1915 the World Expo took place in San Francisco showing the Bay Area was open for business.
In that period there was a thriving Maltese community which was mainly based close to the city's port, Vella explains before adding that they had a linguistic advantage; they may not have had fantastic knowledge of English, but at least it was not a totally foreign language to them like it would be to an Italian or Chinese migrant.
In conjunction with San Francisco's revival, the Maltese Protective Society was founded in 1913. "It was brilliant", Vella says; "In a time when there was a lot of work but with a very low level of safety, meaning that a lot of people got hurt or killed on the job, the society would raise money and step in to help those families whose breadwinner could not work anymore".
In essence, the Maltese already had a social security system before the actual social security system was even created, Vella says. The Protective Society became the Maltese-American Social Club in November 1929, just over 90 years ago, and it became a one-stop shop for the Maltese community; one could find a job, a partner, a church close by, and everything else that may have been needed through the club, Vella explains. "It was a thriving community", he says.
The influx of Maltese migrants came in the years that followed the Second World War, Vella said, however as other destinations such as Australia and Canada began to open up to Maltese, owing to them being in the Commonwealth, immigration from Malta to the States started to decrease earlier than it did to other destinations.
In spite of this, there are still a number of Maltese youths coming to San Francisco, primarily to work in the IT industry, Vella says, although he notes that this is not something of a renewed influx.
The Maltese-American Social Club is not the only club in the area; today the Maltese Heritage Association, the Maltese Historical Society, the Sister City Commission, and the St. Elizabeth Maltese Society all exist and are supported by the consulate. The Maltese Cross Foundation is another group; it gives out a grant of $4000 every year to children of Maltese descent in order to aid them in their studies.
Keeping Maltese culture alive however has not been easy, Vella says. "There was always a certain nucleus of people which keep it alive, but what they do is done by themselves and only themselves – the help actually coming from Malta is very minimal", he continues before noting that nothing in terms of literature or filmography had ever come from Malta meaning that people had to create thing based on their memories of the island.
The club had started to organize activities such as parades and exhibitions, but this perhaps did not take into account the collective feeling towards Malta that the bulk of those emigrating to San Francisco (and elsewhere) had.
"The people who came here after the war didn't actually have nice memories of Malta. They came from a poor country with no infrastructure and no work, and they wanted to distance themselves from it", Vella explains.
For instance, he says, these families imposed on their children to speak only in English, with the idea here being that they were now in America and must assimilate with their new home.
Most of those who emigrated after the war hailed from the western side of Malta – from then agricultural villages such as Mosta, Mgarr, Rabat, and Mellieha. This meant, Vella explains, that the traditions they brought with them were largely religious.
The population of first generation migrants is however ageing – one gentleman, Joe Chetcuti, recently turned 100 – but Vella has seen that their grandchildren are developing a fascination with Malta.
The second generation of Maltese in America are those who were assimilated into the American way of life by their parents, so they have been somewhat cut off from Malta, Vella explains. It is however their children who, by harnessing technology, are discovering the origins of their parents and grandparents and developing a fascination with Malta.
"We could write a book about this because it is a phenomenon", Vella says.
Aside from this fascination with their roots, these youngsters also have a strong desire for a Maltese passport, Vella says before explaining that this is because of the amount of doors it will open across the pond in Europe.
"The passport is a very strong link in a chain which connects the person to Malta. It ties them to Malta forever. When one of these youngsters stumbles onto something big where they have the chance to invest, that connect can bring investment to the islands and open the doors for their children and grandchildren and those of others", he says.
One of the highlights of the yearly calendar for the Maltese community is Malta Day which takes place on 21st September – coinciding with Malta's Independence Day. This is a day dedicated solely to Malta; the Maltese flag is raised at City Hall while trips into the wine country accompanied by explanations of Maltese history are also organized. A reception which attracts a significant crowd – over 200 people and even double that when a special guest, such as the Prime Minister, is in attendance, also forms part of the celebrations.
"The impetus behind this is that while people here cannot become Maltese, their roots are Maltese and we want them to know where they are coming from and teach them what Maltese culture is about", Vella explains.
"Through Malta Day we try to teach people where they are coming from, and make them proud of being Maltese", he continues.
The Maltese community is also invited to take part in the annual Columbus Day Parade by the Italian community, and they do so in front of over 100,000 people.
This is where, Vella laments, help from an authority such as the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) can come in handy; "if even one couple goes to Malta as a result of the promotion in such an event, then the money spent is injected back into the economy, but there isn't the contact unfortunately".
This is a point which Vella expands upon when asked what he would like to see in the future in terms of support for the Maltese community in San Francisco.
"We would like to see support from entities such as the MTA or Heritage Malta – maybe in terms of finances but also in terms of sending a performer to the area from Malta", he says. He laments that Maltese performers are generally sent to places such as Toronto or New York on the East Coast, but never reach San Francisco on the West Coast.
It is not the case, he says as he recalls a recent example to back his assertion; "last March, for the first time, we managed to bring over the play The Star of Strait Street and to prove that there was the interest, we booked a large auditorium for it – in spite of the fears of the embassy that we would not manage to fill it", he says.
"The auditorium was packed; over 500 people came. The actors were astonished – they said it was the biggest audience they had ever performed the play to…and they've performed in Australia, Canada, and the UK!"
"This shows that there truly is a thirst for these things. But how long can this thirst last if there isn't any help? The wheel sometimes needs an injection to help it spin further, and if it comes from Malta, it will be all the better", he says.
This is perhaps not what Vella wants most however.
"When it comes to America, there is still that certain opinion that those who have left Malta and came here are not Maltese anymore. We are not emigrants – we are Maltese who simply live elsewhere", he says.
"It took a while for people to get used to that phenomenon; until Malta entered the EU and more Maltese moved to Europe. Since they're close enough though, that's fine – for us, who are further, the attitude isn't the same", he laments.
"Should distance separate us from Malta? No. If I am Maltese and living abroad – be it in Luxembourg or in San Francisco – I am still Maltese".
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