Snipsnaphappy: Home Improvement Hero: Patio revamp

I like a challenge me. Which is pretty handy considering the challenges life tends to keep throwing at me.? So entering Moneysupermarket's?Home Improvement Hero challenge was right up my street.? The challenge?? "Improve the appearance or functionality of a room of your choice" in my home.? The catch?? You've can only spend ?50 to do it.

The hardest part was deciding which part of my home would get the improvement.? Then the heatwave arrived and hubby got a new BBQ and I realised our patio was...well...a little neglected...

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Hmmm.? As you can see it was somewhat lacking in...anything at all.? Just a load of old pots, a wonky table and a disused parasol holder (out of a job since a hardy gust of wind dealt with the flimsy parasol that once existed).? A quick scan of eBay revealed that ?50 wasn't going to solve my wonky table problem, though hubby will deal with that once he's finished with all the other jobs in the garden.? But ?50 does go a long way...

Ta da! A far cry from the bleak corner it once was don't you think?? Although unfortunately money cannot change the weather and it was raining by the time I took these "after" shots. Ah well, I feel the bright pink parasol and the pretty candles more than make up for the lack of sun, not to mention the all-important bunting :)

So how does it all add up???This home improvement cost me ?51.54.? And here's the lowdown on where to get all the bits and bobs pictured:

The parasol was ?30 from B&Q, which I think is quite a bargain.? It comes with it's own storage bag in matching pink too so it's easy to store away without it becoming filthy in the shed, or spiders setting up home over winter and falling on your head when you open it up in the spring *shudder*

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The storm lantern was a particular bargain?from Sainsbury's for just ?6! It was half price in the sale and it's pretty big actually. It's VERY sturdy and very smart.? I am extremely pleased with this as I can pop it on my hearth indoors in the winter months.

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The candle in the storm lantern is a must for all crochet/knit/yarn geeks like me.? It has a cable-knit texture.? It was ?5 from Amazon.? You can get all manner of knit effect candles if you search on Amazon, and plenty of other online shops too.

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The jar candle holders were basically free, unless you count the ribbon of course but I had that lying about in my ribbon box.? I tied ribbon and lace around the jars in order to get all rustic and shabby chic, and I think it worked quite well.? I really love the lace one especially.? The crochet one was made by crocheting with crochet thread over a Gu dessert jar.

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The pattern I used as a base for this was?on Ravelry here?and I modified it to fit a short wide jar and added a little shell border to the top.? (A little tip with these crochet jar covers: I always dab some superglue around the top rim to stick the cover in place and make sure it doesn't slip down.)

The plant is fake (fooled you!) from Ikea, as is the white pot (from Ikea, not fake).? The plant was ?6.50, the pot was ?2.25.? This was a particularly good buy as I can use it inside when I am not brightening up the outside! Plus I can't kill it, which is a great advantage for me with plants.

The bunting was made from Bonus DK yarn, ?1.79 a ball from Hobbycraft.? I made this before for Lillia's meadow party and thought I'd make some more for this project.? I made up the pattern and it's very simple really, I can post a tutorial if enough people are interested, just let me know by leaving a comment.

The seat cushions are B&Q value range, I got them for ?4 on eBay and I'm not sure that B&Q do them anymore, but they do similar ones, or you could just make them I guess with some plain fabric and a bit of wadding. But it's the school holidays and quite honestly I don't have the time or energy to whip up pretty cushions whilst I am running around after two little whirlwinds of energy all day, and working too!

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The blanket was dragged outdoors from the sofa where it has been in constant daily use since Lillia's 4th birthday.?

All in all I am delighted with how it all turned out.? We are having a BBQ in two weeks time for some old university friends and all their kids. In our tiny garden in should be interesting fitting everyone in!? But at least the adults will have somewhere nice to congregate and drink pimms whilst the children trample the geraniums and terrorise next door's dog.? Happy days.

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Source: http://snipsnaphappy.blogspot.com/2013/07/home-improvement-hero-patio-revamp.html

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Iran president's inner circle has Western accent

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Just days after Hasan Rouhani's election victory in Iran, his top advisers and allies gathered for a closed-door strategy session at a think tank run by the new president. The group, lugging spread sheets, notes and policy papers, also carried something new into the mix ? an array of degrees from Western universities.

Soon after Rouhani's swearing-in Sunday, he is expected to unveil key members of his government and give more clarity about his behind-the-scenes brain trust. In all likelihood, the core of his team will include figures whose academic pedigrees run through places such as California, Washington and London.

The Western-looking credentials of Rouhani's inner circle are no surprise. Rouhani himself studied in Scotland. What remains unclear, however, is how much they could actually influence Iranian policies and foster potential outreach diplomacy such as direct talks with the U.S. or possible breakthroughs in wider negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program.

"Studying in the West doesn't mean you would make concessions to the West," said Rasool Nafisi, an Iranian affairs analyst at Strayer University in Virginia. "What it does mean is that the level of understanding and ability to pick up nuances are much higher. The next step is seeing how much of that can translate into changes at the top with the ruling clerics, where it really counts."

On many levels, this is the fundamental question as the clock starts on Rouhani's presidency after eight years of the hectoring style of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

There is little doubt that Rouhani will bring a far calmer and more measured approach. That alone may help with efforts to rebuild strained ties with Europe and open new possibilities for deal-making after the expected restart of nuclear talks with world powers.

But Rouhani's Western-educated political entourage is not about to steer Iran in a completely new direction after his election victory last month.

Rouhani, a cleric and former top nuclear negotiator, does not stand against the Islamic system or the firm controls at the top: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guard. Khamenei has final say in all key matters, including Rouhani's selections for key Cabinet posts such as the foreign and intelligence ministers.

That leaves Rouhani ? effectively the international face of Iran ? with the task of projecting a new image of dialogue rather than diatribes on the world stage. Inside Iran, Rouhani has to adopt the role of salesman: trying to get Khamenei and the ruling clerics to buy into his views that interaction with Washington and its allies could bring dividends such as steps to ease tightening economic sanctions.

Many of those being considered for Cabinet posts share Rouhani's approach, including a former deputy foreign minister, Mahmoud Vaezi, who holds degrees in electrical engineering from California State University, Sacramento and San Jose State University. He began his doctorate in foreign relations at Louisiana State University but finished the degree in Poland.

Vaezi was head of the foreign ministry's European and American affairs section from 1990-97 under reformist President Mohammad Khatami. In recent years, Vaezi has been a senior figure at Rowhani's Center for Strategic Research.

"The potential candidates ... are those who understand international relations and understand the language of the West," said Tehran-based political analyst Behrouz Shojaei. "This shows Rouhani is serious in seeking to ease tensions with the outside world and improve Iran's economy."

Another potential contender for foreign minister is Mohammad Javad Zarif, who did postgraduate studies at San Francisco State University and obtained a doctorate in international law and policy at the University of Denver.

Zarif also raised his profile in the U.S. as a diplomat at Iran's U.N. Mission in New York during a five-year posting that ended in 2007. In one of his last public events, Zarif was a headline speaker at a conference in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on conflict resolution whose participants included the current U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

Meanwhile, Hossein Mousavian, currently a research scholar at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, is likely to hold a key foreign policy adviser role. Mousavian also graduated from Sacramento State.

Officials with academic roots in the West are nothing new in the Middle East. Many Gulf Arab leaders and top officials studied in Europe or the U.S. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to high school outside Philadelphia and returned to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jordan's King Abdullah II attended boarding schools in England and Massachusetts and then moved on to Britain's royal military academy Sandhurst.

But Iran's elected leadership ? the presidency and top parliamentary posts ? has had far fewer Western-educated figures. In the years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Western credentials were viewed with suspicion. Ahmadinejad, who studied in Iran, has strongly favored advisers who also have homegrown academic backgrounds.

Rouhani's administration could mark a strong break and include advisers whose connections with the West straddle before and after the Islamic Revolution.

Among them is Rouhani's younger brother, Hossein Fereidoun, who is helping the president-elect put together his Cabinet list.

Fereidoun was a member of the security team when the Islamic Revolution's leaders, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, returned from exile in France in 1979. He later served in Iran's U.N. Mission. Rouhani previously went by the family name Fereidoun, but dropped it in an apparent attempt to hide from authorities before the Islamic Revolution.

The review of potential candidates for economic roles includes Chamber of Commerce president Mohammad Nahavandian, who holds a doctorate in economics from George Washington University, and Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, who holds an economics doctorate from Paisley in Britain, and was spokesman of Rouhani's campaign office.

A possible candidate for the critical oil ministry post is Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, a former deputy oil minister and president of Iran's state oil company, who has an engineering degree from California State Polytechnic University.

But speculation was growing that Rouhani could look to a former oil minister, Bijan Zanganeh, who was ousted when Ahmadinejad took office in 2005.

Some semiofficial Iranian news agencies, including ISNA, cited sources saying that Rouhani will tap a former defense minister, Mohammed Forouzandeh, as the chief nuclear negotiator. Such a choice would bring a relative novice in international dialogue into a critical role. Rouhani's aides have not commented on the report, and other names such as former foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati have been raised in the Iranian media.

Other noteworthy possibilities include Ali Jannati as head of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, where the wide-ranging mandate includes oversight of foreign media in Iran. Jannati is considered a moderate, but his father, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, is an ultra hard-line cleric who often leads the nationally broadcast Friday prayers from Tehran University.

___

Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-presidents-inner-circle-western-accent-174522954.html

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Fonfara Slams Nepotism; Eyes Lottery For Summer Jobs Instead

A Hartford state senator said Monday that the hiring of the children of many government officials for summer jobs at state agencies has denied opportunities to urban teenagers and the state should consider creating a lottery system similar to New York City's.

"Too many young people residing in our cities, especially those of African American and Latino backgrounds, lack the family or friend connections that so many from more affluent backgrounds enjoy," Sen. John Fonfara, D-Hartford, said Monday.

He said he had emailed his concerns to fellow Hartford legislators and to Senate President Pro Tempore Donald Williams, D-Brooklyn. Fonfara, who is co-chairman of the legislature's finance committee, said he was responding to disclosures in two recent "Government Watch" columns in The Courant.

A July 14 column reported that three of the state economic development agency's 17 summer jobs went to young relatives of agency officials. One official sat in on the job interview of her own daughter. Although seven of the 17 jobs are in Hartford offices, none of them went to a young person from Hartford.

At the state Department of Transportation, 29 of the 56 summer workers have the same last name as a full-time DOT worker or official.

"I would like to see how the lottery works," said Fonfara. He said he would have a legislative staff member obtain information about the New York program, which is the largest of several around the country, and research the possibility of legislation to adopt a lottery for filling summer jobs on the state payroll.

New York City's Summer Youth Employment Program has used a lottery since the 1990s to ensure fairness in hiring; it filled 35,000 jobs from 135,000 applications with the lottery this year.

This year, the DOT posted its summer jobs on a state website, and the Department of Economic and Community Development recruited a number of candidates at "job fairs" at three colleges, in Danbury, New London and Fairfield. But Fonfara said more effort is needed to inform and attract young people from cities who do not have the same opportunities as many of those who got the jobs.

For example, he questioned why no effort was made to put out the word at Capital Community College in downtown Hartford. "A huge percentage of Hartford kids go to Capital Community College," Fonfara said. "There should be an aggressive effort to inform young people about the opportunity and that they can get an equal shot at it."

"As a legislator representing the poorest city in Connecticut, to learn that not one Hartford youth was hired [at DECD] following a job fair is disappointing on its own, but to learn that over half of the summer hires [at DOT] have the same last names as current employees is even more troubling," he said.

Fonfara said he's not naive about family connections helping people to get jobs. "I get that. It happens everywhere," he said, giving the example of a son who gets an advantage in admission at the college his father went to. "I get all of that. ? But there has to be opportunity to break that [tradition] for those families that didn't have that opportunity and where there isn't that history of success educationally or in the workplace."

As summer jobs go, the ones at issue pay well. At the DECD's "Welcome Centers" on interstate highways, for example, the pay is $12 an hour and $14 an hour ? either $960 or $1,120 every two weeks.

"Such a good summer job ? opens up a world that a lot of my constituents don't experience," Fonfara said. "It's one of those jobs where you meet some people who say, 'Hey, come back next year,' or 'You go to college ? and you can get a job here when you come back.' This is the way it works in the real world. It's connections, and it's relationships, and, for many people, that's how they walk through the door of opportunity."

If an urban youth doesn't have a parent with connections, and "if you live in a neighborhood where the unemployment rate is 30 percent or better, you're just not going to see those opportunities," Fonfara said. "I feel really strongly that at the government level, at least, there ought to be some policy that attempts to reach out to these neighborhoods ? not just in Hartford, but throughout the state."

Source: http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-summer-jobs-lottery-0730-20130729,0,143702.story?track=rss

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Why some are optimistic about Israeli-Palestinian peace talks

The widespread turmoil in the Middle East and the desire of leaders on both sides to leave their mark on history could tip the scales in favor of reaching an Israeli-Palestinian agreement.

By Howard LaFranchi,?Staff writer / July 29, 2013

Secretary of State John Kerry stands with former US Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk at the State Department in Washington, Monday, July 29, as he announces that he Indyk will shepherd the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Charles Dharapak/AP

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Secretary of State John Kerry has set the stage for the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks he will relaunch with a dinner at his Washington home Monday by noting that success will require ?reasonable compromises on tough, complicated, emotional, and symbolic issues.?

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The prospects for compromise by Israeli and Palestinian leaders on issues ranging from borders and security (those are the easier ones) to Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees have many officials and regional experts giving the renewed talks very long odds of success.

But at the same time, widespread turmoil in the Middle East and the desire of both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to leave their mark on history could confound the skeptics and tip the scales in favor of reaching a peace agreement, others say.

?There are a couple of reasons for optimism here,? says Peter Krause, a Middle East specialist at Boston College who points to leaders? concerns for their legacy and a realization that failure could empower new, more radical leaders, as reasons not to write off Secretary Kerry?s effort.

Speaking at the State Department Monday, Kerry acknowledged that ?going forward? it will be a ?difficult process,? adding, ?If it were easy, it would have happened a long time ago.? The resumed talks are the result of six trips Kerry made to the region and hours spent with both Messrs. Netanyahu and Abbas since taking the secretary of State job in February.

Officials and experts on all sides say the renewed talks simply would not be happening if it weren?t for Kerry?s determination to restart a peace process he calls the ?granddaddy? of American diplomatic efforts.??

After greeting the chief Israeli and Palestinian negotiators ? Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat ? at his home for an iftar dinner Monday, Kerry will host the two sides at the State Department Tuesday, where they are expected to establish the framework for what Kerry anticipates could be nine months of negotiations.

The goal of the negotiations ? and the many compromises Kerry says will be required along the way ? is a final-status settlement of the issues behind the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a Palestinian state living in peace with a secure Israel.??

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/YOD3X3n06hs/Why-some-are-optimistic-about-Israeli-Palestinian-peace-talks

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Arrest made after online threats to UK campaigner

LONDON (AP) ? British police on Sunday arrested a man in connection with online threats made toward a feminist campaigner, a case which has ignited calls for social media platforms to institute stronger protections against verbal abuse.

Caroline Criado-Perez says she has been facing a deluge of abuse ? including threats to rape and kill her ? over Twitter during the past several days. She said the threats started after her campaign to get a woman's picture on a U.K. bank note succeeded and resulted in the Bank of England's announcement last week that author Jane Austen will feature on England's new 10-pound notes.

In Britain, hundreds of people are prosecuted every year for Facebook posts, tweets, texts and emails deemed menacing, indecent, offensive or obscene. But while there have been several cases of online threats directed at sports figures and politicians, the verbal assault against Criado-Perez appears to have ignited an unrivalled response and backlash against Twitter itself.

The graphic and offensive threats come as combatting the scourge of violence against women has taken on a more public sense of urgency worldwide, when tales of gang rapes in India and Brazil circulated around the world. Earlier this year, more than 130 nations agreed on a U.N. blueprint to combat violence against women, "one of the gravest violations of human rights in the world," according to Michelle Bachelet, the head of the U.N. women's agency.

The head of the World Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Chen, too, called violence against women "a global health problem of epidemic proportions" when the first major global review of violence against women came out in June ? a description that Criado-Perez drew on when writing in the New Statesman about the abuse directed against her. She urged Chen to "take a look at Twitter."

Already, Criado-Perez's experience has set off a campaign and petition to press Twitter to take more action to combat online threats.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper urged Twitter to carry out a full review of its policies on abusive threats and crimes, and a petition urging Twitter to introduce a "button" that would make it easier to report abusive Tweets has garnered 12,000 signatures.

On Sunday, British police arrested a 21-year-old man, who wasn't immediately identified, in relation to Criado-Perez's case.

She posted on Twitter that she was at a police station to make a statement and had many more threats to report ? followed by the hashtag "shouting back."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-07-28-EU-Britain-Twitter-Threats/id-12e0fed6a6574f74b75d9cd1389fdd37

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Site_Specific International Land Art Biennale is happening ...

International artists

Cornelia Konrads ( Germany )

Born 1957 in Wuppertal/Germany ? Studies: Philosophy, Cultural Science ? Freelance artist since 1998

Focus on site specific sculptures ? indoors and outdoors, temporary and permanent for public spaces, sculpture parks and private gardens. Various expositions, residencies and commissions in Europe, Asia, Australia and America.

2012 . Schweizerische Triennale der Skulptur Bad Ragaz (Switzerland)1

2011 . Sculptor on Campus ? Visiting Sculptor Program, Cal. State University, Bakersfield (USA)

2010 . Public Art Commission for the N8 Cashel ? Mitchelston Road, Cahir (Ireland)

2009 . Artist in Residence, Aomori Contemporary Art Center, Aomori (Japan)

2008 . Southern Forest Sculpture Walk? Northcliffe (Australia)

Jeon Wongil ( South-Korea )

Born 1961. Since he started life as an artist in 1983, Wongil Jeon continues to work within nature: Attempting to untangle nature?s order through painting and drawing methods lead by the formative imagination within himself and his body?s sense ? creating natural art to work along with nature. He has been expressing various connections with nature in different media and currently is expressing a reminiscence of time ? a conceptual documentation through painting and photography of the aspects of nature that he encounters in his studio (a secluded garden in Ansung). Wongil taught at the college of art as an artist as well as an exhibition designer and art theoretician. Currently he is acting as a director of the YATOO International Project.

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National artists

Hannelie Coetzee

Hannelie Coetzee is a Johannesburg-based professional photographer and visual artist. Her approach to photography is a documentary one. She has worked as a photographer for more than twenty years and is represented by agencies in New York and Germany. Visit www.hanneliecoetzee.com to view a portfolio and list of clients. Her transition into art, sculpture to be exact, was to be expected. She went from photographing stone formations and scars in the landscape to collecting stone, creating urban and land? artworks,? mosaics and ultimately stone sculpture.

Wilma Cruise

Wilma Cruise is a South African sculptor and visual artist. Working mainly with fired clay on a life size scale she has had sixteen solo exhibitions, curated others and completed a number of site specific works including the national monument to the women of South Africa in Pretoria and the Memorial to the Slaves in Cape Town.

Erynne Ewart-Phipps

My creative process is developed by observing a sites natural materials and manipulating them into a sculptured form, deliberate and conflicting within the organic surroundings. These intentional manipulations reflect man?s presence within the environment yet once commemorated via photograph can be easily forgotten within nature?s ever changing process. Non-permanence is vital to the overall notion I wish to create, and the impact permanence has within an interacting and adapting environment. All creation has a duration, I only wish to emphasise it.

Gordon Froud

Gordon Froud has been actively involved in the South African and international art world as artist, educator, curator and gallerist for the last 30 years. He has shown on hundreds of solo and group shows in South Africa and overseas and has served on various arts committees throughout South Africa. He has judged many of the important Art competitions from local to national levels in South Africa. Froud graduated with a BA(FA)Hons from the University of Witwatersrand in 1987, a Higher education Diploma from the same university in 1987 and a master?s degree in Sculpture from the University of Johannesburg in 2009 where he runs the Sculpture department as a senior lecturer. He has lectured at this department since 2004 and manages the third year undergraduate program. He has taught continuously at school and tertiary level in South Africa and in London since 1990.? Froud directed gordart Gallery in Johannesburg from 2003 to 2009 where he showcased the work of new, up and coming artists. He regularly shows on more than 20 exhibitions a year. Last year he was represented in ?The Rainbow Nation? sculpture exhibition in The Hague, Holland and was the first recipient of the Site Specific land art residency in Plettenberg Bay. Apart from showing on 30 other shows last year, Froud has curated 2 shows that will travel SA over the next 2 years. He showed work internationally in Holland, the USA and France in 2012.

David Jones

David Jones is an artist -lecturer in the School of Music, Art and Design at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. He heads the department of Studio Arts and is engaged with Community structures working at rehabilitating the Inner City. This allows a synthesis of Public Art with in the landscape of the City.

Marcus Neustetter

Johannesburg based artist and cultural activist, Marcus Neustetter, reflects critically and playfully on his context through process driven production at the intersection of art, science and technology. Following the completion of his Masters Degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2000 his cross-disciplinary production has led to exhibitions, site specific installations, virtual interventions and socially engaged projects internationally, www.marcusneustetter.com. Neustetter has also been producing projects in partnership with Stephen Hobbs as The Trinity Session and in their collaborative capacity as Hobbs/Neustetter www.onair.co.za.

Blessing Ngobeni

I am Blessing Ngobeni 28 years old, live and work in Johannesburg, I studied at New town?s Artist proof Studio (2007), since for the past 13 years I have been involved with art. I am the winner of the Reinhold Cassirer Award (2012) and had my first solo exhibition show at gallery Momo (2012), Currently nominated and short listed by the Mail and Guardian 200 young South Africans and am very pleased to be part of Site Specific workshop. I worked for David Krut Publishing at the Johannesburg Art Gallery,? I was also a Facilitator teaching the youth at Michaelis Art Library. I worked as free lancer for Red-Pepper Pictures and I exhibited in several group shows around Johannesburg,

Sam Nhlengethwa

In 1978 Sam Nhlengethwa received a fine art diploma from Rorke?s Drift Art Centre in Natal. After graduating he taught part-time at the Federative Union of Black Artists (FUBA) in Johannesburg. At first, FUBA was an agency for black artists who wanted to make their work known in South Africa and internationally. Currently FUBA provides instruction in music, singing, fine arts and theater for more than 3,000 children every month.

Once seen as one of South Africa?s leading resistance artists, Nhlengethwa?s grown from this and adjusted the style and content of his works to explore other themes such as music, specifically jazz and the mechanics of everyday living. He works with found printed images from posters and magazines, including his recollections of township life in his imagery.

Nhlengethwa was urban born and raised and therefore relates intimately to township existence, not only in his collages but also in his prints. Nhlengethwha received various prestigious awards throughout his career and has attended workshops in New York, Senegal and Cuba. He has participated in group exhibitions since the early 1980s in Germany, France, the United States and Botswana.?He has held many solo exhibitions at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg, as well as several two-person shows. His work is represented in major public and corporate art collections in South African and abroad.

Walter Oltmann

I live and work in Johannesburg as an artist and teach in the Fine Arts division at the University of the Witwatersrand. My main area of creative focus is in sculpture, and more particularly in fabricating woven wire forms. I use the linear qualities of wire to create forms and surfaces through techniques that parallel handcrafts. ?My drawings and prints are also closely related to my sculptural works.

Plettenberg Bay Artists

Stephen Rosin

Stephen Rosin was born in Rhodesia in 1975. He has a B.tech degree from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University School of Art and Design, graduating in 1999. He is the winner of the prestigious Absa l?Atelier competition in 2009 and recently received a nomination for best visual arts exhibition at the 2013 KKNK festival.

Malcolm Solomon

Malcolm is a native of Plettenberg Bay. His sculptures range from classical to abstract modern art, and he has worked in a wide range of media ??including bronze, wood, stone and sand, as well as working with furniture, paint finishes, sign-writing, murals, sketching and painting. Solomon?spent four years in America making customised hand-carved furniture and front doors, and experimenting with mould-making and a wide range of casting methods.

In 2002 he discovered bronze which is now his favourite material to work with. Solomon is deeply influenced by the?energies and patterns of the nature and life that surrounds him, and feels compelled to bring awareness to it?s beauty. In 2006 he opened his studio gallery THE KEYHOLE on Main St in Plettenberg Bay which launched his sculpting career. His more recent work is stylised, abstract and organic where attention is given to contrasting textures and planes and the effect of light on moving surfaces. The use of negative spaces and implied shapes complete his forms. Solomon explores his personal experiences and observations of life, and his acute awareness of our vulnerable presence on Earth

Janet Botes

Janet Botes (1984) is a visual artist from Cape Town. She studied Graphic Design (BTech, Cum Laude) at the Vaal University of Technology, Vanderbijlpark, before getting involved in various projects in the Western Cape and Gauteng, which includes participation in the Human Earth?exhibitions, curating the 2012 Green Art exhibition at the Green Expo, and performing at the Arts Lounge during the National Arts Festival. Janet?s work is predominantly inspired by the natural world and personal experiences. Through her work she hopes to help inspire a reconnection between people, nature and the creativity inherent in everyone. Genres and media of her artworks include Land Art, Drawing, Mixed Media, Painting, Photography and assemblage sculpture.

Erica L?ttich

Erica L?ttich trained as a film editor, and is an acclaimed photographer. Erica?s art making process means that she gets involved and explores, investigates and teaches new techniques and craft ideas together with crafters. She has recently created ?FENCES? at the Site_Specific Ebenezer residency in Plettenberg Bay. This artwork will be installed during the Site_Specific biennale in August. She has made major contributions to the outreach component of Site_Specific. In her own words: ?The ability to collaborate on an artwork only has validity if it challenges the crafter and the viewer, thus the ideas of each project must be sufficiently researched. Through the creative process of making, the artwork becomes defined and the working together of many hands and hearts makes a clear path that can be expressed by each individual and the intentions can then be communicated to the public.?

Anni Snyman & PC Janse van Rensburg

Anni Snyman & PC Janse van Rensburg are a brother and sister team who have been exploring site specific works in various landscapes in South Africa and abroad since 2009. PC Janse van Rensburg brings his experience as a professional architect and visual artist to their land art collaborations. Anni Snyman works in various media ranging from traditional prints, photography, digitally manipulated images and animations, to three dimensional installations and sculptures. She actively seeks collaborations with other artists, and has organised several ?Kunstellasies? ? juxtapositions of different creative disciplines in public spaces (annisnyman.co.za). In 2011 she founded Site_Specific with Strijdom van der Merwe and Heather Greig (sitespecific.org.za).

Strijdom van der Merwe

Uses the materials provided by the chosen site. He explains that it is a process of working with the natural world ? using sand, water, wood, rocks and so forth. His sculptural forms take shape in relation to the landscape. Exhibitions and commissions on invitation?were done in South Korea, Turkey, Belgium, France, Sweden, Lithuania, Japan, USA, Australia, Germany, Kenya, England the Netherlands, USA and Italy. He held many personal exhibitions in various art galleries in the past years and his work has been bought by numerous private and public collectors locally and abroad.

Recipient of the Jackson Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant

Medal of Honor from the South African Academy of Arts and Science.

Winner of the It?s LIQUID International Contest ? First Edition 2012. Italia, for Sculpture and Installation

Member of the curatorial panel for World Design Capital Cape Town 2014.

Recipient of the Prince Claus Grant Amsterdam The Netherlands

Nominated for the Daimler Chrysler award for sculpture in Public Spaces 2008

Young Artist from Eden Award

Lungiswa Gqunta

Lungiswa is an intern at Nmb-city, a design/events/project management company who manage the Port Elizabeth Athenaeum. She has worked on public sculptures for the city (conversations with the queen), and is currently working with carved and burned totems. Her interests are the intersection between the traditional and the urban contemporary, and what this means in terms of finding her niche as a young female artist. Lungiswa is a hard-working, passionate, curious and skilled young artist from Port Elizabeth and belongs to the born free generation!

View Event

For further information please visit: www.sitespecific.org.za/

Source: http://showme.co.za/plett/events-entertainment/site_specific-international-land-art-biennale-is-happening/

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Protest: Rivers crisis splits civil society - Vanguard

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

? as S?South PDP c?ttee condemns crisis
PORT HARCOURT?SOME rights groups in Rivers State have said that the crisis rocking Peoples? Democratic Party, PDP, in the state was the result of selfish politics of all the parties involved.

They, therefore, dissociated themselves from today?s planned mass rally in Port Harcourt by civil society organisations calling for the removal of the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu, over the crisis.

In a statement, yesterday, the organisations noted that the protest was needless because it would not benefit the ordinary Rivers people, but rather tends to glorify the factions of the party, none of which they perceive as being involved in the crisis for public good.

The civil organisations include Rivers chapters of Civil Liberties Organistion, CLO; Social Action, Oil Watch Africa; Centre for Environment and Human Rights and Development, CEHRD, Students Environmental Assembly and Social Workers Movement, among others.

The statement said: ?The political actors fighting among themselves, no matter the camp they belong, have never had the interest of the toiling masses at heart.

?They oppress the masses whenever they deem it profitable for their class interests and fight themselves when their fractional interest clashes.?

S?South PDP c?ttee condemns crisis

South-South Zonal Working Committee, ZWC, of Peoples? Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, called on the warring factions in the rivers crisis to put the interest of state above other considerations.

A statement at the end of its meeting in Asaba, Delta State, condemned the breakdown of law and order perpetrated by the state lawmakers.

Dr. Steven Oru, PDP South-South Chairman said no effort would be spared in the resolution of the crisis rocking Rivers House of Assembly, adding that the zonal committee would soon embark on consultation with stakeholders for the restoration of peace in Rivers.

Oru said the stakeholders would visits top PDP functionaries from the zone and PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Chief Edwin Clark, among others.

It passed a vote of confidence on President Goodluck Jonathan for his transformation agenda, stabilisation of the national economy, enhanced security of lives and property.

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/07/protest-rivers-crisis-splits-civil-society/

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Ottawa Invaders win Northern Football Conference regular-season finale

The visiting Ottawa Invaders pounded the Oakville Longhorns 48-6 in the Northern Football Conference regular-season finale for both teams.

Adam Gourgon rushed for two touchdowns, while T.J. Williams scored one on a catch from Leith Fisken and one on a run Saturday night.

Jeff Hildreth threw a touchdown pass to Andrew Foss, Rhami Aboud scored on a punt return and Matt McEwen tallied on a QB sneak.

The Invaders (6-2) host the Durham Hawkeyes in the first round of the playoffs next Saturday night (8 p.m.) at Carleton University.

Source: http://www.ottawasun.com/2013/07/27/ottawa-invaders-win-northern-football-conference-regular-season-finale

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Parker scores record 23 to lead West over East

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) ? Candace Parker put on a show in her All-Star debut.

Parker scored a record 23 points to lead the West to a 102-98 victory over the East on Saturday.

"I didn't know what to expect," Parker said. "I hadn't been to one, and this was really special. Being with all these great players and share stories, that's why I'll remember from this All-Star game more than what happened on the court."

The Los Angeles Sparks star was voted a starter for the 2011 game, but couldn't play because of a knee injury. She also missed the 2009 game because she was still recovering from the birth of her daughter.

"Things happen," Parker said. "I learned not to question them and go on my path and take whatever comes. It happened to work out this way."

The wait was worth it as Parker, who earned the game's MVP honors.

While the award was special, Parker and her West teammates were more excited that got the victory for retiring star Tina Thompson.

"We didn't want her to go out with a loss," said Parker, who was quickly heading back to Los Angeles after the game to get to a family reunion that she was hosting.

Thompson, who made her record ninth All-Star appearance, announced her retirement at the end of the season. She had a rough game missing all five of her attempts from the field, but still enjoyed the moment.

West coach Cheryl Reeve put her back in the lineup with a few seconds left to get one final ovation from the fans.

Parker's stellar game helped the league overcome the loss of Brittney Griner and top vote-getter Elena Delle Donne, who sat out because of injuries. The pair have been an attendance and ratings boon for the league.

Griner has missed Phoenix's last five games with a sprained left knee and Delle Donne suffered a concussion in Chicago's game Wednesday. They were poised to make history as the first pair of rookies from the same class to start the WNBA All-Star game.

But Griner sat on the bench, while Delle Donne recovered at home in Delaware.

"It hurts not being able to play, but I'm having a lot of fun just cheering," Griner said.

Even though the rookies couldn't play, the WNBA had seven other first-time All-Stars in the game. That didn't even include Parker.

Despite joking before the game that she was "too old" to dunk, Parker threw down a few in warmups.

After a quiet first half, she helped rally the West after the break. With her team trailing by 11 early in the third quarter, Parker scored seven straight points. After the foul by Tamika Catchings, Parker flexed her muscles and used a nifty stutter-step from the wing for an easy layup. Parker finished off her run with another lay-in.

After Sparks teammate Kristi Toliver hit back-to-back 3-pointers to the tie game, Ivory Latta hit her own 3-pointers to give the East an 81-74 advantage heading into the final period.

Parker, who finished with 11 rebounds, and Toliver wouldn't let the West lose for the fourth time in the past five All-Star games. Parker broke Swin Cash's All-Star game record of 22 points with a layup midway through the fourth quarter.

East coach Lin Dunn, who it was announced will be inducted into the women's basketball Hall of Fame next year, joked that there was a simple reason her team came up short.

"They had Candace and we didn't," she said laughing.

Trailing 100-98 with 30 seconds left, the East had a chance to take the lead, but Cappie Pondexter missed a 3-pointer. Parker got the rebound and Toliver sealed the win by hitting two free throws.

"I see it every day," Parker said of her Sparks teammate. "She's one of the best shooters ever. I was proud of the way she came out and played within herself."

Toliver, who was playing in her first All-Star game, scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half to help the West rally.

"Being here this weekend was a lot of joy," she said. It was humbling to be here but I feel like I belong."

The game also featured the return of referee cam, with Lamont Simpson wearing a device that looks like a pair of glasses. The veteran official caught a pre-game dance off between the East and West. Maya Moore floored the sell-out crowd by breaking out the old-school dance move the worm. She repeated the move when she was introduced as a starter.

Simpson admitted that after he first wore the ref cam in June, he received a lot of emails and texts from friends.

In the fourth quarter, Simpson approached Latta on the court and joked that "there's never been a technical foul in the history of the All-Star game."

In another first, the game was coached by two women for the only time in its 11-year history. Lin Dunn of Indiana coached the East and Reeve of Minnesota was in charge of the West.

Reeve had four Minnesota Lynx players on her West squad. Moore and Seimone Augustus were voted as starters. Reeve chose Lynx center Rebekkah Brunson to replace Griner in the starting lineup.

Minnesota point guard Lindsay Whalen was the first sub in for the West, replacing Taurasi. That produced four Lynx players, who also were on the 2011 All-Star team, on the court at the same time.

The four Lynx stars combined for 24 of the West's 29 points in the first quarter.

___

Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/parker-scores-record-23-lead-west-over-east-214935002.html

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Drivers launch a war on traffic wardens | UK | News | Daily Express

Male and female wardens around the country have been spat at, punched, and slapped by drivers who have parked illegally, it has been reported.

The problem is so serious in Lincoln that an entire team of 20 wardens, who got fed up with the abuse, quit after just six months in the job.

?These wardens can?t cope. It?s a massive concern. A 100 per cent staff turnover is as bad as it gets in a short space of time,? said Michael Brookes, chairman of the Lincolnshire County Council highways committee.

In Essex, contract firm Apcoa said attacks on their traffic wardens were up by more than 400 per cent since 2011.

Three wardens were assaulted on the same day last week in Southend.

In nearby Leigh-on-Sea, a female warden was almost knocked down by a motorist who drove towards her on the pavement as she tried to give him a ?35 ticket.

Apcoa?s Neil Hunwicks said: ?This behaviour by members of the public is unbelievable over a parking ticket.

?Nobody should expect this type of behaviour while carrying out their job.?

In Scarborough, one warden had a bucket of water thrown over him by an enraged driver.

And in Worthing, West Sussex, a 91-year-old man used his stick to beat off a motorist who thumped a traffic warden and broke his glasses.

Councils in London have even considered issuing traffic wardens with stab-proof vests after attacks doubled in parts of the capital since 2008.

Some employees also suffered death threats.

Bosses at Hammersmith and Fulham Council, as well as in Swansea and Winchester, Hampshire, have issued staff with body cameras with recording equipment to deter attacks.

Lincolnshire County Council has also offered all new traffic wardens body cameras to make them feel more protected following the resignation of the whole team since December.

Two weeks ago, Richard Moss, 25, agreed to undergo an anger management course after he admitted attacking a warden in Darlington, Co Durham, who put a ticket on his car.

Darlington Magistrates? Court heard Moss tore up the ticket and assaulted the warden. He was fined ?75, twice the cost of a parking ticket.

Prosecutor Hari Jandoo said: ?The victim was just doing his job. It should not be an occupational hazard of a traffic warden for members of the public to assault them because they don?t like getting a ticket.?

Source: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/417915/Drivers-launch-a-war-on-traffic-wardens

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MIAs and troops abroad remain Korean War legacies

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A truce stopped the fighting in Korea that once threatened to spread into a world war whose outcome might have been decided by nuclear weapons. Sixty years later, the costs of the Korean War continue to mount even amid relative peace.

Hostility lingers between the North and South and between the North and the United States, which still has no formal diplomatic relations with the communist nation in spite of the war's end on July 27, 1953. That ongoing antagonism is rooted in the U.S. commitment to take a leading role in assisting the South should war break out again on the Korean Peninsula.

Washington has tried for years to wean its ally off its dependence on the U.S. military by setting a target date for switching from American to Korean control of the forces that would defend the country in the event North Korea again attacked the South. That target date has slipped from 2012 to 2015 and, just this past week, American officials said the Koreans are informally expressing interest in pushing it back still further.

Another powerful legacy from the 1950-53 conflict is more personal for Americans: the seemingly endless challenge of accounting for thousands of U.S. servicemen still listed as missing in action. That mission, which competes for Pentagon resources with demands to also retrieve and identify MIAs from the battlefields of World War II and Vietnam, is beset with problems including bureaucratic dysfunction, according to an internal Pentagon report disclosed July 7 by The Associated Press.

What began as a Cold War contest, with the former Soviet Union and China siding with the North and the U.S. and United Nations allies supporting the South, remains one of the world's most dangerous flash points. In some respects, the security threat from the North has grown more acute in recent years.

So the U.S. is stuck with a lead wartime role in Korea and with a dim prospect, if any, of building the kind of relationship required to return to the former battlefields of North Korea to excavate remains of U.S. MIAs. The Pentagon says there are about 7,900 MIAs, of which approximately half are thought to be recoverable.

President Barack Obama marked the armistice's 60th anniversary with a speech Saturday at the Korean War Veterans Memorial.

"Today we can say with confidence that war was no tie. Korea was a victory," he said.

The U.S. has kept combat forces on the Korean Peninsula since the fighting halted with the signing of an armistice, or truce, and it still has 28,500 troops based in the South. They are a symbol of a vibrant and important U.S.-South Korean alliance, and few advocate even a partial American troop withdrawal. But some U.S. military officers believe their permanence on the peninsula, with a singular focus on North Korea, is an anachronistic arrangement that should have been overhauled years ago.

The armistice agreement itself did not envision a long-term U.S. troop presence. It contains a passage recommending that within three months a high-level political conference be convened to negotiate the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Korea and "the peaceful settlement of the Korean question." That has never happened.

Bruce Bennett, a Korea expert at the RAND Corp., a federally funded think tank, says he believes the argument for giving Seoul wartime command of its own troops loses ground as North Korea's nuclear ambitions grow bolder. The North has tested nuclear devices and may be capable of mounting one on a ballistic missile - a worry not only for South Korea, Japan and others in the region but also for the United States.

"From the South Korean perspective - and I believe there is a lot of truth to their argument - having the U.S. in (the lead) is a strong deterrent of North Korea, and it means North Korea can't split the alliance," he said.

For similar reasons, some South Koreans favor asking the U.S. to reintroduce short-range nuclear weapons onto the peninsula. President George H.W. Bush withdrew all U.S. nuclear weapons from Korea in 1991.

In 1994 the South took peacetime control of its forces from the U.S. four-star general who heads a South Korean-U.S. Combined Forces Command, but the American general remained responsible for wartime control. In 2006 the two countries agreed that South Korea would assume wartime control of its forces in April 2012.

But in June 2010, shortly after North Korea torpedoed and sank the South Korean ship Cheonan, Seoul and Washington agreed to delay the handover of wartime operational control until December 2015. Now, U.S. officials say Seoul officials are again raising the prospect of another delay, although no formal request has been made.

Also on hold are U.S. hopes to send forensic science teams back to North Korea to find U.S. MIA remains. Although the North began to allow U.S. excavations in 1996, Washington stopped in 2005 amid rising nuclear tensions.

The mystery of what happened to MIAs in North Korea runs deep, as do the emotions of MIA family members who have petitioned the government, searched military records and in some cases pleaded with diplomats to find answers.

"It's that unanswered question that lingers year after year," says Richard C. Thompson of Chestertown, Md., a distant cousin of Gilbert L. Ashley Jr., an Air Force lieutenant who was one of five members of a B-29 bomber crew who became prisoners of war after surviving their shootdown over North Korea in January 1953.

Thompson and other relatives of Ashley and the other four airmen learned in the 1990s that they had been alive in the hands of North Korean captors after the July 1953 armistice was signed, but the men were never heard from again.

"It's a lingering melancholy," Thompson says.

---

Follow Robert Burns on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/robertburnsAP

Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_KOREAN_WAR_LEGACIES?SITE=NCJAC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

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EU, China settle solar panel dispute

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Source: news.malaysia.msn.com --- Saturday, July 27, 2013
The European Commission said Saturday it has reached an "amicable solution" with Beijing over imports of Chinese solar panels, a dispute that had threatened a full-blown trade war between two of the world's largest trading powers. ...

Source: http://news.malaysia.msn.com/top-stories/eu-china-settle-solar-panel-dispute-5

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Evolution on the inside track: How viruses in gut bacteria change over time

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The digestive tract is home to a vast colony of bacteria, as well as the myriad viruses that prey upon them. Because the bacteria species vary from person to person, so does this viral population, the virome. By closely analyzing the virome of one individual over two-and-a-half years, researchers have uncovered new insights on the virome can change and evolve -- and why the virome of one person can vary so greatly from that of another.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/XaKjbDlWOj0/130726191528.htm

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A Night Of Jewish Baseball

You can learn about what it means to be Jewish and involved in baseball, and benefit a worthy cause.

When I was a kid, Art Shamsky was a part-time outfielder for the Reds, and later the Mets. I have a vague recollection of him as a Cub-killer, but looking at his lifetime splits, I see he hit .258/.320/.423 in 163 career at-bats against the Cubs, good but not great, and .223/.284/.362 at Wrigley Field, even worse. I suspect I remember, as you can when you're many years removed from a childhood memory, this game, where Shamsky went 3-for-5 and homered and the Cubs lost. Those stick, even when the memories of many other worse performances fade.

Shamsky played briefly for the Cubs in 1972, 15 games at the beginning of the 1972 season, and not well -- 2-for-16.

I mention all this because Shamsky, along with former big leaguers Ron Blomberg and Ross Baumgarten (a Chicago-area native), will be talking baseball at a fundraiser on August 11 at Milt's Barbecue for the Perplexed (a kosher BBQ place, and it's good stuff, I was there last week), 3411 N. Broadway. Here's what they say about this event:

Join us for an exclusive evening featuring MLB greats Art Shamsky, Ron Blomberg, and Ross Baumgarten! They will share stories of the "good old days" and talk about what it meant and means today to be a Jew in the major leagues. We'll also hear the story behind the creation of the iconic "Jewish Baseball Players" lithograph that hangs in Milt's.

That's the image you see at the top of this post; it's signed by dozens of Jewish players and executives who have been or are now in the major leagues, including Steve Stone and Theo Epstein. (In a bit of unfortunate timing, Ryan Braun appears on this image, right in the front. Please keep comments on Braun's baseball troubles out of this; he's here because he is half-Jewish, the son of a man who was born in Israel after losing most of his family in the Holocaust. Thanks.)

If you're interested in this fundraiser, which benefits the Jeffrey Kahan Memorial Fund (connected with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, you can buy tickets here.

I don't have any personal connection to this event, just thought it might be an interesting evening with some former ballplayers to benefit a good cause. I've heard that Blomberg, in particular, is a great storyteller.

Source: http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2013/7/27/4562816/a-night-of-jewish-baseball

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The Lie Is Out There: Three Types of Alien Encounters

Nearly everyone who's looked up at the night sky has asked him or herself at least some form of the very same question: Are we really, truly alone in the universe? The only thing that's certain is that we definitely don't want to be. Maybe that explains why we keep seeing UFOs in the sky... and why they're always one of three types.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/BGzCut5RyeA/the-lie-is-out-there-three-types-of-alien-encounters-882470014

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Speaking in Traverse City, Michigan - Patheos

Next Monday night (7/29), I?ll be speaking to the Grand Traverse Humanists in Traverse City, Michigan!

The event begins at 7:00p at the Traverse Area District Library. More details are on Facebook and on the group?s website.

Hope to see you there!

Source: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/07/25/speaking-in-traverse-city-michigan/

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An IRS scandal footnote (Powerlineblog)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/321990112?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Wireless Xcessories Case for Samsung Galaxy S4 for $27 + free shipping

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Source: reviews.cnet.com --- Thursday, July 25, 2013
Expansys offers the Wireless Xcessories Waterbox Case for Samsung Galaxy S4 in White, model no. WATERBOXGS4WH, Orange , model no. WATERBOXGS4OR, Blue , model no. WATERBOXGS4BL, or Pink , model no. WATERBOXGS4PK, for $26.99 with free shipping . That's tied with our mention from last week and the lowest total price we could find in any color by $2, outside of the price below. This case is dust-, dirt-, snow-, and waterproof and fits the Samsung Galaxy S4 and S3. A close price: The Cell Guru offeres it in White for $25.33 plus $1.99 for shipping. [Read more] ? ? ? ? ...

Source: http://reviews.cnet.com/marketplace/2740-6448_7-136670.html?tag=title

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Woman's Six Flags roller coaster death probed

Patrons leave Six Flags Over Texas park as the Texas Giant roller coaster was shut down after an adult woman fell to her death Friday, July 19, 2013 in Arlington, Texas. A woman has died while riding a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ian McVea) MAGS OUT; (FORT WORTH WEEKLY, 360 WEST); INTERNET OUT

Patrons leave Six Flags Over Texas park as the Texas Giant roller coaster was shut down after an adult woman fell to her death Friday, July 19, 2013 in Arlington, Texas. A woman has died while riding a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ian McVea) MAGS OUT; (FORT WORTH WEEKLY, 360 WEST); INTERNET OUT

A pair of Six Flags over Texas employees leave the park as they pass by the Texas Giant wooden roller coaster, Friday, July 19, 2013 in Arlington, Texas. A woman has died while riding a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Tom Fox) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET USE BY AP MEMBERS ONLY; NO SALES

Emergency personnel are on the scene at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas, after a woman died on the Texas Giant roller coaster, background left, on Friday, July 19, 2013. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Tom Fox) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET USE BY AP MEMBERS ONLY; NO SALES

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) ? Investigators will try to determine if a woman who died while riding a roller coaster at a Six Flags amusement park in North Texas fell from the ride after some witnesses said she wasn't properly secured.

The accident happened just after 6:30 p.m. Friday at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington. Park spokeswoman Sharon Parker confirmed that a woman died while riding the Texas Giant roller coaster ? dubbed the tallest steel-hybrid coaster in the world ? but did not specify how she was killed.

Witnesses told local media outlets the woman fell. The woman's name has not been released.

"She goes up like this. Then when it drops to come down, that's when it (the safety bar) released and she just tumbled," Carmen Brown of Arlington told The Dallas Morning News. Brown said she was waiting in line to get on the ride when the accident happened. She witnessed the woman being strapped into the ride.

"They didn't secure her right. One of the employees from the park ? one of the ladies ? she asked her to click her more than once, and they were like, 'As long you heard it click, you're OK.' Everybody else is like, 'Click, click, click.' " Brown told the newspaper.

"Hers only clicked once. Hers was the only one that went down once, and she didn't feel safe, but they let her still get on the ride," Brown said.

Six Flags expressed sadness over the death and said the ride would be closed Saturday.

"We are working closely with authorities to determine the cause of the accident," Parker said in a statement Saturday. She also said a concert scheduled for Saturday had been canceled.

Arlington police Sgt. Christopher Cook, the department spokesman, referred all questions to Parker. A message left for Parker by The Associated Press was not returned. No other details were available.

The Texas Giant is 14 stories high, and has a drop of 79 degrees and a bank of 95 degrees. It can carry up to 24 riders. It first opened in 1990 as an all-wooden coaster but underwent a $10 million renovation to install steel-hybrid rails and reopened in 2011.

When the car that the woman had been riding in returned to the loading zone, two people got out and were visibly upset, Rockwell resident John Putman told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

"They were screaming, 'My mom! My mom! Let us out, we need to go get her!" Putman told the newspaper.

Also Friday, an Ohio amusement park's thrill ride malfunctioned when a boat accidentally rolled backward down a hill and flipped over in water, injuring all seven people on it. Operators stopped the Shoot the Rapids water ride after the accident, said officials with Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio.

Six Flags Over Texas opened in 1961 and was the first amusement park in the Six Flags system. It is 17 miles west of downtown Dallas. The park's first fatality happened in 1999. A 28-year-old Arkansas woman drowned and 10 other passengers were injured when a raft-like boat on the Roaring Rapids ride overturned in 2 to 3 feet of water.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-07-20-Six%20Flags-Woman%20Dies/id-a774c444f6384380a53d39c27cabe870

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Portugal president meets opposition leader after crisis talks: TV

LISBON (Reuters) - The leader of the Portugal's main opposition Socialists arrived for a meeting at the president's palace on Friday after a week of talks between his party and the ruling coalition partners to reach a broad deal to end a political crisis, TV channels said.

President Anibal Cavaco Silva last week asked the parties to reach a "national salvation" deal to end a crisis triggered this month by a rift in the coalition and which threatens to derail Portugal's plans to exit an international bailout in mid-2014.

The parties have given themselves until Sunday to complete the deal requested by the president, who wants cross-party backing for the bailout until mid-2014 and then an early election.

Cavaco Silva said on Thursday, however, that the parties can take an extra one or two days to reach the agreement if needed.

(Reporting by Shrikesh Laxmidas, editing by Daniel Alvarenga)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/portugal-president-meets-opposition-leader-crisis-talks-tv-144604368.html

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Catholic University of America Maintains Steady Course With Campaign for Virtue

Last spring, President John Garvey of The Catholic University of America spoke at the Catholic Information Center in Washington. His topic: Catholic education. His account of CUA?s brand of Catholic education: "We aim to change their minds by changing their lives."

For Garvey, unlike for most university presidents, faith and education belong together. In the words of Fides et Ratio ? Pope John Paul II?s 1998 encyclical on faith and reason ? "Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth."

In Garvey?s view, this harmony between faith and reason ? the fact that they not only can but actually ought to go together ? implies certain norms for Catholic education; implies, in fact, that Catholic education should make students more aware of their faith, intellectually and practically.

In today?s world, such ideas sound reactionary. But Garvey has been preaching them and putting them into practice at CUA since his appointment in 2010, molding the university?s faculty hiring structures according to the norms of Ex Corde Ecclesiae, John Paul?s apostolic constitution on Catholic universities, and working step-by-step to shape campus life along lines that promote student virtue.

Some of these steps, such as the increased number of priests, religious and married couples in residence at the university (a circumstance that Garvey hopes will give students "adult examples of holiness") are already being implemented.

Other initiatives, like Garvey?s vision of providing a chapel for every dorm, remain in the planning stage.

Garvey vowed to introduce policies that strengthened the university?s Catholic identity during his 2010 inaugural address, which cited the thought of Blessed John Henry Newman and St. Augustine and set the tone for his tenure at CUA.

Ernest Suarez, chair of the English department, told the Register that Garvey?s steady emphasis on "the relationship between intellect and virtue speaks to CUA?s mission as a Catholic institution and as a university."

Chad Pecknold, a professor of theology at CUA, recalled that the campus was "galvanized" by Garvey?s message in 2010.

"Putting intellect and virtue together in the way that President Garvey has done highlights something distinctive about Catholic universities: ?We not only want to make students who are smart, but who are also wise and contribute to the common good."

Garvey?s efforts to put this philosophy of education into effect began in January 2011, when the university launched a four-month campaign to encourage students to embrace the cardinal virtues of justice, prudence, temperance and fortitude.

The campaign was capped with a symposium on "Intellect and Virtue:?The Idea of a Catholic University." The forum featured a discussion between Garvey and six other university presidents about "the impact that conduct (the ?how? of living) has on what we learn and how we learn it."

The ongoing talks in the campaign to promote virtue have made a difference on campus, but have attracted minimal attention in the press. Further, most of CUA?s small but significant policy changes have likewise remained below the media radar.

Not so Garvey?s June 2011 announcement that the university would return to single-sex dorms. That decision prompted headlines, not all of them favorable.

Today, Garvey acknowledges the debate that arose from the university?s decision. "There were," he said, "some who had questions about it and some who disagreed about it.?I think even the students, though ... on the whole, liked it."

In any case, the mixed reception that greeted the single-sex dorm policy has not shaken his commitment to the plan.

"We think it?s part of what we do as a university to attend to the formation of the character and religious lives of the students who live here as undergraduates (and, to a lesser extent, of the graduate students as well)," he said. "People grow up a lot between the ages of 18 and 22 ... and so it?s proper for us to consider things like where students live and exercise, where they go to Mass and receive the sacraments."

Philosophy professor Michael Gorman shares Garvey?s unapologetic commitment to a deepened Catholic identity on campus.

Listing the various campus initiatives concerning virtue, Gorman observed that the university "strives not only to cultivate both intellect and moral virtue, but also ? to do this in an integrated way, where each contributes to the other."

The real-life consequence of this integration is that, at CUA (in contrast to many other universities), "you can find a good set of friends: Living the Christian life doesn?t mean being a social outcast," he said.

Of course, not all CUA?s students are Catholic or even religious. And Suarez suggested that the "link between intellect and virtue can and should resound with a wide range of people. Any university ? and especially a research university like CUA ? should seek to have a far-ranging impact on society and culture."

Andrew Abela, the dean of CUA?s newly founded School of Business and Economics, explained during an interview that the business school works to "integrate virtue into our entire curriculum."?

Said Abela, "Our approach to business and economics is to form students who are good managers, where ?good? means both effective and moral. It?s not just a question of knowing the good, but also getting into the habit of doing the good ? and even loving the good."

Brian Engelland, associate economics dean, explained that students are encouraged "to think about and apply virtues to business situations."

Engelland described how Garvey?s inaugural remarks have impacted his own research. "The work is not yet published, but it demonstrates that sales professionals who share the same commitment to virtue that their manager practices demonstrate a greater commitment to the organization and are more confident in the performance of their jobs," Engelland said. "In other words, virtuous people make better salespeople. If Plato were here, he would have said, ?You?ve discovered the obvious!?"

This same integration of the theory and practice of virtue can be found in the daily life of CUA students. The university?s preparation for Lent last February is just one example. For the Lenten season, CUA emphasized the virtue of peace, "meditat[ing] in a special way on the words of the Prayer of St. Francis," as Garvey wrote in Inside CUA. Based on the prayer, CUA?s Office of Campus Ministry developed a program of weekly meditations, combined with fasting and almsgiving, which emphasized a different aspect of the virtue each week.

The contrast between this kind of university culture and that of most universities is particularly telling for Pecknold.

"There?s a general popular conception," he said, "that college is irresponsible ? the Animal House caricature of what college is like, or, nowadays, the hook-up or binge-drinking culture. ?That doesn?t sound like formation in the virtues!"

Reflecting on the move to single-sex dorms, Pecknold has observed a number of positive behavioral changes among students.

He noted "a greater respect between male and female students than when I first came. ?? I see more groups of genuine friends: groups of friends who seem to be actually interested in helping each other and who seem not to be embedded in habits which would be typical of the stereotypical fraternity or sorority."

The CUA president looks for opportunities to challenge narrow preconceptions about Catholic education. "So often, when we talk about Catholic higher education, we have the tendency to reduce it to a discussion that religion tries to resolve," he said.

Such a reduction, Garvey suggests, has two deleterious effects. First, it engenders comparisons that leave the impression that "faith is kind of swishy," compared to reason or science.?"Second, it focuses discussion on just a few of the things we do at the university: the role of religion in biology or physics, for example. ... I think it?s important to look at the role of religion in great art, music, literature, in the kind of laws we make and live by."

In other words, it is Garvey?s and CUA?s philosophy that "forms part of every school on campus."

"Recently, I was giving a talk at New York University about Cardinal Newman.?The president, John Sexton, and I were talking about religion in higher education.? We both agreed with Cardinal Newman: that you can?t pretend to be a university ... if you exclude religious ways of knowledge and religious ways of thought. It?s part of who you are as a human being."

?

Sophia Mason writes from

Arlington, Virginia.

She is a graduate student at

The Catholic University

of America.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NCRegisterPrintEdition/~3/2YWRpLugN9M/

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