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| Kirill Kudryavtsev, AFP | In this file photo taken on January 22, 2017 people walk in downtown Astana (now renamed Nursultan), with the Baiterek monument seen in the background. | |
| Kazakhstan's new interim president was sworn in Wednesday following the shock resignation of the country's long-time ruler and in his first official act renamed the capital after his predecessor. | |
| Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took office in a pomp-filled ceremony less than 24 hours after Nursultan Nazarbayev, the only leader an independent Kazakhstan had ever known, suddenly announced he was stepping down. | |
| Tokayev immediately proposed changing the name of the Central Asian nation's capital from Astana to Nursultan, or "Sultan of Light" in Kazakh, and parliament approved the change within hours. | |
| The senate also appointed Nazarbayev's eldest daughter Dariga Nazarbayeva as speaker, setting her up as a potential contender to succeed her father. | |
| Tokayev, 65, will serve out the rest of Nazarbayev's mandate until elections due in April next year, though the former president retains significant powers in the country he ruled for nearly three decades. | |
| Tokayev told lawmakers that Nazarbayev had "shown wisdom" by deciding to step down, a rare move in ex-Soviet Central Asia where other leaders have stayed in power until death. | |
| "Yesterday the world witnessed a historic event," Tokayev said, hailing Nazarbayev as a visionary reformer. | |
| "The results of an independent Kazakhstan are there for all to see," Tokayev said. | |
| Nazarbayev changed the capital from Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty to Astana in 1997, transforming it from a minor provincial town into a futuristic city of skyscrapers rising from the steppes. | |
| Its name meant "capital" in Kazakh and there had long been speculation of a renaming after the leader who shaped it. | |
| The city is central to government propaganda highlighting the achievements of Nazarbayev's reign and his journey to build it was recently the subject of a state-funded film, "Leader's Path: Astana". | |
| Nazarbayev will continue to enjoy significant powers thanks to his constitutional status as "Leader of the Nation", life-time position as chief of the security council and head of the ruling Nur Otan party. | |
| Tokayev appeared to be in pole position to take over in the long term until senators voted shortly after his swearing-in to name Nazarbayeva, 55, as their new chief. | |
| She is the most politically prominent of Nazarbayev's three children and has long been mooted as a potential successor. | |
| Kazakhstan's deputy prime minister from 2015 to 2016, Nazarbayeva has significant influence over the media. | |
| This should go some way to reassuring Kazakhstan's major partners including China, the European Union, Russia and the United States that the move will not threaten key relationships. | |
| "In terms of Kazakh language, we cannot say that Tokayev is as comfortable as the first president. This is an important issue in the long term as over 60 percent of the population is Kazakh and this demographic is expanding," Satpayev said. | |
| But Satpayev also said that Tokayev's diplomatic skills had helped him forge a careful career path through an elite prone to clannishness and regionalism. | |
| "He is capable of negotiating between different groups and taking different interests into account. He lacks popular recognition to some extent but he is a heavyweight in the bureaucracy." | |
| The new leader will need to tackle growing discontent over falling living standards after Kazakhstan's economy was hit by the 2014 drop in oil prices and sanctions against Russia, a key trading partner. | |
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| Once you understand the basics of premarital agreements, you should focus on the specifics of your circumstances and figure out whether a prenup is what you need. | |
| If you or your fiancé answer yes to any of the following questions, there is a good chance a prenup would be helpful. If you answer no to every question, you might still benefit, but having a prenup might not be as critical. | |
| Have you earned more than one year’s worth of retirement benefits or do you have other valuable employment benefits, such as profit sharing or stock options? | |
| Will all or part of your estate go to someone other than your spouse when you die? | |
| Jot down on a piece of paper a list of the things you might want to include in a prenup, such as identifying separate property, decisions about how you will handle money and property while you are married, whether alimony will be paid or waived in the event of divorce, retirement benefit agreements, and agreements about how you want to leave property at your death. | |
| Next, ask yourself this question: On a scale of one to five, how comfortable am I with the idea of having a prenup? | |
| Score of one or two. If you give yourself a one or a two, try to identify the reasons for your discomfort. If it is because you are uncertain how the terms of a prenup might compare to your legal rights without one, you may want to investigate the laws of your state before making a decision. | |
| If you are pretty sure you want a prenup and your discomfort comes from fear of starting an argument or offending your fiancé by asking, then you might take this as an opportunity to practice talking about difficult matters in a loving way. You may even find it helpful to work on communication and negotiation skills with a counselor who specializes in premarital counseling. | |
| The same is true if you don’t think you want a prenup and you feel that your fiancé is pressuring you to make one. This is a good time to practice communicating — clearly and kindly — about stressful issues. Whether or not you eventually make a prenup, you’re sure to learn more about what you each need and want. | |
| Score of three, four, or five. If you scored a three, four, or five on the comfort scale, you are ready to start talking specifics with your fiancé. Even so, bear in mind that every good conversation involves some give or take. Don’t assume that you and your fiancé will see eye-to-eye on everything, especially when you first start talking. Allow plenty of time to talk — and be willing to get help if you need it. | |
| When you’re ready, Nolo’s book, Prenuptial Agreements: How to Write a Fair & Lasting Contract, by Katherine E. Stoner and Shae Irving, walks you through each of these steps in more detail, and helps you draft your own agreement. | |
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| Since Sonya is interested in robotics too, she decided to construct robots that will read and recognize numbers. | |
| Sonya has drawn $$$n$$$ numbers in a row, $$$a_i$$$ is located in the $$$i$$$-th position. She also has put a robot at each end of the row (to the left of the first number and to the right of the last number). Sonya will give a number to each robot (they can be either same or different) and run them. When a robot is running, it is moving toward to another robot, reading numbers in the row. When a robot is reading a number that is equal to the number that was given to that robot, it will turn off and stay in the same position. | |
| Sonya does not want robots to break, so she will give such numbers that robots will stop before they meet. That is, the girl wants them to stop at different positions so that the first robot is to the left of the second one. | |
| For example, if the numbers $$$[1, 5, 4, 1, 3]$$$ are written, and Sonya gives the number $$$1$$$ to the first robot and the number $$$4$$$ to the second one, the first robot will stop in the $$$1$$$-st position while the second one in the $$$3$$$-rd position. In that case, robots will not meet each other. As a result, robots will not be broken. But if Sonya gives the number $$$4$$$ to the first robot and the number $$$5$$$ to the second one, they will meet since the first robot will stop in the $$$3$$$-rd position while the second one is in the $$$2$$$-nd position. | |
| Sonya understands that it does not make sense to give a number that is not written in the row because a robot will not find this number and will meet the other robot. | |
| Sonya is now interested in finding the number of different pairs that she can give to robots so that they will not meet. In other words, she wants to know the number of pairs ($$$p$$$, $$$q$$$), where she will give $$$p$$$ to the first robot and $$$q$$$ to the second one. Pairs ($$$p_i$$$, $$$q_i$$$) and ($$$p_j$$$, $$$q_j$$$) are different if $$$p_i\neq p_j$$$ or $$$q_i\neq q_j$$$. | |
| Unfortunately, Sonya is busy fixing robots that broke after a failed launch. That is why she is asking you to find the number of pairs that she can give to robots so that they will not meet. | |
| The first line contains a single integer $$$n$$$ ($$$1\leq n\leq 10^5$$$) — the number of numbers in a row. | |
| The second line contains $$$n$$$ integers $$$a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_n$$$ ($$$1\leq a_i\leq 10^5$$$) — the numbers in a row. | |
| Print one number — the number of possible pairs that Sonya can give to robots so that they will not meet. | |
| In the first example, Sonya can give pairs ($$$1$$$, $$$1$$$), ($$$1$$$, $$$3$$$), ($$$1$$$, $$$4$$$), ($$$1$$$, $$$5$$$), ($$$4$$$, $$$1$$$), ($$$4$$$, $$$3$$$), ($$$5$$$, $$$1$$$), ($$$5$$$, $$$3$$$), and ($$$5$$$, $$$4$$$). | |
| In the second example, Sonya can give pairs ($$$1$$$, $$$1$$$), ($$$1$$$, $$$2$$$), ($$$1$$$, $$$3$$$), ($$$2$$$, $$$1$$$), ($$$2$$$, $$$2$$$), ($$$2$$$, $$$3$$$), and ($$$3$$$, $$$2$$$). | |
| Server time: Apr/20/2019 00:28:01 (f2). | |
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| The word kunst means "art" in German and comes dangerously close to reading like a vulgar term for genitalia in English. Odds are the eccentric Miami drag performer who adopted the word as a stage name is thrilled and tickled by this seemingly contradictory duality. Kunst has taken an art form that has traditionally toyed with ideas of race and class from stages at Wigwood and Gender Blender to the halls of ICA Miami and PAMM. | |
| But that doesn't mean the gender-nonconforming, queer performer is above critiquing the institutions that are now providing a platform. Historically, Kunst says, drag has been relegated to nightlife spaces, and it's important to use the new platforms to spotlight this history. | |
| "If those people who were doing the work of curation actually, really started to give artists and nightlife a chance," says Kunst, whose academic background includes a focus in performance studies and queer theory, "I feel like their curatorial work would be a lot more exciting." | |
| "I think we need to be more political." | |
| Drawing upon found objects to construct a look, Kunst has an aesthetic that's starkly different from that of the queens and kings who dominate Miami's drag renaissance. Most striking is Kunst's conehead, jutting up like a crown for misfits. | |
| "A lot of people think that it's about me trying to create an alien character — and I've started toying with that narrative — but it's not something that I'm really committed to. It's more so me trying to understand how to relate to the audience a feeling of alienation." The result is a look that is discernibly queer even in the context of the queer environment it inhabits. | |
| "What I want to do in my work," Kunst says, "is to take up a lot of the different elements of what it's like to live in the world as a queer person, as a gender-nonconforming person, and express those realities in hyperbole to make it as absurd visually as it possibly can be." That exaggeration lends itself to clearer critiques of the ways queer people are ostracized — a level of analysis Kunst believes is sometimes lost in drag performance. | |
| "I think drag has always been at the forefront of a genuine political conversation," Kunst says. "This is one criticism that people know that I'm always leveling against the drag scene down here: I think we need to be more political. I think there's a tendency right now, here in the city, to make queerness apolitical... [But] everything we do as queer people is always political." | |
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| Extractions: History of Eritrea Eritrea is one of the newest and most promising nations in Africa and containts remnants of some of its oldest civilizations. One of the earliest known references to Eritrea is from Aeschylus (Fragment 67) in which he refers to the "Mare Erythreum" (Red Sea) as "the lake that is the jewel of Ethiopia." Eritrea recently fought and won one of the longest wars in the world. After thirty years of bitter strugle, Eritrea achieve total independence and the right to self-determination. The Eritrean people acheived their goals in 1991 in a stunning defeat of the occupying Ethiopian forces which also helped liberate Ethiopia from the Soviet-backed Dergue (Menguistu Hailemariam) regime. Between 1000 and 400 BC, a semitic group of people known as the Sabeans crossed the Red Sea into the region known as present Eritrea, and intermingled with the Hamitic inhabitants who had migrated from the northern Sudan. The region was then controlled by various foreign invaders such as the Axumite kingdom, the Funji Sultans of Sudan, the Egyptians, the Portugese and the Turks. Each of these foreign occupiers had a distinct impact on the development of present day Eritrea as a nation and in the formation of an Eritrean identity. | |
| Extractions: Eritrea Along with Djibouti, Somalia, Yemen and Kenya, Eritrea has laid claim to being the site of the fabled 'Land of Punt', a rich, commodity-laden Horn of Africa region which the Egyptian Pharaohs were known to rave about in the vicinity of 2900 BC. Also known as the 'Land of the Gods', it was an area that traded heavily in such sought-after items as gold, frankincense and - unfortunately for the local flora, fauna and people - ebony, ivory and slaves. The very first human settlement in what is now Eritrea, however, is thought to have plunked itself in the Barka Valley in 8000 BC. Its residents are believed to have been related to central African pygmies and, after several thousand years of hefty cultural intermingling, had established strong trade relations with neighbouring ethnic groups. The powerful kingdom of Aksum, sited in what is now the north of Ethiopia, began to make its presence felt in the first century AD, relying heavily on the ancient port of Adulis in Eritrea to handle its sea-going goods. Not content with merely being the facilitators of Aksum's foreign trade, the Eritreans marketed their own stuff overseas, including loads of the black volcanic rock obsidian (prized in the making of jewellery) and tortoiseshells fresh from the Red Sea. The unconventional arrival of Christianity in the land, via shipwrecked Christian Syrian merchants, saw it quickly becoming the religion of choice; it subsequently exerted a profound influence on the development of Eritrean culture. | |
| Extractions: Encyclopedia Eritrea Eritrea formed part of the ancient Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum until the 7th cent. Thereafter Ethiopian emperors maintained an intermittent presence in the area until the mid-16th cent., when the Ottoman Empire gained control of much of the coastal region. Beginning in the mid-19th cent. Ethiopia struggled against Egypt and Italy for control of Eritrea. In the 1880s, Italy occupied the coastal areas around Aseb and Massawa, and by 1890 had extended its territory enough to proclaim the colony of Eritrea (named after the Roman term for the Red Sea, Mare erythraeum Ethiopia In World War II, Eritrea was captured (1941) by the British. Ethiopia had long demanded control of Eritrea on the ground of ethnic affinity, but Britain occupied Eritrea after the war and, beginning in 1949, administered it as a UN trust territory. In 1950 the United Nations decided that Eritrea was to be made independent as a federated part of Ethiopia, and in late 1952 this decision became effective. In late 1962 the Eritrean assembly voted to end the federal status and to unify Eritrea with Ethiopia. After 1962, Eritreans who opposed union carried on sporadic guerrilla warfare against Ethiopia and the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) was founded. In 1972 a rival insurgent group, the Eritrean Popular Liberation Forces (EPLF), was formed and battled the ELF for supremacy. | |
| Extractions: About Eritrea Brief Info People Languages History ... Constitution History of Eritrea Early history 19th century expansion Italian influence Colonial rule ... 1997 The border conflict Early history Evidence of pre-humans has been discovered in the Buia region of Eritrea. The discovery may be one of the oldest ever found, and is similar to the famous "Lucy" find. Evidence of human presence begins in the 8th millennium B.C., beginning with Pygmoid, Nilotic, Kushitic (the Afar) and Semitic (Tiginya) peoples. In the sixth century B.C., Arabs spread to the coast of present day Eritrea, in search of ivory and slaves for trade with Persia and India. Their language evolved into Ge'ez, related to today's Amhara, still spoken by Chistian priests in Eritrea and Ethiopia. Ancient rock paintings During the 3rd and 4th century AD, Eritrea was part of the kingdom of Axum which spread from Meroe in Sudan right across the Red Sea to Yemen. The capital of Axum was in the highlands of Tigray (now a province in Ethiopia), and the main port was at Adulis which is now called Zula in Eritrea. This Kingdom was based upon trade across the Red Sea and was founded by Semetric people originally from Arabia. Christianity was the predominant faith of Axum introduced through contact with traders throughout the region. | |
| Extractions: Encyclopedia Eritrea Eritrea formed part of the ancient Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum until the 7th cent. Thereafter Ethiopian emperors maintained an intermittent presence in the area until the mid-16th cent., when the Ottoman Empire gained control of much of the coastal region. Beginning in the mid-19th cent. Ethiopia struggled against Egypt and Italy for control of Eritrea. In the 1880s, Italy occupied the coastal areas around Aseb and Massawa, and by 1890 had extended its territory enough to proclaim the colony of Eritrea (named after the Roman term for the Red Sea, Mare erythraeum Ethiopia In World War II, Eritrea was captured (1941) by the British. Ethiopia had long demanded control of Eritrea on the ground of ethnic affinity, but Britain occupied Eritrea after the war and, beginning in 1949, administered it as a UN trust territory. In 1950 the United Nations decided that Eritrea was to be made independent as a federated part of Ethiopia, and in late 1952 this decision became effective. In late 1962 the Eritrean assembly voted to end the federal status and to unify Eritrea with Ethiopia. After 1962, Eritreans who opposed union carried on sporadic guerrilla warfare against Ethiopia and the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) was founded. In 1972 a rival insurgent group, the Eritrean Popular Liberation Forces (EPLF), was formed and battled the ELF for supremacy. After Emperor Haile Selassie 's overthrow in a military coup in 1974, the two insurgent groups united to fight against the Ethiopian government's forces. Fighting increased and by 1976 the Eritreans had virtually forced the government forces out of the province. However, the Ethiopian government, with massive amounts of aid and troops from the USSR and Cuba, was able to defeat the Eritreans in 1978. After their defeat the insurgents were forced to return to sporadic guerrilla warfare. During the 1980s the rebels continued their attacks on Ethiopian troops and eventually Eritreans controlled most of the countryside. | |
| Extractions: Eritrea Sections [edit this] This is no World66 image. It was found using an Internet search. more.. [Change image] [Upload image] Eritrea officially celebrated its independence on May 24 1993 becoming the world's newest nation. Prior to Italian colonization in 1885 what is now Eritrea had been ruled by the various local or international powers that successively dominated the Red Sea region. In 1896 the Italians used Eritrea as a springboard for their disastrous attempt to conquer Ethiopia. Eritrea was placed under British military administration after the Italian surrender in World War II. In 1952 a UN resolution federating Eritrea with Ethiopia went into effect. The resolution ignored Eritrean pleas for independence but guaranteed Eritreans some democratic rights and a measure of autonomy. Almost immediately after the federation went into effect however these rights began to be abridged or violated. In 1962 Emperor Haile Sellassie unilaterally dissolved the Eritrean parliament and annexed the country sparking the Eritrean fight for independence that continued after Haile Sellassie was ousted in a coup in 1974. The new Ethiopian Government called the Derg was a Marxist military junta led by strongman Mengistu Haile Miriam. | |
| Extractions: Eritrea was awarded to Ethiopia in 1952 as part of a federation. Ethiopia's annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a 30-year struggle for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean rebels defeating governmental forces; independence was overwhelmingly approved in a 1993 referendum. A border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 remains unresolved. Submit Free, Full Service Africa Vacation Planner Here Click here to save money, time and stress planning, making reservations, or booking your Africa vacation with our full service Virtuoso Travel Consultants We are recommended, authorized Virtuoso Africa Travel Consultants, and will arrange every little detail to make sure you have a wonderful, carefree vacation experience at no extra charge! You may call our Africa Travel Consultants, but first- we'd really appreciate it if you complete our " Africa Vacation Planner" so we have all your requirements beforehand and are prepared to present you with all your options and up-to-the-minute specials. Thank you very much! | |
| History background report for Eritrea. part of the Countries of the World ReferenceCenter profile for Eritrea. Country List ». Backgrounds eritrea history. | |
| Extractions: History: Historical perspective: On 29 May 1991, ISAIAS Afworki, secretary general of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), which then served as the country's legislative body, announced the formation of the Provisional Government in Eritrea (PGE) in preparation for the 23-25 April 1993 referendum on independence for the Autonomous Region of Eritrea; the referendum resulted in a landslide vote for independence, which was proclaimed on 27 April 1993. | |
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| This book provides a broad historical background to American politics, and also a social and economic setting, and closely follows the syllabuses of the three main English examination boards (AQA, Edexcel and OCR). | |
| ItOs All Who You Know When Working the System HereOs How to Get to Know the Right People The worldOs attention turned to the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2009, when Barack Obama took the Presidential oath of office. But inside the building, changes had already taken place that would have broad implications for his agenda. The 111th Congress had convened on January 6 with a far stronger Democratic majority than the one that had preceded it. Their ambitious legislative agenda requires the assistance of their staffs to prepare them for all the important issues on the legislative table. Thus, it is more important than ever to know about senior congressional committee staff members and the role they play in shaping todayOs legislation. While members of the House of Representatives and the Senate enact laws, it is often their staffers who exert the greatest influence in the lawmaking process. Staffers advise their elected bosses, establish political positions on issues, craft legislation, put policies in place, and play important roles on scores of congressional committees. The next time you need to find out who is the most effective person to advocate your cause D turn to the InsiderOs Guide for all the answers. Overall it provides access to an important, if not very visible, component of the legislative process. Recommended-CHOICE The InsiderOs Guide to Key Committee Staff of the U.S. Congress contains in-depth profiles on key congressional staff members that you will not find elsewhere. The information provided on these personnel gives you not only the contact information and other pertinent data but also the inside track to those people. These are the staffers who work with and support the representatives and senators in various important roles that help to enact change or refine existing laws and codes that govern our nation. With all the sweeping changes that have taken place since the Obama administration took office, this essential resource has never been more important or more valuable. This new edition features over 125 new profiles and is designed to be the ultimate for quick and easy reference. The InsiderOs Guide is the leading source for information on more than 600 congressional staff members. The profiles included feature: In-depth biographical information Detailed professional history and educational background Staff membersO areas of expertise and committee role Up-to-date contact information and photograph, when available Staffers' own insights as to their committeeOs priorities and special projects during this session of Congress Organized by House, Senate, and Joint committee assignments, youOll find both the person youOre looking for and information on his or her individual impact on legislation and decision-making. With this InsiderOs Guide, youOll never again need to question who is the most effective person to advocate your cause. | |
| CQ's handy pocket guide to the Congress gives you the facts behind the faces of our nation's lawmakers. All new and updated, the book features: -- Brief biographies and photographs of all members of the House and Senate -- Complete contact information including fax numbers and Internet addresses -- Committee and Sub-committee assignments -- Congressional leadership structure -- Key House and Senate votes for 1998. | |
| Billed as the only job-search guide that focuses exclusively on public-policy careers, this book provides tips to getting jobs in the government, private sector, and media in the nation's capital. | |
| Making education and career connections. | |
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| Credit card & Loan Problems- Helpline 9962999008: How to overcome the recovery Agents Harassment.in collection of loan. | |
| How to overcome the recovery Agents Harassment.in collection of loan. | |
| Creditors can take action to recover their money if you have unpaid debts and this intent is not illegal by itself. However, if the steps taken to recover the debt amount to harassment or cause you trauma, then you have the right to put an end to it. What is harassment by creditors? Sending reminders for their dues, calling you for the purpose of recovering the debt during working hours or even taking court action are technically not illegal. Creditors have the right to recover their money owed. However, if creditors' behavior includes the following actions, it could be seen as harassment, which you have the right to put a stop to: - Contacting you any odd hour of the day, including early morning and late night - Not informing you that your debt has been transferred to a collection agency - Threatening you, either verbally or physically - Not acknowledging it if you deny the debt; persisting with their collection practices - Suggesting or pressuring you to get another loan or sell your existing assets to meet your dues - Showing you false documents that look like court orders or legal papers to pressure you - Telling you that your debt liability is a criminal offense or implying that your assets can be taken away from you as part of legal action against you - Giving you the impression that legal action has been taken against you already - Informing others about your debt directly or asking them to pass on the message for you - Contacting you on social networking sites like Facebook As a consumer, what can you do? You need to start keeping a record of the calls or contacts made. As a consumer, you have rights that protect you from this harassment. However, ideally, you need to get in touch with a legal professional to help you understand what would work for your case against the creditors' behavior and how best to stop the harassment immediately. A legal professional can guide you on how to start building your case while also helping educate you on how best to deal with creditors until the harassment is brought to a full stop. The Fair Debt Collection Practices in India puts down certain behaviors by debt collectors that are not acceptable. If collectors indulge in these, legal action can be taken against them: - Collectors cannot harass or abuse the consumer - Make repeated calls or use obscene or profane language - Make threats of violence - Make public the names of people who have debts unpaid - Make calls but not identify themselves Article by the Top Credit card Advocate in Chennai The customer can approach legal forum and get orders prohibiting the agents harassment. For More information call Daniel & Daniel from the top loan defaulter Advocate in Chennai @ @9962999008. | |
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| For other things named Descartes, see Descartes (disambiguation). | |
| René Descartes (March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650), also known as Cartesius, was a noted French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. Dubbed the "Founder of Modern Philosophy" and the "Father of Modern Mathematics," he ranks as one of the most important and influential thinkers of modern times[citation needed]. For good or bad, much of subsequent western philosophy is a reaction to his writings, which have been closely studied from his time down to the present day. Descartes was one of the key thinkers of the Scientific Revolution in the Western World. He is also honoured by having the Cartesian coordinate system used in plane geometry and algebra named after him. | |
| Descartes frequently contrasted his views with those of his predecessors. In the opening section of the Passions of the Soul, he goes so far as to assert that he will write on his topic "as if no one had written on these matters before". Nevertheless many elements of his philosophy have precedents in late Aristotelianism, the revived Stoicism of the 16th century, or in earlier philosophers like Augustine. In his natural philosophy, he differs from the Schools on two major points: first, he rejects the analysis of corporeal substance into matter and form; second, he rejects any appeal to ends—divine or natural—in explaining natural phenomena. In his theology, he insists on the absolute freedom of God’s act of creation. | |
| Descartes was a major figure in 17th century continental rationalism, later advocated by Baruch Spinoza and Gottfried Leibniz, and opposed by the empiricist school of thought, consisting of Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. Leibniz, Spinoza and Descartes were all versed in mathematics as well as philosophy, and Descartes and Leibniz contributed greatly to science as well. As the inventor of the Cartesian coordinate system, Descartes founded analytic geometry, that bridge between algebra and geometry crucial to the invention of the calculus and analysis. Descartes' reflections on mind and mechanism began the strain of western thought that much later, impelled by the invention of the electronic computer and by the possibility of machine intelligence, blossomed into, e.g., the Turing test. His most famous statement is Cogito ergo sum (French: Je pense, donc je suis or in English: I think, therefore I am), found in §7 of Principles of Philosophy (Latin) and part IV of Discourse on Method (French). | |
| On March 31, 1596, Descartes was born in La Haye en Touraine (now Descartes), Indre-et-Loire, France. When he was 1 year old, his mother died of tuberculosis. His father was a judge in the High Court of Justice. At the age of ten, he entered the Jesuit Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand at La Flèche. After graduation, he studied at the University of Poitiers, earning a Baccalauréat and Licence in law in 1616, in accordance with his father's wishes that he become a lawyer. | |
| Descartes never actually practiced law, however, and in 1618 he entered the service of Prince Maurice of Nassau, leader of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. His intention was to see the world and to discover the truth. | |
| Here he met Isaac Beeckman, who sparked his interest in mathematics and the new physics, particularly the problem of fall of heavy bodies. On November 10, 1619, while traveling in Germany and thinking about using mathematics to solve problems in physics, Descartes had a vision in a dream through which he "discovered the foundations of a marvelous science" . This became a pivotal point in young Descartes' life and the foundation on which he develops analytical geometry. He dedicated the rest of his life to researching this connection between mathematics and nature. | |
| In 1622 he returned to France, and during the next few years spent time in Paris and other parts of Europe. He arrived in La Haye in 1623, selling all of his property, investing this remuneration in bonds which provided Descartes with a comfortable income for the rest of his life. Descartes was present at the siege of La Rochelle by Cardinal Richelieu in 1627. He left for Holland in 1628, where he lived and changed his address frequently until 1649. | |
| In 1633, Galileo was condemned by the Catholic Church, and Descartes abandoned plans to publish Treatise on the World, his work of the previous four years. | |
| Although Descartes never married, he fathered a daughter, the issue of an affair with a woman named Helene; Francine, born in 1635 and baptized on August 7 of the same year. Much to Descartes' distress, she died in 1640 at the age of 5. | |
| Descartes is often regarded as the first modern thinker to provide a philosophical framework for the natural sciences as these began to develop. In his Meditations on First Philosophy he attempts to arrive at a fundamental set of principles that one can know as true without any doubt. To achieve this, he employs a method called methodological skepticism: he doubts any idea that can be doubted. | |
| He gives the example of dreaming: in a dream, one's senses perceive stimuli that seem real, but do not actually exist. Thus, one cannot rely on the data of the senses as necessarily true. Or, perhaps an "evil demon" exists: a supremely powerful and cunning being who sets out to try to deceive Descartes from knowing the true nature of reality. Given these possibilities, what can one know for certain? | |
| Initially, Descartes arrives at only a single principle: thought exists. Thought cannot be separated from me, therefore, I exist (Meditations on First Philosophy). Most famously, this is known as cogito ergo sum, ("I think, therefore I am"). (These words do not appear in the Meditations, although he had written them in his earlier work Discourse on Method). | |
| Note; Descartes was also sceptical of memory, as that has also been known to be manipulated, and can be doubted, so the 'cogito' argument can only apply to the present. The phrase is therefore more accurately (but less famously) translated as; "I am thinking, therefore I exist" | |
| Therefore, Descartes concludes that he can be certain that he exists. But in what form? He perceives his body through the use of the senses; however, these have previously been proven unreliable. So Descartes concludes that the only undoubtable knowledge is that he is a thinking thing. Thinking is his essence as it is the only thing about him that cannot be doubted. Descartes defines "thought" (cogitatio) as "what happens in me such that I am immediately conscious of it, insofar as I am conscious of it". Thinking is thus every activity of a person of which he is immediately conscious. | |
| "Thus what I thought I had seen with my eyes, I actually grasped solely with the faculty of judgment, which is in my mind." | |
| In this manner, Descartes proceeds to construct a system of knowledge, discarding perception as unreliable and instead admitting only deduction as a method. Halfway through the Meditations, he offers an ontological proof of a benevolent God (through both the ontological argument and trademark argument). Because God is benevolent, he can have some faith in the account of reality his senses provide him, for God has provided him with a working mind and sensory system and does not desire to deceive him; however, this is a contentious argument, as his very notion of a benevolent God from which he developed this argument is easily subject to the same kind of doubt as his perceptions. From this supposition, however, he finally establishes the possibility of acquiring knowledge about the world based on deduction and perception. In terms of epistemology therefore, he can be said to have contributed such ideas as a rigorous conception of foundationalism and the possibility that reason is the only reliable method of attaining knowledge, as others said before him, though not as clearly as he did, and the rationalist answer to scepticism which other rationalists have elaborated on. | |
| In Descartes' system, knowledge takes the form of ideas, and philosophical investigation is the contemplation of these ideas. This concept would influence subsequent internalist movements as Descartes' epistemology requires that a connection made by conscious awareness will distinguish knowledge from falsity. As a result of his Cartesian doubt, he sought for knowledge to be "incapable of being destroyed", in order to construct an unshakeable ground from which all other knowledge can be based on. The first item of unshakeable knowledge that Descartes argues for is the aforementioned cogito, or thinking thing. | |
| Descartes also wrote a response to skepticism about the existence of the external world. He argues that sensory perceptions come to him involuntarily, and are not willed by him. They are external to his senses, and according to Descartes, this is evidence of the existence of something outside of his mind, and thus, an external world. Descartes goes on to show that the things in the external world are material by arguing that since God would not deceive him as to the ideas that are being transmitted, and that God has given him the "propensity" to believe that such ideas are caused by material things. Skeptics have responded to Descartes' proof for the external world by positing a brain in a vat thought experiment, in that Descartes' brain may be connected up to a machine which simulates all of these perceptions. | |
| Descartes's theory provided the basis for the calculus of Newton and Leibniz, by applying infinitesimal calculus to the tangent problem, thus permitting the evolution of that branch of modern mathematics . This appears even more astounding considering that the work was just intended as an example to his Discours de la méthode pour bien conduire sa raison, et chercher la verité dans les sciences (Discourse on the Method to Rightly Conduct the Reason and Search for the Truth in Sciences, known better under the shortened title Discours de la méthode). | |
| Descartes' rule of signs is also a commonly used method in modern mathematics to determine possible quantities of positive and negative zeros of a function. | |
| 1618. Compendium Musicae. A treatise on music theory and the aesthetics of music written for Descartes' early collaborator Isaac Beeckman. | |
| 1630–1633. Le Monde (The World) and L'Homme (Man). Descartes' first systematic presentation of his natural philosophy. Man was first published in Latin translation in 1662; The World in 1664. | |
| 1637. Discours de la méthode (Discourse on Method). An introduction to the Essais, which include the Dioptrique, the Météores and the Géométrie. | |
| 1983. Oeuvres de Descartes in 11 vols. Adam, Charles, and Tannery, Paul, eds. Paris: Librairie Philosophique Vrin. | |
| 1637. Discourse on Method (‘’Discours de la Methode’’). An introduction to Dioptrique, Des Météores and La Géométrie. Original in French, because intended for a wider public. | |
| Farrell, John. “Demons of Descartes and Hobbes.” Paranoia and Modernity: Cervantes to Rousseau (Cornell UP, 2006), chapter seven. | |
| Sorrell, Tom (1987). Descartes. Oxford: Oxford University Press.. ISBN 0-19-287636-8. | |
| Costabel, Pierre (1987). Rene Descartes - Exercises pour les elements des solides. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. ISBN 2-13-040099-X. | |
| Garber, Daniel, Michael Ayers (1998). The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-53721-5. | |
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| There are 300,000 slaves today in Haiti. The majority are young girls, and the majority are sexually abused. They call them restaveks. | |
| If they are lucky they get to sleep on the floor. | |
| If there's food left over, they might be able to eat. | |
| If it's a good day, there won't be a beating. | |
| They consider themselves to be 'less-than'. It's something they come to believe over time. | |
| 300,000 boys and girls living this way, today. | |
| only one of them do I know. | |
| The bible says that children are a blessing. They are a treasure. | |
| They are precious in His eyes. | |
| who get to report directly to God. | |
| Maybe I should help them read these words? | |
| but don't you think that would be a great place to start? | |
| A--Amen ______, A-Amen _________ A-Amen Whoa Amen, Amen! | |
| In the schools of Haiti, sometimes the air is so thick, so stale and hot with the humidity, and so dark in the rooms, that the kids come pouring out onto the balconies or the steps of the school to finish their studies. | |
| When I see this, I can't help but think of how precious His light really is. How revealing and comforting. | |
| This is a picture of Lynn, a missionary in Haiti. | |
| It's one of my favorite images this year. | |
| One of the most important questions I ask as a photographer is, "Where is God's signature?" | |
| I look for moments that define the story I want to tell, and moments that are so genuine and powerful that they will tell their own story and interpret the feeling long after I'm gone. | |
| She has a world-class heart. Every time I talk to her she is smiling. While Haiti is probably one of the least friendly places on the planet for a wheelchair, you would never know it talking with Lynn. Her eyes are always dancing and she's always encouraging. | |
| Once when it was everyone's misfortune and my turn to cook, I cracked open some tuna soaked in oil. I poured in a ton of warm mayo and began to stir. The smell was horrendous. The texture already looked as similar as it gets to vomit, and the oil wasn't breaking down. My stomach as turning just looking at it. | |
| I'd wasted about 7 cans of tuna, and I didn't know what to do. | |
| When I showed it to Lynn, she just looked at me and smiled. | |
| "Well, instead of Tuna salad sandwiches we'll just dunk the bread like a dip. It'll be great!" | |
| When I realized she wasn't kidding, I took the sorriest meal I'd ever made and dumped it out, far away from the house, where we wouldn't have to smell it. I wasn't going to be the cause of food poisoning for the whole orphanage. | |
| That girl would have ate it. And she would have smiled! That's how sweet her heart is. | |
| This morning on my way into the city, I began to worship as I was pulling out. My window rolled down I heard the birds singing so sweetly and even remarked to Lord that I may as well shut up, because they are doing a much better job of it. | |
| Today was a vital reassurance from the Lord. Sometimes when we've been in the mire of battle, we come out of the skirmishes a little heavier than when we went in. If we could but see the spiritual, we might be surprised to look down and see the many gashes, the wounds, the arrows cleaved and buried, a hairs-breadth from the major arteries. | |
| Today, many men layed their hands on me and prayed over my family, and I could feel the Lord. He renewed me, refreshed me, he set me back upon my feet and gave me His charge to carry on. | |
| On the way home, this song came flooding to my mind, filling my lungs and in turn the air, and my soul gave thanks to it's Maker. I thought of Haiti and the splendor of my King. I remembered looking down from the mountain in Haiti, toward the sea. Feeling a tie to this foreign place. Being thankful for the breeze, for the little cloud He placed in between me and the hot sun. I remembered walking through the forests, the sharp leaves of the palms and the cactus slicing into me at every misguided turn. No paths, no roads or guidance, just the feeling of how small I felt in such a place, how even though Haiti was small, how very small was I, and yet how Grand, How Great, How Beautiful, my God! I knew He could see me. Because God is on the throne. Not that He was, or that He would be, but that He IS. The Great I AM. | |
| His Hands....Oh His Hands! My only desire is to be found in them. To be wrapped in them, to be under them, to be lifted by them, protected by them, guided by them, molded, caught by them, pointed, driven, and charged by them! | |
| The prayers of these warriors, these faithful men, committed to the same King, minister to me, and the arrows are plucked and have fallen to the ground as refuse, where they belong. Their hands cover my wounds and the Living Word sears over the gashes. | |
| In these moments I look down and imagine my sword. My enemy sees it too, blindingly squinting as it glimmers in the reflection of the Light of my Commander. It will swing out upon the breadth, and the name of the Lord will be glorified. | |
| We've been praying about this for awhile, and we think it's time. Tomorrow morning our studio and home will be going on the market. | |
| Our photography business has really evolved over the years. Most of our work is now on-location, with weddings or missions, the kids are older and don't need babysitters, and ever since Haiti, we've just felt like God is moving us. | |
| This place has been a tremendous blessing to our family, and we're thankful that God gave us such a wonderfully unique and beautiful space. | |
| We've never felt like it was ours. Since day one we knew that it would be temporary. It's our hope that somehow this building can be used for continued ministry in the community. | |
| I kept noticing her, staring. | |
| Then she'd open her mouth like she was going to eat my backpack. | |
| She'd smile big as she could, then in a flash she'd be sticking out her tongue. | |
| Her eyes were wide as saucers. | |
| "What is she doing??!" I said. | |
| Maybe she'd never seen a mirror? I don't know. | |
| She was, to say the least, intrigued. | |
| I remember this girl in the village, so simple and content with her cup. Some days, we need to just let go of the world and do exactly what we see in this image. We just need to be still, to hold out our cup and wait for the Lord. The blessings will come and the cup will overflow. Amen? | |
| Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. | |
| We are thankful, there is a company that will pay me for my skills in photography and design, which will in turn finance my family to live in Haiti. We're trying to figure out what the next move is with our studio, if we should put it on the market. | |
| We can't leave with a mortgage. A close friend said if we could cover the cost of the mortgage, we could borrow it out to local ministries while we're gone. | |
| She's 'Mom' to the kids in the orphanage these days, but in many ways I find Gertrude to be so much more. | |
| She is a prayer warrior, an encourager, a spirit-lifter, a role-model, and a follower of Christ. | |
| When she found out I loved her cooking, she took it upon herself to take a normal meal and turn it into a masterpiece. | |
| She used the skills and the means that God had placed before her, and she found her own unique, creative way to bless and encourage the people around her. I think her cooking could grace the cover of any Haitian cuisine magazine. | |
| She was too shy to let me take her picture and would always turn away, and although the shot below isn't crisp and tack sharp, it's one of my favorites of Gertrude. In the waning light of the late afternoon, I found her in her home, chopping away to make yet another special meal for us, and all with a smile on her face. | |
| On the night we left she made my family a special dish to take with us on our journey. It was a french-braided hot-pocket of sorts, a work of art in my opinion. The next day in the airport when I realized I'd accidentally checked our traveling money inside our luggage, it was Gertrude's supply that fed my family and nourished us for breakfast and lunch. It was bursting with flavor. | |
| The granola bars that were in our backpack became our supper, and by the look on my daughter's face, they was no match compared to Gertrude's hand-crafted creation. She made them out of love, and we will never forget Gertrude's Blessing. | |
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| When the iPhone 5C was released in U.S. Apple Stores in September, many business analysts were skeptical about the cheaper phone's appeal for consumers. | |
| Many overlooked the whimsical plastic iPhone cases that were launched at the same time as the new iPhone models. The new 5C cases were designed to pop, with exact dots drilled through plastic, which created bright color combinations against the iPhone 5C body. | |
| However, an app development company known as Bytesize was paying attention. Their game app, Flipcase, released on October 13, 2013, allows you to interface and play with your iPhone case -- an approach we rarely take toward our phone accessories. | |
| This is not the first time Apple has released a decorative accessory for the iPhone. In 2010 they launched minimalistic rubber and plastic bumpers for the iPhone 4 models. Like the 5C cases, these bumpers came in a variety of eye-catching colors. | |
| They were designed to be unobtrusive, and provided a modicum of protection by surrounding the iPhone's glass surfaces with a slight rim. If you dropped your iPhone or scraped it against a flat surface, the bumper would elevate the screen and backing just enough so that it wouldn't come into contact with the surface. | |
| The 5C case takes an entirely different structural approach. There are two layers to the iPhone 5C case: a microfiber layer to protect the iPhone from scuffs and scratches and a silicone layer with circular perforations. The silicone case gives the iPhone 5C a grippy feel, which can prevent it from sliding across surfaces or out of your hands. | |
| These cases come in six different colors and the holes allow you to display the actual color of your iPhone 5C. Since this iPhone model comes in five colors, there are 30 different case and iPhone combinations for consumers to choose from. | |
| The iPhone 5C case was certainly not the highlight of the 5C iPhone release. However, the developers at Bytesize weere able to breathe intriguing new life into this slight silicone and microfiber accessory. | |
| The app mimics the popular family classic board game Connect Four, which instructs players to arrange four same-colored dots into a row. However, you must remove your iPhone 5C case and lay it over the top of your screen. The dots are programmed to drop into place, matching the spots where the case perforations are. | |
| While the app is extremely simple in its approach to entertainment, it gives users and app developers time to pause and speculate. What are some other ways we can use accessories creatively, outside of the functions for which they're intended? | |
| In psychology, there is a concept known as "functional fixedness." This is our human tendency to look at an object, such as a tool, and always use it in traditional ways. This means you are more likely to apply a hammer to a nail, instead of using the hammer as a lever to lift a heavy object. | |
| Functional fixedness informs how we behave during our interactions with objects, such as fitting an iPhone case around a device. However, this psychological tendency can limit our options during problem-solving and games. It should come as no surprise that those who can break out of functional fixedness with creative ideas are more likely to invent new products. | |
| You might find innovative ways to approach auto repair, structural integrity, or app development by taking basic tools and approaching them with a fresh new perspective. | |
| The developers at Bytesize have demonstrated how we can think outside the box when it comes to iPhone cases. They took an object made for decoration and protection, and flipped it into a gaming accessory. Business owners, hobbyists, and creative individuals can learn from these breaks out of functional fixedness. | |
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| Robert Browning: Poems Summary and Analysis of "Caliban Upon Setebos" | |
| The poem begins with a section in brackets, in which Caliban, the creature from Shakespeare's The Tempest, introduces himself. He crawls on his belly along the island on which he is trapped, talking to himself freely since his masters Proper (Prospero in Shakespeare) and Miranda are asleep. He heads for a cave. | |
| From here, he begins his main address, which is about Setebos, the being he considers his God and creator. For Caliban, Setebos created the world from "being ill at ease," as an attempt to compensate for his cold, miserable existence. Because Setebos could not make himself a peer, a "second self/To be His mate," he created a miserable island of lesser creatures that "He admires and mocks too." | |
| Caliban, in imitation of what he believes Setebos to be, gourds a fruit "into mash," in effect acting as a creator himself. He imagines if he could "make a live bird out of clay," he might watch indifferently as that bird "lay stupid-like," unable to fly. He is imagining himself showing the same indifference to the fate and happiness of his potential creatures as he imagines Setebos shows to him. | |
| Not only does Caliban believe Setebos to rule without any moral sense, he also believes Setebos is entirely unpredictable, liable to cause pain for an offense that he had otherwise approved of. Caliban does wonder whether he simply might not understand the ways of Setebos, but also notes that Setebos took pains not to create any creatures who, even if they might be "worthier than Himself" in some respects, would have the power to unseat Setebos from his godly place. | |
| When Caliban considers why Setebos would be so unhappy to have created an unhappy world, he conjectures that perhaps Setebos is Himself a subordinate to a power that He does not understand. Calling this greater power "the quiet," Caliban describes it as one "that feels nor joy nor grief,/Since both derive from weakness in some way." Driven by resentment over not having a connection to His own maker, Setebos must have angrily made the Earth "a bauble-world" where nothing makes sense. | |
| Caliban next thinks on Prosper, his magician master on the island. He play-acts as Prosper, using other animals to create his own hierarchy where he is the master over others. From this experience, Caliban considers that perhaps Setebos created the world not from any strong emotion or feeling, but rather for the sake of work itself, to "exercise much craft,/By no means for the love of what is worked." That the world might one day fall down does not matter under this line of thought, since the work can simply be repeated. | |
| He returns to thoughts about Setebos's unpredictability, citing how "one hurricane will spoil six months' hope." What's more, Caliban cannot rationalize why he would be so hated while Prosper would be so blessed by the deity. Caliban holds some hope that the world might get a chance to improve itself and become less built on random destruction and misery. | |
| The best way to "escape [Setebos's] ire," Caliban believes, is to feign misery. He believes that showing Setebos happiness is sure to bring pain down on oneself, and so Caliban only dances "on dark nights," while he at other times works to look miserable and angry. He will stay committed to this plan until Setebos is either taken over by the quiet or dies on His own. | |
| The final section is again bracketed. As a storm begins, Caliban sees a raven flying overhead and fears that the bird will report his musings to Setebos. Worried he will be punished for revealing happiness and expressing impertinence, he immediately resumes his guise of a miserable beast. | |
| This dramatic monologue, published in 1864 in Dramatis Personae, is arguably one of Browning's most sophisticated. Its fundamental questions are theological, as it contemplates both the origins and motives of divine power, and by extension what humans are capable of understanding about their world and the forces that control it. The blank verse allows Caliban's rambling but observant thoughts to create a memorable voice that blends misery and perception. | |
| There are a few historical and literary influences that should be noted. The most immediate is Shakespeare's The Tempest. In the play, the wizard Prospero is stranded on a wild, magical island with his daughter Miranda and certain creatures he commands through his magic. One of these is Caliban, a miserable humanoid who finally commits to seeking grace in the end. Browning co-opts this creature for several reasons, not least of all because he is defined by his misery. He views himself as lesser (and objectively is a less sophisticated being than the humans), and is unhappy to be under Prospero's direct control. Using this creature as a vantage to explore our own relationship to a divine power not only creates higher drama and stakes, but also imbues all the considerations with a cynicism. | |
| The immediate historical influence on the poem is the then-recent publication of Darwin's Origins of the Species. Browning was responding to several naturalist theories that surfaced in the face of the scientific realization that man might not be a direct and divine creation. The first of these theories is that God could be understood by natural, empirical evidence. The second is that God must not exist in the image of man if we have evolved from animals and hence are not directly in His image. There are two pieces of corroborating evidence that suggest Browning was exploring these ideas. One is the epigraph to the poem – "Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself" – taken from Psalm 50 in the Bible, and spoken by God to wicked sinners who thought the deity wicked like themselves. The second piece of evidence is the poem's subtitle: "Natural Theology in the Island." This would certainly have resonated with scholars and educated readers of the time as being relevant to the then-current theological debates following the revelations popularized by Darwin's study. | |
| So the questions Browning asks through this monologue are all centered in these contemplations, though it should be noted that with his characteristic sophistication, Browning does not suitably answer any of these questions with certainty. The monologue has dialectical possibilities, and one should read it as a consideration of various possibilities instead of as a philosophical tract. That Caliban has a firm idea of Setebos should not keep us from doubting his beliefs and investigating what has influenced him to understand Setebos the way he does. | |
| First should come an analysis of Caliban himself. Unlike the creature in Shakespeare's play, Browning's Caliban has a remarkable degree of self-consciousness. Perhaps the most telling quality of his monologue is his tendency to address himself in third person. It's a childish construction for the creature to use, but it also reflects his belief that Setebos will punish him for showing any happiness and joy. He is intelligent enough to realize that his true identity is divorced from his behavior, and as such disassociates himself so he can study himself objectively. It's a Freudian construction, a superego judging an ego. One other element of Caliban is his delusional ability to justify his own limitations. Those limitations are physical – he's a humanoid creature – and circumstantial – he has to serve a cruel master, with his only release being when Prospero is asleep. In many ways, one can argue that Caliban feels compelled to create Setebos so as to justify his misery. If Setebos is responsible for fashioning a terrible world, then it is justifiable that Caliban himself is miserable. | |
| And indeed, the Setebos he imagines is a pathetic and miserable creature. Like the Victorian naturalists, Caliban does not piece together his sense of a god from an inner feeling, but instead from empirical evidence. Notice the amount of this long poem that is devoted to categorizing creatures, describing them in grotesque and miserable terms. The repeated phrase "So He" suggests a scientific construction, in which Caliban paints his God based on observation rather than any a priori considerations. Based on such a miserable island, Setebos is imagined as a spiteful and resentful creature who creates not to punish others or please himself, but rather to exercise his ambivalence. He creates simply because it's something to do, to distract Himself from "the quiet," His own deity and one He cannot understand, all with little care for the concerns of those He creates. There are no moral concerns in Setebos, even though Caliban imbues Setebos with emotions. Because these creatures exist below Setebos, it is not in his perspective to be concerned with them. | |
| Caliban's entire worldview is based on hierarchy. As a creature under Prospero's control, it is likely comforting to imagine that Prospero himself is controlled by Setebos, and further, that Setebos is controlled by "the quiet." It is only at this highest level that Caliban stops conjecturing, and proposes a creature that "feels nor joy nor grief," in effect having no emotions at all. For a creature punished by the world, it must be nice to think that the ultimate power does not even have room for feelings, since that suggests those feelings are ultimately irrelevant. Further, Caliban exercises his own power over smaller creatures, both physically when he grinds the fruit down or pretends that the snake is Miranda, and imaginatively when he thinks about creating a bird from clay. The irony of Caliban's hierarchy is that he creates his conceptions of those above him using empirical evidence from below. That is, the creatures with superior power are actually dependent on what is below them (or at least Caliban's perception of those things below them), which naturally limits them to Caliban's perceptions. In other words, Browning suggests through Caliban's empirical methods that no matter the imagination of he who derives God this way, God will always be no bigger than what that person sees and does. A miserable creature will create a miserable God, and so by default a happy man will do the opposite. | |
| Overall, this poem is a study of a masterful interpreter, one who attempts to make an order of his world. He studies behavior (including his own) in order to create a system that can then dictate his behavior. It is telling that he ends the poem by again pretending to be miserable, but it is only perceptible to us (through dramatic irony) that these rules are of Caliban's own imagining. The vicious circle of an empirically created God ultimately leads to man living through a lack of imagination, creating his own self-fulfilling prophecy. That Browning disapproves of or at least has pity for such a worldview is apparent – but what worldview he deems superior, or even how he perceives God, is not clear. Instead, what is admirable in the poem is the quest of self-analysis and thought. | |
| Cedars, S.R.. Joyce, Meghan ed. "Robert Browning: Poems “Caliban Upon Setebos” Summary and Analysis". GradeSaver, 27 January 2013 Web. | |
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| BUTTIGIEG FRAMES HIS CAMPAIGN DESIGNED TO ‘WIN AN ERA’: Framed in a hulking, leaking Studebaker factory building that is being transformed into a tech center, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg launched his improbable Democratic presidential campaign, declaring that the party doesn't need to just win an election, "It needs to win an era" (Howey Politics Indiana). "Once in this city, we housed companies that helped power America into the 20th Century," Buttigieg told the 4,500 people who packed room as a heavy rain pounded outside, though he never mentioned President Trump or Vice President Pence during the speech, referencing only the "horror show in Washington." It was a speech he wrote himself. "Think of the forces that built the building we’re standing in now, and countless others like it now long gone. Think of the wealth created here. Think of the thousands of workers who came here every day, and the thousands of families they provided for. And think of what it must have been like in 1963 when the great Studebaker auto company collapsed and the shock brought this city to its knees. "Buildings like this one fell quiet, and acres of land around us slowly became a rust-scape of industrial decline, collapsing factories everywhere," the 37-year-old mayor said. "For the next half-century it took heroic efforts just to keep our city running, while our population shrank, and young people like me grew up believing the only way to a good life was to get out. Many of us did. But then some of us came back. We wanted things to change around here. And when the national press called us a dying city at the beginning of this decade, we took it as a call to arms. I ran for mayor in 2011 knowing that nothing like Studebaker would ever come back—but believing that we would, our city would, if we had the courage to reimagine our future. And now, I can confidently say that South Bend is back." As for the future, Buttigieg declared, "That’s why I’m here today. To tell a different story than 'Make America Great Again,'" a reference to President Trump's slogan. "It’s time to walk away from the politics of the past, and toward something totally different," the mayor said as rays of sunlight suddenly poured through the glass windows atop the ceiling. "So that’s why I’m here today, joining you to make a little news: My name is Pete Buttigieg. They call me Mayor Pete. I am a proud son of South Bend, Indiana. And I am running for President of the United States." South Bend is now the metaphor for one of 20 Democratic presidential campaigns, which now finds Buttigieg placing third in polls in Iowa and New Hampshire. | |
| MAYOR PETE COMPETED WITH TIGER WOODS: The Pete Buttigieg campaign roll out had him scheduled to speak at 2:30 Sunday afternoon. But a series of mayors and other speakers droned on and it became clear, Buttigieg was competing for air time with Tiger Woods' amazing comeback at The Masters (Howey Politics Indiana). It was just before 3 when word filtered through the cavernous Studebaker 84 building that Woods had captured his fifth Masters, and the first in years. Buttigieg wouldn't take the stage until about 3:20 p.m. The collision with the Masters wasn't as debilitating as Sen. Richard Lugar's 1995 campaign kickoff that was completely overshadowed by the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, but he ended up sharing TV coverage throughout the rest of Sunday and this morning. | |
| STUDEBAKER BECAME A SYMBOL FOR SOUTH BEND: For decades, the biggest symbol of this Midwestern city’s decline was the vacant Studebaker plant at one end of the city with its broken windows. Kevin Smith, a business owner in South Bend who bought the property to renovate it, said the empty relic was holding the city back. “It looms over the town,” he said. “Everyone had the feeling that we could no longer compete” (Wall Street Journal). These days, some 40 organizations, including tech companies and a school that teaches coding to children, rent space on the 1.2 million-square-foot campus, including one building with an open floor plan and interior glass walls. Now called the Renaissance District, it is a symbol of the rebound in the state’s fourth-largest city. Since 2012, the South Bend area has added more than 10,000 jobs. The city’s unemployment rate fell from 11.8% to 4.4% at a time when the nation’s labor market is at its strongest level in 50 years. But business leaders and residents also give credit to Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who is raising money for a Democratic presidential run. Mr. Smith said Mr. Buttigieg, 37 years old and the city’s first openly gay mayor, helped secure state funding and provide tax credits to attract companies to the former Studebaker plant. | |
| SOUTH BEND PD TAPES DRAWING ATTENTION TO BUTTIGIEG: Pete Buttigieg’s meteoric rise as a presidential candidate is putting a spotlight on his years as mayor of South Bend, Ind., including his demotion of an African American police chief (The Hill). An Indiana judge will rule soon on whether to release five cassette tapes of secretly recorded conversations between South Bend police officers that led to the 2012 demotion of Police Chief Darryl Boykins, the city’s first ever black police chief. The South Bend City Council subpoenaed Buttigieg to win release of the tapes, which were at the center of a police department shake-up and a series of lawsuits. Buttigieg’s critics say he’s gone to great lengths to conceal the contents of the tapes, which some believe could include racist language by white police officers. There is roiling anger in South Bend over the allegations of racism. Black leaders in the city say that if there is evidence of racism, it could call into question scores of convictions that stemmed from white police officers investigating black suspects in a city that is 25 percent black. | |
| APRIL 24 SINE DIE NOW IN QUESTION: House Speaker Brian Bosma is hoping to end the 2019 legislative session April 24 — five days ahead of the April 29 adjournment required by state law. It's not because Hoosier lawmakers have been unusually efficient this year, though Bosma insists that "members are working hard to bring to their legislation to a successful close" (Carden, NWI Times). Rather, the majority of the 150 representatives and senators, including most of the Northwest Indiana delegation, will have no hotel rooms to stay in between April 25 and April 28 when the National Rifle Association convention takes over downtown Indianapolis. Bosma said Republican legislative leaders have a plan to wrap up state budget negotiations by April 22 to give lawmakers up to 48 hours, and certainly no less than 24 hours, to review the budget prior to voting on it April 24 and then adjourning for the year. However, he's not sure whether that plan still is feasible, given the differences between the House-approved budget and the Senate revisions to House Bill 1001 that's set for Senate approval Tuesday. | |
| KEY GENERAL ASSEMBLY DEADLINES THIS WEEK: The time for third readings in both legislative chambers runs out early this week, with the House hitting its deadline today and the Senate’s coming up tomorrow (Curry, Howey Politics Indiana). That means this long General Assembly session has now moved into its final phase. With exactly two weeks left before the statutory mark for sine die, lawmakers will be heading to conference committees (some have already started) to work out the kinks between the House and Senate on the remaining bills that haven’t been sent to Governor Holcomb’s desk. Speaker Brian Bosma has thus far stuck with his April 24th goal for sine die and has repeatedly said that while the legislature is still grappling with big issues like the gaming and CIB bills, passing a budget is the only mandatory task they have to fulfill before closing up. For his part, Senate President Pro Tempore Rod Bray pointed to Wednesday’s revenue forecast as a major determinant for how smooth budget talks will be and how quickly session can be closed. | |
| TAYLOR U DISSENT OVER PENCE COMMENCEMENT: The first text message arrived while the faculty meeting was still in session. “Pence speaking at commencement,” it began. “Yeah, I know, horrible, but it’s the most exciting faculty meeting ever.” My phone didn’t stop buzzing Thursday. None of the people texting me were happy about the selection of Vice President Pence as the 2019 graduation speaker at Taylor University, an evangelical Christian college of about 2,000 students in rural Indiana (Peterson, Washington Post). I’ve worked part time at Taylor for eight years, teaching as an adjunct in the English, honors and communications departments. My husband and I moved here so that he could help build the school’s ESL (English as a Second Language) program for international students. As Christians and former missionaries, we believed in Taylor’s mission of developing servant leaders who would minister Christ's redemptive love and truth to a world in need, and this intimate community has been a rich and nourishing place for us and our children. But the selection of Pence, a former Indiana governor, as the May 18 commencement speaker is deeply disappointing, for me, and for many of the faculty. It reflects a failure of the university’s leadership to live up to its mission. But a lot of people here are upset. As soon as the announcement was made, a professor from the biblical studies, Christian ministries and philosophy department called for a vote of dissent. After some discussion, during which some faculty expressed support for Pence’s presence, comparing him to the biblical figure of Daniel, and others critiqued the decision, 49 faculty voted in favor of Pence addressing the community at commencement. Sixty-one voted in opposition. | |
| MAYOR PETE DESCRIBES HIS PRINCIPLES: Mayor Pete Buttigieg described his campaign which has raised more than $7 million as one with the "principles that will guide my campaign are simple enough to fit on a bumper sticker: freedom, security, and democracy" (Howey Politics Indiana). As for freedom, Buttigieg said, "Health care is freedom, because you’re not free if you can’t start a small business because leaving your job would mean losing your health care. Consumer protection is freedom, because you’re not free if you can’t sue your credit card company even after they get caught ripping you off. Racial justice is freedom, because you’re not free if there is a veil of mistrust between a person of color and the officers who are sworn to keep us safe. "Empowering teachers means freedom, because you’re not free in your own classroom if your ability to do your job is reduced to a test score," he continued. "Women’s equality is freedom, because you’re not free if your reproductive health choices are dictated by male politicians or bosses. Organized labor sows freedom, because you’re not free if you can’t organize for a fair day’s pay for a good day’s work. "And take it from Chasten and me, you are certainly not free if a county clerk gets to tell you who you ought to marry based on their political beliefs," he said. Toward the end of his speech, Buttigieg described the "he horror show in Washington" as one that "is mesmerizing, all-consuming. But starting today, we are going to change the channel. Sometimes a dark moment brings out the best in us. What is good in us. Dare I say, what is great in us. I believe in American greatness. I believe in American values. And I believe that we can guide this country and one another to a better place." Buttigieg will take his campaign to New York on Monday and then to Iowa later in the week. He's already made the Democratic debate cut, which means he'll take the stage for a series of 12 debates beginning in June. That is where the top tier of the Democratic nomination will begin to separate." | |
| New York Times, Trip Gabriel: Pete Buttigieg, the young Midwestern mayor whose presidential bid has been an unlikely early focus of attention from Democratic voters and donors, kicked off his campaign on Sunday and proclaimed his hometown's revival was the answer to skeptics who ask how he has the "audacity" to see himself in the White House." | |
| Washington Post, Robert Costa: Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of this northern Indiana city who in just weeks has vaulted from being a near-unknown to a breakout star in the Democratic Party, officially started his presidential bid here on Sunday, presenting himself as a transformational figure who is well positioned to beat President Trump, despite being young and facing off against many seasoned rivals." | |
| Politico, Daniel Strauss: "Rising Buttigieg formally launches presidential campaign": "Surging in early primary polls, Democrat Pete Buttigieg officially kicked off his presidential bid on Sunday, starting a new phase of the campaign as one of the main candidates to watch just three months after he launched an exploratory committee to little fanfare." | |
| Bloomberg News, John McCormick: "Mayor Pete Buttigieg, an underdog in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race who’s seen an uptick in support in recent weeks, called for a new generation of American leadership as he became the 18th candidate to formally join the fold. Speaking from a building with ties to America’s industrial past that’s now being re-purposed to house technology companies and other jobs of the future, the 37-year-old sold himself as unique in a field crowded with Washington lawmakers and longtime politicians. “It is time to walk away from the politics of the past, and toward something totally different,” Buttigieg told thousands gathered inside a former Studebaker car assembly plant in South Bend, Indiana. | |
| South Bend Tribune, Jeff Parrott: Mayor Pete Buttigieg officially entered the race for the U.S. presidency on Sunday afternoon, casting his candidacy in historic terms and declaring it was time for a new era in the country, one in which he and Americans work with optimism and hope to meet the country’s challenges. “Are you ready to turn the page and start a new chapter in the American story?” he asked supporters crammed in a cold and wet Studebaker Building 84, a former auto assembly plant in downtown South Bend. Without ever speaking President Trump’s name, Buttigieg cast himself as a polar opposite figure. The Studebaker building, vacant since the automaker shut down in 1963, delivered Buttigieg some fortuitous symbolism as it continues a transformation into modern office space. | |
| IndyStar, Kaitlin Lange: Pete Buttigieg officially entered the crowded 2020 presidential race Sunday, marking the young Midwestern mayor's rise from political obscurity to a notable name in the Democratic field seeking to replace Donald Trump in the White House. "My name is Pete Buttigieg. They call me Mayor Pete. I’m a proud son of South Bend, Indiana, and I am running for president of the United States," Buttigieg announced to a roaring crowd of about 4,520. Another 1,500 were watching outside, according to his campaign. Already Buttigieg has made history, as the first openly gay Democratic presidential candidate in history. His announcement capped a week of heightened media attention — driven in part by his criticisms of a fellow Hoosier, Vice President Mike Pence. | |
| MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborugh: "Mayor Pete has nothing to lose. He's not afraid, he's bold and he's audacious. I've never been flooded with the kind of phone calls I received Sunday afternoon from Republicans, Democrats and independents. A more important question for Mayor pete is this, you can win Iowa, but you have to have a more diverse coalition. How will he fare in South Carolina? How will be fare in California." | |
| DEMOCRATS TURN OUT FOR BUTTIGIEG: Attending the Buttigieg rally on Sunday included former U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, who has not endorsed in the presidential race, and his wife, Jill (Howey Politics Indiana). Also attending were Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and Indiana Democratic Chairman John Zody. | |
| SANDERS TAKES ON TRUMP: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) walked onstage here Friday under a gray sky with occasional specks of snow and launched into a full-on attack against President Trump, labeling him a “pathological liar” in a state that was key to Trump’s victory in 2016 (Washington Post). He repeated the epithet Saturday at a union hall in Michigan, another Trump state, and again on Sunday at a park in Pennsylvania, where Trump also won. “The biggest lie was that he was going to stand up for working families and take on the establishment,” Sanders said. The blistering attacks on the president reflect Sanders’s developing, and arguably risky, strategy of reaching out to Trump’s voters — people the president has said would support him even if he shot someone. It’s a sharp contrast with other Democratic candidates who are focused on mobilizing Trump opponents. Not incidentally, it is also a way to signal to Democrats that Sanders is their best hope for knocking off Trump, at a time when many fear he is the opposite. The most striking example of this strategy will play out Monday night when Sanders appears at a town hall meeting hosted by Fox News Channel, an outlet many Democrats detest and one the party has blocked from hosting a debate. Sanders says it’s important to talk to Fox viewers directly and tell them Trump misled them. | |
| SWALWELL ANNOUNCES HIS BID: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) formally launched his campaign for the presidency Sunday in his hometown of Dublin, Calif., according to CNN. Swalwell, who has made his push for stricter gun control a central theme of his run, identified the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Fla., as a formative moment, according to the network. "A year ago, hope died at Parkland," Swalwell said. "But, in a uniquely American way, owing to the courage and strength of children, hope was reborn at Parkland. Hope has been reborn here in America too. That's why I started my campaign at Parkland. I pledged to that community what I pledge to you -- I will be the first campaign to make ending gun violence the top priority in my campaign." | |
| HARRIS RELEASES 15 YEARS OF TAX RETURNS: Sen. Kamala Harris has released 15 years of tax returns, more than any presidential candidate so far. Her campaign released returns for every year she has held elected public office, from 2004 through 2018 (CBS News). Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, a lawyer, reported an adjusted gross income of about $1.9 million in 2018, substantially more than the $142,000 Harris declared in 2004 when she was the district attorney of San Francisco. They paid just under $700,000 in federal taxes, a tax rate of nearly 37 percent. | |
| TRUMP TO POST $30M: President Donald Trump's reelection campaign is set to report that it raised more than $30 million in the first quarter of 2019, edging out his top two Democratic rivals combined, according to figures it provided to the Associated Press. The haul brings the campaign's cash on hand to $40.8 million, an unprecedented war chest for an incumbent president this early in a campaign. The Trump campaign said nearly 99% of its donations were of $200 or less, with an average donation of $34.26. | |
| SCOTT SAYS TRUMP TRYING TO MAKE 'EVERYBODY CRAZY': Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott said Sunday that President Donald Trump's threat to place immigrants into so-called sanctuary cities might just be the President trying to "make everybody crazy." "I don't know whether it's legal or illegal. I mean, maybe he's just saying this to make everybody crazy. Make everybody talk about it on their shows," Scott, who represents Florida, told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union." Scott added: "But what I do know is I've been up there -- I've been in the Senate for 90 days, we're not securing our border. We're not enforcing our laws." | |
| RYAN DEFENDS CAMPAIGN FOCUS: Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) on Sunday defended the focus of his 2020 presidential campaign on economic issues, saying that many Americans are tired of "just getting by." "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos asked Ryan during an interview on ABC whether campaigning on economic issues will be effective, given that President Trump has seen sustained job growth and low unemployment rates. "Well, it's not doing well where I come from and it’s not doing well in a lot of places around the country," Ryan, who announced his White House bid earlier this month, explained. | |
| CONWAY CITES 'RADICAL FRESHMEN': White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Sunday that there are moderate Democrats in Congress who are willing to negotiate with President Trump and are frustrated with "radical freshmen" in Congress. “There’s a great deal of frustration among rank and file members who represent more moderate districts and frankly who represent districts that Donald Trump won in 2016. They’re very frustrated," she added Sunday during an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press." "They’ve been to the White House. They talk to people like me, quietly, saying they wish the radical freshman who get all the magazine covers and all the ink and airtime," Conway continued, interrupting herself to suggest freshman Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) are causing "trouble in Pelosi paradise." | |
| INSLEE SAYS PEOPLE REALIZING CLIMATE URGENCY: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) said Sunday that "people are coming to realize the urgency" of climate change. Inslee, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, added during an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he believes focusing on climate change is the best path to the nomination. “I believe it is the best path because people are coming to realize the urgency of this. Tied with health care it is the number one priority of voters in Iowa and for good reason," he said. | |
| CASINO BILL UP FOR THIRD READING TODAY: While not all state representatives from the Wabash Valley agree that Vigo County needs, or should even want a casino, each said it’s going to be a hectic final two weeks at the statehouse as the legislation likely faces substantive changes (Modisitt, Terre Haute Tribune-Star). As written, Senate Bill 552, authored by Republican Sens. Jon Ford of Terre Haute and Mark Messmer of Jasper, would create a gaming license for Vigo County should a public referendum in November or May 2020 be successful. If the referendum were to pass, legislation would require the formation of a Vigo County casino advisory board. The board will be responsible for evaluating proposals to operate a casino in Vigo County. The board would then forward its recommendations to the Indiana Gaming Commission. The commission would select the top three proposals and open an “auction process.” The auction would be at an advertised meeting of the gaming commission and would see each of the finalists submit one bid. The highest of the three would be awarded the license. It requires a minimum bid of $25 million. SB 552 made it through second reading in the House on Thursday with relatively minor changes. It will be heard again in the House on third and final reading today. | |
| BORDERS TO VOTE AGAINST SB552: State Rep. Bruce Borders, R-Jasonville, intends to vote against SB 552 today, saying he is as against gambling in general as he is against an expansion of it around the state (Terre Haute Tribune-Star). “I’ve always said and still believe that gambling is economic development for people who are bad at math,” Borders said. “And ultimately what often happens with these places is it comes in with all the excitement and the bling and you get a great turnout initially. “But later what happens is ... they become a regressive tax on the poor. I do not, and will not support the expansion of gaming in Indiana.” Reps. Tonya Pfaff, Bob Heaton and Alan Morrison each said they intend to vote in favor SB 552 today and agree it’s important to let the people of Vigo County decide what’s best for them via referendum. “I think it’s very important that Vigo County has the opportunity to have a casino,” said Pfaff, D-Terre Haute. “What I believe is we need the opportunity to let voters decide. From what I’ve heard, all kinds of cities in Indiana want a casino and we need to at least have that choice.” Heaton agreed, saying he sees it as his job to give the people of Vigo County a voice in bringing something as divisive as a casino to the area. “I think it could be an economic driver for the area. And when I talk to people they seem all seem to be in favor of it, of course I’m sure there are people who aren’t,” said Heaton, R-Terre Haute. “But based on the referendum language in there, the people in Vigo County will get to make that decision for themselves.” If it passes third reading today, as each of the area legislators expect it to, SB 552 would then likely go to conference committee. Its there that Morrison, R-Brazil, expects SB 552 will again see substantive changes. “As 552 sits right now, even though I’m voting for it, there is a lot wrong with it and it’ll be a big lift to change some of it,” Morrison said. | |
| EASTER RECESS: The House and Senate break for a two-week Easter recess. | |
| CONCERNS ABOUT REP. OMAR'S SAFETY: Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that the U.S. Capitol Police and the House sergeant-at-arms 'are conducting a security assessment to safeguard Congresswoman [Ilhan] Omar, her family and her staff' following a tweet by President Donald Trump (Politico). Pelosi's announcement highlighted what has become an extraordinary situation — the speaker of the House is worried about the safety of one of her own members following a statement by the president of the United States. An Omar aide said on Sunday that 'there has been an increase in threats' against the Minnesota Democrat following Trump's tweet. Omar's office reports such threats to the FBI and Capitol Police, the aide said. | |
| GOVERNOR: HOLCOMB EXPECTED TO SIGN SCHOOL ALERT BILL - Gov. Eric Holcomb is expected to sign a bill that would allow Indiana school districts to seek state money for alert systems to warn students and staff about emergencies (AP). The bill would permit all 92 counties to request grants from the Indiana Secured School Fund for an alert system similar to one that’s used in northwestern Indiana. The legislation is the “beginning of the most proactive effort that anybody can try to take in order to answer the problems that we’ve been seeing with safety in our schools,” said Rep. Chuck Moseley of Portage. When a school leader activates the system in Porter County, all area law enforcers at the local, state and federal levels are informed through a mobile phone application, said Sheriff David Reynolds. The officers can go directly to a school without waiting to be notified by a 911 operator. They can use their electronic key fob access to the building to promptly counteract a threat, or to help students and educators trying to escape. “The most important thing when you get there is to go in. Because we know once you go in, it’s not going to take long.” Reynolds said. | |
| GOVERNOR: DANIELS REUNITED WITH RV1 - The recreational vehicle used by former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels became a museum piece after Daniels left office and became president of Purdue University (WTHR-TV). But on Sunday, Daniels tweeted a picture in front of the RV with the words, "Best birthday surprise ever." Daniels' post continued, "The family and the 04/08 campaign crew borrowed RV One from the state museum for the day. What memories. That vehicle and I saw every corner of Indiana over and over. He turned 70 April 7. Daniels donated "RV One" to the Indiana State Museum, but when he turned over the keys in 2012, it went on display at the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart, according to WNDU. | |
| ENERGY: BIG CHANGES COMING ON POWER CONSUMPTION - As climate change brings hotter summers and warmer winters, Hoosiers will use less energy to heat their homes — but more energy for air conditioning (Stephens, CNHI). And if current trends continue, a larger percentage of that energy will come from clean-burning natural gas and renewable resources like wind and solar power. That’s according to the latest Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment report, “Climate Change and Indiana’s Energy Sector,” released in February. The Purdue Climate Change Research Center coordinates the annual report, which draws on research from dozens of Indiana universities and stakeholder groups. While energy used for heating will fall significantly, the report suggests the increased use of air conditioning will grow Hoosiers’ overall energy consumption. | |
| EDUCATION: PURDUE NW PROF LEAVES SCHOOL $8M - A building at Purdue University Northwest is being named in honor of a former professor who left about $8 million from his estate for student scholarships and professorships (AP). The Purdue University Board of Trustees recently approved the official naming of the Nils K. Nelson Bioscience Innovation Building, which is under construction in Hammond, Indiana, and is set to open in fall 2020. | |
| SPORTS: NOTRE DAME INSTALLS METAL DETECTORS AT STADIUM - Metal detectors will be used at all Notre Dame Stadium gates, starting with the 2019 football season (AP). The new policy begins Sept. 14 at the Irish’s first home game. The South Bend Tribune reports that university officials say the change is part of their commitment to safety and security. | |
| WHITE HOUSE: TRUMP EYES IMMIGRATION RESTRICTIONS - President Trump and his top aides are weighing rules designed to clamp down on countries whose nationals overstay short-term visitor visas as part of a broader push for new ways to curb immigration (Wall Street Journal). The effort would target nationals of countries with high overstay rates of such visas, which include the African nations of Nigeria, Chad, Eritrea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to Department of Homeland Security data. The U.S. as part of a new rule would tell the countries’ governments that if rates don’t reverse, then future visas could be shorter or harder to get, according to an administration official who described the move as putting those countries “on notice.” Ultimately, nationals from countries with high overstay rates could be barred entirely, though the official said no ban is now under consideration. | |
| WHITE HOUSE: TRUMP/PENCE SCHEDULE - President Trump's schedule, per a White House official: Monday: Trump flies to Minnesota for a Tax Day roundtable to promote his tax cuts. (Several Trump aides have told me the president and his political team are targeting Minnesota as a pick-up opportunity in 2020 after narrowly losing the state in 2016.) Tuesday: Trump has lunch with Vice President Mike Pence. Wednesday: Trump will speak at the Opportunity Zone Conference with state, local, tribal, and community leaders. Thursday: The President and first lady will participate in the Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride. Trump will also meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. | |
| CITIES: MEERS TOUTS MICHIGAN CITY'S RESURGENCE - “There is no doubt that Michigan City is better off than they were seven years ago.” So said Mayor Ron Meer at his annual State of the City Address on Thursday at the Michigan City Senior Center (Michigan City News-Dispatch). The mayor spent his address highlighting some of his city departments and initiatives, identifying “what went right, what went wrong, and – more importantly – where things need to change or improve for (the) program to continue moving forward in the right direction.” Improving and protecting the local environment was the first highlight. Over the past seven years, Meer said, “We put approximately $40 million in green infrastructure, lift station improvements in our various neighborhoods, storm water separation, sanitary sewer improvements. And this has happened throughout the whole city, in all our neighborhoods. It's not always real glamorous to see these things because they're underground, but they are so important to your everyday life." | |
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| Silver Bullet was written by Stephen King based on his short novel "Cycle of the Werewolf" | |
| The place is Tarker's Mills, a small Maine town. The kind of place where everyone knows everyone and about the only crime is the occasional speeder. | |
| This changes, however, in the spring of '76, when brutal murders begin occuring night after night. On one such occasion, the killer breaks into a woman's home and kills her while she's inside her own house. | |
| The town sheriff Joe Haller and his deputy get to work trying to identify the killer, but some townsfolk, in particular shotgun salesman Andy Fairton, believe the sheriff's not fit for the task. After the fourth murder, in which a young boy is the latest victim, with still no killer found, Andy rounds up a posse of vigilantes with rifles to search the woods. They indeed find the killer... And not only do they fail to kill him, most (if not all) of the posse don't survive the encounter. | |
| At the center of things are the two children of a family, and their uncle. The children are 15-year-old Jane Coslaw (Megan Follows) and her 13-year-old brother Marty (Corey Haim), who was born paralized from the waist down. They have an uncle known simply as Red (Garey Busey) who is an alchloholic and has a tendency to go through wives like kleenex. He doesn't get along so well with Marty and Jane's parents, but is still loving and well meaning, regardless. | |
| When Marty's best friend, Brady Kincaid, is killed, and then the annual nighttime Fourth Of July fireworks festival, a favorite of Marty's, is cancelled because of the murders, Red tries to cheer him up by building a high-speed motorized wheelchair/motorcyle for him, which is called the Silver Bullet. | |
| That night, while his family's asleep, Marty takes some fireworks from home and heads out in the Silver Bullet (probably not the wisest move) to light some fireworks. Then, Marty meets the killer ...and makes the shocking discovery that the killer isn't even human, but a werewolf! Terrified, Marty takes an already lit rocket and shoots the wolf in the eye with it, then drives the Silver Bullet back home at full speed. He calls his uncle Red, but of course Red just thinks Marty had a bad dream. | |
| The next morning Marty tells Jane about it. Somehow, despite the absurdity of it, Jane believes enough of it to go around town and look for a person with a missing eye. What happens when they find out who the werewolf is? And what will they do when no adults, not even Red, will believe them? | |
| A horror movie with heart is how I describe this film. | |
| I really cared a great deal about the central characters and about what happened to them, and the acting if wonderful. If you've ever wondered why Corey Haim was ever popular, just watch this movie. Red is the kind of uncle I believe most people would like to have, even with his flaws, and Garey Busey does some of his best work here. That's the film's strongest point. However, the whole film works very well. The attack scenes are exciting and chilling. If you like werewolf movies, this one's a must-see. | |
| The characters of Marty, Jane and Red are very well-written and well acted. You really care a great deal about them. The scenes with the werewolf, like when it attacks the vigilante mob, are frightning and suspenseful. There are also a few other heart-wrenching scenes, like when the father of Marty's friend Brady finds out his son's been murdered. | |
| The werewolf suit seems to draw different opinions. I for one felt it looked completely real and convincing, at least for a ficticious creature. I mean the wolf stands on it's hind legs and can do things like pull out power cables and grab a vigilante's baseball bat and use it against him, but a lot of werewolf films have wolf men that are more human-like. I've heard some say the werewolf looks really fake, so I can't say what you'd think. I for one bought it as an actual monster. | |
| Really about the only complaint I have is the narration that is done by the older Jane during the movie. The film is set in 1976, but came out in 1985, which then would be the present moment when Jane is narrating. Jane is 15 during the time of the werewolf murders, so that means she'd be 24 in 1985 but Tovah Feldsmith, who was 33 at the time, sounds way too old to pass for 24! I mean what did Jane do, chainsmoke three packs of cigarettes a day during the years inbetween? | |
| Great acting, well-written characters and great scary scenes with the wolf. The wolf itself and the way it looks may be a plus or minus, depending on whether it looks real to you or not. | |
| The woman narrating as older Jane sounds WAY too old. Otherwise, no problems here. | |
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| For more than 30 years David Livingstone worked in Africa as a medical missionary and travelled the continent from the equator to the Cape and from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. In so doing, he gained worldwide fame as an explorer and strongly influenced the way successive generations have thought about Africa. By awakening the interest of the outside world in the then largely unknown continent, he helped pave the way for its European colonization later in the 19th century. Also, through his strong belief that Africans could advance into the modern world, he served as an inspiration for African nationalism. | |
| David Livingstone was born in Blantyre, Scotland, on March 19, 1813. One of seven children of a very poor family, he was already working in a cotton mill by the time he was 10. The little education he received came largely through his own efforts and from the determination of his parents, strict Calvinists who believed in hard work and schooling. | |
| In 1834 he heard about an appeal by British and American churches for medical missionaries to go to China. He decided this should be his career, and for two years while continuing to work part-time, he studied theology and medicine. In 1838 he was accepted by the London Missionary Society but was prevented from going to China by the Opium War. A subsequent meeting with Robert Moffat, the noted missionary to southern Africa, convinced Livingstone that he should take up his work in Africa. | |
| He arrived in Cape Town on March 14, 1841. From the moment he arrived, Livingstone determined to become an explorer to help open up the continent for Christianity and Western civilization. His career can be divided into four fairly distinct phases: the early missionary explorations in the years from 1841 to 1849, during which he traveled to the Transvaal and into the Kalahari region; the expedition from 1850 to 1856 that took him to Luanda on the west coast and to Quelimane on the east coat; the explorations along the Zambezi River from 1858 to 1864; and his determined, but unsuccessful, search for the source of the Nile River from 1866 to 1873. | |
| By mid-1842 he had travelled north into the Kalahari territory, farther than any European had ventured. He established a mission at Mabotsa in 1844. He married Moffat’s daughter, Mary, and she accompanied him on his travels until 1852, when she and their four children returned to Britain because of her health and the children’s needs for security and education. | |
| During his first decade in Africa, Livingstone gained his first measure of fame when he assisted in the discovery of Lake Ngami on Aug. 1, 1849. For this he was awarded a gold medal and a monetary prize by the British Royal Geographical Society. | |
| With his family safely in Scotland, Livingstone was able to set out on his second major journey in November 1853. His first goal was to reach the Atlantic coast to open up an avenue of commerce. He arrived at Luanda, on the Atlantic coast, on May 31, 1854. Four months later he began the return trip, exploring the Zambezi River region along the way. On May 20, 1856, he arrived at Quelimane, on the east coast, in Mozambique. The most spectacular result of this trip was the discovery and naming of Victoria Falls on the Zambezi on Nov. 17, 1855. | |
| For his accomplishments he was received as a national hero when he returned to England in December 1856. He published a book, `Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa’ in 1857 and spent six months on a speaking tour in the British Isles. His speeches at Cambridge were published as `Dr. Livingstone’s Cambridge Lectures’ in 1858. Back in Africa early in 1858, Livingstone began extensive explorations of the Zambezi region. On this journey his wife died, in April 1862. The explorations were not successful from a commercial point of view, so the expedition was recalled by the British government. | |
| Livingstone’s last great venture was his attempt to locate the source of the Nile. This quest, fraught with hardships and dissension among his staff, left him broken in health and–at one point–given up for dead. Henry Morton Stanley, a correspondent for the New York Herald, found him in Ujiji on Oct. 23, 1871, and provided him with food and medicine. | |
| Together they explored the area northeast of Lake Tanganyika. Stanley returned to England in March 1872, but Livingstone refused to accompany him. On May 1, 1873, his servants found him dead in a village in what is now Zambia. His body was taken to England and buried in Westminster Abbey on April 18, 1874. Later that year `The Last Journals of David Livingstone’ were published. | |
| My daughter is for her history homework researching a famous Victorian and she chose David Livingstone. | |
| How I wish such inspirational stories were heard more in our world of today- this story should be told and retold again and again! | |
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| Preparing a house to live is a quite difficult process, which demands from us many concentration. Above all, it is connected with the fact that we have to compare miscellaneous commodities made by various companies. Therefore, we should remember that the best place to that is to decide for bigger stores that have great range of different suppliers. | |
| Moreover, we should also keep in mind that owing to them we can find great variety of commodities in one place and compare them relatively quickly in terms of their quality, design and price. | |
| Choosing the equipment for the rooms in our house is believed to be a very popular decision according to the results of the surveys carried out by increasing number of diverse people. First of all, it is indicated by the fact that we feel that we have great influence on something and, moreover, we are, in fact independent. Hence, we are the only people who have the right to decide for instance what decorations can be used and where they should be placed. | |
| A great and increasingly frequently visited place to do that is Dekoria – a store that is not able to complain currently about lack of interest from customers all over the planete. It is implied by the fact that it provides us wide range of different products, such as pillows, carpets, furniture and other products that can be used in order to decorate our house in such way that it would look pleasant. | |
| Another important fact related to the previously presented store is that due to picking Dekoria we may also find other solutions that might awake the interest of miscellaneous types of users. Above all, we are recommended to think about different voucher codes, owing to which we might be assured that covering the expenses of the shopping would not be that difficult. | |
| Furthermore, we also have to keep in mind that if we would like to save as much as possible, we are recommended to acquire more. This implies that customers, who have a whole apartment to be decorated are recommended to concentrate on finding a voucher code, owing to which they might make also good choices from economical point of view.. | |
| Nevertheless, we are recommended to not forget that Dekoria store belongs to those, which are considered to be the most attractive due to diverse reasons. Firstly, we need to not forget that choosing this store provides us a chance to find various commodities in one place, which results in saving time and money at the same time. Consequently, choosing this shop is done by increasing number of people nowadays. | |
| What are the most meaningful hints that may convince us to cooperate with a specialist in the sphere of interior design? | |
| Interior design is a area that still for a variety of people is thought to be not obligatory as well as be reserved for people, who have significant of money. Nevertheless, as the times goes by, growing amount of of people, who thought that way, discover that their thinking wasn’t good. | |
| Shop comfortable in IKEA from the apartment! | |
| IKEA is one of very popular furniture company in whole world. It history begins in Scandinavia at the downturn of XIX century. Since this time it spread to another cities, including Poland, in 1990. | |
| Even when we like design of our apartment really much, sometimes, especially after several decades, we need to modify it decoration. Surely total overhaul would be expensive, either new furniture or accessories cost big fortune. | |
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| Martin Scorsese and Robert Di Niro will collaborate for the first time in decades. | |
| Martin Scorsese's "Silence" may have been his 28-year-old passion project, but it was mostly ignored by audiences, grossing only $7 million in the U.S. opposite a $40 million budget. Something tells us the same fate won't meet the director's next project, which carries an even bigger budget and bigger stars. | |
| Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Departed" | |
| Scorsese has built his career on iconic gangster movies, from "Goodfellas" to "Casino," "Mean Streets" and "The Departed," so his return to the genre after more than a decade is cause for celebration. | |
| "The Irishman" is based on the 2003 book "I Heard You Paint Houses" by Charles Brandt, which recounts the years Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran spent as a mob hitman. Brandt interviewed Sheeran over a five-year period, during which the mobster confessed to being involved in more than 25 hits for the mob. Sheeran was allegedly involved in the death of legendary mob boss Jimmy Hoffa, who went missing in July 1975 and was never found. | |
| Anyone hoping for Scorsese to capture the cinematic energy of "Goodfellas" once again may want to lower their expectations. It appears the filmmaker is going to be making a much more elegiac and sobering gangster movie this time around. "The Irishman" picks up with Sheeran as an older man as he looks back on the hits that defined his mob career. | |
| "The people are also older in 'The Irishman,' it's certainly more about looking back, a retrospective so to speak of a man's life and the choices that he's had to make," Scorsese told The Independent in May. | |
| As to whether the movie follows in the tradition of "Goodfellas"? He told the outlet, "I think this is different, I think it is. I admit that there are - you know, 'Goodfellas' and 'Casino' have a certain style that I created for them - it's on the page in the script actually…The style of the picture, the cuts, the freeze-frames, all of this was planned way in advance, but here it's a little different." | |
| Robert De Niro in "Casino" | |
| Scorsese and Robert De Niro's careers are intertwined after making eight movies together, including "Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull" and "The King of Comedy." But the duo haven't made a movie together since "Casino," which was released 22 years ago in November 1995. "The Irishman" will mark their ninth collaboration. | |
| While Scorsese's career in the two decades since has remained strong, De Niro hasn't really had a critically acclaimed lead dramatic role in several years. He earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for "Silver Linings Playbook," but reuniting with Scorsese is just what his big screen career needs most right now. | |
| Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta and Robert De Niro in "Goodfellas" | |
| The supporting cast for "The Irishman" is truly an embarrassment of riches: Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano and Bobby Cannavale. But arguably the most anticipated bit of casting is Joe Pesci, who has only had two credits to his name this century: A cameo in De Niro's 2006 CIA drama "The Good Shepherd" and a lead role in Taylor Hackford's 2010 flop "Love Ranch." Prior to 2006, Pesci hadn't starred in a single movie since 1998's "Lethal Weapon 4." The semi-retired actor is officially coming back to the big screen for a "Goodfellas" reunion with Scorsese and De Niro. | |
| Pesci had been rumored to be joining "The Irishman," but his casting wasn't confirmed until earlier this month. He's reportedly playing Russell Bufalino, a Mafia boss operating out of Pennsylvania who has long been suspected of having a hand in Hoffa's disappearance. The character means we'll most likely be seeing Pesci and De Niro in scenes opposite one another. | |
| Scorsese and Pesci have made three movies together. Pesci won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his turn in "Goodfellas." | |
| "The Irishman" will follow in the footsteps of "Hugo" as a Scorsese movie that depends heavily on visual effects. The director is teaming with George Lucas' VFX company Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to utilize the same effects used on Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" so that De Niro can be digitally aged to look younger in the flashback scenes. | |
| "The Irishman" will include flashbacks that span decades, and De Niro is set to play Sheeran in all of them. He'll appear as young as 30 years old. | |
| The visual effects required for "The Irishman" are part of the reason the film's budget is over the $100 million mark. That's a massive price tag for any filmmaker, and it's why Scorsese has taken up shop at Netflix to make the movie despite his love of the theatrical experience over streaming. | |
| "The Irishman" has been in development since 2008 and was originally going to be backed by Paramount Pictures, but the studio couldn't afford to take on such a risky budget. International rights were purchased by STX Entertainment for $50 million at Cannes 2016, but they backed down after Netflix took over for Paramount and bought worldwide streaming rights. | |
| "The Irishman" is officially shooting in New York City this summer, with a production start date set for the middle of August. Principal photography is scheduled until December. The five-month shoot will just a bit longer than the filming of "Silence," which took place in Taiwan from January 30 to May 15, 2015. But it's nothing compared to "Gangs of New York" shoot. That massive production lasted for nearly eight months (August 2000 - April 2001). | |
| Matin Scorsese and Andrew Garfield on the set of "Silence" | |
| A lot of attention surrounding "The Irishman" is being paid to the people appearing in front of the camera, but just as exciting are the collaborators joining Scorsese behind it. Most notable is cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, who has become a favorite of Scorsese's in recent years after shooting both "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "Silence." The latter earned him his second Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography. His first was for "Brokeback Mountain" in 2005. Prieto first earned attention for his work with Alejandro González Iñárritu ("Amores perros," "21 Grams" and "Babel"). | |
| Screenwriter Steve Zallian, meanwhile, adapted the book for the big screen. Zallian, who just earned an Emmy nomination for directing his HBO limited series "The Night Of," wrote the script for Scorsese's "Gangs of New York" and earned an Oscar nomination. He won Best Adapted Screenplay for "Schindler's List" in 1993. | |
| Scorsese's longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker will also return for "The Irishman." She was the editor on the director's 1967 feature debut, "Who's That Knocking at My Door," and has edited all of his films since "Raging Bull" in 1980. Her work with Scorsese has resulted in six Oscar nominations for Best Editing and three wins ("Raging Bull," "The Aviator" and "The Departed"). | |
| And now for the bad news: "The Irishman" won't be released until 2019. At the very earliest we could get an Oscar-qualifying run in select theaters in late December 2018, but reports say Netflix is eyeing a day-and-date rollout in 2019. Because of the extensive VFX work required, it makes sense the movie won't open for a year after the cameras stop rolling. Let the long wait for "The Irishman" begin. | |
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| Today seems a rather inauspicious date in history by Chinese reckoning, given that the number 4 (which sounds like death) appears twice. Supporters of Chiang Kai-Shek might have found it so, as the man that had dominated headlines in China for half a century expired on this date on April 4th, 1975. | |
| I allude in my title to an excellent work of historical fiction entitled "Across Five Aprils,", about the experience of one family divided by the American Civil War. Perhaps also apropos for the battle of civil liberties left very much unfinished by that conflict, and that had to wait until the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s; today after all, was the day Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, as all you U2 fans should remember. | |
| ...3. Lo A-hoi, a carpenter, was on the 31st March convicted of attempting to use a certificate of registration belonging to another person, whilst offering himself as security for a prisoner at the Magistracy, and fined $10 or twenty-one days' imprisonment in default. | |
| 4. Ho A-wan, a widow, was convicted on the 1st April of exposing the dead body of a female child at a timber shed in Second Street. [my car mechanic's garage is there now! - Ed.] The Magistrate fined her $20 or seven days' imprisonment with hard labour. | |
| 5. Fong A-yat, an accountant of the "Fau-On" pawnshop at Wellington Street, was convicted on the 1st instant [April-Ed.] of having in his possession a quantity of prepared opium without a permit from the Opium Farmer. He was fined $200 or three months' imprisonment with hard labour and the whole of the opium and utensils seized, together with a moiety of the fine, if paid, were declared by the Magistrate as forfeited to the Opium Farmer [The person or company that had bought the monopoly license from the government that year to exclusively vend opium to retailers]. | |
| 6. Lau A-him, a mat-packer, was on the 4th instant convicted of having in his possession a tin of prepared opium without a permit from the Opium Farmer, and was sentenced to pay a fine of $50, and in default of payment to be imprisoned for four weeks with hard labour. The opium found was ordered to be confiscated and delivered to the Opium Farmer. | |
| 8. Tang Wan-hing, master of the "Hang-mau-I-ki" chandlery, was convicted on the 1st instant of giving a receipt for a sum of money exceeding $10 without affixing a receipt stamp to it, and fined $10 or twenty-one days' imprisonment. | |
| 9. Fung A-po, an old offender, wo had been several tims in Gaol and finally banished, [he was probably branded - Ed.] was charged with returning to the Colony ebfore the expiry of the term of his banishment. The Magistrate sentenced him to twelve months' imprisonment with hard labour, on the 3rd instant. | |
| 10. Sham A-wai, proprietor of the 'Tai-shing' shop was summoned at the instance of the Inspector of Markets for keeping kerosine oil in his shop in contravention of section XI of the Dangerous Goods Ordinance, 1873. He admitted the offence, but pleaded ignorance of the law. The Magistrate inflicted a fine of $50 in this instance, and told the Defendant that he was liable under the Ordinance to a penalty of $100 a day for each day during which the oil was so kept. | |
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| What is the long and short of this post? I want to be able to keep my flesh under and to walk in the Spirit, that is awesome benefits attached to walking in the Spirit, if it is just the crazy communication with the Holy Ghost, it is more than enough. Holy Spirit, I want that communion, help me O God! | |
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| Task The Department of Spatial Information (DSI) is a State Government department. The major functions of DSI is to provide accurate and timely spatial information to other Government departments, but also to make some of this spatial information available to the public. In order to provide both the government and public services , DSI has developed a number of web services that deliver this information through a number of internally developed applications. This suite of web services and applications is referred to as the DSI Online Spatial Delivery System (OSDS). DSI have a number of new projects being developed that are expected to increase the demand for its spatial data dramatically. The Executive Management of DSI have looked at a number of proposals to support these new programs. The two alternatives they are investigating are: 1. Increasing the internal DSI Data Centre capacity to host and support the new projects in the OSDS. This would probably need a 50% increase in web infrastructure and support services within the Department. This would necessitate an increase in data centre infrastructure, server numbers as well as a major increase in the bandwidth available to DSI. 2. Migrating the OSDS to a Cloud provider. This would allow DS! to continue to develop and refine the data in its internal Maintenance systems and then move a copy of the completed data to the cloud-based Delivery system for publication. DSI Management is planning to adopt Proposal 2 but have asked you to give them a report that looks at the following aspects of the proposal: 1. What delivery and deployment models should DSI adopt for a cloud-based OSDS? 2. How should DS! assess the risk of adopting a cloud-based OSDS? 3. What steps should DSI take to provide adequate security for the OSDS? Tasks Prepare a report that covers the following aspects: 1. An executive summary of no more than 1 page that summarises your report and recommendations; 2. The model that you recommend that the DSI adopt for the cloud-based OSDS. This should include any Cloud Architectures that should be deployed to support the model; 3. A review of the risks involved in migrating the OSDS to a cloud-based provider; 4. A review of the general security steps that DSI should take to secure the OSDS when deployed to a Cloud provider. Rationale This assessment will cover the following objectives: • Be able to compare and evaluate the ability of different Cloud Computing Architectures to meet a set of given business requirements; • Be able to evaluate a set of business requirements to determine suitability for a Cloud Computing delivery model; • Be able to evaluate and design an ICT Risk Management strategy for a Cloud Computing Delivery plan to meet business requirements; • Be able to interpret, evaluate and plan the Governance and Security requirements for a Cloud Computing delivery plan; • Be able to analyse and evaluate business requirements to plan a migration to a Cloud model; Marking Criteria: Question Marks Executive Summary 15 Recommended Model 25 Information Security Assessment 30 Risk Management Assessment 30 Total 100 Spelling, Grammar, Presentation (up to -5 marks) APA Referencing (up to -5 marks) Assessment Rubric Question HD DI CR PS FL Executive Summary Clear & comprehensive summary of Security and Risk assessments that highlights all major issues Detailed summary of Security and Risk assessments that highlights most major issues Good summary of Security and Risk assessments that highlights many major issues Adequate summary of Security and Risk assessments that highlights some major issues Inadequate or incomplete summary of Security and Risk assessments that highlights few or no major issues Recommended Model Clear & comprehensive summary of reasons for selecting model that highlights all major issues Detailed summary ofGood reasons for selecting model that highlights most majorissues summary of reasons for selecting model that highlights many major issues Adequate summary of reasons for selecting model that highlights some major issues Inadequate or incomplete summary of reasons for selecting model that highlights little or no major issues Information Security Assessment Clear, comprehensive assessment of InfoSec issues, critical points identified & discussed, Detailed assessment of InfoSec issues, most critical points identified & discussed, Good assessment of InfoSec issues, many critical points identified & discussed, Adequate assessment of InfoSec issues, some critical points identified & discussed, Inadequate or incomplete assessment of InfoSec issues, few or no critical points identified & discussed, Risk Management Assessment Clear, comprehensive description of Risk Management issues, critical points identified & discussed, I Detailed description of Risk Management issues, many critical points identified & discussed, Good description of Risk Management issues, many critical points identified & discussed, Adequate description of Risk Management issues, some critical points identified & discussed, Inadequate or incomplete description of Risk Management issues, critical points identified & discussed, Spelling, Grammar, Up to 5 marks may be deducted for poor presentation, spelling, and grammar https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_12302_1&content id=_807034_1&mode=reset 1/2 27/04/2016 Presentation Assessment !terms —S-ITC561_201630_S_I @CSU APA Referencing Up to 5 marks may be deducted for not providing or following the proper APA style of referencing. Note that the guide for APA referencing is provided in the Resource Section of the ITC561 Interact site. | |
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| This is my second commentary on the classic thriller by Alfred Hitchcock. | |
| My first post discussed the opening sequence, comparing the shooting script to the film, and Truffaut's vision of Hitchcock as auteur. | |
| The story begins with the chance meeting of Guy, a quiet but affable tennis star, and Bruno, a smooth-talking rich man, on a train. Bruno reads the "society pages", and knows that Guy would like to marry Ann, a senator’s daughter, but cannot do so until he divorces his unfaithful first wife, Miriam. | |
| In the parlor car Hitchcock introduces what will become the MacGuffin: the lighter that is a gift from Ann. Guy will forget it in Bruno’s compartment. The film’s third act will hinge on Bruno’s plan to plant the lighter at the scene of the crime, and Guy’s attempt to stop him. | |
| Defining the MacGuffin to Truffaut Hitchcock says: "it doesn't matter what it is… The only thing that really matters is that in the picture the plans, documents, or secrets must seem to be of vital importance to the characters. To me, the narrator, they're of no importance whatever." | |
| After lunch in his private train compartment, Bruno tells Guy that he would like his bossy father to disappear. Bruno then floats his idea for a perfect murder: two complete strangers swap “each other’s murders”, so that there is no apparent motive. Guy laughs it off, and gets off the train in his hometown. | |
| François Truffaut quotes Hitchcock as saying that “the stronger the bad guy, the better the film”. And it’s true that much of the power of Strangers comes from Bruno Antony, superbly played by Robert Walker. | |
| Part of Hitchcock’s mastery lies in his ability to condense information. The director is reported to have said that a good actor could save him 10 pages of the script. This is evident in the first act of Strangers. | |
| The first 4 minutes of dialogue in the club car establish Bruno as a busybody, and Guy’s predicament: needing to divorce his wife to marry his beloved. The next 4 minutes of dialogue in Bruno’s compartment establish his crazy idea of swapping murders, which Guy breezily dismisses by saying “Sure, sure” as he leaves. | |
| Ten minutes into the film, Hitchcock has established the film’s unusual premise; the director then makes his signature on-screen cameo, crossing paths with Guy as he gets off the train. Hitchcock's cameos can be seen as his way of humorously putting his auteur stamp on each of his films. | |
| This speedy first act setup is made possible because Robert Walker plays his role so well. Bruno is a great bad guy, and, ten minutes in, we’re convinced that he’s just crazy enough to go through with his murder swap idea. | |
| Bruno is a distant cousin of Psycho’s Norman Bates, and like him, a mamma’s boy who’s also a murderous psychotic. But Bruno is far more sociable than Norman, he is rich and affable, and is able to mingle with high-society and charm old ladies. | |
| By some conventional story criteria, Bruno is the protagonist of Strangers on a Train, not Guy. It is Bruno's actions that push the plot forward with his dogged determinism, and at times, Hitchcock even makes us identify with Bruno despite ourselves, for example when he struggles to get the MacGufffin, Guy's lighter, out of the sewer drain in the third act. | |
| Truffaut tells Hitchcock that Bruno “is perhaps your best bad guy, because he succeeds in being more touching” than the good guy, adding that the two are really “one character split in two”. This goes to the heart of the movie’s theme, that Guy shares Bruno’s desire to murder, and, in fact, so does the viewer. | |
| Trains are a recurring theme in Hitchcock’s films, prompting one critic to ask: “What is it about Hitchcock and trains?” The simple answer is that trains are cinematic, because they move. | |
| The meeting between Guy and Bruno is a great example of a cinematic train sequence. If the two scenes took place in a bar and apartment, instead of a parlor car and train compartment, the 8 minutes of dialogue might have seemed very theatrical: two people talking on a sound stage. But the train’s moving shadows and passing landscapes make the dialogue scenes come alive. | |
| Hitchcock’s camera angles for the parlor car and compartment are fairly conventional. After the initial parlor car wide shot, Bruno joins Guy at his table, and the scene is then composed of 2-shots and over-the-shoulder singles. | |
| While the compositions are conventional, the lighting is not. Cinematographer Robert Burks, ASC, takes full advantage of the train setting to help define an ominous mood for the train scenes. Burk’s lighting creates a bright day interior, but with strong, animated blacks. The landscapes outside the windows are achieved with rear projection, which we’ll come back to. | |
| In the parlor scene, most of the light is motivated by the interior practicals. Bruno is lit with an interior key and window sidelight, until he sits next to Guy. | |
| When the two men are side by side, Burks positions the outside sun source to backlight Guy, and sidelight Bruno through venetian blinds that create shadows across his face. These sharp dark stripes give Bruno a menacing quality. Guy’s reverse angle is more normal, with the window offering a flattering sidelight. What's striking is the visual complexity of the backgrounds, as if the scene is difficult to decipher. | |
| In the next scene in the train compartment, the two men face each other in front of a large window with rear screen projection, which motivates most of the day interior lighting. The images in this scene are simpler than the previous one. | |
| In this scene Burks had his grips create rapidly moving shadows inside the compartment and notably across Bruno’s face. This rhythmic variegated darkness is a perfect visual indication of the villain’s dark and unstable nature, as he reveals his twin murder proposal. | |
| Hitchcock may have been thinking of this kind of lighting when he told Truffaut that the actor “should be willing to be utilised and wholly integrated into the picture by the director and the camera. He must allow the camera to determine the proper emphasis and the most effective dramatic highlights." | |
| Robert Burks started his career as a special effects cinematographer for Warners, which gave him a mastery of the technical and aesthetic requirements for rear screen projection. | |
| Rear screen projection involves placing a large projection screen in the background of the set, and shooting a foreground with actors and sometimes a set. This involved a cable synchronizing the shutters of the camera and projector to avoid flicker. | |
| To be successful, rear screen projection required carefully planning the footage to be projected before the shoot. On the set, the cinematographer had to balance the foreground lighting to match the screen, and select the right focal length and camera position to make the effect convincing. | |
| There are two contemporary techniques similar to rear screen projection: Translights and green screens. Translights are like huge photographic slides, often set up outside the windows of a set depicting a static cityscape or landscape. Translights can be backlit or frontlit. Green screens are painted expanses of material or walls, whose surfaces will be replaced with moving images in post-production. One advantage of old-fashioned rear screen is that the final image is created on the set, it's an in-camera effect that can be seen by the entire crew. | |
| Today’s filmmakers usually resort to green screen to depict something that can’t easily be shot, like a medieval castle, distant mountains, cityscape vistas, or alien worlds made with virtual imagery. Hitchcock however used rear screens to avoid location shooting. The director was known to prefer the controlled lighting and sound of stages to the uncertainties of locations. | |
| Several scenes in the Strangers on a Train combine a location wide shot with medium or close shots done with rear screen. While the wide shot sells the location, the closer shots enable the filmmakers to work in a controlled environment. | |
| When Guy arrives at the train station, Hitchcock starts with a wide location shot, then cuts to a rear projection screen shot when Guy speaks with the baggage handler. An extra passes by behind them to help the illusion. | |
| When Guy visits his wife Miriam in the music shop she works in, the store windows give on to a giant rear projection screen. | |
| In the first shot the rear screen is used to create a reflection on the shop window, as Guy and some extras move in front of the shop set. | |
| In the second shot, the rear screen is seen behind Guy as he looks through the lettering on the shop window. | |
| Once inside, the full rear screen is seen behind the windows in the wide shot of the shop interior. Extras walk in front of the screen to help sell the effect. | |
| Although Hitchcock use of rear screen projection has often been criticized, I feel that the rear screen scenes in Strangers on a Train do not conflict with the look of the film. The artifice is pleasing, slightly diffused, and fits into the imagined world of the master of suspense. | |
| In the next installment, we shall look at Hitchcock's approach to murder scenes. | |
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| In October, the 35th Georgia was ordered to Evansport, Virginia, where it was placed under the command of Major General Theophilus Hunter Holmes. Along with the 22nd North Carolina, 2nd Tennessee, 47th Virginia, Fredericksburg Artillery, Maryland Flying Artillery, Caroline Light Dragoons and Stafford Rangers, these units made up Brigadier General Samuel Gibbs French's brigade. Here the regiment went into camp, and guarded the batteries of heavy guns established to blockade the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay below Washington. Occasionally harassed by Union ships out of Chesapeake Bay firing into their position, life in the Aquia District was mostly tedious for the regiment, and the men spent their time drilling and on picket duty. On November 1st, the Union Army placed artillery across the Potomac, and began to bombard the Confederate forces. Later that month, the Campbell County Ranger's (now Company C of the 35th Georgia) would loose their first man, killed in battle (presumably by Union artillery). Private Zebulon L Howard died November 27th, 1861. On December 30th, French complained to Richmond the 250 privates of the 35th Georgia, the 471 privates of the 22nd North Carolina and 42 privates from the Arkansas Battalion were the only troops he had to guard the batteries. | |
| The winter of 61-62 was deadly for the Confederate forces in northern Virginia, but not because of battle casualties. Measles especially struck the newly formed Army and spread quickly, leaving many dead in its wake. Soldiers, having grown up on isolated farms all their lives, with a lower immune system to many of society's germs, were especially susceptible to this, and other disease's. In January of 1862, Secretary of War J. P. Benjamin wrote to Brig Gen Holmes advising he could not afford to withdraw the 35th, "but humanity requires that I should try some way to prevent suffering and mortality among these troops just called from a southern clime and weakened by disease". He requested Holmes to lighten the 35th's duty as much as possible to give them a chance to recover. | |
| In March of 62, the entire brigade presented itself in parade to General Joseph Eggleston Johnston, then commander of the Confederate Army in the East. Impressed, Johnston awarded the 35th Georgia new uniform's as the best drilled regiment on general review. | |
| The war had been fairly quiet in the East during the prior month's. After being embarrassed at Bull Run (Manassas) in July of 1861, Lincoln had replaced Gen Irwin McDowell with General George Brinton McClellan, who was now in command the Union Army of the Potomac. McClellan had spent most of the winter building his new Army. But in March, he made his move. | |
| Landing his forces at Newport, Virginia, his army quickly moved up the peninsula. The 35th was put in a new brigade under the command of newly appointed Brig General James Johnston Pettigrew. The brigade would include Pettigrew's own 22nd North Carolinian's, the 47th Virginia, the 2nd Arkansas Battalion, the 35th Georgia, and Andrews 1st Maryland Artillery. | |
| Falling back, General Johnston massed his troops east of Richmond, placing his army between Richmond and McClellan's Army. Within two months of landing on Virginia soil, McClellan's forces looked down on the heights upon the capital of the Confederacy. Instead of taking advantage of the situation, McClellan halted his forward movement, and for weeks the two armies stared at one another. | |
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| This is a list of original characters found in Peter Jackson's film adaptations of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. | |
| Ryan Gage as Alfrid in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. | |
| Alfrid Lickspittle (portrayed by Ryan Gage) is a cowardly and greedy man who is a government official of the town of Esgaroth and the Master of Lake-town's conniving servant. Ultimately, Alfrid is betrayed by the Master and forced to fend for himself during Smaug's attack on Laketown. After almost getting lynched by the angry survivors, Alfrid ends up working under Bard before fleeing from Dale with some looted gold during the Battle of the Five Armies. Alfrid's ultimate fate is revealed in the extended edition, where he is forced to hide in the sling of a catapult atop a dead troll. As another troll closes in on Gandalf, who is fighting close by, Alfrid panics and accidentally sets off the catapult. This launches Alfrid into the attacking troll's mouth, killing himself instantly while inadvertently saving Gandalf by causing the troll to die from asphyxiation. | |
| Betsy Butterbur, a relative of Barliman Butterbur from The Fellowship of the Ring, appears as a barmaid of The Prancing Pony in the prologue of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, portrayed by Peter Jackson's daughter Katie Jackson. | |
| Richard Whiteside appears as Butterbur Sr. | |
| Bill Ferny, a henchman of Saruman who confronted Frodo Baggins in Bree, was absent from Jackson's Lord of the Rings series. However, his father appears in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug as an assassin hired by Azog to neutralise Thorin at the Prancing Pony. He eyes Thorin from across the room, but when Gandalf introduces himself to Thorin, Bill thinks better of it and leaves the inn without incident. In this adaptation, Ferny Sr. is portrayed by Dallas Barnett. | |
| A Squint-Eyed Southerner appears alongside Bill Ferny at the Prancing Pony in the prologue of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, portrayed by New Zealand actor Matt Smith. | |
| Braga (portrayed by Michael Mitchinson) is captain of the Lake-town Guard, a role held by Bard in the book. Braga and his underlings act as the Master's enforcers and show no regard for Bard and the other common folk. During Smaug's attack on the Lake-Town, Braga and his men abandon the people of the town and instead assist the Master in evacuating his treasures. Braga dies along with the Master as the body of the dead dragon crushes the boat they were trying to escape on. | |
| Hilda Bianca (portrayed by Sarah Peirse) is a woman of Lake-Town, who is among the first to spot the dwarves as Bard leads them through the city and later spreads the news to her neighbors. She holds Master's lackey Alfrid in disdain, refusing him help after the town's destruction by Smaug. During the Battle of the Five Armies she motivates the women and the elders to join their men in the defense of the city of Dale. | |
| Percy (portrayed by Nick Blake) is the gatekeeper of Lake-Town and a friend of Bard. During the destruction of Lake-Town he watches as Bard heroically slays the dragon and later spreads the news among the survivors. He becomes Bard's second-in-command during the Battle of the Five Armies, leading the archers during the defense of Dale. He survives the battle and later sounds the horn that signals the Men's respect for the fallen Thorin Oakenshield during the dwarven king's funeral. | |
| Tilda and Sigrid (portrayed by Mary and Peggy Nesbitt respectively) are the daughters of Bard the Bowman. In Tolkien's legendarium, Bain is the only known child of Bard. In the original script, Tilda was Bard's only daughter and Sigrid was the name of his wife, but Luke Evans requested changing his character to a widower to emphasize greater responsibility for his family. | |
| Tauriel (portrayed by Evangeline Lilly) is a female Elf from Mirkwood and the Chief of the Guards for the Elvenking, Thranduil. She also has a romantic subplot with the dwarf Kili. | |
| Elros (portrayed by Robin Kerr) is an Elf of the Woodland Realm appearing in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. He is a captain of the Woodland Guard, as well as the Keeper of the Keys - he is initially charged with watching the dwarves and is later charged with watching the Front Gate of Thranduil's Halls. | |
| Feren (portrayed by Simon London) is an Elf of the Woodland Realm. In The Desolation of Smaug, after Legolas discovers that Thorin Oakenshield and Company have escaped from their prison cells via wine barrels, he orders Feren to blow the horn and alert the Elves guarding the river, ordering them to close the gate. Later, in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Feren is sent by Thranduil to summon Legolas back to Mirkwood and to inform Tauriel that the Elvenking has banished her from the Realm. He also serves as one of Thranduil's chief lieutenants during the Battle of The Five Armies. | |
| Fatty Bolger - Overweight hobbit and friend of Frodo Baggins omitted from the film adaptation of the Fellowship of the Ring. A character sharing Fredegar's name and appearance appears in the epilogue of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and buys some of Bilbo's furniture from the auctioneer, Mr. Grubb. | |
| Fredegar Chubb (portrayed by Eric Vespe from Ain't It Cool News) is a Hobbit who sells Bilbo a fish at the market in the extended edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Vespe was present on set making several reports covering the location shooting and was invited to appear as an extra in Hobbiton scenes. Originally a non-speaking part, Peter Jackson decided to give him a line, promoting his role to that of an actor and requiring to give the character a name. | |
| Master Worrywort (portrayed by Timothy Bartlett) is a hobbit of the Shire and a neighbor of Bilbo Baggins. In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey he briefly appears calling after Bilbo as he is running to catch up with the dwarves. An additional scene in the extended edition shows Bilbo inquiring whether Worrywort had seen a wizard pass by at the market. Worrywort is the first hobbit to greet Bilbo after his return from the journey in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. | |
| Fimbul (portrayed by Stephen Ure) is an Orc and Warg rider, who is among Yazneg's orcs as they pursue Thorin's company through the Ettenmoors in An Unexpected Journey. He accompanies Yazneg to Weathertop where Yazneg is killed by Azog for his failure. Fimbul is present among Azog's warg-riders as they corner the dwarves in the fir trees and survives the confrontation with the eagles. In The Desolation of Smaug Fimbul accompanies Bolg in the continuing the pursuit of the dwarves, smelling the ground along the river where the dwarves encountered Bard the Bowman. As part of the Orc party that infiltrates Lake-Town, Fimbul relays back to Bolg that Thorin himself has left and gone to the Lonely Mountain with most of the company from inside a small wooden boat, when another orc jumps down into the boat's opposite end from the balcony above; this launches Fimbul into the air, where his head is removed by the longknives of Legolas. | |
| Grinnah (portrayed by Stephen Ure) is the goblin who introduces the Dwarves to the Great Goblin and is ordered to search through their possessions. He is stabbed through the chest by Kili as the dwarves and Gandalf make their escape. | |
| Narzug (portrayed by Ben Mitchell) is one of Azog's Hunter Orcs. He is taken captive by Legolas and Tauriel in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and brought to the Elvenking's halls, where, after interrogation, he is decapitated by Thranduil. | |
| Ragash is an Orc who relays to Azog that the army is ready to attack on the next day's morning in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Ragash is portrayed by Allan Smith, while Martin Kwok provides his voice. | |
| Yazneg (portrayed by John Rawls) is a fierce Orc lieutenant and second-in-command of Azog's hunter party in An Unexpected Journey. He finds Thorin's Company while they camp at night in the Lone Lands, and he leads the attack of the Hunter Orcs against the party as they flee the Trollshaws. Because of his failure to capture the Dwarves, he is killed by Azog at the top of Weathertop, his body thrown to the Wargs. | |
| The goblin scribe (portrayed by Kiran Shah) is a tiny goblin with a brief appearance as a scribe and messenger for the Great Goblin in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. | |
| ^ Jackson, Peter (19 May 2011). "Hobbit Casting News". Facebook. Retrieved 2011-05-19. | |
| ^ a b c d e "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Cast & Crew". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 30 December 2014. | |
| ^ "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 January 2014. | |
| ^ "Karen Kay Management". Archived from the original on 18 March 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2012. | |
| ^ a b c d e "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Cast & Crew". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 30 December 2014. | |
| ^ Sibley, Brian (2013). The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Official Movie Guide. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 132–134. ISBN 978-0-547-89870-4. | |
| ^ "Bard I". The Encyclopedia of Arda. Mark Fisher. 7 January 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2013. | |
| ^ Young, John (25 January 2012). "Evangeline Lilly talks 'Real Steel' (now on Blu-ray) and playing a warrior elf in 'The Hobbit'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-12-07. | |
| ^ Vespe (as quint), Eric (5 November 2011). "An Unexpected Journey: Quint on the set of The Hobbit! Part 2 - They Call Me Mr. Chubb". Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved 30 December 2014. | |
| ^ a b "Cast & Crew". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2012-12-12. | |
| This page was last edited on 15 January 2019, at 07:45 (UTC). | |
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| ELON Musk is a prolific pioneer who sent the world's most powerful rocket to Mars in a bid to save humanity. But who is the man behind his magnate? Here's what we know about the entrepreneur's extraordinary existence. Who is Elon Musk? The visionary thinker is famous for his galaxy-wide scope and vast ambition - but his earlier life is less well-known. Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1971, to South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, and sailor Errol Musk and model and dietitian Maye Musk. His parents divorced in 1980, and lived mainly with his father which later said was a "bad idea". As a 12-year-old child he taught himself computer programming and sold the code of a video game to a PC magazine for $500 (£300). The gifted child was severely bullied, and at 17 moved to Canada to study. Two years later he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he gained two degrees in physics and in business. While studying there Musk and fellow Penn … [Read more...] about Who is Elon Musk, how old is he, who is his girlfriend and does he have children? | |
| By Martha Ross | [email protected] | Bay Area News Group PUBLISHED: August 22, 2018 at 2:15 pm | UPDATED: August 23, 2018 at 4:45 am As one celebrity gossip website put it, Elon Musk is “on a quest to out-Howard Hughes in the messy billionaire department.” The Tesla CEO certainly appears to be headed that way. Perhaps not since Hughes has a global business figure so dramatically allowed his personal issues to get mixed up with his professional life in ways that threaten his reputation and business. In Musk’s case the personal issues currently center around his young musician girlfriend Grimes and the controversial rapper Azealia Banks, who said she was a weekend guest at Musk’s home earlier this month. For reasons that will be explained, Banks has since taken it upon herself to air Musk’s “dirty laundry” and reveal how messy things may have become for Musk, according to D-listed, The Cut and other sites. The “dirty … [Read more...] about Has Azealia Banks revealed Elon Musk to be the new Howard Hughes? | |
| Who is Elon Musk, how old is he, who’s his girlfriend and does he have children? | |
| ELON Musk is a prolific pioneer who sent the world's most powerful rocket to Mars in a bid to save humanity. But who is the man behind his magnate? Here's what we know about the entrepreneur's extraordinary existence. Who is Elon Musk? The visionary thinker is famous for his galaxy-wide scope and vast ambition - but his earlier life is less well-known. Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1971, to South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, and sailor Errol Musk and model and dietitian Maye Musk. His parents divorced in 1980, and lived mainly with father which later said was a "bad idea". As a 12-year-old child he taught himself computer programming and sold the code of a video game to a PC magazine for $500 (£300). The gifted child was severely bullied, and at 17 moved to Canada to study. Two years later he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he gained two degrees in physics and in business. While studying there Musk and fellow Penn … [Read more...] about Who is Elon Musk, how old is he, who’s his girlfriend and does he have children? | |
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