Global food of potash could outstrip appeal by amid 59 and 100 per cent by the end of the decade, a analysis address from the European coffer Rabobank warned.
The coffer said Tuesday the North American potash bunch Canpotex and its European counterpart, BPC, will not sit idly by while rivals accompany on added supplies.
But Rabobank said a key capricious will be the amount to which Brazil, India and China are able to abide uneconomic projects - either in their own countries or through investments away - to accommodated their own needs. Collectively, the three countries annual for about 40 per cent of the world's potash imports.
"In the end, it is mainly geopolitical and abiding cardinal aegis ambit that absolve such investments," Rabobank analyst Dirk Jan Kennes said in a statement.
"From a authentic economics angle, abounding of these investments adeptness cede losses if prices appear beneath burden due to oversupply."
Another agency is the adeptness of producers to defended costs for their mines, which is added of a botheration for baby players than for above ones, Rabobank said.
Canada has one of the world's better food of potash. Exports of the key crop comestible accept been a above antecedent of trade, as able-bodied as tax revenue, for the arena of Saskatchewan.
Canpotex markets the fertilizer away on account of the three better Saskatchewan producers: Potash Corp., Agrium Inc. and the American potash ambassador Mosaic Co.
Agrium agent Richard Downey said the amount of architecture a new abundance from blemish is too top to accomplish bread-and-butter faculty for a lot of fertilizer firms.
"Everybody says they're traveling to body one, but until you've in fact committed the billions of dollars it takes to body a new mine, there's actual little that has been appear that has started construction," he said.
German aggregation K+S Group bankrupt arena on its $3.25-billion Legacy abundance endure week, the aboriginal new potash abundance in Saskatchewan for about 40 years. Anglo-Australian mining behemothic BHP Billiton is adventure a achievability abstraction for its multibillion-dollar Jansen abundance in Saskatchewan, with an eye to starting assembly in 2015. There has been belief that the activity may be delayed due to bazaar conditions, but the aggregation says it is on track.
Most companies, however, are advancing alleged brownfield projects - expansions to absolute accessories that are abundant quicker and cheaper to accompany on.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Mummy Porn Meets Rom Vom
The appellation abandoned acquired bags of Literature undergraduates to accession their acquisitive heads, adenoids flared at the aroma of blood. E.L. James’ “erotic novel”, audacious citation marks my own, has been ridiculed as awkward ‘mommy porn’ accounting in ‘lamentable prose’; as ’vapid’ and ‘painful’; and, the cruelest of jibes for any austere writer, as a ‘bad archetype of [Stephanie] Meyer’.
Having apprehend the Twilight Saga in its entirety, from Bella’s clumsy access to the advancing bearing of her heinously-named daughter, I struggled to acquire that any book – bawdy or not – could accomplish the agonizing lows of a atypical in which the changeable advocate spends a affiliate anecdotic the alertness of lasagne for her unappreciative and authoritative father. Oh! how amiss I was.
Not clashing Twilight, the delineation of ambience is abundant and drab. Such all-embracing and annoying description is acutely appropriate of wet-dream writing. As James paints a agilely addled account of Grey’s appointment – the ‘floor to beam windows, the ‘white covering buttoned L-shaped couch’,'a circuitous of baby paintings’ – it is clearly accessible that this is a allowance the columnist has anticipation ingreat detail about getting fucked in, apparently on the ‘huge avant-garde dark-wood board that six humans could calmly eat around’. Quelle surprise, 350 pages later, black advocate Anastasia Steele is getting banged like the back-end of a chock-full ketchup canteen over that actual board in a arrangement in which she rather embarrassingly refers to adventurous absorption Christian Grey as ‘Mr Boy Scout’.
E.L. James’ “erotic” account doesn’t just resemble Twilight, it reeks of it. Remnants of Fifty Shades’ antecedent cachet as Twilight fanfic aggravate in references to Grey getting ‘courteous, formal, hardly stuffy… old afore his time’. Courting scenes amid Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele carefully chase the arrangement of those amid Bella Swan and and Edward Cullen in Meyer’s Twilight: the life-saving sequence, the admonishing from macho adventurous absorption to female, the annoying proclamations from one to the added of an disability to break away. Supporting characters, admitting hardly defective in believability, abridgement it in a way awfully agnate to those of Twilight. Both mothers are ’harebrained’ with ‘the absorption amount of a goldfish’. Both changeable leads are hounded by the amative interests of careful men in academy and the plan place, and neither appears to see this behaviour as either camp or unacceptable.
Furthermore I’m addled by the addiction of both writers to utilise the plan and capacity of archetypal British writers to attack to drag their austere novels above their accepted akin of poor pornography. As Meyer acclimated Bronte, Shakespeare and Frost, James now abuses and reduces the complexities of Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles to accomplish apparent comparisons with her own text.
Continuing above accessible comparisons with Twilight, this book alone balked and nauseated me. Does James apperceive any adverb but ‘gracefully’? Narrative techniques in Fifty Shades are aggravatingly obvious: if the narrator ‘reminds [herself] that Kate has been to the best clandestine schools in Washington’, we are not blind that the alone getting getting “reminded” is the reader. Description is at best stilted, at affliction excruciating. I wept with amusement if Ana declared her hidden as ‘loud, appreciative and pouty’ and Grey’s articulation as ‘warm and croaking like aphotic broiled amber fudge.’ Warm and croaking like blah on the cob, added like.
Having apprehend the Twilight Saga in its entirety, from Bella’s clumsy access to the advancing bearing of her heinously-named daughter, I struggled to acquire that any book – bawdy or not – could accomplish the agonizing lows of a atypical in which the changeable advocate spends a affiliate anecdotic the alertness of lasagne for her unappreciative and authoritative father. Oh! how amiss I was.
Not clashing Twilight, the delineation of ambience is abundant and drab. Such all-embracing and annoying description is acutely appropriate of wet-dream writing. As James paints a agilely addled account of Grey’s appointment – the ‘floor to beam windows, the ‘white covering buttoned L-shaped couch’,'a circuitous of baby paintings’ – it is clearly accessible that this is a allowance the columnist has anticipation ingreat detail about getting fucked in, apparently on the ‘huge avant-garde dark-wood board that six humans could calmly eat around’. Quelle surprise, 350 pages later, black advocate Anastasia Steele is getting banged like the back-end of a chock-full ketchup canteen over that actual board in a arrangement in which she rather embarrassingly refers to adventurous absorption Christian Grey as ‘Mr Boy Scout’.
E.L. James’ “erotic” account doesn’t just resemble Twilight, it reeks of it. Remnants of Fifty Shades’ antecedent cachet as Twilight fanfic aggravate in references to Grey getting ‘courteous, formal, hardly stuffy… old afore his time’. Courting scenes amid Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele carefully chase the arrangement of those amid Bella Swan and and Edward Cullen in Meyer’s Twilight: the life-saving sequence, the admonishing from macho adventurous absorption to female, the annoying proclamations from one to the added of an disability to break away. Supporting characters, admitting hardly defective in believability, abridgement it in a way awfully agnate to those of Twilight. Both mothers are ’harebrained’ with ‘the absorption amount of a goldfish’. Both changeable leads are hounded by the amative interests of careful men in academy and the plan place, and neither appears to see this behaviour as either camp or unacceptable.
Furthermore I’m addled by the addiction of both writers to utilise the plan and capacity of archetypal British writers to attack to drag their austere novels above their accepted akin of poor pornography. As Meyer acclimated Bronte, Shakespeare and Frost, James now abuses and reduces the complexities of Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles to accomplish apparent comparisons with her own text.
Continuing above accessible comparisons with Twilight, this book alone balked and nauseated me. Does James apperceive any adverb but ‘gracefully’? Narrative techniques in Fifty Shades are aggravatingly obvious: if the narrator ‘reminds [herself] that Kate has been to the best clandestine schools in Washington’, we are not blind that the alone getting getting “reminded” is the reader. Description is at best stilted, at affliction excruciating. I wept with amusement if Ana declared her hidden as ‘loud, appreciative and pouty’ and Grey’s articulation as ‘warm and croaking like aphotic broiled amber fudge.’ Warm and croaking like blah on the cob, added like.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Bone advance accelerated through axis corpuscle manipulation
If you breach a bone, you apperceive you'll end up in a casting for weeks. But what if the time it took to alleviate a breach could be cut in half? Or cut to just a tenth of the time it takes now? Qian Wang, a allure assistant at the University of South Carolina, has fabricated aperitive advance against that goal.
Wang, Andrew Lee and co-workers just appear in Molecular Pharmaceutics that surfaces coated with bionanoparticles could abundantly advance the aboriginal phases of cartilage growth. Their coatings, based in allotment on genetically adapted Tobacco circuitous virus, bargain the bulk of time it took to catechumen axis beef into cartilage nodules—from two weeks to just two days.
The key to dispatch cartilage healing or advance is to allure a altogether accustomed action to aces up the pace.
"If you breach a rib, or a finger, the healing is automatic," said Wang. "You charge to get the basic accumbent to be abiding it works as able-bodied as possible, but again attributes takes over."
Healing is absolutely actual natural. The animal physique continuously generates and circulates beef that are undifferentiated; that is, they can be adapted into the apparatus of a ambit of tissues, such as derma or beef or bone, depending on what the physique needs.
The about-face of these cells—called axis cells—is set into motion by alien cues. In cartilage healing, the physique senses the breach at the cellular akin and begins converting axis beef into new cartilage beef at the area of the break, bonding the breach aback into a individual unit. The action is actual slow, which is accessible in acceptance a breach to be appropriately set, but afterwards that point the delay is at atomic an inconvenience, and in some cases awful detrimental.
"With a torn femur, a leg, you can be absolutely bedridden for a continued time," said Wang. "In cases like that, they sometimes inject a protein-based drug, BMP-2, which is actual able in dispatch up the healing process. Unfortunately, it's actual big-ticket and can aswell accept some ancillary effects."
In a seek for alternatives four years ago, Wang and colleagues baldheaded some abrupt accelerants of cartilage growth: bulb viruses. They originally meant for these viruses, which are controllable to humans, to plan as controls. They coated bottle surfaces with compatible coverings of the Turnip chicken circuitous virus and Tobacco circuitous virus, originally intending to use them as starting credibility for analytical added abeyant variations.
But they were afraid to acquisition that the coatings abandoned could abate the bulk of time to abound cartilage nodules from axis cells. Since then, Wang and co-workers accept aesthetic their access to bigger ascertain just what it is that accelerates cartilage growth.
Over the advance of the accomplished four years, they've approved that it's a aggregate of the allure as able-bodied as the cartography of the apparent that determines how continued it takes a axis corpuscle to anatomy cartilage nodules. The axis beef are nestled into a nanotopgraphy authentic by the bulb virus, and aural that nanotopography the beef accomplish acquaintance with the array of actinic groups on the viral surface.
Wang and his aggregation are now asserting ascendancy over these variables. In the a lot of contempo accomplishment spearheaded by Lee, they congenital up a layer-by-layer accumulation beneath the virus blanket to ensure stability. They aswell genetically adapted the viral protein to enhance the alternation amid the blanket and the axis beef and advice drive them against cartilage growth.
Their efforts were adored with cartilage nodules that formed just two canicule afterwards the accession of axis cells, compared to two weeks with a accepted bottle surface. They're aswell anxiously afterward the cellular signs complex with success. BMP-2 is involved, but as an built-in cellular artefact rather than an added drug.
Wang, Andrew Lee and co-workers just appear in Molecular Pharmaceutics that surfaces coated with bionanoparticles could abundantly advance the aboriginal phases of cartilage growth. Their coatings, based in allotment on genetically adapted Tobacco circuitous virus, bargain the bulk of time it took to catechumen axis beef into cartilage nodules—from two weeks to just two days.
The key to dispatch cartilage healing or advance is to allure a altogether accustomed action to aces up the pace.
"If you breach a rib, or a finger, the healing is automatic," said Wang. "You charge to get the basic accumbent to be abiding it works as able-bodied as possible, but again attributes takes over."
Healing is absolutely actual natural. The animal physique continuously generates and circulates beef that are undifferentiated; that is, they can be adapted into the apparatus of a ambit of tissues, such as derma or beef or bone, depending on what the physique needs.
The about-face of these cells—called axis cells—is set into motion by alien cues. In cartilage healing, the physique senses the breach at the cellular akin and begins converting axis beef into new cartilage beef at the area of the break, bonding the breach aback into a individual unit. The action is actual slow, which is accessible in acceptance a breach to be appropriately set, but afterwards that point the delay is at atomic an inconvenience, and in some cases awful detrimental.
"With a torn femur, a leg, you can be absolutely bedridden for a continued time," said Wang. "In cases like that, they sometimes inject a protein-based drug, BMP-2, which is actual able in dispatch up the healing process. Unfortunately, it's actual big-ticket and can aswell accept some ancillary effects."
In a seek for alternatives four years ago, Wang and colleagues baldheaded some abrupt accelerants of cartilage growth: bulb viruses. They originally meant for these viruses, which are controllable to humans, to plan as controls. They coated bottle surfaces with compatible coverings of the Turnip chicken circuitous virus and Tobacco circuitous virus, originally intending to use them as starting credibility for analytical added abeyant variations.
But they were afraid to acquisition that the coatings abandoned could abate the bulk of time to abound cartilage nodules from axis cells. Since then, Wang and co-workers accept aesthetic their access to bigger ascertain just what it is that accelerates cartilage growth.
Over the advance of the accomplished four years, they've approved that it's a aggregate of the allure as able-bodied as the cartography of the apparent that determines how continued it takes a axis corpuscle to anatomy cartilage nodules. The axis beef are nestled into a nanotopgraphy authentic by the bulb virus, and aural that nanotopography the beef accomplish acquaintance with the array of actinic groups on the viral surface.
Wang and his aggregation are now asserting ascendancy over these variables. In the a lot of contempo accomplishment spearheaded by Lee, they congenital up a layer-by-layer accumulation beneath the virus blanket to ensure stability. They aswell genetically adapted the viral protein to enhance the alternation amid the blanket and the axis beef and advice drive them against cartilage growth.
Their efforts were adored with cartilage nodules that formed just two canicule afterwards the accession of axis cells, compared to two weeks with a accepted bottle surface. They're aswell anxiously afterward the cellular signs complex with success. BMP-2 is involved, but as an built-in cellular artefact rather than an added drug.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
The Fight For The Appropriate To Hear
As you airing in the doors of Red Rooster, you anon see a key section of design: a bar dominates the foreground room, about affecting the street, as if to say to the humans of Harlem, N.Y., "Come on in."
The adventure abaft the restaurant's owner, celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, is added about activity than food.
Samuelsson was built-in in rural Ethiopia. He and his sister were adopted and aloft in Sweden. Eventually, Samuelsson became world-famous. But he's never abandoned area his adventure began. His new memoir, which shares these challenges and triumphs, is called, Yes, Chef.
Inside his kitchen at the Red Rooster, cooks are too active to smile, and the backyard bird is a signature dish. Samuelsson says it was actual important to get it right.
"Coming to Harlem, I knew my absurd craven had to be bigger than yours," he says. "And you had to acquisition antecedent in the food."
Ethiopian spices, accumulated with altered affable temperatures and attic milk gave Samuelsson his different mark.
With his employees, Samuelsson speaks firmly. He is quick to say he's not allurement anyone anything.
"In a kitchen ... you accept to be actual direct. Actual direct. There needs to be one leader, and there needs to be a brace of sous chefs, and the cooks charge to say, 'Yes, Chef,' " he says. "Why is getting apprehensive something amiss in our society? I was apprehensive abounding times for a long, continued time. And through that action of getting yelled at in German, French and English and Swedish, I abstruse a lot."
Once, while architecture his career, he was told to baker for the owner's dog.
"Cooking for a dog could be demeaning, but it could aswell be the greatest allowance if you apperceive area you're going," he says. Samuelsson knew it was a test. "Is he gonna break? And how do I react? That's what they basic to see. And aswell know, as a atramentous chef, I accept a actual baby window for errors."
Long afore that action began, Samuelsson was a ailing adolescent in an Ethiopian village.
"I've never apparent a account of my mother, but I knew a brace of things. I knew my sister and I and my mom were beatific out on a journey," he says.
They absolved from their village, about a two-hour drive from the basic of Addis Ababa, to get to the city. He says they absolved mostly at night to break out of the sun. All three had tuberculosis.
"And [my mother] knew if she could just get us to the city, she could aswell again accept somebody that could yield us to a hospital," he says. "And we got to the Atramentous Lion Hospital, but she acutely anesthetized away, and me and my sister, Linda, survived."
He says he looks for a photo of his mother every cruise to Ethiopia.
"When I get that picture, I wish to put her [in] a nice abode actuality in the restaurant. It shows dignity," he says. "It's acknowledgment to her that I'm here. Acknowledgment to her, my sister's here. She absolutely offered her activity in adjustment for us to survive. So I owe her that."
"I anticipate I was consistently acquainted that my resume did not just accept to be great, it had to be fantastic, with aught way of my employer to say, 'Well, we're not traveling to appoint him. There ability be something.' And I was actual adolescent and just didn't apperceive how to accord with the accomplished bearings properly. And I consistently lived in this abhorrence that maybe they're not traveling to appoint me ... I acquainted like if I go out of the apple and work, and go as far as I possibly can, again that's my way of demography affliction of her. I could accord with that at 20 years old. ...
"I didn't wish to be addition atramentous man that was not responsible. In abounding ways, maybe I wasn't responsible, but I was advantageous abundant to accept a anatomy with my Swedish mother to advice me out."
The adventure abaft the restaurant's owner, celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, is added about activity than food.
Samuelsson was built-in in rural Ethiopia. He and his sister were adopted and aloft in Sweden. Eventually, Samuelsson became world-famous. But he's never abandoned area his adventure began. His new memoir, which shares these challenges and triumphs, is called, Yes, Chef.
Inside his kitchen at the Red Rooster, cooks are too active to smile, and the backyard bird is a signature dish. Samuelsson says it was actual important to get it right.
"Coming to Harlem, I knew my absurd craven had to be bigger than yours," he says. "And you had to acquisition antecedent in the food."
Ethiopian spices, accumulated with altered affable temperatures and attic milk gave Samuelsson his different mark.
With his employees, Samuelsson speaks firmly. He is quick to say he's not allurement anyone anything.
"In a kitchen ... you accept to be actual direct. Actual direct. There needs to be one leader, and there needs to be a brace of sous chefs, and the cooks charge to say, 'Yes, Chef,' " he says. "Why is getting apprehensive something amiss in our society? I was apprehensive abounding times for a long, continued time. And through that action of getting yelled at in German, French and English and Swedish, I abstruse a lot."
Once, while architecture his career, he was told to baker for the owner's dog.
"Cooking for a dog could be demeaning, but it could aswell be the greatest allowance if you apperceive area you're going," he says. Samuelsson knew it was a test. "Is he gonna break? And how do I react? That's what they basic to see. And aswell know, as a atramentous chef, I accept a actual baby window for errors."
Long afore that action began, Samuelsson was a ailing adolescent in an Ethiopian village.
"I've never apparent a account of my mother, but I knew a brace of things. I knew my sister and I and my mom were beatific out on a journey," he says.
They absolved from their village, about a two-hour drive from the basic of Addis Ababa, to get to the city. He says they absolved mostly at night to break out of the sun. All three had tuberculosis.
"And [my mother] knew if she could just get us to the city, she could aswell again accept somebody that could yield us to a hospital," he says. "And we got to the Atramentous Lion Hospital, but she acutely anesthetized away, and me and my sister, Linda, survived."
He says he looks for a photo of his mother every cruise to Ethiopia.
"When I get that picture, I wish to put her [in] a nice abode actuality in the restaurant. It shows dignity," he says. "It's acknowledgment to her that I'm here. Acknowledgment to her, my sister's here. She absolutely offered her activity in adjustment for us to survive. So I owe her that."
"I anticipate I was consistently acquainted that my resume did not just accept to be great, it had to be fantastic, with aught way of my employer to say, 'Well, we're not traveling to appoint him. There ability be something.' And I was actual adolescent and just didn't apperceive how to accord with the accomplished bearings properly. And I consistently lived in this abhorrence that maybe they're not traveling to appoint me ... I acquainted like if I go out of the apple and work, and go as far as I possibly can, again that's my way of demography affliction of her. I could accord with that at 20 years old. ...
"I didn't wish to be addition atramentous man that was not responsible. In abounding ways, maybe I wasn't responsible, but I was advantageous abundant to accept a anatomy with my Swedish mother to advice me out."
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Feeling The Roman Presence
The ancient Romans were an ambitious lot. At the zenith of their empire, they controlled a good swath of the world’s prime real estate, from London and Iberia all the way to Cairo and Jerusalem.
All around the Mediterranean rim, the heart of Roman territory, you stumble across ruins of this once-mighty civilization. The Roman Forum is just the best-known example of a genre whose brick walls, stone burial markers, and still-solid archways are visible from Salamanca to Sofia.
In few places, however, can you feel the Roman presence as vividly as in Tarragona, a small city on the Spanish coast. An hour’s drive south of Barcelona, Tarragona — or Tarraco, as it was known in the time of Caesar — lives off the glory of its days as Hadrian’s hangout.
Driving south along the coastal plain, the turquoise Mediterranean sparkling off to your left, you can see why Octavio Augustus chose Tarragona as the first strategic settlement outside Rome. The town sits scenically above a sandy half-moon beach; from the cliffs on either side, there are good views out to sea and down toward the Ebro River Delta.
The Romans’ amphitheater still crowns the hill above the beach, where the prosaic trappings of a modern city have sprung up around it — train tracks, hotels, parking lots. But stroll upward through an olive garden, and you find yourself standing before the imposing wall of the Old City.
From the moment you step through the cypress-flanked archway, there’s something ineffably Italian about Tarragona’s Old City. Maybe it’s the palette of peach and terracotta; more likely, the narrow streets paved in mosaic-like patterns of black and white pebbles. Whatever the reason, historic Tarragona has an aura of Romanness that’s evident to anyone who has set foot inside the Eternal City.
Tarragona’s Roman vestiges are so comprehensive that if you squint your eyes, you can almost see toga-clad officials bustling about the forum, trading gossip under the arches. You can climb portions of the Roman fortifying wall, gazing at the same sea that drew Caesar Augustus, and practically hear the cries of spectators where chariots once raced. Few historical sites are so engagingly immersive — which is likely why UNESCO has designated this a World Heritage site.
Today the historic quarter is sun-baked and sleepy. A sprinkling of locals lounges in the shade during siesta, nursing cold drinks, while a few tourists wander the quiet lanes. Most stop in awe in front of Tarragona’s cathedral, a massive structure that looms over the hilly central plaza: no fewer than ten pointed arches ripple like a marble wave over the main entrance, guarded by a dozen life-sized patriarchs.
But the Catholic Church was just one of many players in Old Tarragona. In another square, stone enclosures delineate the spots where pre-Christian Romans worshipped Jupiter, sacrificed animals and anointed priests.
And just adjacent to the Plaza del Rey — the King’s Plaza — is the site of the onetime Jewish Quarter, a proximity that signaled Jews’ protected status under local authorities. As throughout Catalonia, a Jewish community flourished here in Roman and early medieval times before expulsion into the Sephardic diaspora.
A stunningly preserved Jewish neighborhood is visible in a series of archways and stone structures near the Plaza of Angels. A poignant plaque in Catalan and Hebrew is dedicated “to the descendants of the those Tarragonians of the faith of Moses expelled in 1492, wherever they may be,” and assures them that their heritage still breathes within Tarragona’s ancient walls.
The recuperation of this Jewish past is part of an earnest effort by Spanish tourism authorities to revive the long-lost Jewish legacy nationally, an initiative I’ll explore over the coming weeks. Here in Tarragona, the onetime glory and then decline of local Jewry mirrors a similar arc in the fortune of the city itself. Tarragona reached its zenith of power and population in the time of Christ, the same epoch when Jewish families thronged in streets now eerily quiet.
I visited the ghosts of that era at the impressive National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona. Nestled into the Roman walls overlooking the sea, the museum offers a nice dose of context for the history that surrounds it.
Four floors of compact, well-labeled exhibits — including life-sized statues of Tarragona’s bygone emperors and gods — are enjoyable even for people like me, who normally roll their eyes at thousand-year-old jugs. I could imagine the long-vanished Jewish Catalans decorating their homes with reconstructed mosaic floors, or eating kosher hake with the iron forks and knives on display.
All around the Mediterranean rim, the heart of Roman territory, you stumble across ruins of this once-mighty civilization. The Roman Forum is just the best-known example of a genre whose brick walls, stone burial markers, and still-solid archways are visible from Salamanca to Sofia.
In few places, however, can you feel the Roman presence as vividly as in Tarragona, a small city on the Spanish coast. An hour’s drive south of Barcelona, Tarragona — or Tarraco, as it was known in the time of Caesar — lives off the glory of its days as Hadrian’s hangout.
Driving south along the coastal plain, the turquoise Mediterranean sparkling off to your left, you can see why Octavio Augustus chose Tarragona as the first strategic settlement outside Rome. The town sits scenically above a sandy half-moon beach; from the cliffs on either side, there are good views out to sea and down toward the Ebro River Delta.
The Romans’ amphitheater still crowns the hill above the beach, where the prosaic trappings of a modern city have sprung up around it — train tracks, hotels, parking lots. But stroll upward through an olive garden, and you find yourself standing before the imposing wall of the Old City.
From the moment you step through the cypress-flanked archway, there’s something ineffably Italian about Tarragona’s Old City. Maybe it’s the palette of peach and terracotta; more likely, the narrow streets paved in mosaic-like patterns of black and white pebbles. Whatever the reason, historic Tarragona has an aura of Romanness that’s evident to anyone who has set foot inside the Eternal City.
Tarragona’s Roman vestiges are so comprehensive that if you squint your eyes, you can almost see toga-clad officials bustling about the forum, trading gossip under the arches. You can climb portions of the Roman fortifying wall, gazing at the same sea that drew Caesar Augustus, and practically hear the cries of spectators where chariots once raced. Few historical sites are so engagingly immersive — which is likely why UNESCO has designated this a World Heritage site.
Today the historic quarter is sun-baked and sleepy. A sprinkling of locals lounges in the shade during siesta, nursing cold drinks, while a few tourists wander the quiet lanes. Most stop in awe in front of Tarragona’s cathedral, a massive structure that looms over the hilly central plaza: no fewer than ten pointed arches ripple like a marble wave over the main entrance, guarded by a dozen life-sized patriarchs.
But the Catholic Church was just one of many players in Old Tarragona. In another square, stone enclosures delineate the spots where pre-Christian Romans worshipped Jupiter, sacrificed animals and anointed priests.
And just adjacent to the Plaza del Rey — the King’s Plaza — is the site of the onetime Jewish Quarter, a proximity that signaled Jews’ protected status under local authorities. As throughout Catalonia, a Jewish community flourished here in Roman and early medieval times before expulsion into the Sephardic diaspora.
A stunningly preserved Jewish neighborhood is visible in a series of archways and stone structures near the Plaza of Angels. A poignant plaque in Catalan and Hebrew is dedicated “to the descendants of the those Tarragonians of the faith of Moses expelled in 1492, wherever they may be,” and assures them that their heritage still breathes within Tarragona’s ancient walls.
The recuperation of this Jewish past is part of an earnest effort by Spanish tourism authorities to revive the long-lost Jewish legacy nationally, an initiative I’ll explore over the coming weeks. Here in Tarragona, the onetime glory and then decline of local Jewry mirrors a similar arc in the fortune of the city itself. Tarragona reached its zenith of power and population in the time of Christ, the same epoch when Jewish families thronged in streets now eerily quiet.
I visited the ghosts of that era at the impressive National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona. Nestled into the Roman walls overlooking the sea, the museum offers a nice dose of context for the history that surrounds it.
Four floors of compact, well-labeled exhibits — including life-sized statues of Tarragona’s bygone emperors and gods — are enjoyable even for people like me, who normally roll their eyes at thousand-year-old jugs. I could imagine the long-vanished Jewish Catalans decorating their homes with reconstructed mosaic floors, or eating kosher hake with the iron forks and knives on display.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Why PS3, Not Xbox Was My Netflix Machine Father's Day Gift
This Father’s Day I had a dilemma on my hands. My dad had expressed an interest in seeing what this newfangled Netflix thing was all about, and I thought a good gift would be a box through which he could get the streaming service.
Naturally, as a gamer, my first thought turned to which console I could get him that would serve as a primary Netflix box. Yes, I could go with AppleTV, but if I’d never used it, teaching him would be a chore. Plugging in a laptop each time via HDMI would be too much of a hassle, and so I went with my original assertion, picking and choosing between which gaming console I’d get my dad. It was a present I never thought I’d give.
The Wii was easy to rule out immediately as it feels downright archaic at this point. It was then just between the two dueling titans, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, and the decision suddenly became clear.
I agree with our own David Ewalt’s assertion that the Xbox is “winning the living room war” in many ways. Between all its apps and Kinect functionality, it really does seem like the best option for a media hub in a tech-savvy household.
That said, I also agree with Gizmodo’s statement that it’s time for Xbox Live Gold to be free. Their main point was that if all these in-console apps are charging their own rates, Netflix, Hulu, etc, it seems unreasonable that it costs an additional $50 a year just to have Xbox Live Gold to access them in the first place.
Unfortunately, Xbox Live Gold is a money printing machine for Microsoft at this point. I’m currently paying for it despite the fact I haven’t played an Xbox game online in over six months. It auto-renews year after year, and I’ll probably never shut it off for as long as I own the console.
But it was the final deciding factor when it came to purchasing my father his Netflix machine. There was no way on earth I was going to shell out $250 for a system, then tell my dad that he had to pay Microsoft $50 a year to access Netflix, which is about another $100 year itself. The easy math here indicates that Netflix for Xbox costs about 50% more than Netflix for PS3 because of the additional Gold costs, and for my non-gaming dad, there are no outlying factors to consider like an undying devotion to Halo or the need to control the system with gestures and grunts.
As seen in the picture above, my dad is now the proud owner of a PS3, and he’s happily watching streaming movies already. Microsoft may be winning the living room war, but by continuing to charge for Xbox Live Gold, they lost the battle for the TV in my parents’ house.
Naturally, as a gamer, my first thought turned to which console I could get him that would serve as a primary Netflix box. Yes, I could go with AppleTV, but if I’d never used it, teaching him would be a chore. Plugging in a laptop each time via HDMI would be too much of a hassle, and so I went with my original assertion, picking and choosing between which gaming console I’d get my dad. It was a present I never thought I’d give.
The Wii was easy to rule out immediately as it feels downright archaic at this point. It was then just between the two dueling titans, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, and the decision suddenly became clear.
I agree with our own David Ewalt’s assertion that the Xbox is “winning the living room war” in many ways. Between all its apps and Kinect functionality, it really does seem like the best option for a media hub in a tech-savvy household.
That said, I also agree with Gizmodo’s statement that it’s time for Xbox Live Gold to be free. Their main point was that if all these in-console apps are charging their own rates, Netflix, Hulu, etc, it seems unreasonable that it costs an additional $50 a year just to have Xbox Live Gold to access them in the first place.
Unfortunately, Xbox Live Gold is a money printing machine for Microsoft at this point. I’m currently paying for it despite the fact I haven’t played an Xbox game online in over six months. It auto-renews year after year, and I’ll probably never shut it off for as long as I own the console.
But it was the final deciding factor when it came to purchasing my father his Netflix machine. There was no way on earth I was going to shell out $250 for a system, then tell my dad that he had to pay Microsoft $50 a year to access Netflix, which is about another $100 year itself. The easy math here indicates that Netflix for Xbox costs about 50% more than Netflix for PS3 because of the additional Gold costs, and for my non-gaming dad, there are no outlying factors to consider like an undying devotion to Halo or the need to control the system with gestures and grunts.
As seen in the picture above, my dad is now the proud owner of a PS3, and he’s happily watching streaming movies already. Microsoft may be winning the living room war, but by continuing to charge for Xbox Live Gold, they lost the battle for the TV in my parents’ house.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Two new restaurants join the Williamsburg area dining scene
Summer, traditionally, is a slow time in the restaurant business — but don't tell that to chefs in the Williamsburg area. Several exciting new places have been popping up in recent weeks.
DoG Street Pub has opened up on Merchants Square. It's the third new venture for chef David Everett in recent years, who also oversees The Trellis Restaurant next door and the Blue Talon Bistro around the corner.
Across town, Jim Kennedy has retooled Dudley's, moving from an old house in Toano to a new space called Dudley's Bistro in New Town.
In and around Kingsmill, there's a new Cuban restaurant called Centro Havana Cafe. Also, chef Peter Pahk is putting the finishing touches on James Landing Grill, an extensive renovation of the casual Kingsmill eatery that sits on the James River.
Maybe it's the fact the Williamsburg is a tourist magnet that swells with people in the summer or that it has a sizable population of retired folks eager for a new place to dine. Whatever the reason, the city and its surroundings are offering up some great new places to eat this summer.
Open for a week, DoG Street Pub plays off its Duke of Gloucester (DoG) Street address. The British-style "gastropub" has taken over a 1930s bank building that has been vacant in Merchants Square.
Everett and his wife, interior designer Kathryn Tawes, have been working as a team to bring the restaurant on line. In addition to designing the kitchen and the menu, Everett has spent hours building cabinetry and other wood accent pieces — it's a particular hobby of his — to give the restaurant its pub-like atmosphere.
Unlike his other two restaurants, DoG Street feels more like a kick-back and work-on-a-beer kind of place. A long bar and large trestled table topped with stone dominates the front room. High ceilings and the original skylight has been restored or replaced. A raised dining area to the right is accented with grillwork that once separated the bank tellers from their customers.
The building required extensive renovation, says Everett, including removing a massive walk-in vault that took a month to dismantle.
In the rear dining area, a canopied bar area and paneling give the room a true pub feeling. Tawes has used fall colors of greens and reds and tiled the room in a stone mosaic. An additional room in the basement is available for parties and other gatherings. Behind it a refrigerated tap room controls the 17 draft beer lines that are pulled upstairs.
Initially, Everett considered several different cuisine concepts for the space, but decided what the community needed was an "adult bar and a place to relax." He admits that his other restaurants are wine-driven and that "beer brings out a whole different group of people we weren't familiar with." That required research and naming Michael Claar, who had worked at more beer-related restaurants, as general manager. In addition to the regional and international drafts, the pub will carry more than 100 bottled beers.
Everett's menu includes British favorites such as fish and chips and prime rib with Yorkshire pudding as well as pastas and dishes such as Tikka Masala that reflect London's international flavor.
DoG Street Pub has opened up on Merchants Square. It's the third new venture for chef David Everett in recent years, who also oversees The Trellis Restaurant next door and the Blue Talon Bistro around the corner.
Across town, Jim Kennedy has retooled Dudley's, moving from an old house in Toano to a new space called Dudley's Bistro in New Town.
In and around Kingsmill, there's a new Cuban restaurant called Centro Havana Cafe. Also, chef Peter Pahk is putting the finishing touches on James Landing Grill, an extensive renovation of the casual Kingsmill eatery that sits on the James River.
Maybe it's the fact the Williamsburg is a tourist magnet that swells with people in the summer or that it has a sizable population of retired folks eager for a new place to dine. Whatever the reason, the city and its surroundings are offering up some great new places to eat this summer.
Open for a week, DoG Street Pub plays off its Duke of Gloucester (DoG) Street address. The British-style "gastropub" has taken over a 1930s bank building that has been vacant in Merchants Square.
Everett and his wife, interior designer Kathryn Tawes, have been working as a team to bring the restaurant on line. In addition to designing the kitchen and the menu, Everett has spent hours building cabinetry and other wood accent pieces — it's a particular hobby of his — to give the restaurant its pub-like atmosphere.
Unlike his other two restaurants, DoG Street feels more like a kick-back and work-on-a-beer kind of place. A long bar and large trestled table topped with stone dominates the front room. High ceilings and the original skylight has been restored or replaced. A raised dining area to the right is accented with grillwork that once separated the bank tellers from their customers.
The building required extensive renovation, says Everett, including removing a massive walk-in vault that took a month to dismantle.
In the rear dining area, a canopied bar area and paneling give the room a true pub feeling. Tawes has used fall colors of greens and reds and tiled the room in a stone mosaic. An additional room in the basement is available for parties and other gatherings. Behind it a refrigerated tap room controls the 17 draft beer lines that are pulled upstairs.
Initially, Everett considered several different cuisine concepts for the space, but decided what the community needed was an "adult bar and a place to relax." He admits that his other restaurants are wine-driven and that "beer brings out a whole different group of people we weren't familiar with." That required research and naming Michael Claar, who had worked at more beer-related restaurants, as general manager. In addition to the regional and international drafts, the pub will carry more than 100 bottled beers.
Everett's menu includes British favorites such as fish and chips and prime rib with Yorkshire pudding as well as pastas and dishes such as Tikka Masala that reflect London's international flavor.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Attorney will seek to move Auburn slayings trial
An attorney for a Montgomery man accused of killing three people in a shooting at a party near Auburn University said Thursday she will ask that his trial be held outside of Lee County, where the school is located.
Those hit hard by the shootings that killed two former football players gathered on a campus lawn later that day for a candlelight vigil for the victims. The three dead include two former Auburn football players, and current members of the team attended.
Earlier in the day, attorney Susan James said she was worried it would be difficult for Desmonte Leonard, 22, to receive a fair trial in Lee County because the slain included the two former players, and a current player also was injured.
"We need to get the trial out of Lee County. There's so much interest in that there" James said.
James was one of three attorneys appointed Thursday to represent Leonard when he said he couldn't pay for his defense. Leonard faces three counts of capital murder and two assault charges in the shootings that apparently occurred after a fight over a woman.
He is being held without bond.
James helped Leonard turn himself in Tuesday after an intense three-day manhunt. She said she picked him up at an undisclosed location about 50 miles from Montgomery. She said she and Leonard talked on the way back to Montgomery, but she could not disclose much of what they talked about because of attorney-client privilege.
"He told us his side of the story," she said. "He said `people that know me know how I am.'"
At his hearing, Leonard wore blue jeans and a black T-shirt. He was shackled at his hands and feet during the brief appearance.
"Do you understand the charges against you?" Lee County District Judge Russell Bush said.
"Yes sir," Leonard said.
There were several dozen spectators in the courtroom including a group that appeared to be Leonard's family and friends.
Killed were former Auburn players Edward Christian, who had to quit the team because of a lingering back injury and Ladarious Phillips, who was transferring to Jacksonville State to play. Also slain was Demario Pitts, 20.
Current Auburn football player Eric Mack and Xavier Moss were both treated and released from a hospital. The third person hurt, John Robertson, was in the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head.
At the vigil, student organizer and former softball player Morgan Murphy said emotions were raw.
"We would have never guessed that anything like this would happen," said Murphy. "People are in a delicate state."
Leonard was taken Thursday from the Montgomery County Jail to Opelika for the hearing, but James said he will be taken back to Montgomery. She said he feels safer in the Montgomery lockup.
Auburn University spokesman Mike Clardy said there will be a candlelight vigil on the lawn of Samford Hall at 8 p.m. Thursday.
Those hit hard by the shootings that killed two former football players gathered on a campus lawn later that day for a candlelight vigil for the victims. The three dead include two former Auburn football players, and current members of the team attended.
Earlier in the day, attorney Susan James said she was worried it would be difficult for Desmonte Leonard, 22, to receive a fair trial in Lee County because the slain included the two former players, and a current player also was injured.
"We need to get the trial out of Lee County. There's so much interest in that there" James said.
James was one of three attorneys appointed Thursday to represent Leonard when he said he couldn't pay for his defense. Leonard faces three counts of capital murder and two assault charges in the shootings that apparently occurred after a fight over a woman.
He is being held without bond.
James helped Leonard turn himself in Tuesday after an intense three-day manhunt. She said she picked him up at an undisclosed location about 50 miles from Montgomery. She said she and Leonard talked on the way back to Montgomery, but she could not disclose much of what they talked about because of attorney-client privilege.
"He told us his side of the story," she said. "He said `people that know me know how I am.'"
At his hearing, Leonard wore blue jeans and a black T-shirt. He was shackled at his hands and feet during the brief appearance.
"Do you understand the charges against you?" Lee County District Judge Russell Bush said.
"Yes sir," Leonard said.
There were several dozen spectators in the courtroom including a group that appeared to be Leonard's family and friends.
Killed were former Auburn players Edward Christian, who had to quit the team because of a lingering back injury and Ladarious Phillips, who was transferring to Jacksonville State to play. Also slain was Demario Pitts, 20.
Current Auburn football player Eric Mack and Xavier Moss were both treated and released from a hospital. The third person hurt, John Robertson, was in the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head.
At the vigil, student organizer and former softball player Morgan Murphy said emotions were raw.
"We would have never guessed that anything like this would happen," said Murphy. "People are in a delicate state."
Leonard was taken Thursday from the Montgomery County Jail to Opelika for the hearing, but James said he will be taken back to Montgomery. She said he feels safer in the Montgomery lockup.
Auburn University spokesman Mike Clardy said there will be a candlelight vigil on the lawn of Samford Hall at 8 p.m. Thursday.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
London landlords squeeze cash from dead space
Eleven million fans, sponsors and athletes are expected to arrive in Europe's second-most crowded city from July, stoking huge demand for storage, temporary shops and vantage points for TV cameras, in turn allowing landlords to cash in on otherwise dead space.
"You'll see usable space created that doesn't currently exist," said Mark Hughes-Webb, managing director of Space-2 Consultancy, a specialist real estate firm that finds buildings for events and film shoots.
"It's been a long time since the Games were in such a densely populated city," Hughes-Webb said. "People are having to be more imaginative."
London, the European Union's most densely populated city after Paris according to EU statistics, will host the games between July 27 and August 12. Homeowners have already hiked rents by up to six times in anticipation of the influx and commercial landlords are getting in on the act.
Unlike the last two Olympic cities of Beijing and Athens, where neighborhoods were demolished to create venues, or they were located in more sparsely populated outlying areas, most of the 34 London sites are at the heart of built-up areas.
The Games' epicenter at Stratford in the east of the city has benefited from a 7 billion pound ($11 billion) injection of infrastructure, sporting venues and homes, revitalizing an area better known for its polluted waterways and industrial estates.
Sites for hire include a former limestone quarry near the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, southeast England, the owner of which is targeting contractors seeking temporary staff accommodation. Its proximity to a high-speed rail link means it is 30 minutes from the Olympic stadium in Stratford.
Elsewhere the owners of a sports field in Chiswick, west London, are in talks with an overseas group of performers to rehearse for the handover ceremony to Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian city that will host the Games in 2016.
Sites like these can cost between 10,000 to 20,000 pounds a week, Hughes-Webb said.
Also in demand are empty shops, particularly those close to busy retail areas like Oxford Street and Covent Garden, which are being snapped up by the likes of high-end U.S. clothing brand Opening Ceremony to house temporary, pop-up stores.
"Enquiries from landlords looking to lease out their vacant units during the Olympics have risen by 50 percent," said Rosie Cann, director at consultancy Pop-up Space.
Rents can be between a few hundred pounds to 20,000 pounds depending on the location and size. Stores generally remain open for between a day and two weeks, agents said.
Vacant shops around train and subway stations or Olympic venues are being rented by smaller sporting and drinks brands in need of makeshift space to store merchandise, Hughes-Webb said.
Not all attempts to find space are successful. Nike Inc's plan to build a temporary two-storey building to host exercise classes in Regents Park was blocked by Westminster council on the grounds it would ruin the park's appearance.
Equally those with empty space near venues may not see a big pay day. The London Olympic organizing committee (LOCOG) bans non-sponsors from advertising within 300 meters of venues, keeping demand in check, property experts say.
Official sponsors Cadbury, BMW and British Airways are among those companies expected to seek temporary space near Olympic venues, which include a man-made beach on the Greenwich peninsula on the Thames built specially for the Games.
"You'll see usable space created that doesn't currently exist," said Mark Hughes-Webb, managing director of Space-2 Consultancy, a specialist real estate firm that finds buildings for events and film shoots.
"It's been a long time since the Games were in such a densely populated city," Hughes-Webb said. "People are having to be more imaginative."
London, the European Union's most densely populated city after Paris according to EU statistics, will host the games between July 27 and August 12. Homeowners have already hiked rents by up to six times in anticipation of the influx and commercial landlords are getting in on the act.
Unlike the last two Olympic cities of Beijing and Athens, where neighborhoods were demolished to create venues, or they were located in more sparsely populated outlying areas, most of the 34 London sites are at the heart of built-up areas.
The Games' epicenter at Stratford in the east of the city has benefited from a 7 billion pound ($11 billion) injection of infrastructure, sporting venues and homes, revitalizing an area better known for its polluted waterways and industrial estates.
Sites for hire include a former limestone quarry near the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, southeast England, the owner of which is targeting contractors seeking temporary staff accommodation. Its proximity to a high-speed rail link means it is 30 minutes from the Olympic stadium in Stratford.
Elsewhere the owners of a sports field in Chiswick, west London, are in talks with an overseas group of performers to rehearse for the handover ceremony to Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian city that will host the Games in 2016.
Sites like these can cost between 10,000 to 20,000 pounds a week, Hughes-Webb said.
Also in demand are empty shops, particularly those close to busy retail areas like Oxford Street and Covent Garden, which are being snapped up by the likes of high-end U.S. clothing brand Opening Ceremony to house temporary, pop-up stores.
"Enquiries from landlords looking to lease out their vacant units during the Olympics have risen by 50 percent," said Rosie Cann, director at consultancy Pop-up Space.
Rents can be between a few hundred pounds to 20,000 pounds depending on the location and size. Stores generally remain open for between a day and two weeks, agents said.
Vacant shops around train and subway stations or Olympic venues are being rented by smaller sporting and drinks brands in need of makeshift space to store merchandise, Hughes-Webb said.
Not all attempts to find space are successful. Nike Inc's plan to build a temporary two-storey building to host exercise classes in Regents Park was blocked by Westminster council on the grounds it would ruin the park's appearance.
Equally those with empty space near venues may not see a big pay day. The London Olympic organizing committee (LOCOG) bans non-sponsors from advertising within 300 meters of venues, keeping demand in check, property experts say.
Official sponsors Cadbury, BMW and British Airways are among those companies expected to seek temporary space near Olympic venues, which include a man-made beach on the Greenwich peninsula on the Thames built specially for the Games.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
ORS-1 team gains improved link with mission partners
It's often difficult for organizations to justify travel expenses, especially in today's budget-conscious environment, but after reporting the results of their recent trip to Fort Gordon, Ga., commanders from the 1st and 7th Space Operations Squadron shouldn't have much trouble seeing the value added in-person visits can provide.
Members of Team 8-Ball toured the U.S. Army's 513th Military Intelligence Brigade during the first week in June and returned to Schriever with an idea so bright that it hardly seems believable. Once implemented, the idea carried zero cost, required no hardware upgrades and no extra labor, yet it vastly improved vital communications between Operationally Responsive Space-1 teams here and their ORS-1 mission partners at U.S. Central Command and 513 MIB.
"Simply put, we joined a chat room," said Capt. Justin Fernandez , 1 SOPS mission commander. "It involves a single login onto a SIPRnet website. The instructions are simple. You click an icon, type in a user name and you're in."
Though simple, the new communication link helps 1 and 7 SOPS crews produce and receive better information as it relates to the ORS-1 mission.
"Having the capability to conduct communications with the tasking organization at CENTCOM and the data exploiters at 513 MIB is essential," said Lt. Col. Mike Manor, 1 SOPS commander. "Our squadrons are able to gain unprecedented situational awareness of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance needs and work on collection tactics with our CENTCOM teammates in near real time."
Manor, Lt. Col. William Fellows, 7 SOPS commander, Fernandez, and Maj. Laura Kohake, 1 SOPS engineer, toured the 513 MB and took note when they saw brigade operators chatting online.
"We asked if we could join the chat room from our location at Schriever and they said we should have no problem doing so," Fernandez said. "That was one of the first things we did when we got back. Now, we access the chat room from any SIPRnet computer on the operations floor."
Fernandez said 1 and 7 SOPS crews formerly and will continue to conduct a conference call between themselves, CENTCOM [the intelligence customer] and 513 MIB, but that the chat function improves real-time communication.
"This way, we can get the most accurate information available without having to make a bunch of phone calls," Fernandez explained. "We also used to send out a daily e-mail, with information we needed to pass on to both agencies, but often that didn't circulate until later in the afternoon."
Satellite operators and 1 SOPS mission commanders see the biggest benefit coming when any type of anomaly arises. Operations crews can receive updates from 513 MIB faster than with previous communication devices and information can reach its proper destination faster, thus allowing for better interpretation and decision making, while eliminating confusion.
"One of the reasons ORS-1 has been so successful is because of the strong relationship we have with our mission partners," Fernandez said. Any way we can strengthen that link will benefit us and hopefully strengthen future programs similar to ORS-1."
Members of Team 8-Ball toured the U.S. Army's 513th Military Intelligence Brigade during the first week in June and returned to Schriever with an idea so bright that it hardly seems believable. Once implemented, the idea carried zero cost, required no hardware upgrades and no extra labor, yet it vastly improved vital communications between Operationally Responsive Space-1 teams here and their ORS-1 mission partners at U.S. Central Command and 513 MIB.
"Simply put, we joined a chat room," said Capt. Justin Fernandez , 1 SOPS mission commander. "It involves a single login onto a SIPRnet website. The instructions are simple. You click an icon, type in a user name and you're in."
Though simple, the new communication link helps 1 and 7 SOPS crews produce and receive better information as it relates to the ORS-1 mission.
"Having the capability to conduct communications with the tasking organization at CENTCOM and the data exploiters at 513 MIB is essential," said Lt. Col. Mike Manor, 1 SOPS commander. "Our squadrons are able to gain unprecedented situational awareness of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance needs and work on collection tactics with our CENTCOM teammates in near real time."
Manor, Lt. Col. William Fellows, 7 SOPS commander, Fernandez, and Maj. Laura Kohake, 1 SOPS engineer, toured the 513 MB and took note when they saw brigade operators chatting online.
"We asked if we could join the chat room from our location at Schriever and they said we should have no problem doing so," Fernandez said. "That was one of the first things we did when we got back. Now, we access the chat room from any SIPRnet computer on the operations floor."
Fernandez said 1 and 7 SOPS crews formerly and will continue to conduct a conference call between themselves, CENTCOM [the intelligence customer] and 513 MIB, but that the chat function improves real-time communication.
"This way, we can get the most accurate information available without having to make a bunch of phone calls," Fernandez explained. "We also used to send out a daily e-mail, with information we needed to pass on to both agencies, but often that didn't circulate until later in the afternoon."
Satellite operators and 1 SOPS mission commanders see the biggest benefit coming when any type of anomaly arises. Operations crews can receive updates from 513 MIB faster than with previous communication devices and information can reach its proper destination faster, thus allowing for better interpretation and decision making, while eliminating confusion.
"One of the reasons ORS-1 has been so successful is because of the strong relationship we have with our mission partners," Fernandez said. Any way we can strengthen that link will benefit us and hopefully strengthen future programs similar to ORS-1."
Monday, June 11, 2012
iOS 6 unveiled with Siri enhancements
iOS 6, a new version of Apple's mobile operating system, was unveiled at the company's Worldwide Developer's Conference on Monday. The version will feature "significant enhancements" to Siri, Apple's own Maps app, a new app called Passbook, Facebook integration, changes to phone calls and FaceTime, and improvements to Mail, Safari, and Photo Stream.
Apple stated it has been working "very closely" with Facebook to integrate it into iOS 6. Users will be able to post to Facebook from different apps, similar to the level of Twitter's integration now. Users will see notifications from Facebook in the Notification Center, and Facebook events and birthdays will appear in the Calendar app.
Third-party apps can now be launched with a command to Siri—for example, "Play Temple Run" opens the app. Users can also now tweet from Siri, a formerly noticeable hole in the Twitter integration throughout the rest of iOS. In addition to hands-free mode, Siri now has "eyes-free" mode, where the app doesn't light the screen, but still reads responses out. Apple is working with BMW, GM, Jaguar, Mercedes, and Honda to bring a "Siri button" to their cars that will work with iPhones within the next 12 months.
Siri has become more knowledgeable about restaurants and theaters, said Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iOS software. Restaurant search results are now sorted by Yelp rating, and tapping on them takes the user into the Yelp app. OpenTable, a reservation booking app, is also integrated into the restaurant results. For movies, Siri can bring up artwork and the slate of movies playing at a nearby theater, along with information culled from Rotten Tomatoes. Siri is also now able to respond to questions about sports ("What was the score of the last Giants game?"), including queries on standings and player stats.
Apple will add many international languages to Siri, including Canadian French and English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Korean, Mandarin, and Cantonese.
The new app, Passbook, is built to collect documents as they are created by different apps or services. The app can save things like movie tickets and plane tickets, a store card from Starbucks, or a coupon from Target. The passes are able to integrate with location information , and also update live .
The new Maps app has been built from the ground up by Apple. The app has a "Traffic View" that layers traffic data over traffic incidents using "anonymous, realtime, crowd-sourced data," so users can determine whether the congestion might clear up soon. The app offers turn-by-turn directions and can calculate the quickest route to a destination while factoring in traffic. It includes a 3D viewing mode that allows users to fly over city buildings and change viewing angles, or zoom back out to 2D view. Over 100 million business listings, culled from Yelp, will power the map app's local searches.
Maps itself will not feature information on public transit or alternative methods of transport like biking, as Google's app does now. Instead, Apple will release APIs for Maps and allow developers to build their own transit apps that will be featured, integrated, and promoted from within Maps.
As for direct OS features, iOS 6 will offer more control over phone calls. Users receiving a call will be offered two new buttons: reply with a message, or a prompt for the device to remind them about the call later. For video calls, FaceTime will finally work over cellular service with iOS 6. Apple plans to unify cell phone numbers and Apple IDs so that calls that ring on an iPhone can be answered on an iPad or Mac. Likewise, if someone messages a user on a phone number, that message can be replied to on an iPad or Mac.
A new Do Not Disturb mode allows iOS 6 to continue to receive alerts, but without making noise, vibrating, or lighting up the screen. The mode will let users set certain numbers to still ring through on the handset.
In updates to mobile Safari, Apple announced that users' Reading Lists for saving links will now be available offline as well. Fullscreen mode will now work in landscape in Safari, and Apple has also added "Smart App Banners" that can appear on a webpage when the owner has a companion app.
Photo Stream, which was cautiously received on launch, is being updated with shared photo streams that can be accessed by groups of friends. The shared streams can pop alerts on friends' phones and will automatically form an album viewable in Photos, iPhoto, or in a Web browser.
In Mail, users can now mark "VIPs" whose messages will pop an alert on the lock screen and be sorted into a VIP mailbox. Users will also now be able to add photos and videos into an e-mail right from the Compose window, instead of forcing them to reverse-engineer the message from the Photos or Video app, a long-missing and much-welcome feature.
iOS 6 will also add some small accessibility features for education and child uses. These include the ability to disable the Home button ("single-app mode") and disable settings so kids can't access certain apps.
For developers, Apple will release APIs for Passbook, as well as some for in-app content purchases from the iTunes Store. A beta of iOS 6 will be available to developers as of Monday, and the OS is set for release in fall 2012.
Apple stated it has been working "very closely" with Facebook to integrate it into iOS 6. Users will be able to post to Facebook from different apps, similar to the level of Twitter's integration now. Users will see notifications from Facebook in the Notification Center, and Facebook events and birthdays will appear in the Calendar app.
Third-party apps can now be launched with a command to Siri—for example, "Play Temple Run" opens the app. Users can also now tweet from Siri, a formerly noticeable hole in the Twitter integration throughout the rest of iOS. In addition to hands-free mode, Siri now has "eyes-free" mode, where the app doesn't light the screen, but still reads responses out. Apple is working with BMW, GM, Jaguar, Mercedes, and Honda to bring a "Siri button" to their cars that will work with iPhones within the next 12 months.
Siri has become more knowledgeable about restaurants and theaters, said Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iOS software. Restaurant search results are now sorted by Yelp rating, and tapping on them takes the user into the Yelp app. OpenTable, a reservation booking app, is also integrated into the restaurant results. For movies, Siri can bring up artwork and the slate of movies playing at a nearby theater, along with information culled from Rotten Tomatoes. Siri is also now able to respond to questions about sports ("What was the score of the last Giants game?"), including queries on standings and player stats.
Apple will add many international languages to Siri, including Canadian French and English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Korean, Mandarin, and Cantonese.
The new app, Passbook, is built to collect documents as they are created by different apps or services. The app can save things like movie tickets and plane tickets, a store card from Starbucks, or a coupon from Target. The passes are able to integrate with location information , and also update live .
The new Maps app has been built from the ground up by Apple. The app has a "Traffic View" that layers traffic data over traffic incidents using "anonymous, realtime, crowd-sourced data," so users can determine whether the congestion might clear up soon. The app offers turn-by-turn directions and can calculate the quickest route to a destination while factoring in traffic. It includes a 3D viewing mode that allows users to fly over city buildings and change viewing angles, or zoom back out to 2D view. Over 100 million business listings, culled from Yelp, will power the map app's local searches.
Maps itself will not feature information on public transit or alternative methods of transport like biking, as Google's app does now. Instead, Apple will release APIs for Maps and allow developers to build their own transit apps that will be featured, integrated, and promoted from within Maps.
As for direct OS features, iOS 6 will offer more control over phone calls. Users receiving a call will be offered two new buttons: reply with a message, or a prompt for the device to remind them about the call later. For video calls, FaceTime will finally work over cellular service with iOS 6. Apple plans to unify cell phone numbers and Apple IDs so that calls that ring on an iPhone can be answered on an iPad or Mac. Likewise, if someone messages a user on a phone number, that message can be replied to on an iPad or Mac.
A new Do Not Disturb mode allows iOS 6 to continue to receive alerts, but without making noise, vibrating, or lighting up the screen. The mode will let users set certain numbers to still ring through on the handset.
In updates to mobile Safari, Apple announced that users' Reading Lists for saving links will now be available offline as well. Fullscreen mode will now work in landscape in Safari, and Apple has also added "Smart App Banners" that can appear on a webpage when the owner has a companion app.
Photo Stream, which was cautiously received on launch, is being updated with shared photo streams that can be accessed by groups of friends. The shared streams can pop alerts on friends' phones and will automatically form an album viewable in Photos, iPhoto, or in a Web browser.
In Mail, users can now mark "VIPs" whose messages will pop an alert on the lock screen and be sorted into a VIP mailbox. Users will also now be able to add photos and videos into an e-mail right from the Compose window, instead of forcing them to reverse-engineer the message from the Photos or Video app, a long-missing and much-welcome feature.
iOS 6 will also add some small accessibility features for education and child uses. These include the ability to disable the Home button ("single-app mode") and disable settings so kids can't access certain apps.
For developers, Apple will release APIs for Passbook, as well as some for in-app content purchases from the iTunes Store. A beta of iOS 6 will be available to developers as of Monday, and the OS is set for release in fall 2012.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Riders extend GM contract
The Saskatchewan Roughriders showed faith in their general manager Saturday with the announcement of a contract extension for Brendan Taman. The one-year extension will see Taman, who was given full control of football operations for the Riders last November, continue his role with the club through the 2013 season.
“I thought it was important, not just for Brendan but for (head coach) Corey (Chamblin) and the staff to know that we had Brendan on a contract for this year and next and there was stability,” said Jim Hopson, president and CEO of the Riders.
The announcement came as part of the Riders’ annual Green and White Day in Saskatoon, which brought the team to Griffiths Stadium to practice. Saskatoon is Taman’s hometown, making it the perfect occasion for the announcement.
“It worked out pretty well, it’s pretty neat actually,” said Taman.
Hopson has displayed a flair for the dramatic in Saskatoon, after choosing the University of Saskatchewan Huskies’ annual Dogs’ Breakfast event to announce the Riders’ intention to pick Huskies player Ben Heenan with the number one pick in this year’s draft just over a month ago.
According to Hopson, an extension was in the plans for Taman, but they’ve been busy up to this point getting the rest of the organization’s pieces in place.
“It’s something we knew we wanted to do. When we started with the new regime, Brendan was focused on getting a coach in place, and staff, and players. He knew that we were committed to him, and it was just a matter of finding some time later in the spring,” said Hopson.
Taman has been busy since taking over in November, overhauling the team on both the field and the sidelines. The most significant change was likely the hiring of Chamblin, the second new head coach for the Riders in as many seasons.
“Brendan has put his mark on this team. Corey was the coach that he wanted,” said Hopson. “We think it was the right decision and we’re very pleased to have (Taman) on board for this year and next, and we have an option also for the year after, so we think it’s good for the organization long- and short-term.”
As for Taman, his contract seemed to be the last thing he was worried about Saturday.
“I’ve been focusing on getting this team right and getting the coaching staff in place and getting the players on board, so to be honest with you I haven’t really keyed in on it, but it’s obviously a nice gesture,” he said.
The Riders are looking to bounce back from last year’s 5-13 season, which saw them miss the playoffs for the first time since 2001.
“Obviously we need to retool after having a bad year, and there’s a lot of work that needs to be done behind the scenes to get that done,” said Taman.
The first real look at Taman’s new version of the Riders will come Wednesday, when they travel to Vancouver to take on the BC Lions in the first of two preseason games for the year.
“We’ve had a lot of change, and I think any time you do these changes it takes a lot of time to gel. Overall though, it’s coming together pretty nice, and we’ll learn a lot more on Wednesday,” said Taman.
While stability is important to any football club, Taman was clear Saturday about the most important way he and his staff can solidify their roles in the Riders organization.
“I thought it was important, not just for Brendan but for (head coach) Corey (Chamblin) and the staff to know that we had Brendan on a contract for this year and next and there was stability,” said Jim Hopson, president and CEO of the Riders.
The announcement came as part of the Riders’ annual Green and White Day in Saskatoon, which brought the team to Griffiths Stadium to practice. Saskatoon is Taman’s hometown, making it the perfect occasion for the announcement.
“It worked out pretty well, it’s pretty neat actually,” said Taman.
Hopson has displayed a flair for the dramatic in Saskatoon, after choosing the University of Saskatchewan Huskies’ annual Dogs’ Breakfast event to announce the Riders’ intention to pick Huskies player Ben Heenan with the number one pick in this year’s draft just over a month ago.
According to Hopson, an extension was in the plans for Taman, but they’ve been busy up to this point getting the rest of the organization’s pieces in place.
“It’s something we knew we wanted to do. When we started with the new regime, Brendan was focused on getting a coach in place, and staff, and players. He knew that we were committed to him, and it was just a matter of finding some time later in the spring,” said Hopson.
Taman has been busy since taking over in November, overhauling the team on both the field and the sidelines. The most significant change was likely the hiring of Chamblin, the second new head coach for the Riders in as many seasons.
“Brendan has put his mark on this team. Corey was the coach that he wanted,” said Hopson. “We think it was the right decision and we’re very pleased to have (Taman) on board for this year and next, and we have an option also for the year after, so we think it’s good for the organization long- and short-term.”
As for Taman, his contract seemed to be the last thing he was worried about Saturday.
“I’ve been focusing on getting this team right and getting the coaching staff in place and getting the players on board, so to be honest with you I haven’t really keyed in on it, but it’s obviously a nice gesture,” he said.
The Riders are looking to bounce back from last year’s 5-13 season, which saw them miss the playoffs for the first time since 2001.
“Obviously we need to retool after having a bad year, and there’s a lot of work that needs to be done behind the scenes to get that done,” said Taman.
The first real look at Taman’s new version of the Riders will come Wednesday, when they travel to Vancouver to take on the BC Lions in the first of two preseason games for the year.
“We’ve had a lot of change, and I think any time you do these changes it takes a lot of time to gel. Overall though, it’s coming together pretty nice, and we’ll learn a lot more on Wednesday,” said Taman.
While stability is important to any football club, Taman was clear Saturday about the most important way he and his staff can solidify their roles in the Riders organization.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Mittal to reduce China steel ambitions
Lakshmi Mittal has signalled a dramatic scaling back of ArcelorMittal’s ambitions to expand in China’s steel industry through an agreement to cut the company’s stake in one of the country’s top metals producers.
The chairman, chief executive and main owner of the world’s biggest steelmaker had hoped to build up ArcelorMittal’s 30 per cent stake in Hunan Valin into a controlling shareholding but has been frustrated by Beijing’s refusal to loosen constraints over foreign ownership in the steel business.
Through an outline deal to reduce the Hunan Valin stake to 10 per cent over the next two years, ArcelorMittal is likely to gain about $300m, about $200m of which will be reinvested in increasing its operations in China in the more specialised segment of making high-value steel for the automotive industry.
Tony Taccone, a partner in First River, a US steel consultancy, said: “This is a pragmatic and sensible move by Mr Mittal to reallocate ArcelorMittal’s position in China in a way that is more helpful for the business.”
Sudhir Maheshwari, head of ArcelorMittal’s China operations, said it would be wrong to depict the new outline deal as part of a “reining back” of the company’s overall activity in China. “Instead, we are refocusing on an area [automotive steel] with a lot of potential.”
The deal comes as ArcelorMittal has faced increasing pressures in its main markets in Europe and North America where many of its plants are operating well below capacity as a result of sluggish growth in steel demand caused by a weak global economy.
The Chinese government has for decades viewed steelmaking as a strategic industry over which it is adamant domestic companies – many of which are state-owned – should have complete control.
China is by some way the world’s biggest country for both making steel and using the commodity – the world’s most widely traded metal with many applications in fields from construction to packaging.
Mr Mittal has always regarded his company’s investment in Hunan Valin – agreed in 2005 – as part of a long-term investment in China that he hoped could be turned into a foothold for controlling a big part of the country’s steel sector.
He has now settled on trying to increase ArcelorMittal’s position in the relatively narrow field of making steel for cars – an area in which it has a strong global position, particularly in the area of specially treated flat steel for vehicle exteriors.
ArcelorMittal will push up its capabilities in this sector by increasing from 33 per cent to 49 per cent its stake in a joint venture with Hunan Valin in making steel for cars.
As part of this new activity, the Luxembourg-based company is contributing about a quarter of an $800m investment in increasing the output of this joint venture from 1.2m tonnes a year to 1.5m tonnes .
However in this industry in China, ArcelorMittal is facing tough competition from other top producers of automotive steel such as Chinese steelmakers including Baosteel and Nippon Steel of Japan.
The chairman, chief executive and main owner of the world’s biggest steelmaker had hoped to build up ArcelorMittal’s 30 per cent stake in Hunan Valin into a controlling shareholding but has been frustrated by Beijing’s refusal to loosen constraints over foreign ownership in the steel business.
Through an outline deal to reduce the Hunan Valin stake to 10 per cent over the next two years, ArcelorMittal is likely to gain about $300m, about $200m of which will be reinvested in increasing its operations in China in the more specialised segment of making high-value steel for the automotive industry.
Tony Taccone, a partner in First River, a US steel consultancy, said: “This is a pragmatic and sensible move by Mr Mittal to reallocate ArcelorMittal’s position in China in a way that is more helpful for the business.”
Sudhir Maheshwari, head of ArcelorMittal’s China operations, said it would be wrong to depict the new outline deal as part of a “reining back” of the company’s overall activity in China. “Instead, we are refocusing on an area [automotive steel] with a lot of potential.”
The deal comes as ArcelorMittal has faced increasing pressures in its main markets in Europe and North America where many of its plants are operating well below capacity as a result of sluggish growth in steel demand caused by a weak global economy.
The Chinese government has for decades viewed steelmaking as a strategic industry over which it is adamant domestic companies – many of which are state-owned – should have complete control.
China is by some way the world’s biggest country for both making steel and using the commodity – the world’s most widely traded metal with many applications in fields from construction to packaging.
Mr Mittal has always regarded his company’s investment in Hunan Valin – agreed in 2005 – as part of a long-term investment in China that he hoped could be turned into a foothold for controlling a big part of the country’s steel sector.
He has now settled on trying to increase ArcelorMittal’s position in the relatively narrow field of making steel for cars – an area in which it has a strong global position, particularly in the area of specially treated flat steel for vehicle exteriors.
ArcelorMittal will push up its capabilities in this sector by increasing from 33 per cent to 49 per cent its stake in a joint venture with Hunan Valin in making steel for cars.
As part of this new activity, the Luxembourg-based company is contributing about a quarter of an $800m investment in increasing the output of this joint venture from 1.2m tonnes a year to 1.5m tonnes .
However in this industry in China, ArcelorMittal is facing tough competition from other top producers of automotive steel such as Chinese steelmakers including Baosteel and Nippon Steel of Japan.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
A personal view
The new Barnes Foundation Art Education Center on the Parkway has some beautiful features. The architectural firm of Todd White/Billie Tsein (TWBT) of New York chose Roman Gold/Grey Gold stone for the exterior walls. The stone was quarried in the Negev Desert in southern Israel, and its rough texture and creamy color makes it beautiful to look at. Referred to as a mosaic of stone artwork, this translucent fortress wall blends into the Parkway scenery so discreetly it’s easy to imagine missing the museum from a moving vehicle.
And that’s the problem with the new Barnes. There are too many walls, in effect giving the impression of a fortress. The Convent of Divine Love on Green Street (The Pink Sisters) is less fortified than this monastery of 181 Renoirs, 69 Cézannes, and 59 Matisse’s, etc. The low-level unobtrusive design reminds me of the son of royal parents being told to dress down for his first day at a city charter school. An exterior design like this would excel in the Southwest desert or in red clay New Mexico, but along the Parkway the building is barely noticeable. Inside the fortress, the Ellsworth Kelly totem is the only concession to urban verticality, but (given the walls) suggests the feeling of an Old West American outpost.
Viewed another way, perhaps the walls are the inevitable result of the new security state, a protection against the unknown in the post 9/11 era.
When the press was invited to view the new Barnes close up (May 19th), I headed to the museum from 24th and the Parkway. The sight of the walls had me guessing where the entrance was, and it was only because I overheard one of the parking attendants mention that one could enter through the lot that I proceeded by instinct around yet another wall which did in fact open up to a beautiful arboretum-like space.
The flaunting of peacock feathers occurs inside the fortress where the museum becomes a mega space complete with café, meditation or transition rooms where visitors can sit while going from exhibit to exhibit, a glassed-in-court and a reading room. The idea, of course, as The New York Times so eloquently put it, is to "draw out the experience," a design plan with superfluous space that has visitors walking and walking, so that by the time they arrive, "they’ll need a drink." The Times also asks: "Can a design convey an institution’s feelings of guilt?" referring, of course, to the breaking of the will of Dr. Albert C. Barnes concerning the Merion estate.
As museums go, the walk referenced by The Times is nonetheless a beautiful stroll that might get you thinking along Japanese lines. The Zen-invoking TWBT window design near the monumental entrance archway manages to keep things on a modest human scale, but once on the inside an explosion of space ends all understatement and the "architecture of guilt" becomes strains of music by Vivaldi.
I last visited the Barnes Foundation in Merion as a Great Valley High School senior. Our art teacher arranged for a special tour with Dr. Barnes’ assistant, Violette de Mazia, who walked us through the exhibit and provided commentary. Before the class trip we were briefed rather extensively on proper Barnes etiquette, namely not to step beyond the electrical tape on the floor of the exhibit rooms in an attempt to get a closer view of the paintings. Since one could hardly miss the floor tape in the old Barnes, there were no law breakers, however in the new building--- where the perfect duplication of the Merion exhibition rooms had me thinking that nothing had changed---there’s no electrical tape on the floor but rather a discreet line that could easily double as a design flourish rather than a barrier. Many on press day, this writer included, were asked by wandering guards to "please step back behind the line," causing many looks of puzzlement until the guard pointed out that the design was the border.
On press event day, journalists arrived by buses from New York and then headed inside to join their Philadelphia peers at a breakfast buffet. Two DJs near the Light Court podium played a sad compendium of French songs reminiscent of Edith Piaf, although I was later informed that the music was a soundtrack from Cirque du Soleil. The bittersweet melodies invoked something vaguely existential and possibly troubling—images of the controversy surrounding the move of the Barnes from Merion to its present location came to mind--- although this was obviously not the intention of the music makers.
And that’s the problem with the new Barnes. There are too many walls, in effect giving the impression of a fortress. The Convent of Divine Love on Green Street (The Pink Sisters) is less fortified than this monastery of 181 Renoirs, 69 Cézannes, and 59 Matisse’s, etc. The low-level unobtrusive design reminds me of the son of royal parents being told to dress down for his first day at a city charter school. An exterior design like this would excel in the Southwest desert or in red clay New Mexico, but along the Parkway the building is barely noticeable. Inside the fortress, the Ellsworth Kelly totem is the only concession to urban verticality, but (given the walls) suggests the feeling of an Old West American outpost.
Viewed another way, perhaps the walls are the inevitable result of the new security state, a protection against the unknown in the post 9/11 era.
When the press was invited to view the new Barnes close up (May 19th), I headed to the museum from 24th and the Parkway. The sight of the walls had me guessing where the entrance was, and it was only because I overheard one of the parking attendants mention that one could enter through the lot that I proceeded by instinct around yet another wall which did in fact open up to a beautiful arboretum-like space.
The flaunting of peacock feathers occurs inside the fortress where the museum becomes a mega space complete with café, meditation or transition rooms where visitors can sit while going from exhibit to exhibit, a glassed-in-court and a reading room. The idea, of course, as The New York Times so eloquently put it, is to "draw out the experience," a design plan with superfluous space that has visitors walking and walking, so that by the time they arrive, "they’ll need a drink." The Times also asks: "Can a design convey an institution’s feelings of guilt?" referring, of course, to the breaking of the will of Dr. Albert C. Barnes concerning the Merion estate.
As museums go, the walk referenced by The Times is nonetheless a beautiful stroll that might get you thinking along Japanese lines. The Zen-invoking TWBT window design near the monumental entrance archway manages to keep things on a modest human scale, but once on the inside an explosion of space ends all understatement and the "architecture of guilt" becomes strains of music by Vivaldi.
I last visited the Barnes Foundation in Merion as a Great Valley High School senior. Our art teacher arranged for a special tour with Dr. Barnes’ assistant, Violette de Mazia, who walked us through the exhibit and provided commentary. Before the class trip we were briefed rather extensively on proper Barnes etiquette, namely not to step beyond the electrical tape on the floor of the exhibit rooms in an attempt to get a closer view of the paintings. Since one could hardly miss the floor tape in the old Barnes, there were no law breakers, however in the new building--- where the perfect duplication of the Merion exhibition rooms had me thinking that nothing had changed---there’s no electrical tape on the floor but rather a discreet line that could easily double as a design flourish rather than a barrier. Many on press day, this writer included, were asked by wandering guards to "please step back behind the line," causing many looks of puzzlement until the guard pointed out that the design was the border.
On press event day, journalists arrived by buses from New York and then headed inside to join their Philadelphia peers at a breakfast buffet. Two DJs near the Light Court podium played a sad compendium of French songs reminiscent of Edith Piaf, although I was later informed that the music was a soundtrack from Cirque du Soleil. The bittersweet melodies invoked something vaguely existential and possibly troubling—images of the controversy surrounding the move of the Barnes from Merion to its present location came to mind--- although this was obviously not the intention of the music makers.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Toppling Syria's Assad
After the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda, the world said: Never again. And there have been interventions to stop the killing - in Bosnia, Kosovo and Libya. But these have been the exception, not the norm. Even now, as horrifying violence unfolds in Syria, the U.S. and its allies find reasons to limit their response to economic sanctions accompanied by strongly worded, but ineffectual, statements of condemnation.
This, despite the fact that the stakes in Syria are higher, from a strategic standpoint, than in Libya. By the time NATO acted against Moammar Gadhafi, he was an isolated despot who had given up sponsoring terrorism and building weapons of mass destruction. Not so with Bashar Assad: His regime sponsors Hezbollah and Hamas. It has a large stockpile of chemical weapons and would be on its way to developing nuclear weapons had not Israel bombed its nuclear reactor in 2007. And it has close links to the Iranian regime, which is the No. 1 enemy of the U.S. and its allies in the region.
Moreover, the longer Assad stays in power without being able to stop the uprising against his government - which is now more than a year old - the greater the odds that regional powers will be drawn into the fray and that extremist groups such as al-Qaida, already responsible for several grisly bombings in Syria, will be able to establish safe havens on Syrian soil.
There are risks in a post-Assad Syria, to be sure, but toppling him as swiftly as possible - something sanctions have shown no sign of achieving - holds out the promise of meeting significant strategic as well as humanitarian objectives.
Those in favor of a go-slow approach will admit much of this but then argue that there are no good options for intervention. It is true that action to topple a regime always carries risks. It is never an operation to be undertaken lightly, as we learned in Afghanistan and Iraq. But no one is proposing sending U.S. ground troops into Syria; the riskiest option of all isn't on the table, nor should it be.
Even less risky options, such as airstrikes, would be harder in Syria than in Libya because the Syrian opposition is less unified than in Libya, and it does not control any cities or discrete territory. Thus it would be harder to strike regime assets without injuring civilians.
But is this an argument for simply sitting by and letting the killing continue? That isn't a "good option" either.
Luckily, as the Syria expert Andrew Tabler, among others, has argued, there are other choices.
First, we should become more closely involved in organizing the Syrian resistance by providing it with communications gear, intelligence and other nonlethal assistance. As CIA and special operations officers develop closer ties with the rebels, they will develop the contacts necessary to funnel weapons into the right hands and to avoid arming jihadist extremists.
U.S. diplomats and intelligence operatives can also work with the opposition to draft plans for a democratic, inclusive, post-Assad government. This would ease qualms among Kurds, Christians and other Syrian minorities - along with businessmen and other stakeholders in the Assad regime - who have so far hesitated to embrace the rebellion.
It would also help if safe zones were established along Syria's borders with Jordan and Turkey, where refugees could escape Assad's oppression. Turkey and Jordan have the military capability to defend such zones from the Syrian army, and there are indications that Turkey, which already hosts the Free Syrian Army, might be willing to do more if it received American support - which hasn't been forthcoming so far.
In addition, the U.S. and our NATO allies could strengthen sanctions on Syria by mounting a naval blockade of the Syrian coastline. This would make it more difficult for Syria's principal supporters, Russia and Iran, to provide arms to the regime.
Airstrikes to protect safe zones or take out key regime targets are a more aggressive option that needs to be considered. The Air Force and Navy have shown the ability to accomplish such goals with few if any losses and relatively little collateral damage.
With Russia blocking action at the United Nations, the most difficult part of any such operation might well be winning international approval. That did not stop President Bill Clinton from intervening in Kosovo, and it need not stop it in Syria, particularly if we can win the backing of NATO and the Arab League.
This, despite the fact that the stakes in Syria are higher, from a strategic standpoint, than in Libya. By the time NATO acted against Moammar Gadhafi, he was an isolated despot who had given up sponsoring terrorism and building weapons of mass destruction. Not so with Bashar Assad: His regime sponsors Hezbollah and Hamas. It has a large stockpile of chemical weapons and would be on its way to developing nuclear weapons had not Israel bombed its nuclear reactor in 2007. And it has close links to the Iranian regime, which is the No. 1 enemy of the U.S. and its allies in the region.
Moreover, the longer Assad stays in power without being able to stop the uprising against his government - which is now more than a year old - the greater the odds that regional powers will be drawn into the fray and that extremist groups such as al-Qaida, already responsible for several grisly bombings in Syria, will be able to establish safe havens on Syrian soil.
There are risks in a post-Assad Syria, to be sure, but toppling him as swiftly as possible - something sanctions have shown no sign of achieving - holds out the promise of meeting significant strategic as well as humanitarian objectives.
Those in favor of a go-slow approach will admit much of this but then argue that there are no good options for intervention. It is true that action to topple a regime always carries risks. It is never an operation to be undertaken lightly, as we learned in Afghanistan and Iraq. But no one is proposing sending U.S. ground troops into Syria; the riskiest option of all isn't on the table, nor should it be.
Even less risky options, such as airstrikes, would be harder in Syria than in Libya because the Syrian opposition is less unified than in Libya, and it does not control any cities or discrete territory. Thus it would be harder to strike regime assets without injuring civilians.
But is this an argument for simply sitting by and letting the killing continue? That isn't a "good option" either.
Luckily, as the Syria expert Andrew Tabler, among others, has argued, there are other choices.
First, we should become more closely involved in organizing the Syrian resistance by providing it with communications gear, intelligence and other nonlethal assistance. As CIA and special operations officers develop closer ties with the rebels, they will develop the contacts necessary to funnel weapons into the right hands and to avoid arming jihadist extremists.
U.S. diplomats and intelligence operatives can also work with the opposition to draft plans for a democratic, inclusive, post-Assad government. This would ease qualms among Kurds, Christians and other Syrian minorities - along with businessmen and other stakeholders in the Assad regime - who have so far hesitated to embrace the rebellion.
It would also help if safe zones were established along Syria's borders with Jordan and Turkey, where refugees could escape Assad's oppression. Turkey and Jordan have the military capability to defend such zones from the Syrian army, and there are indications that Turkey, which already hosts the Free Syrian Army, might be willing to do more if it received American support - which hasn't been forthcoming so far.
In addition, the U.S. and our NATO allies could strengthen sanctions on Syria by mounting a naval blockade of the Syrian coastline. This would make it more difficult for Syria's principal supporters, Russia and Iran, to provide arms to the regime.
Airstrikes to protect safe zones or take out key regime targets are a more aggressive option that needs to be considered. The Air Force and Navy have shown the ability to accomplish such goals with few if any losses and relatively little collateral damage.
With Russia blocking action at the United Nations, the most difficult part of any such operation might well be winning international approval. That did not stop President Bill Clinton from intervening in Kosovo, and it need not stop it in Syria, particularly if we can win the backing of NATO and the Arab League.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Artist inspired by the light of education
Inspired by Yeats and the light education brings to the life of an individual, local artist Katie Pernu created a glass mosaic to hang in the Visitors' Center Gallery in the Administration Building on the campus of Northeastern State University-Broken Arrow.
University maintenance crews hung the work on May 29 and 30, but a formal opening will be held at the university in the fall.
Pernu, who teaches art at Haskell Middle School, created the mosaic in 11 weeks. The three window panels are jewel-toned, with thousands of pieces of glass in rich hues of blue, red, yellow and orange. Viewers are immediately drawn to the predominate focal point of the piece, which is a giant sunburst.
“We are thrilled to have on display a demonstration of Pernu’s artistry,” said Dr. Christee Jenlink, Dean of NSU-BA.
To choose the colors for the piece, Pernu spent time in the gallery considering the colors already in the room, as well as considering nature’s ever changing pallet of campus colors outside the window.
Thematic elements of the piece include civilization, nature and history.
“There are sections that stand for our mistakes and successes and the pathways we have chosen because of them.” Pernu said.
“The image of the sunburst represents the light, the energy, the power and the opportunity we receive from a well-rounded and in-depth education,” Pernu said. “We not only receive these things from education, but we can become these things to our communities, through our education.”
Since the piece was commissioned for a university, Pernu designed the work with education in mind.
“Education changes lives, gives direction and guidance, points out strengths and weaknesses, and provides most of us with the means to make a living,” she said.
In her artist statement Pernu said, “We can all make life richer for each other and ourselves when all of our strengths work together, and when we all are able to receive a good education.”
These ideas are all represented by the spiral in the center of the circle and the rays of light extending outward from it.
The artist was chosen to create the piece after other pieces of her work were displayed in the gallery during an art show last fall.
University Regent, Jan Gordon, provided the funds to commission the art from the David Gordon Memorial Fund. The fund is in honor of former Regent David Gordon, who according to Jenlink deserves much of the credit for the NSU-BA campus.
“It is a visual feast for the senses,” said Jan Gordon. “It has embedded in it, both excitement and harmony.”
Each panel is 100 inches tall and 80 inches wide and weighs approximately125 pounds. Hanging the heavy panels at the top of the arch proved to be an engineering feet for the maintenance department.
University maintenance crews hung the work on May 29 and 30, but a formal opening will be held at the university in the fall.
Pernu, who teaches art at Haskell Middle School, created the mosaic in 11 weeks. The three window panels are jewel-toned, with thousands of pieces of glass in rich hues of blue, red, yellow and orange. Viewers are immediately drawn to the predominate focal point of the piece, which is a giant sunburst.
“We are thrilled to have on display a demonstration of Pernu’s artistry,” said Dr. Christee Jenlink, Dean of NSU-BA.
To choose the colors for the piece, Pernu spent time in the gallery considering the colors already in the room, as well as considering nature’s ever changing pallet of campus colors outside the window.
Thematic elements of the piece include civilization, nature and history.
“There are sections that stand for our mistakes and successes and the pathways we have chosen because of them.” Pernu said.
“The image of the sunburst represents the light, the energy, the power and the opportunity we receive from a well-rounded and in-depth education,” Pernu said. “We not only receive these things from education, but we can become these things to our communities, through our education.”
Since the piece was commissioned for a university, Pernu designed the work with education in mind.
“Education changes lives, gives direction and guidance, points out strengths and weaknesses, and provides most of us with the means to make a living,” she said.
In her artist statement Pernu said, “We can all make life richer for each other and ourselves when all of our strengths work together, and when we all are able to receive a good education.”
These ideas are all represented by the spiral in the center of the circle and the rays of light extending outward from it.
The artist was chosen to create the piece after other pieces of her work were displayed in the gallery during an art show last fall.
University Regent, Jan Gordon, provided the funds to commission the art from the David Gordon Memorial Fund. The fund is in honor of former Regent David Gordon, who according to Jenlink deserves much of the credit for the NSU-BA campus.
“It is a visual feast for the senses,” said Jan Gordon. “It has embedded in it, both excitement and harmony.”
Each panel is 100 inches tall and 80 inches wide and weighs approximately125 pounds. Hanging the heavy panels at the top of the arch proved to be an engineering feet for the maintenance department.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Syrian president to address parliament
State-run Syrian television says President Bashar Assad is expected to give a speech in front of the country's parliament, a rare public appearance as Damascus confronts rising international condemnation over its crackdown on the 15-month uprising.
Assad's last speech was on January 10. His comments expected at midday Sunday will be the first since the massacre a week ago in the central region of Houla that killed more than 100 people, nearly half of them children.
The opposition and the government have exchanged accusations over the killings, each blaming the other.
Activists say as many as 13,000 people have died in Syria's unrest. One year after the revolt began, the U.N. put the toll at 9,000, but hundreds more have died since.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Washington reached out to Syria's most important ally and protector Saturday, urging Russia to join a coordinated effort to resolve the deadly conflict as the violence spilled across the border into Lebanon, a senior State Department official said.
The international community has been frustrated by the failure of a U.N.-brokered peace plan to stop the bloodshed. Fears also have risen the violence could spread and provoke a regional conflagration.
Already clashes have broken out between pro- and anti-Syrian groups in northern Lebanon, with at least eight people killed late Friday and early Saturday, Lebanese security officials said.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton discussed the situation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a telephone call on Saturday, a senior State Department official said.
"They both agreed that we have to work together," said the official, who provided details of the private discussion on condition of anonymity. "Her message to him was that we have to start working together to help Syrians with a serious political transition strategy."
Clinton said U.S. and Russian officials should engage diplomatically to come up with ideas in Moscow, Washington, New York and "wherever we need to," according to the official."
Russia has refused to support any move that could lead to foreign intervention in Syria, Moscow's last significant ally in the Middle East. Russia, along with China, has twice used its veto power to shield Syria from U.N. sanctions.
Moscow's pro-Syria stance is motivated in part by its strategic and defense ties to Damascus, including weapons sales. Russia also rejects what it sees as a world order dominated by the U.S.
The fighting in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli started shortly before midnight Friday and intensified Saturday.
Repeated outbreaks of violence in the city, the country's second largest, are seen as spillover from the conflict in neighboring Syria and have raised fears of an escalation in sectarian tensions in Lebanon.
Lebanon and Syria share a complex web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries, which are easily enflamed. Clashes in Tripoli last month killed at least eight people.
The fighting in Lebanon pits Sunni Muslims who support Syrian rebels trying to oust President Bashar Assad against members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam of which Assad is a member.
Smoke billowed from several apartments near the city's Syria street, the dividing line between the mainly Sunni Bab Tabbaneh neighborhood and the adjacent, Alawite-majority Jabal Mohsen. The area around Syria street was mostly empty except for gunmen roaming the streets.
"We are being targeted because we support the Syrian people," one Sunni gunman said. "We are with you (Syrian people) and will not abandon you."
Activists say as many as 13,000 people have died in Assad's crackdown against the anti-government uprising, which began in March 2011 amid the Arab Spring. One year after the revolt began, the U.N. put the toll at 9,000, but hundreds more have died since.
In Syria, activists said government troops fired shells at Houla, a cluster of farming villages in the central province of Homs where the U.N. says at least 108 people — including 49 children under the age of 10 — were killed on May 25.
The opposition and the government have exchanged accusations over the massacre, each blaming the other.
Syria has long faced deepening international isolation, but the Houla massacre has brought a new urgency to calls to end the crisis.
In Qatar, the head of Syria's largest exile opposition group said Saturday he would welcome Arab military action aimed at brining a halt to attacks by Assad's regime against Syrian rebel forces and civilians.
Burhan Ghalioun, the leader of the Syrian National Council, made the comments before a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers, who discussed the bloodshed in Syria.
Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar have pledged funds to aid Syria's rebels, but there is no direct evidence that the money is reaching anti-Assad forces or that the rebels are becoming better armed. The Arab League, however, does not appear ready to deploy its own troops.
Assad's last speech was on January 10. His comments expected at midday Sunday will be the first since the massacre a week ago in the central region of Houla that killed more than 100 people, nearly half of them children.
The opposition and the government have exchanged accusations over the killings, each blaming the other.
Activists say as many as 13,000 people have died in Syria's unrest. One year after the revolt began, the U.N. put the toll at 9,000, but hundreds more have died since.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Washington reached out to Syria's most important ally and protector Saturday, urging Russia to join a coordinated effort to resolve the deadly conflict as the violence spilled across the border into Lebanon, a senior State Department official said.
The international community has been frustrated by the failure of a U.N.-brokered peace plan to stop the bloodshed. Fears also have risen the violence could spread and provoke a regional conflagration.
Already clashes have broken out between pro- and anti-Syrian groups in northern Lebanon, with at least eight people killed late Friday and early Saturday, Lebanese security officials said.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton discussed the situation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a telephone call on Saturday, a senior State Department official said.
"They both agreed that we have to work together," said the official, who provided details of the private discussion on condition of anonymity. "Her message to him was that we have to start working together to help Syrians with a serious political transition strategy."
Clinton said U.S. and Russian officials should engage diplomatically to come up with ideas in Moscow, Washington, New York and "wherever we need to," according to the official."
Russia has refused to support any move that could lead to foreign intervention in Syria, Moscow's last significant ally in the Middle East. Russia, along with China, has twice used its veto power to shield Syria from U.N. sanctions.
Moscow's pro-Syria stance is motivated in part by its strategic and defense ties to Damascus, including weapons sales. Russia also rejects what it sees as a world order dominated by the U.S.
The fighting in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli started shortly before midnight Friday and intensified Saturday.
Repeated outbreaks of violence in the city, the country's second largest, are seen as spillover from the conflict in neighboring Syria and have raised fears of an escalation in sectarian tensions in Lebanon.
Lebanon and Syria share a complex web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries, which are easily enflamed. Clashes in Tripoli last month killed at least eight people.
The fighting in Lebanon pits Sunni Muslims who support Syrian rebels trying to oust President Bashar Assad against members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam of which Assad is a member.
Smoke billowed from several apartments near the city's Syria street, the dividing line between the mainly Sunni Bab Tabbaneh neighborhood and the adjacent, Alawite-majority Jabal Mohsen. The area around Syria street was mostly empty except for gunmen roaming the streets.
"We are being targeted because we support the Syrian people," one Sunni gunman said. "We are with you (Syrian people) and will not abandon you."
Activists say as many as 13,000 people have died in Assad's crackdown against the anti-government uprising, which began in March 2011 amid the Arab Spring. One year after the revolt began, the U.N. put the toll at 9,000, but hundreds more have died since.
In Syria, activists said government troops fired shells at Houla, a cluster of farming villages in the central province of Homs where the U.N. says at least 108 people — including 49 children under the age of 10 — were killed on May 25.
The opposition and the government have exchanged accusations over the massacre, each blaming the other.
Syria has long faced deepening international isolation, but the Houla massacre has brought a new urgency to calls to end the crisis.
In Qatar, the head of Syria's largest exile opposition group said Saturday he would welcome Arab military action aimed at brining a halt to attacks by Assad's regime against Syrian rebel forces and civilians.
Burhan Ghalioun, the leader of the Syrian National Council, made the comments before a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers, who discussed the bloodshed in Syria.
Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar have pledged funds to aid Syria's rebels, but there is no direct evidence that the money is reaching anti-Assad forces or that the rebels are becoming better armed. The Arab League, however, does not appear ready to deploy its own troops.
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