33 - Avengers Assemble review (no spoilers) - Film Flare

Well here it is, after several years of films creating the invidual characters and tone of the Marvel Studios universe, here is the culmination of all that effort: Avengers Assemble (so called in the UK so no fool confuses it with the very similar Avengers film).

Duuuuurrrrrrrrr!

 

I suppose the question on your lips is 'Any Good?'

The short answer is 'yes'.

 

The longer answer is 'Fuck me silly, that film was awesome!'

 

The even longer answer is:

 

Joss Whedon has created a witty, entertaining superhero that more than capably juggles different characters and threads all together into an unsubtle, but solid film.

It helps if you've seen the previous Marvel Studio films in the franchise before seeing this. I had personally seen Iron Man 1 and 2, Captain America and Thor although I had not seen The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton and I had a good idea of the principal characters and what was going on. There is the barest bones of back-story for each of the heroes but the majority of exposition is around the character of Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo).

 

Speaking of which, Mark Ruffalo somehow steals the show as the Hulk, utterly removing the previously uninspiring film adaptations. He is amazing, in every way. Bruce Banner gets some quality lines and Mark Ruffalo delivers in pretty much every way, it is a lot more of a subtle performance than most of his fellow actors, who are much more brazen, brash and forward.

Robert Downey Jr once again delivers as Iron Man, a character that is as rich and as interesting two films down the line as he ever was. He gets the best lines and even though it takes a little bit of time to introduce Iron Man compared to some of the other characters, he sticks in the mind and has his own standouts moments alongside the rest of the Avengers.

Captain America (Chris Evans) is also on top form as Captain America, a character I was initially concerned would not fit well into the dynamic of the group but his character fits really nicely.

As a personal favourite, it is always nice to see Loki on the screen. His 'little brother' syndrome makes his a fascinating villain in Thor and Tom Hiddleston absolutely proves he is brilliant as this twisted, powerful trickster. In Loki, once again, Marvel Studios provide a villain that is as well fleshed out and as interesting as the heroes. 

 

I've already mentioned Josh Whedon's outlandish ability to fuse together so many characters into a film well. When all the Avengers have assembled, each character and their traits clash in a....realistic way, the selfless with the arrogant etc etc. Whilst the film does try extremely hard to have as many Avenger on Avengers fights as possible and they are thrilling, seeing them work together as a team is frankly fantastic. Again, several stunning shots pan seamlessly from one character to the next, cutting through the large amounts of chaotic action to deliver what you wanted to see, superheroes beating on things.

Another key Whedon-ish (tm) is the humour. It is a pretty funny film too boot.

 

Its $220 million budget went a long way too. Apart from the actors and the not inconsiderable sums of money  they would have been paid, the CGI is almost faultless. It is awesome, and always seems to make the events feel like a comic book. Again, the standout being a very realistic, physical Hulk. The best incarnation yet, for sure. 

 

It's not without fault:

The plot is nonsense. 

The script is sometimes clunky and awkward.

It is a long film (although doesn't really feel like it)

 

However, these are mere grains of sand on a beach of AWESOMNESS.

Watch this film!

 

9/10 easy.

 

Trailer:

 

 

 

Music and What Not: Ambassadors Interview with Frontman Sam ...

This band first grabbed my attention when the title track off of their latest record, Litost, was featured on an episode of One Tree Hill. The track is fantastic, but shows only one of the many sides of the band. On Litost, Ambassadors seamlessly fuse together a number of genres and sounds, creating beautifully soulful songs with catchy percussion. 
I kid you not, this is my favorite record of 2012. I doubt that will change.


Front man, Sam Harris spent some time answering some questions for me and followed it up with an acoustic performance of the song that lead to me discovering them,"Litost." Please see the acoustic video posted below the interview. 


http://ambassadorstheband.tumblr.com
As you guys gear up for touring, what can people expect when they come out to one of your shows?

They can expect all the songs off our new record, plus a few new ones we've been toying around with that will be on our next one.  We're constantly writing stuff and we wanted to test some of it out on the road: our goal as a band is to put out as much material as possible... as long as we think it's good.

Who are some bands/ artists that you guys have looked up to in terms of stage presence and live performance?

I've always been a fan of Prince.  The way that dude can move and play his instrument and sing his ass off all at once is like something from a different planet (which, to be honest, would come as no surprise to me if it literally was).  Other than him... I think we all just wish we had moves like Jagger.

How is the music scene in New York?

New Yorkers LOVE to dance.  But not in front of anybody else.  And especially not in front of a band.  Other than that, it's a hoot and a holler.

Litost just dropped recently, what would you like for listeners to take away from this album after listening to it?

Someone told me after we recorded this album that it sounded pretty "mainstream".  It was easy to get a little offended at first, but then I realized that it kind of made sense that this is what we came up with; almost all the music we grew up listening to in the late 90s and early 00s sounded as big and bombastic as we wanted our record to sound.  So in the end, I guess we wanted to make something kids our age could listen to and get a little nostalgic for their middle-school and high school years.  Even if it's a tough kind of nostalgia.  That's what we want people to walk away with.

Did you guys have a direction in mind for the record, before you began recording it?

Again, we knew we wanted to make something big; something that could transport us and the listeners somewhere else.  It was a pretty brutal winter in New York and we had all been going through some difficult personal stuff at the time, so our mentality was a bit of an escapist one.  But honestly I feel like most records are written like that anyways.

Were all of the songs written during the same period of time?

Yea, most were written right after my brother had his kidney transplant and right before myself, Noah and Adam were about to graduate from college.

Listening back to the record, can you hear any specific influences?

We were listening to a LOT of Kanye on our drives to and from the studio.  And a lot of Hot 97.1 FM (an awesome Hip-hop/R&B radio station here in New York).  You may not be able to hear it offhand, but if you listen closely... it's there.  Maybe a little Fred Astaire on the opening track, "Weight/Lightness", too.

I am completely blown away by how diverse this record is, was that done intentionally? Or is that just how it panned out?

It was never intended to be so diverse, but that's just how most of our records seem to come together.  We have so many different musical influences and we like to pay homage to them all in our songs.

I am specifically curious about how your songs "Litost" and "Bodybag" came together...

“Bodybag” is probably the oldest song on the record.  A different version of it had been released on our first EP but it didn't sound right, so we decided to do it again.  This time around we made it way more gospel-y and more organic sounding.  "Litost" was a song I wrote towards the end of a really taxing relationship.  The song kind of speaks for itself.  That one was mostly arranged by me, alone in my bedroom with the help of our friend Max Drummey (from the band Chester French) who did all the string arrangements for it.

Who did you work on the record with, outside of the group and what attracted you to working with them?

We worked with our friend Dan Stringer, who we've known since college and have worked with a few times in the past.  Dan is the coolest dude and the best engineer we've encountered so far.  He really knows our sound and is great at taking direction from all four of us, which is a difficult task in and of itself.  Plus, we all have a very similar sense of humor and have spent many nights drinking each other to sleep. 

Are you guys blown away by all of the positive reactions to the album thus far?

Yes.  We worked extremely hard on this album so it's also a big affirmation, but it's always a treat to hear how much people love the music you're making.

How important is social media/networking to you guys?

As important as it is to Kanye West.  Very important.

What kind of advice do you have for emerging independent artists? Any specific words of wisdom?

When in doubt, go with your gut.  And always surround yourself with people you trust; who are not only just as excited about what you're doing as you are, but who are also going to push you to do better.  Also, don't be afraid to make something your parents won't like.

I saw that one of your songs was featured in a recent episode of One Tree Hill. Did you get a chance to see the specific scene it was featured in?

We had a whole little screening session at Noah and Adam's apartment.  It came on within the first 6 minutes and lasted for 3 scenes: a therapy session, a guy putting his kids into their car-seats, and a scene with this girl and some dude talking in their kitchen.  Pretty unexciting stuff (laughs).

Perfect day, driving in your car with the windows down, what are you listening to?

Drake.  Or Ray Charles.

Any plans after the tour? Working on any new material yet?

World domination.  And putting out a new record every year.

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So when my friend went on holiday, she had surfing lessons from this nice surfing instructor. She and him, they surfed on the beach, in the jungle….

Anyway, we were in stitches when we saw this sticker!

Studio Live Presents Zenprov's "Cinco Delightful" at The Mary D ...

Sedona AZ (April 27, 2012) – Kick off Cinco De Mayo with Zenprov Comedy at the new Mary D. Fisher theater! The troupe promises a “fiesta of funny” with their one-night only “Cinco-De-Lightful” show this Saturday, May 5 at 7:30 PM, tickets are $10.00 in advance and $15.00 at the door.

Like the TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” Zenprov performs fast-paced, improvised comedic scenes created in the moment-always based on audience suggestions.”We’re totally excited to be the first comedy group to perform at the new Mary D. Fisher theater,” said Derek Dujardin, director of the troupe. “The new space adds a lot, including comfy seats, better acoustics and cheap alcohol! We think on-site bar will just make us that much funnier!” The troupe says they are adding a lot of new games to this show, including a game called “Sound Effects” where audience members will create all the sound effects for their scene using off-stage microphones.

The Zenprov players embrace the Del Close method of improv acting, which emphasizes the “group mind” that mysteriously develops during a performance. Miraculously, the player’s minds fuse together to create a “super mind” where they practically finish each other’s sentences-and often do. Laughter ensues.

The Zenprov cast includes improv veterans Tony Carito, Derek Dujardin and Shaeri Richards (formerly from Abandoned Minds), and rising stars Mike Burdick, Bonnie Green, Betty Testa, Linda Roemer, Laura Lizak, Mary Carder, and Breanna Helfert.

Zenprov’s last two shows sold out, so get your tickets early. Doors open at 7:00 pm. Shows are rated PG-13 and run approximately 90 minutes. Visit www.ZenprovComedy.com to learn more.

For more information please contact the Sedona Performing Arts Alliance/Studio Live at (928)282-0549. Tickets are available online at www.studiolivesedona.com or at the Studio Live box office located at 215 Coffeepot Drive in West Sedona.The Sedona Performing Arts Alliance is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to advancing the Performing Arts thru Education, Live Performance and Artist Support. Studio Live is a tool for the SPAA to reach audiences and showcase their craft.

Farwell Band Director Shimmons lauded in national magazine ...

A simple blog on the internet about how Band Director Paul Shimmons is incorporating electronic instruments and his own iPad into the Farwell band program, led to a cover story and feature article in the April issue magazine School Band and Orchestra (SBO).

They wrote, “Paul Shimmons, band director at Farwell Area Schools in Central Michigan, is one such educator who has been steadily implementing innovative devices, software and instruments into his teaching methods since the dawn of the digital age.”

Shimmons, who has been Farwell’s Band Director since 1996, said he has held the position longer than anyone. “I love it here,” he said, “The community is very supportive of the schools and fine arts. The administration is wonderful to work with. I think I got lucky when I came here.”

About five years back the Band Boosters also provided three computers for the band program. “That was the real start of this unique program,” Shimmons said.

He said he started storing his music for conducting on his iPad about four years ago and it grew from there.

And two years ago the Boosters purchased several electronic instruments and now the Farwell program includes both traditional and electronic musicians.

An eight to fifteen member student group using the electronic instruments have named themselves Melodic Fusion. They perform along with the traditional acoustic band at concerts and sometimes by themselves at local community events, said Shimmons.

He credits the Boosters for helping to develop the innovative Farwell program. “There’s no way we could have done this without their financial support,” he said. “They work hard to raise money throughout the school year and the funds go to support the program above and beyond what the school district could afford. They have provided uniforms, color guard equipment, new computers, software, and instruments, both electronic and acoustic.”

The Boosters raised money and purchased two electronic wind instruments (EWIs), a couple of electric keyboards, a Mallet Kat (electronic xylophone), a digital mixer, an electronic drum set, an electronic marching drum, and an electronic drum module.

“Adding these was our big push a couple of years ago,” Shimmons said.

The group Melodic Fusion was formed to fuse together the new electronic equipment with traditional instruments and occasionally with singers.” Shimmons said he believes the electronic group is the only one in the area. “Part of my goal is to get kids involved that might not be involved with the traditional band and choir program but that still love to play and sing.”

“The goal for the program,” he said, “is to give kids that do play a chance to expand their options and learn something new.” He said electronic instruments are played just like a traditional instrument but can sound like anything. “It’s kind of like learning to color with crayons. You start with that little box of five, and then go on to the middle size and finally on to the large, economy box with every color you can imagine.”

He told SBO, “My goal from the start was to make sure that my band room isn’t like the band room that I experienced when I was in high school. Today’s world doesn’t look like the world that I grew up in, so I’m trying to make the musical experience that I’m giving my kids a little more meaningful and connected to their everyday life.”

One of the new programs that helps him to do that is the software SmartMusic – which he said “helps me better assess my students.” He said before using the computer program, it “was really difficult for me to be able to listen to my students on an individual basis. Now over the course of a week, I can listen to every single one of my students and give them feedback. I can sit at home with my computer – or anywhere with an internet connection — with my iPad or computer, and listen to their exercises at my convenience.”

He said the Farwell band room also has a projector connected to a computer and sound system, which is used every day for announcements, rehearsal plans and even YouTube videos to access other performing groups. “We can listen to a recording of a middle school band from Ohio and evaluate it with our students.”

He used a program called Air Sketch, connecting his iPad to the computer and projector to help with classwork. “I can use it like a white board,” he said, “I can circle things, write answers on worksheets and more.”

He also has the room set up to record and play back music sessions. “That is useful to show students how they are doing.”

Using devices, software and digital instruments in the classroom can be challenging. Shimmons said he tries out new technology often to see what “enhances” the program. “It is trial and error,” he said, “finding things that help the students understand the work they have to do.”

He said, “It’s all about doing things in the classroom that weren’t done when I was a kid – doing things in ways that make it better for my students to understand, helps them understand quicker and easier and that will stick with them longer.”

He said he hopes that students will all have iPads, which really are a small computer, in the future. “There are schools in Michigan that already have it for their students,” he said

You can hear the results of Farwell’s new direction in music. As part of Farwell’s Fine Arts Week starting today, the High School Band, Choir and Melodic Fusion will all perform Monday (April 30) in the Jaime Performing Arts Center at 6:30 p.m. On May 2, the Middle School Band will perform in the Center at 6:30 p.m.

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FizzyPop!!: Fresh Music Friday ~ The Ghosts, High Heels & Low ...

There's something about this torrential rain that makes you want to curl up inside with a nice Starbucks Hot Chocolate (which you had to go outside for, so you are saturated now. Life is cruel), a good book (Becoming Nancy by Terry Ronald is both a hoot and touching, in oh so many ways :D) and some amazing new music from promising new artists playing in the background. And i'm not talking Carly Rae Jepsen. Here are three that are getting my juices (oo-er, steady on, etc) going this very week:

The Ghosts ~ Ghosts:

There is something ethereal and otherworldly about the appropriately named band The Ghosts. Led by Alex Starling (the "secret" fourth member of Ou Est Le Swimming Pool), they have created a sound that is full of dreamy synths, pounding beats, scintillating guitar and a distinctive vocal style that deftly holds each tune together. They quite rightly created quite the buzz last year with their stunning track, Enough Time, with it's captivating chorus, bitingly insightful lyrics and fantasy-drenched video. Now they're back, previewing their new album with a track that's not quite eponymous entitled Ghosts. Set over a darkly dirty pulsating electro groove, there's a relentless energy driving the verses forward before the glorious chorus erupts in a cascade of synth sounds and impressive vocal delivery from Alex. Lyrically it's a devastating parallel to the isolation life sometimes brings that is gutwrenching in it's stark honesty ("When you were much younger you would always keep the lights on/ But now there's only darkness and loneliness and waiting for the...ghosts") Add to this the inventive video (above) and you've got a compelling pop tune that will stick with you for months. Buy it here...

High Heels and Low Lifes ~ L.O.V.E:

Score one for High Heels and Low Lifes because at least they can spell (L.U.V Madonna?!) The appeal doesn't end there because they have managed to successfully fuse together elements of indie, pop and rap in a way that feels both fresh and engaging. L.O.V.E. is set over a percolating, bouncy hip-pop instrumental with a genuinely exciting vocal trade-off between rapidfire female sung lyrics (bringing a sickening Neneh Cherry But Now vibe to the proceedings) and the cool as fuck, cheeky chappy charm male rap (loving that howl by the way!). The blistering verses are a nice juxtaposition with the sweetly sung chorus that just seems to fly each time I hear it. What I really like is that the musical chemistry of the duo means that the fusion of styles works so very well and their enthusiasm radiates from the song. Absolute earworm, this is one song that will set up camp in your brain, leaving you singing L.O.V.E. incessantly for days. And ain't nuffin' wrong with that. Buy it here...

Lilygreen and Maguire ~ Come On Get Higher:

Currently busking their way across Wales (in this weather?!), the Lilygreen and Maguire boys have not only undertaken some major support slots (uh, the Westlife farewell tour, Olly Murs, etc) but are busy preparing for their next single (Ain't Love Crazy, out in June, pre-order here) and debut album. To get you all up to date in anticipation of nationwide adoration of the fellas, check out their most recent single, Come On Get Higher. It's all strumming guitars, exquisite melodies, deliciously romantic, hopeful lyrics and some very sweet vocals, particularly when the lads gently harmonise together on the chorus. It's like an aural work of art. Instantly accessible as a pop song, there's also something very likeable about the boys that's more than evident in their collection of you tube videos. It's incredibly important these days not to come across as too aloof and be appropriately engaging with fans - something label mates The Overtones have all but perfected. Fascinated to see how L&M do over the next few months. Rooting for big things :)

Security Cameras PLUS » Blog Archive » Security surveillance gets ...

The days of the stereotypical ‘doughnut eating’ security guard blankly watching fuzzy images on a black and white TV screen are gone. New networked digital cameras combined with intelligent video analytics software are changing the nature of surveillance from reactive human-based monitoring and replays of past events, to sophisticated automated threat detention and rapid responses to more quickly identify and act on potential issues. As a result today’s CSO and CIO must work closely together, says Scott Basham, Unisys’ Asia-Pacific Program Manager for Location, Perimeter and Surveillance Security.

Australia has come a long way since the first closed circuit television (CCTV) security camera was installed in Melbourne in 1981 to help support a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. In the 20 years since, those humble analogue installations have transformed into modern high resolution, networked-enabled, digital systems.

As the technology has improved, and adoption rates have increased, the costs for modern CCTV systems have been significantly reduced, leading many organisations to deploy more and more cameras. However, adding more cameras is only effective if you can accurately and effectively monitor the images they generate. Just hoping that a security guard will happen to notice a change when an image cycles through a bank of monitors leaves too much to chance.

The advent of digital video cameras has allowed large numbers of high resolution cameras to be networked over existing Ethernet networks (rather than expensive coaxial cable networks). When combined with powerful video management systems that incorporate video analytics software, it is possible to automatically detect potential threats in real time, so that security personnel can take appropriate action as events occur. This transforms security surveillance from being a reactive tool for finding out what happened post an incident, into a dynamic and proactive capability for live and real time threat detection using the surveillance camera feeds.

One of the most interesting outcomes of this transformation is how the increasingly sophisticated security surveillance infrastructure is blurring the line between what was once strictly the domain of physical protection specialist, but now is now also squarely in the realm of IT department. As a result, today’s IT and Security departments must effectively combine their unique skills and abilities to deliver the security outcomes the organisation seeks to achieve.

An analytical look at today’s security requirements and tools

For the last two decades, governments and commercial organisations in Australia, and around the world, have used video surveillance as the cornerstone of physical security capabilities.

Whether it was for national security, critical infrastructure protection, securing assets within the finance and banking sector or to protect private property, video surveillance has been universally accepted as the foundation layer upon which an organisation’s ability to protect its people, assets and facilities has been based. And it was solely the domain of physical security experts.

Even though the cost of new cameras has decreased, organisations have faced continued pressure to further reduce operating costs. CCTV provides a convenient and efficient solution to manage and protect large areas at all hours, so many organisations have increased the number of cameras deployed but not the number of people monitoring them.

However, more cameras does not necessarily equate to increased security assuredness. The only relevant measure of the organisation’s real-time enterprise-wide level of security situational awareness is the number of constantly monitored feeds. Unobserved camera feeds only provide retrospective information — which helps to identify what happened, but does nothing to help stop it when the event occurs. What’s more, even if a someone is monitoring the screens, studies show(1) that a person’s ability to constantly monitor a screen rapidly decreases after just 20 minutes.

The solution to this false economy of equating quantity of cameras with quality of security is the advent of Internet Protocol (IP) enabled digitals cameras. The video feeds from these cameras can be networked together and combined with video analytics software to automatically identify and respond to potential security threats as they happen.

Video analytics allow organisations to monitor and manage multiple video surveillance cameras by automatically recognising changes in activity on the screen to generate an alert or trigger a response from the monitoring staff observing the feed, such as automatically locking a door, sounding an alarm or notifying the nearest security officer. This may identify a potential threat before it has actually happened.

The action generated by these analytical tools can be as simple as on-screen alerts of suspicious or unwanted behaviours, or as complex as using biometric facial recognition technology to grant or deny a person access to a high security area. They can significantly increase the capabilities of what might otherwise be a very stock standard video surveillance system and turn it into a highly tuned, mission critical component of the organisation’s entire operations.

Even the simplest of video analytics implementations can increase an organisation’s security. These include motion detection (to notice when a person enters or leaves an area), virtual tripwires (to detect when someone or something enters a secure area), object recognition (which can identify when a particular object is removed or if additional objects appear), and Licence Plate Recognition software to scrutinise cars entering and leaving a facility.

Specialist CCTV analytical tools can help government bodies and commercial groups put their security systems to other uses such as identifying regular patterns in human traffic to review building plans in order to make work or public areas more efficient or safe. The possibilities are limitless.

In the future, organisations will look to further leverage the capabilities of their CCTV network to incorporate specialist functions such as biometric identification and behaviour pattern recognition. Using facial recognition and gait recognition technologies, it is already possible to match surveillance subjects against a watch list of “persons of interest”. As these biometric technologies continue to evolve, we are likely to see even greater convergence between surveillance and identification.

Combining security with IT

The IT department plays a critical role in assisting the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to economically and effectively respond to the physical threats and cover the gamut of security challenges faced by today’s businesses. Understanding the role of technology, and how to use it most effectively, is now an integral part of managing an effective security surveillance system. Complex IT skills are needed to support the surveillance systems ranging from installing new hardware and software, integrating various network components, and managing the deployment of intelligent video analytic tools, through to managing the ever-growing back end server and storage infrastructure that runs and supports all of those edge devices.

Surveillance systems continue to evolve with the advent of new and better devices that are able to be integrated into the organisations eco-system. As these capabilities grow, so too does the desire of security managers to be able to fuse together all of that data from all of those various devices into a single common operating picture that can provide them the most efficient and most effective means of monitoring and responding to security incidents and threats as they occur.

In such a mission critical environment as security, the search for innovation is constant. The advent of mobile computing devices, such as tablets and smart phones, enables security professionals to view real-time footage and other sensor information while on the move, releasing them from their desks and getting them out of their control rooms. This allows them to get closer to where the action is happening, which in turn then better allows them to understand and respond to the nature of the security threats they face as and when they occur, regardless of where they are physically located, and regardless of the time of day.

(1)Mary W. Green, The Appropriate and Effective Use of Security Technologies in U.S. Schools, A Guide for Schools and Law Enforcement Agencies, Sandia National Laboratories, September 1999, NCJ 178265 (cited: http://idg.to/2S8)

Scott Basham manages Unisys’ location, perimeter and surveillance solution offerings within Asia-Pacific. Starting as an officer in the Australian Regular Army more than 20 years ago, he has provided security and technology advice across both the public and private sectors, across a wide range of sectors including aviation, ports, critical infrastructure, border protection and defence.

Article source: http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/422863/security_surveillance_gets_smarter/

Ohio State University Created 500 Trillion Watt Laser : Tests Begin ...

26 April 2012 No Comment

Scientists at Ohio State University have built a special high-power laser that can sustain fusion reactions and can work as a source of energy. A research team at the High Energy Density Physics lab at Ohio State University has spent 6 years to build this special high-power laser. It required $6 million to construct the laser. The US Department of Energy has funded the whole project. The laser will go on live testing on next 15 May, 2012.
Enam Chowdhury, an OSU physicist has designed the laser. The laser is fired at a pellet of deuterum-tritium ice less than a centimeter in diameter. The laser has 300 times greater density than water. As the beam hits the pellet of deuterum-tritium ice, the center of the pellet gets hot up to 50 million degrees Kelvin. At that time, a self-sustaining nuclear reaction will occur where the deuterium and tritium ions fuse together, creating a helium nucleus and releasing an energetic neutron. To be noted, each beam of the laser lasts for only one billionth of a second. Comparing to single fire shot that other lasers do in the National Ignition Facility (NIF), it is expected that this high-power laser would be able to shoot up to one hundred beams per day.

The Ohio State University (OSU) explains in their site,

“This is where the Fast Fusion concept comes in: in Fast Fusion the “trigger” for the fusion within the compressed pellet is the arrival of an ultra-intense laser pulse of nominally 50kJ energy, with a pulse length of 20 picoseconds. There are many notional advantages in the fast fusion concept: The pellet no longer has to be so precisely manufactured, the energy of the compression lasers can be reduced up to an order of magnitude, and the concept lends itself to the relatively rapid sequencing required for an energy source.”

Professor Richard Freeman, who works in the High Energy Density Physics lab at Ohio State University is excited about the potential for the laser. “When this happens, and it’s going to be measured in months not years, it will be a major watershed event,” he said. “This is a very exciting time.”

The data generated by the lasers will be used to increase the National Ignition Facility’s precision for its own forthcoming fusion experiments later this year.

Sunday Posts: Global E-School: What That Means

All my efforts over last few months have been directed towards setting up a global e-school. This is a term I picked up from one of the blogs on Forbes.com: E-School, as in Enterprise School, as opposed to Business School, is a place to learn the art of the enterprise, as opposed to the formulaic thinking that B-Schools usually represent. In short, it will be more art than science, greater focus on people than process, and emphasis on possibilities rather than the mechanics of accounting.

If all this sounds wonderfully vague, it is meant to be. There isn't a formula that one can quickly follow in defining an E-School, because there isn't a precedence. What I talk about may sound more akin to a liberal arts college than a Business School. I see sessions on history, psychology and creative writing to be an integral part of what we may end up doing in the school. After all, the goal of the school will be to help shape entrepreneurial mindsets: It must start with a leap into unknown.

Two things I know about the school we are going to create are that it is going to be global and that it will fuse together creativity, enterprise and technology.

On being global, I have a particular point of view. I see public higher education being predominantly local, because it is usually the national or local governments who pay for it. On the other hand, being an independent college, run by the fee receipts, means serving a global clientele of students and employers. In the end, being global is slightly more than the touristy ideas of globe-trotting: It is, if I may try a definition, the capability of viewing national cultures, whichever culture one seems to have been put inside, both from inside and outside. In other words, having a sense of perspective even when someone is embedded into a community. This will, hopefully, liberate the students from the 'my way or highway' mentality most higher education endow them with. 

Fusing together creativity, enterprise and technology is an idea I have talked about for most of the last two years. In this context, creativity is more than being able to paint, obviously: It is more about thinking creatively, trying uncommon solutions to known problems. This is also about adopting the 'change the world' mindset, instead of 'make money' mindset. Enterprise is about doing it: I have always loved Joel Barker's rhetoric: "Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision merely passes the time. Vision with Action can change the world." I want to embed it in the ethos of the school. And, finally, technology is the white knight in this idea, something that will help make things happen. Good technology training, which will sit at the core of this idea, will enable the dreamers to do something useful, something creates social value and creates wealth. 

In a sense, I see technology to be the 'content' of what we teach and enterprise to be the 'context', to be pursued by creative individuals living in and dreaming about a globalised world. Some friends on the left may see these ideas as irredeemably neo-liberal, but in essence, this is also as revolutionary as it gets. It is not about spreading any fixed notions of commodity fetishism around the world, but about imagining new possibilities of a better world and trying to shape it. My complaints about most B-Schools is that primarily they imbibe their students with a consumption framework: A sense of identity on the basis of what they are going to have, not what they are going to do. This may sound like going back in time, but the idea of the E-School is to bring back action, rather than ownership and consumption, firmly back in the agenda.

Coming down to the practicalities of the project, I am indeed at a very interesting point. I am trying to use a platform which is very different, and trying to leverage its core assets, established presence, partnerships and people, to mould into this new shape. This invariably meant dealing with legacy though: Changing the mindset, processes and outlook have taken me this long even to get to the starting point. Inevitably, there were times when I surely wanted to quit: Times when the legacy seemed irredeemable, and the whole new project impractical. My loyalties, however, throughout the time, was to the idea, which did help me to plough on. However, now, it seems that we, me and some key colleagues, have won the first round: Some fundamental changes have began. Once the school comes about, therefore, it will have an instant legitimacy: It would itself be a result of the same entrepreneurial pursuit that it would intend to train its students about.

Our Journey | We Love You Jackson!

Wow, I cannot believe how far I have actually came. When Jax was only 3 weeks old, I researched the entire web to find something, ANYTHING to try and help my baby boy. That is when I learned about the BMT/stem cell transplant. This became a dream of mine, to get my baby out to Minnesota and to make my dream come true. In the following months, each and everyday has been so extremely difficult for both Jax and I. I remember telling myself during a tough dressing change that one day, Jax will get his BMT and I will not have to hold my baby down for 4 hours, bathe him in bleach, lance each and every blister, listen to him scream in pain, give him over 27 different medications daily, and deal with the issues with his feeding tube, and many other EB related issues. Our latest EB related issue is that Jax’s finger nails have started to fall off down, unfortunately this is a common thing for EB children. Also, Jax’s toes are starting to “fuse” together, I am not too concerned about this because I know that I have been doing everything possible to try and prevent that from happening, I now wrap each tiny little toe…which is beyond difficult because Jax is VERY ticklish on his feet. With all this being said, I just could not wait to get Jax out to Minnesota for his BMT.

I still cannot believe that it took 7 very long months to get us out there. I am just so glad that we are finally where we are at.

So, to catch up on all that has been going on… Jax, Grammy, and I flew to Minnesota for the week of April 9th-12th. During this time we were very fortunate to have had a very special encounter with a 2 EB families. Jax had on average 4-5 appts. daily, each where they would examine Jax and make a determination as to whether or not Jax is a good candidate for the BMT. On Wednesday Jax was scheduled to have a few OR procedures done. These included 7 skin biopsies, an endoscopy, yet another change out of his feeding tube…he went from the BARD to the Mickey button, Jax also had a blister suction test to see just how fast he blisters, AND surprisingly they were able to get in an IV. Dr.Tolar, the main doctor who is over-seeing Jax’s BMT also examined Jax’s skin and took many pictures to document Jax’s EB…The OR team was wonderful, they let me stay in the OR room until after Jax went under, then they let me back in when the doctor’s were finished with their procedures to begin my “procedure” of 2 hour long dressing changes….yes, 2 hours, Jax was still under for that change which felt to different…normally I have to wrestle Jax to get his bandages on and this time he was very still…TOO still for my comfort…but I managed. That was also the VERY second time that I have ever seen Jax without ANY bandages on…it was a little overwhelming, but I didn’t pay much mind because I wanted to quickly cover his bosy with his bandages to help protect his skin. Jax then had a CT scan because there were a few concerns. While Jax was in recovery the doctors decided to admitt Jax for pain management, observation, and later on Pneumonia…Yes, pneumonia?? I suppose the CT scan revealed Jax had clearly a significant amount of fluid in the bottom of both of his lungs. So, needless to say he is on 2 very potent antibiotics and is currently still recovering from pneumonia. Jax was discharged from the hospital and Dr.Tolar felt that it would be in Jax’s best interest for him to stay local for a few days just in case Jax needed to be re-admitted. We were very lucky to have had a room at the Ronald McDonald house. We met a very specialy little girl named Sahar who also had the same skin condition as Jax. She had underwent the BMT as well. Her parents taught me SO much about EB and gave me hundreds of tips. I think god had planned us meeting, because they helped me so much, they also gave me hope…Sahar is doing well after her transplant and it was very comforting to know that.

Jax was finally got the okay to go back home after a follow up appointment by Dr.Tolar. He assured us that while we are back home in NY, he will continue to work on Jax’s case rentlessly. He then explained what to expect next, which is to go back home, rest up and be prepared to come back in mid-to-late May!! He explained how he will be looking in the donor registry for a match, ideally a perfect match. Once he hand picks a match most suitable for Jax, then he will have to manipulate the marrow and “do a few things to it.” Once that process is complete, then I should get the call to bring Jax back out to Minnesota. Once we arrive, Jax will undergo further testing to do a complete check of all of Jax’s organs to determine if Jax will be ready for 10 days of Chemotherapy, and then the transplant, and then the 160 days of recovery. Once Jax is cleared and is ok for transplant, he will receive Chemo, then the BMT, and then it is recovery time. It will take about 4-6 weeks to determine if Jax’s body has even accepted or rejected the new donor’s cells. Jax will stay in the hospital for a while, then he will be able to live at the Ronald McDonald house for a little while after. He will need to constantly go back and forth to and from the hospital on a daily basis, then weekly until it tapers off. Then once Jax is healthy enough, we can come HOME! …but until then I must stay one step ahead of EB and make Jax as stable as possible and keep him in as good health as I possibly can.

We have been home for a few days now and we are still adjusting to getting back into the routine of things. Now with the new medication, I cannot being Jax out in the sunlight at all or else it will do a great deal of harm to Jax, I have to keep a close watch on Jax’s pneumonia symptoms, and still keep up on all of Jax’s doctor appointments. Thank god that Jax has been newly approved by his insurance for home nurse aids to help. Especially since my mom (grammy) will be having surgery on both of her hands for carpal tunnel and she will not be able to help as much as she previously did. Which means that the nurse will have to help me with daily dressing changes along with many other daily routines for Jax. This is an absolute miracle and I am so excited about it!

Once again, I apologize for not updating sooner, but I have been pretty busy. I will keep updating but until then keep your fingers crossed that Dr.Tolar can find a match. Thank-you all for your continued efforts in supporting Jax.

I spy with my little eyes…. two teeth. surprise, surprise!!

What a ham!!

Asmaa, Halim, and Sahar-such a cutie!!

The Dept Art » Blog Archive » The new age urban art forms

The new age urban art forms

Thursday, April 26th, 2012 | Author: admin

In this age of changing tastes and priorities, the art forms will also susceptible to a lot of changes and changing tastes of the people. The artists in the urban areas are especially and changing lot who are very experimental in their expressions of art. This is because most of the urban centers are also centers of confluence of various ideas and ideologies from various regions. Owing to the attraction of the urban regions compared to the rural regions, people from faraway lands come to an urban region, bringing new ideas and arts and cultures with them. These people tend to mix and then their ideas and tastes and art forms converge and fuse together to form completely new forms of art which has found its expression in the new Urban Art.

The Street art forms make the true identity of the artists and the new age groups in the urban regions. This will make the regions to come out with so many new forms of art that they can even be classified under a completely new form of categorization. The new age urban art forms include arts on the street and the art on the streets and the arts in the other urban environments.

Urban art is very attractive and has found wide acceptance in the market from several quarters and is also a reason for many pilgrimages of the artists from one urban art centre to the other. We msut respect every art form as it is human creativity at work and not judge the worth of the art based on its location.

Information Dissemination: Directed Energy and Electric Weapons ...

This is the second in my series of posts devoted to DEEWS.

Though often confused and intermingled in the press and literature, Directed Energy (DE) weapons and Electric Weapons are not one and the same.  As an example, there are electrically powered lasers and there are lasers which depend on the chemical combustion of liquid fuels for lasing.  Likewise, not all directed energy weapons are lasers.  High Power Microwave (HPM) and Millimeter Wave (MMW) devices (unlike lasers) operate in the non-optical portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.  And finally, not all electric weapons are directed energy weapons.  Electromagnetic Rail-guns (EMRG’s), Electromagnetic Coil Accelerators (ECA’s), and Linear Electric Motor Accelerators (LEMA’s), though all electrically driven are not in the true sense, directed energy weapons as they accelerate mass and utilize kinetic energy as their lethal mechanism.

With respect to lasers, there are three broad categories currently under development:  chemical, solid state, and free electron.

Chemical lasers are capable of achieving continuous wave output in the multi-megawatt range. Examples of chemical lasers include chemical oxygen iodine lasers (COIL), hydrogen fluoride (HF) lasers, and deuterium fluoride (DF) lasers. The COIL laser used in the Air Force’s now-cancelled Airborne Laser (YAL-1A) was fed gaseous chlorine, molecular iodine, and a liquid mixture of hydrogen peroxide and potassium hydroxide. Even though the laser operates at relatively low gas pressures, the gas flow is near the speed of sound at the reaction time. The fast flow facilitates heat removal from the lasing medium in contrast with high-power solid-state lasers. The principal reaction products include potassium salt, water, and oxygen.

Diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) lasers operate by using a laser diode to “pump” a solid medium (for example, a ruby or a neodymium-doped crystal).  High-power lasers use many laser diodes, arranged in strips. This diode grid can be imaged onto the crystal by means of a lens. Higher brightness (leading to better beam profile and longer diode lifetime) is achieved by optically removing the dark areas between the diodes, which are needed for cooling and delivering the current.  Combining the outputs of multiple slabs is the primary means of achieving higher energy levels.

The beams from multiple diodes can also be combined by coupling each diode into an optical fiber, which is placed precisely over the diode.  At the other end of the fiber bundle, the fibers are fused together to form a uniform beam.   Combining the outputs of many fiber lasers (100’s to 10,000’s) is one means of achieving high energy levels

Free-electron lasers (FELs) are unique as they don’t use molecular or atomic states for the lasing medium. FELs employ a relativistic electron beam (e-beam) as the lasing medium.  The e-beam is generated in an electron accelerator and then injected into a periodic, transverse magnetic field (undulator). An amplified electromagnetic output wave is created by synchronizing the e-beam and electromagnetic field wavelengths.  The wavelength of the output is determined by the e-beam energy and the periodicity of the transverse magnetic field in the undulator.  FELs can thus be designed to a wider range of frequencies/wavelengths than other laser types.

Non-laser  RF based DEEWS include the following technologies:

Unlike lasers that have yet to be fielded operationally as weapons, micro-wave (MW) based systems have achieved advanced prototype levels of maturity and have been deployed.  MW devices (of which millimeter-wave (MMW) are a subset) operate in the non-optical range of the electromagnetic spectrum just beyond the Far-IR.  Because of this, they are much less susceptible to attenuation due to aerosol and particulate matter in the atmosphere, which plague optical systems such as lasers.  Below a wavelength of one centimeter though there can be considerable absorption of their energy by water molecules (in particular at 0.1, 0.2, and 0.5 centimeters) and this can significantly affect their range when operating at these wavelengths.  Millimeter-wave technology has been developed by the Air Force for this very reason.  The Active Denial System (ADS) takes advantage of the transmission window between two and five millimeters and transmits high-frequency waves at 95 GHz (a wavelength of 3.2 mm). Much as a microwave oven heats food, the millimeter waves excite water and fat molecules in the body, instantly heating them and causing intense pain.  While higher frequency microwaves would penetrate human tissue and cause considerable tissue damage, the millimeter waves used in ADS are blocked by cell density and in general only penetrate the top layers of skin.  This system was made available for use in Iraq for personnel control at prisons but has not yet been employed due to public perception concerns over its use. Aside from the specific frequency of operation, an ADS system is very similar in physical design, construction, and operation to the wide range of radar systems currently employed on naval vessels.  Incorporation of ADS on surface vessels could provide significant capability in preventing adversaries from approaching within several hundred meters.  While the actual effective range of the current ADS is classified, basic physics allows us to determine that with sufficient power available and a properly designed aperture, the effective range could be considerably extended.

Although the application of laser technology for lethal effects has steadily advanced, the employment of High Powered Microwaves (HPM) for soft or hard kill has developed less evenly. In general HPM refers to a specific range of radar frequencies that can be used to couple large amounts of electromagnetic energy to conductive objects at a distance.  Analogous to the Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) effect caused by the high altitude detonation of a nuclear weapon, a HPM weapon generates and transmits a focused microwave beam of sufficient energy to couple electromagnetic energy to distant electrical and or electronic devices.  Depending on the range and energy level of the HPM weapon, the energy can be sufficient to temporarily disrupt or even destroy the target devices.  In 2005, the Navy fielded a HPM system specifically designed to counter Improvised Explosive Devises (IEDs). The system was named “Neutralizing IEDs with RF” (NIRF) and consisted of a HPM source, control system, and aperture mounted within and on a Buffalo Armored vehicle.  The system worked by sweeping a HPM beam along the path in front of the vehicle which could couple enough energy into the fuse of IEDs to cause them to detonate. HPM weapons can also be designed as single use devices consisting of an explosively driven electromagnetic flux compressor and an antenna (feed horn).  These can then be used in bombs or artillery shells for generating localized EMP effects.  Tactical issues facing HPM weapons arise from the difficulty in finding a frequency that can be adequately focused to retain sufficient energy flux density at range to cause damage while also being able to electromagnetically couple to the electronic devices being targeted.  Use of HPM devices aboard naval vessels to confuse or destroy the electronics in cruise missiles or the fusing devices of other weapons has several advantages.  Ships have large amounts of power available to generate the HPMs and sufficient space for the very large apertures necessary to focus their beams.  

The final category of DEEWS use electromagnetic forces to impart kinetic energy to a projectile:

  

Though it received high levels of funding in the late 1980’s, research into weapons applications for the full spectrum of electromagnetic launchers dropped to a fairly low level following the demise of the Soviet Union.  The U.S. Navy decision to pursue hybrid and all electric ship topologies in the DDG-1000 and other classes of future combatants triggered the recent resurgence in work.  Though not technically a weapon, the progress made in the development of the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), to be installed in CVN-78, has also benefited rail-gun development as much of the technology in the ancillary components is very similar.  After tests on a proof of concept system, the Office of Naval Research has begun testing to evaluate the barrel life and structural integrity of prototype systems separately designed by BAE Systems and General Atomics.  In the near term, the U.S. Navy aims to develop a 20–32 megajoule (MJ) weapon with a range of 80–160 km.  In contrast, conventional five-inch naval guns have a range of about 25 km.  On future all-electric combatants and or modified versions of existing cruisers and destroyers, these guns would eliminate the need for the powder magazines associated with conventional gun systems.  With an EM launcher there is no propellant charge required and the projectiles, though perhaps containing small fragment dispense charges, would be essentially inert.

That pretty much covers the main technologies in the DEEWS space.  As we go forward in this series, a number of questions will arise about technical maturity, operational use cases, cost/schedule and the like.  We will not cover everything, but we will cover a lot of ground.  As we linked in the first of the series, when ONR’s main guy on Directed Energy starts talking about fielding using numbers of years able to be counted on one hand, good things are happening. 

unimaxunews.com - January age newborn.Preterm infants

      according to a survey to understand: at present, with the improvement of living standards, blood and tumor prevalence increased a lot, we do not know what blood vessels aneurysm causes for this problem, we visited many medical experts, including Shanghai great blood vessels aneurysm expert interpretation the most comprehensive and most close to our life, below we share blood vessels aneurysm is what causes.
      Shanghai great experts: blood vessels during embryonic development can be divided into plexiform period, mesh period and dry period 3 phase control.As in a certain stage of the normal developmental process occurring disorders or abnormal, can appear in the stage of normal developmental morphology of deformity.
The plexiform period, some capillary blood vessels if the cessation of development, will produce capillary blood vessels aneurysm and nevus.In a mesh period, if the expansion of blood vessels clustered, and tend to fuse together, will show the cavernous blood vessels aneurysms and aneurysms.
In the dry period or, if gross abnormalities of blood vessels and dry and generally loop has a wide range of transportation, was plexiform tumor blood vessels.      according to the actual Shanghai great blood vessels aneurysm is a congenital deformity of blood vessels, a hamartoma and true tumors between.
Some people have made the blood vessels of the relationship between HLA and, in one family found in several patients with HLA340, but there is still lack of molecular biology research.Known girls high incidence rate, blood vessels in tumor tissue can be measured by the higher levels of estrogen receptors, estrogen in the blood vessels that plays a role in tumor pathogenesis.
Blood and tumor is most common in children, the incidence is about 1% ~ 2%, 70% ~ 90% in the < January age newborn.Preterm infants (gestational period of 30 weeks, weight 1500g) see more, incidence of up to 23%.
More girls than boys, about 5: 1, blood vessels of mostly single, about 1 / 5 cases belong to multiple.      oestrogen is a female sex hormone, produced by the ovary and placenta.Adrenal cortex also produced a few estrogen.
Estrogen levels increase due to many reasons such as diet, drugs, disease, or even a person’s emotional pulse can lead to fluctuating oestrogen levels.      Shanghai great blood vessels of the hospital, was established about 30 years ago, in a large number of clinical research and treatment experience, relying on blood vessels in medicine, most patients with age is the longest, most experienced team of experts; the concept of continuous innovation to the introduction of the international most advanced treatment equipment; the most humane offered to patients exceeded the expectations of the medical service; in patients with friends for a long time the perpetual word-of-mouth; Shanghai great strength to build the domestic the most brand characteristics of the blood vessels of the hospital.
      Shanghai great blood vessels of the hospital is a set of medical, scientific research, teaching as one of the characteristics of the hospital for blood vessels, tumor research and treatment has a history of nearly 30 years, brought together the most authoritative blood vessels of experts and the international most advanced blood and tumor treatment equipment, cured from around the blood vessels in patients with tens of thousands of cases, in recent years Shanghai Fuda is more with international blood vessels disease research center has established long-term cooperative partnership, the blood vessels aneurysm treatment and research work to a new level.
      for doubt Shanghai largest experts do the above introduction, if your blood and tumor treatment have any questions can call free counseling hotline 400-660-2512 or landing Shanghai great blood vessels tumor specialist website www.

kdear.com » and tend to fuse together.

Therefore, hand and shoulder blade area, generally considered the male and the female is 4 ~ 12: 1, genetic factors of lumbar disc herniation a familial incidence reported in domestic less materials; in addition statistics show that Africa black Indians and Inuit pathogenesis rate compared with other national incidence is lower the reason remains to be further studied.Production technology department is responsible for emergency dispatching 12400000KVAtransformer safeguard repair process is not short of supplies ,power supply bureau ?each time takes 10 – 20ml.Take L agent .However,The acquisition agreement premature for half a year ,with different treatment methods in order to achieve better results .Fengchi pain obvious is the vertebral artery blood supply is not good .the soft tissue damage secondary to varying degrees of muscle spasm so that the neck to the side skew .stimulation to the sensory nerve shoots appear have a headache symptoms ;because of the pain Emergence of muscle spasm to local soft tissue pressure increase , and tend to fuse together.

Posted by admin on Apr 22, 2012
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Working the night-shift in the German austerity sweatshop – Part III ...

Analysis originally published in the EUobserver 13.12.10.

So how do we get out of this mess?

It’s relatively simple, really. All that has to happen is a rebalancing of competitiveness between the core and the periphery.

“Of course much of the responsibility lies with Germany, doesn’t it?” continues Lord Skidelsky. “The euro was constructed in a way that benefited an export-led economy like Germany, but not everyone else. They have repressed wages to create room for exports, which then chokes off growth paths for other eurozone countries, who can’t readily increase their exports to Germany.”

The short version is that Germany must be forced to sharply boost its wages and inject stimulus: “Domestic demand in Germany should be expanded,” he concludes.

But the detail in such a plan however would require that Berlin also re-regulate its labour market, and the stimulus must be on a massive, Chinese scale. Europe would also have to institute substantial, low to zero-cost fiscal transfers from the core to the periphery. This of course would have to be accompanied by the creation of a European Treasury.

“If the euro is to survive, it has to develop a central treasury with a budget of five to 10 percent of GDP capable of dealing with asymmetric shocks, such as they have in federal systems like the USA,” he explains.

“Logically, you will have to start all over again with a better design.”

Overcoming the imbalances would also require the imposition of common eurozone labour law, welfare and move towards tax harmonisation.

Basically nothing less than a United States of Europe.

A piece of cake, or even zucherkuchen, no?

You’d be surprised.

It’s not just Keynesians and other heterodox economists who recognise that profoundly deeper European integration may be unavoidable. The precocious original attempted architects of a single European currency could not imagine anything less.

As early as 1970, the Werner Plan, Europe’s first proposed architecture for a single currency and drafted by Luxemburg’s then prime minister, Pierre Werner, recognised that economic union had to accompany monetary union and called for a bold advance towards federalism, with the transfer of all fiscal powers – taxation, public spending and borrowing – from national parliaments to the European Commission.

Much more recently, Christine Lagarde, France’s finance minister, has said repeatedly in the last few weeks that further integration is inevitable. Jean-Claude Trichet, head of the European Central Bank on 30 November at a meeting of the European Parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee called on European states to fuse together their budgetary processes in order to save the euro: “We have got a monetary federation. We need quasi-budget federation as well.”

While back in May, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy acknowledged that the underlying contradictions within the eurozone had been there from the start and it was time to resolve them: “We are clearly confronted with a tension within the system, the infamous dilemma of being a monetary union and not a full-fledged economic and political union. This tension has been there since the single currency was created. However, the general public was not really made aware of it.”

In 2007, at the start of the crisis, eurogroup chairman and Luxembourgish Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker put the public relations dilemma more laconically: “We all know what to do; We just don’t know how to get re-elected once we have done it.”

And two weeks ago, Lagarde’s compatriot and chief of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn gave a remarkable, landmark speech putting flesh on the bones of what will have to be done.

“The only answer is more co-operation, and greater integration,” he told a conference of the European Banking Congress in Frankfurt. “It’s time to finish the job, to finally realise the common destiny of Europe.”

This will, according to the IMF boss, full “economic union”, with “Single Labor Market” initiative at the European level, the “sequel to the Single Market [Act] that harmonised goods markets,” that was completed in 1992. This would involve, he said, common European labour taxation, common welfare systems, and common unemployment insurance. National secondary education and research budgets should also be transferred to the EU, and Europe’s budget as a whole substantially increased, currently strictly limited by the EU Treaties, via European-level taxation, whether coming from VAT or carbon taxes, he concluded.

What Strauss-Kahn crucially left out was that naturally this couldn’t be done on the back of the current EU political set-up with its infamous democratic deficit. Even if we imagined that there existed amongst voters a substantial constituency for such a wrenching abandonment of the fiscal powers that are, apart from foreign policy, the defining features of any sovereign state, there would have to be much more democratic accountability for all this economic union, so it would have to be accompanied by political union too.

But as Costas Lapavitsas, the University of London economist and critic of the austerity strategy we met earlier, points out, this is not the sort of integration the likes of Strauss-Kahn, Van Rompuy, Lagarde, and Juncker have in mind.

“I’m sceptical that they have the democratic impulse for what this sort of integration implies. We are talking about the same sort of people who could not accept the popular rejection of the [European] Constitution[al Treaty in France and the Netherlands in 2005], who could not accept the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty by the Irish [in 2008].”

While the ECB may be talking about deeper integration, it is quite clear from a revealing RTE interview with the Irish justice minister, Dermot Ahern on 30 November, the famously independent central bank, itself quite used to being aloof from political influence, exhibits few scruples when it comes to the democratic process.

Ahern told the Irish public broadcaster that “quite incredible pressure” had been applied to the country to apply for a eurozone bail-out.

“There were people from outside this country who were trying to bounce us in, as a sovereign state, into making an application – throwing in the towel – before we had even considered it as a government,” he said.

“If you notice they are doing the same with Portugal.” Asked who these people “from outside this country” were, he bluntly responded that they were “quite obviously” the men from the ECB.

This distaste for democratic oversight is implicit in Strauss-Kahn’s thinking. If we read the whole of his speech, going beyond the head-line-grabbing calls for common EU labour policy, education policy and taxation, we discover more of thinking and behaviour along these lines.

The kind of federalism the IMF chief imagines – although he doesn’t call it federalism, preferring the term “a ‘Centre-Driven Agenda’,” would extinguish all direct democratic control over government spending.

“The most ambitious solution,” he says, “would be to create a centralised fiscal authority, with political independence comparable to that of the ECB. The authority would set each member’s fiscal stance and allocate resources from the central budget.”

In less fancy language, he is saying that a central, unelected body – just like the European Central Bank, although Strauss-Kahn says this Star-Chamber role could be played by the commission or “a separate, independent institution” – would decide exactly how much a country could spend on what and then hand out an allowance to a country, like the spending money a parent gives to a child, presumably so long as it behaves, eats all its vegetables and cleans up its room.

But even if there were the political will and popular support for a quantum leap forward in terms of any form of European federal integration, à la the IMF or a more democratic version, Lord Skidelsky fears “that the markets will call the shots long before this happens.”

Markets are running faster than history. “Events are outpacing politicians.”

This is the third of a four-part in-depth look at the eurozone crisis. To read the other articles in the series, please visit the following links:

Part I: Dr Merkel’s fiscal enema

Part II: The China of Europe

Part IV: End of the eurozone

Or, if you prefer to print off and read this multi-page feature offline instead, please download a PDF version of the full article.

The series is also available as an ebook for your iPhone, iPad or Kindle.

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The Get Downnn » TABS, KILLING IT [Mix Tape]

Following a nearly 4 month mix tape hiatus (with a couple of KILLER remix releases in between) Valley-based DJ/producer duo, TABS are back in prime mixing form, with a new hour long dance voyage through the best of the best in electronica, aptly titled KILLING IT.

If you couldn’t tell, the mix’s artwork features the names of the artists housed on this official release and if monikers like Myndset, Porter Robinson and Dada Life don’t get you fired up, then nothing will.

Prime track selection, flawless transitions and some classic soundbytes all fuse together for a listening experience unlike anything you’ve encountered before.

Turn up those speakers, and prepare yourself for madness – TABS is KILLING IT.

TABS, KILLING IT [Mix Tape]

Marco Carpentieri Feat. Ray Isaac – Catch Me (TABS Remix)

TABS, KILLING IT [Mix Tape] (click to download)

TABS on Facebook

Metaphors of U.S Cultural Diversity | putnexusarticles.net

Author: Alusine Melvin Moseray Kanu DA

Researchers explain that many cultural groups live within the borders of the United States. When people talk about the blend of U.S cultural groups, their ideas are often condensed into vivid descriptions. These summary images, called metaphors, imply both descriptions of what is and, less obviously, prescriptions of what should be. This article focuses on four metaphors that have been used to describe the cultural mix within the United States, a melting pot, a set of tributaries, a tapestry, and a garden salad.

The Melting Pot Metaphor

Perhaps the oldest metaphor for describing multiple cultures in the United States is the melting pot. America, according to this image, is like a huge crucible, a container that can withstand extremely high temperatures and can therefore be used to melt, mix, and ultimately fuse together metals or other substances. This image as the dominant way to represent the ideal blending of cultural groups at a time when the hardened steel that was forged in the great blast furnaces of Pittsburgh helped to make the United States into an industrial power. According to this view, immigrants from many cultures came to the United States to work, live, mix, and blend together into one great assimilated culture that is stronger and better than the unique individual cultures of which it is composed. Some argue that as dynamic as the melting pot metaphor has been in the United States, it has never been an accurate description. The tendency for diverse cultures to melt together and assimilate their unique heritages into a single cultural entity has never really existed. Rather the many cultural groups within the United States have continuously adapted to one another as they accommodated and perhaps adopted some of the practices and preferences of other groups while maintaining their own unique and distinctive heritages.

The Tributaries Metaphor

A currently popular metaphor for describing the mix of cultures in the United States is that of tributaries or tributary streams or tributary systems.America, according to this image is like a huge cultural watershed, providing numerous paths in which the many tributary cultures can flow. The tributaries maintain their unique identities as the surge toward their common destination. This view is useful and compelling. Unlike the melting pot metaphor, which implies that all cultures in the United States ought to be blended to overcome their individual weaknesses, the tributary image seems to suggest that it is acceptable and desirable for cultural groups to maintain their unique identities. However, when the metaphor of tributaries is examined closely, there are objections to some of its implications. Tributary streams are small, secondary creeks that ultimately flow into a common stream, where they combine to form a major river. This notion rests in the hidden assumption that the cultural groups will ultimately and inevitably blend together into a single, common current. Indeed, there are far fewer examples of cultures that have totally assimilated into mainstream U. S.culture than there are instances of cultures that have remained unique. Further, the idea of tributaries blending together to form one main stream suggests that the tributaries are somehow subordinate to or less important than the mighty river into which they flow.

The Tapestry Metaphor

A tapestry is a decorative cloth made up of many strands of thread. The threads are woven together into an artistic design that may be pleasing to some but not to others. Each thread is akin to a person, and groups of similar threads are analogous to a culture. Of course, the types of threads differ in many ways, their thickness, smoothness, color, texture, and strength may vary. The threads can range from gossamer strands to inch-thick yarn, from soft silk to course burlap, from pastel hues to fluorescent radiance, and from fragile spider webs to steel cables. The weaving process itself can vary from one location to another within the overall tapestry. Here, a wide swatch of a single type of thread may be used; there, many threads might be interwoven with many others, so no single thread is distinguished; and elsewhere, the threads may have been grouped together into small but distinguishable clumps. Although the metaphor of a tapestry has much to commend it, the image is not flawless. After all, a tapestry is rather static and unchangeable. One does not typically unstring a bolt of cloth, for instance, only to reassemble the threads elsewhere in a different configuration. Cultural groups in the United States are more fluid than the tapestry metaphor might imply; migrations, immigrations, and mortality patterns all alter the cultural landscape. Despite its limitations, one finds this metaphor preferable to the previous two.

The Garden Salad Metaphor

Like a garden salad made up of many distinct ingredients that are being tossed continuously, some see the United States as made up of a complex array of distinct cultures that are blended into a unique, and one hopes tasteful, mixture. Substitute one ingredient for another, or even change how much of each ingredient is present, and the entire flavor of the salad may be changed. Mix the salad differently and look and feel will also differ. A salad contains a blend of ingredients and it provides a unique combination of tints, textures, and tastes that tempt the palate. Like the other metaphors, the garden salad is not without its flaws, to contrast to the tapestry image, which implies that the United States is too fixed and unchanging; a garden salad suggests an absence of firmness and stability. A typical garden salad has no fixed arrangement; it is always in a state of flux.

There are explanations of the explicit nature of metaphors and their effects on communication. They tell us that one way of thinking about the relationship between language and thought is to look at metaphors. A metaphor is an expression where a word (or words) is used outside of its normal conventional meaning to express a similar concept (Lakoff, 1992). For example, “you are my sunshine.” Although an individual cannot literally be sunshine, comparing someone to sunshine expresses a particular positive meaning. Experts used to think that metaphors are about language, or literary writing, not useful for understanding everyday speech. Lakoff disagrees and proposes that metaphors are part of thinking, one way we organize our thoughts, in everyday living, in fact, metaphors are “a major and indispensable part of our ordinary conventional way of conceptualizing the world, and that our everyday behavior reflects our metaphorical understanding of experience.” Understanding a culture’s metaphors, then, helps us understand something about the culture itself. Metaphors can also be a useful way to understand other cultures. Some metaphors are universal. Experts agree that metaphors reflect cultural beliefs and values.

Reference

Lakoff G. (1992) The contemporary theory of metaphor. In Ortony A. Metaphor and thought (2nd ed) pp 202-251.New York:CambridgeUniversity Press

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/culture-articles/metaphors-of-us-cultural-diversity-5823992.html

About the Author

Dr Alusine M. Kanu is full time professor in communication studies and theater at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia and adjunct faculty in communication at George Mason University. Kanu’s professional experiences has included careers as librarian, counselor, public relator, radio producer and announcer, legal research, multicultural counseling and training the trainer. Kanu is author of reflections in communication with University Press of America, Connecting intercultural communication, strategies for communicating across cultures with Kendall Hunt, Experiencing interactive interpersonal communication with Xlibris and Faculty Development Programs, Applications in teaching and learning with Iuniverse. Kanu is married with two children and three grand children.

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