#Australian First Nations women in marine conservation | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

brookstonalmanac · 3 years

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Events 4.25

404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion. 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate. Muslim control over Transcaucasia is solidified and its Islamization begins, while several major Armenian nakharar families lose power and their remnants flee to the Byzantine Empire. 799 – After mistreatment and disfigurement by the citizens of Rome, pope Leo III flees to the Frankish court of king Charlemagne at Paderborn for protection. 1134 – The name Zagreb was mentioned for the first time in the Felician Charter relating to the establishment of the Zagreb Bishopric around 1094. 1607 – Eighty Years' War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar. 1644 – The Chongzhen Emperor, the last Emperor of Ming dynasty China, commits suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng. 1707 – A coalition of Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal is defeated by a Franco-Spanish army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession. 1792 – Highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine. 1792 – "La Marseillaise" (the French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle. 1829 – Charles Fremantle arrives in HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom. 1846 – Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War. 1849 – The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal's English population and triggering the Montreal Riots. 1859 – British and French engineers break ground for the Suez Canal. 1862 – American Civil War: Forces under U.S. Admiral David Farragut demand the surrender of the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana. 1864 – American Civil War: In the Battle of Marks' Mills, a force of 8,000 Confederate soldiers attacks 1,800 Union soldiers and a large number of wagon teamsters, killing or wounding 1,500 Union combatants. 1882 – French and Vietnamese troops clashed in Tonkin, when Commandant Henri Rivière seized the citadel of Hanoi with a small force of marine infantry. 1898 – Spanish–American War: The United States Congress declares that a state of war between the U.S. and Spain has existed since April 21, when an American naval blockade of the Spanish colony of Cuba began. 1901 – New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates. 1915 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins: The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by British, French, Indian, Newfoundland, Australian and New Zealand troops, begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles. 1916 – Anzac Day is commemorated for the first time on the first anniversary of the landing at ANZAC Cove. 1920 – At the San Remo conference, the principal Allied Powers of World War I adopt a resolution to determine the allocation of Class "A" League of Nations mandates for administration of the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East. 1938 – U.S. Supreme Court delivers its opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law. 1944 – The United Negro College Fund is incorporated. 1945 – Elbe Day: United States and Soviet troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two. 1945 – Liberation Day (Italy): The National Liberation Committee for Northern Italy calls for a general uprising against the German occupation and the Italian Social Republic. 1945 – United Nations Conference on International Organization: Founding negotiations for the United Nations begin in San Francisco. 1945 – The last German troops retreat from Finland's soil in Lapland, ending the Lapland War. Military acts of Second World War end in Finland. 1951 – Korean War: Assaulting Chinese forces are forced to withdraw after heavy fighting with UN forces, primarily made up of Australian and Canadian troops, at the Battle of Kapyong. 1953 – Francis Crick and James Watson publish "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" describing the double helix structure of DNA. 1954 – The first practical solar cell is publicly demonstrated by Bell Telephone Laboratories. 1959 – The Saint Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping. 1960 – The United States Navy submarine USS Triton completes the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe. 1961 – Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit. 1972 – Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive: The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum. 1974 – Carnation Revolution: A leftist military coup in Portugal overthrows the authoritarian-conservative Estado Novo regime and establishes a democratic government. 1981 – More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. 1982 – Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula per the Camp David Accords. 1983 – Cold War: American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war. 1983 – Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto's orbit. 1988 – In Israel, John Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II. 1990 – Violeta Chamorro takes office as the President of Nicaragua, the first woman to hold the position. 2004 – The March for Women's Lives brings between 500,000 and 800,000 protesters, mostly pro-choice, to Washington D.C. to protest the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, and other restrictions on abortion. 2005 – The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937. 2005 – Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union. 2007 – Boris Yeltsin's funeral: The first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894. 2015 – Nearly 9,100 are killed after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Nepal.

#Events

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meghanmarklehd-blog · 6 years

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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's visit to Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand

Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will undertake an official visit to Australia, Fiji, the Kingdom of Tonga and New Zealand between Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 31st October.

Their Royal Highnesses have been invited to visit the Commonwealth Realms of Australia and New Zealand by the countries' respective Governments, and Fiji and Tonga at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. This will be The Duke and Duchess's first joint visit to these four countries.

Across this sixteen day tour, Their Royal Highnesses' programme will focus on youth leadership, and projects being undertaken by young people to address the social, economic, and environmental challenges of the region. The Duke is particularly keen to highlight these youth-led initiatives in his new role as Commonwealth Youth Ambassador, and to shine a light on the work and aspirations of young people across the Commonwealth.

The visit will also concentrate on environmental and conservation efforts, from engaging the local community in forest protection schemes in Colo-i-Suva, to the promotion of sustainable tourism on Fraser Island. The Duke and Duchess will dedicate a number of projects to The Queen's Commonwealth Canopy in each country, learning more about local conservation initiatives, whilst visiting some of the region's most beautiful landscapes.

A major focus for Their Royal Highnesses will also be the Invictus Games Sydney 2018. The Duke and Duchess are excited to see Sydney fully embrace the Invictus spirit, and to support the competitors as they compete across a range of sports at some of the city's most iconic venues. This year's Games will emphasise the integral role played by servicemen and women's family and friends, and Their Royal Highnesses will spend time with a number of the competitors' supporters as they cheer them on from the side-lines.

There is a long history of friendship between The Royal Family and Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand, and their links with the UK are extensive. The Duke and Duchess are very much looking forward to experiencing the unique cultures and customs of these four Commonwealth countries, and have asked that this tour allow them opportunities to meet as many Australians, Fijians, Tongans and New Zealanders as possible. Together they look forward to building an enduring relationship with the people of the region.

The first day of the tour will begin in Sydney at Admiralty House, the official Sydney residence of the Governor-General of Australia, His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove and Lady Cosgrove, who will welcome them to his home which offers spectacular views across Sydney Harbour. Representatives from each of the eighteen countries who are participating in the Invictus Games Sydney 2018 will be present.

The Duke and Duchess will then travel to Taronga Zoo to officially open the new Taronga Institute of Science and Learning. During this visit, which will also be attended by the New South Wales (NSW) Premier, The Duke and Duchess will meet two koalas and their joeys that are part of the Zoo’s breeding programme, and visit the laboratory to meet female conservation scientists who are working on efforts to reduce illegal wildlife trafficking.

To depart the Zoo, The Duke and Duchess will travel by vessel across Sydney Harbour to the Sydney Opera House. Once inside, Their Royal Highnesses will view a rehearsal of Spirit 2018 by the Bangarra Dance Theatre, an internationally acclaimed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander modern dance company. Upon departure, walking along the Opera House forecourt, The Duke and Duchess will have an opportunity to meet members of the public.

The first day of the visit will conclude with a Reception hosted by the Governor-General at Admiralty House, to be attended by Australians from a broad range of sectors including charity and community, business and industry, arts and culture, sport and entertainment.

The following morning, Their Royal Highnesses will fly to the town of Dubbo, situated on the Macquarie River, 300 kilometres northwest of Sydney. On arrival in Dubbo, The Duke and Duchess will visit the Royal Flying Doctor Service to learn more about the life-saving role the aviation service provides for people living in rural and regional areas.

With most of the state of New South Wales suffering from drought, Their Royal Highnesses will see first-hand the hardships local farmers are facing by visiting a local property. The Duke and Duchess will then travel to Victoria Park to join people from Dubbo and surrounding areas at a picnic in the park to celebrate community spirit within the region. Members of the public are invited to attend, and His Royal Highness will give an address.

In the afternoon, The Duke and Duchess will visit a local school working to improve the education outcomes of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Students will open up their classrooms to present their work and participate in a session of netball and touch football drills on the school oval, highlighting the importance of sport in education.

On Thursday 18th October, Their Royal Highnesses will fly to Melbourne where the day will begin with a short walk to Government House, meeting members of the public along the way, before attending an official Reception at Government House. A diverse group of young Victorian leaders and community members will attend the Reception, including Queen's Young Leader Hunter Johnson from The Man Cave. A demonstration of various sporting activities will take place in the grounds, with ambassadors from the This Girl Can campaign.

Following the Reception at Government House, The Duke and Duchess will visit a social enterprise café which offers leadership, mentoring and training programmes for young Aboriginal people.

In the afternoon, Their Royal Highnesses will visit a primary school to meet students who are involved in sustainability programmes. Upon departure from the school, The Duke and Duchess will travel on an iconic Melbourne tram to South Melbourne beach, where they will meet volunteers from a local beach patrol programme. Here Their Royal Highnesses will learn about efforts to keep Port Phillip Bay beaches and foreshores clear of litter to reduce the negative impact on the marine environment.

Day four of the visit, Friday 19th October, will take place in Sydney. In the morning, Their Royal Highnesses will visit Bondi Beach, one of Australia’s most famous landmarks. The Duke and Duchess will meet a local surfing community group, known as OneWave, raising awareness for mental health and wellbeing in a fun and engaging way. Their Royal Highnesses will take part in the "Fluro Friday" session, where people of all ages share their experiences of mental health issues, and will have the opportunity to interact with others enjoying yoga and surfing. Before departing, The Duke and Duchess will have an opportunity to meet members of the public gathered on the beach.

Later that morning, Their Royal Highness will take part in a youth advocate programme that aims to unite and inspire young people to be advocates for cohesion and inclusion in their communities. The Duke and Duchess will also engage with students as they discuss issues including social justice and youth empowerment.

Following this event, accompanied by the Prime Minister the Honourable Scott Morrison MP, and Invictus Games competitors, The Duke will climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge to officially raise the Invictus Flag, marking the arrival of the Invictus Games to Sydney.

Their Royal Highnesses will conclude the day with calls on the Leader of the Opposition at Admiralty House, and the Prime Minister at Kirribilli House.

On Saturday 20th October, The Duke and Duchess will travel by boat to attend the Invictus Games Sydney 2018 Jaguar Land Rover Driving Challenge on Cockatoo Island. In the evening, Their Royal Highnesses will attend a Reception hosted by the NSW Premier, The Honourable Gladys Berejiklian MP, inside the Opera House, prior to attending the Invictus Games Sydney 2018 Opening Ceremony where The Duke of Sussex will give an address.

On day six, Sunday 21st October, Their Royal Highnesses will watch some elements of the Invictus Games cycling and sailing, and attend a lunchtime Reception hosted by the Prime Minister, with Invictus Games competitors and representatives from the community in the city’s central parkland, The Domain.

The following day, Monday 22nd October, Their Royal Highnesses will travel to Queensland’s Fraser Island, or K’gari as it is known by the Traditional Owners the Butchulla people, as part of the dedication of the site to the Queen's Commonwealth Canopy (QCC).

Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world, and has a total of 206,970 acres of protected forest. Among its many striking features, the Island is characterised by its long beaches, tall rainforest, coastal heaths, freshwater lakes and ever-evolving sand dunes.

In pristine rainforest, Their Royal Highnesses will be met upon arrival by the Traditional Owners of K'gari, the Butchulla People and the Premier of Queensland. The Duke and Duchess will take part in a traditional Welcome to Country Smoking Ceremony and unveil a plaque for the dedication of the Forests of K’gari to the QCC. Traditional Owners from Bulburin National Park, the second QCC dedication site in Queensland, will also be present. Fraser Island rainforest is home to the Island’s satinay trees which, known for their hardiness in water, were used to build the London docks in the 1930s.

The Duke and Duchess will then visit one of Fraser Island’s iconic lakes to meet with local elders and national park rangers to learn about the Island’s natural beauty, rich history, biodiversity and cultural significance. From here, Their Royal Highnesses will travel to the beach to learn about the history in the Island’s logging trade, as well as its use as a training base for the Australian Z Special Unit during World War II.

Their Royal Highnesses will then travel to Kingfisher Bay by boat, where the visit will conclude with a walk along the picturesque Kingfisher Bay Jetty.

The following day, The Duke and Duchess will travel by charter flight to Fiji's capital of Suva, where they will embark on a three-day programme, experiencing the rich Fijian culture and generous hospitality.

On arrival on Tuesday 23rd October, Their Royal Highnesses will be greeted by a Guard of Honour at the airport, before calling on His Excellency The President of Fiji at Borron House. The Duke and Duchess will then attend an official welcome ceremony in the city centre's Albert Park. The ceremony, known as the Veirqaraqaravi Vakavanua, embodies Fijian cultural identity and heritage, and will mirror in format that of the one attended by The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh in 1953. It will involve a number of traditional elements of Fijian culture, including dance performances, the presentation of the Tabua, and a Kava ceremony. Members of the public from across Suva will be invited to attend.

From there, The Duke and Duchess will leave Albert Park for the Grand Pacific Hotel to attend a Reception and a State Dinner hosted by The President of Fiji, at which The Duke will speak.

The following morning, His Royal Highness will lay a wreath at the Fiji War Memorial, and meet a number of Fijian war veterans, some of whom served with the British Armed Forces. Links between the British Military and Fiji continue to this day with more than 1250 Fijians currently serving in the British Army. Their Royal Highnesses will then visit the University of the South Pacific campus in Suva, where they will observe a cultural performance on the effects of climate change, before meeting students studying subjects from agriculture to women’s development. The event will be streamed to a number of the university's campuses throughout the Pacific region. The Duke will make a short speech in his capacity as Commonwealth Youth Ambassador, and The Duchess will say a few words.

From here, Their Royal Highnesses' programme will split – The Duke will travel to Colo-i-Suva Forest Park, and The Duchess to the British High Commissioner’s Residence. Colo-i-Suva is an indigenous forest site housing many flora and fauna native to Fiji, and species including the Fiji Tree Frog. It is also Fiji's dedication to The Queen's Commonwealth Canopy. Before unveiling a plaque to mark its dedication and planting an endangered native tree, His Royal Highness will meet with school children, student conservators, representatives from sustainable tourism industries, and local landowners and villagers to see how the rainforest impacts upon their education and livelihoods.

Meanwhile, The Duchess will attend a morning tea at the British High Commissioner’s Residence to showcase women's organisations which operate throughout Fiji. In particular, Her Royal Highness will hear more about a UN Women's project, 'Markets for Change', which promotes women's empowerment in marketplaces throughout the Pacific. The Duchess will then travel to Suva Market to meet some of the female vendors who have become empowered through the project.

On the morning of Thursday 25th October, The Duke and Duchess will travel to the city of Nadi in Western Fiji, where they will attend a special event at Nadi Airport. After an official welcome ceremony, The Duke and Duchess will unveil a new statue commemorating Sergeant Talaiasi Labalaba, a British-Fijian soldier who lost his life in the 1972 Battle of Mirbat. The event will be attended by the President of Fiji, and senior representatives from government and the Armed Forces.

From Nadi Airport, Their Royal Highnesses will take a chartered flight to Tonga, where they will be met at Fua'amotu Airport by Her Royal Highness The Princess Angelika Latufuipeka. That evening, The Duke and Duchess will visit Consular House in central Nuku'alofa for a private audience with His Majesty King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipauʻu, to be followed by an official reception and dinner, and traditional Tongan entertainment.

The following morning, The Duke and Duchess will visit the St George Building for a call on the Prime Minister S. Akilisi Pohiva and members of the cabinet. From there, Their Royal Highnesses will attend an exhibition with The Princess Angelika at the Faonelua Centre, celebrating Tongan handicrafts and products, including traditional mats and 'tapa' cloth. Their Royal Highnesses will also have the opportunity to meet local Tongan traders and craftsmen.

The Duke and Duchess will then travel to Tupou College, which is the oldest secondary school in the Pacific, founded by a British missionary in 1866. Their Royal Highnesses will dedicate two forest reserves at the school's on-site forest, the Toloa Forest Reserve, the last remaining forest area on Tonga’s main island of Tongatabu, and the Eua National Park Forest Reserve, located at the Island of Eua – to The Queen's Commonwealth Canopy. The Tupou College Boys' will perform traditional Tongan music to commemorate the event.

From Tupou College, The Duke and Duchess will travel to The Royal Palace for an official farewell with The King before departing for Sydney.

That evening in Sydney, Their Royal Highnesses will attend the Australian Geographic Society Awards, an annual gathering of Australia's brightest and best in exploration, science and conservation. Their Royal Highnesses will present youth awards to honour the highest achievements in conservation and adventure, and The Duke will give an address.

The last day of the Australian programme falls on the final day of the Invictus Games. Their Royal Highnesses will spend the afternoon at the wheelchair basketball finals at the Quay Centre, before attending the Closing Ceremony that evening at Qudos Bank Arena. The event, at which both The Duke and Duchess will speak, promises to be a celebration of the outstanding achievements and inspiring spirit of the Invictus Games competitors.

The following morning, Sunday 28th October, The Duke and Duchess will depart on a Royal New Zealand AirForce flight for Wellington. Their Royal Highnesses will travel on the same aircraft as a number of the New Zealand Invictus Games competitors, and on arrival, will be met off the plane together by the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

From the airport, Their Royal Highnesses will attend the traditional welcome ceremony on the lawns of Government House – the residence of the Governor-General to New Zealand Dame Patsy Reddy. Their Royal Highnesses will be invited to hongi with the Governor-General’s Kuia and Kaumātua (Māori elders), before the pōwhiri, which includes a haka performed by members of the New Zealand Defence Force. The ceremony will also include a 21-gun salute, and will be attended by school children.

Their Royal Highnesses will then travel to the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Here, they will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, and will visit the newly unveiled UK War Memorial – whose design takes the form of two of the United Kingdom and New Zealand’s most iconic trees – the Royal Oak and a Pōhutakawa. This engagement will be followed by a public walkabout in the Memorial Park.

That evening, The Duke and Duchess will receive official calls from the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition at Government House, before attending a reception hosted by the Governor General celebrating the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand.

The next morning, The Duke and Duchess will visit one of Wellington’s most iconic cafes. Their Royal Highnesses will meet young people from a number of mental health projects operating in New Zealand offering support to other young people through helplines, social media, websites and school-based programmes.

From Wellington, The Duke and Duchess will travel to Abel Tasman National Park, which sits at the north-Eastern tip of the South Island, and is an area famed for its golden beaches and native bush walks. Their Royal Highnesses will be greeted by a traditional welcome ceremony on arrival, before embarking on a trail walk with one of the park’s rangers to learn more about the history of the forest and the environmental challenges of protecting the park’s habitat. Before departing, The Duke and Duchess will join some of the park’s young ambassadors and local school children at a barbeque lunch and for a tree planting.

That evening back in Wellington, Their Royal Highnesses will visit Courtenay Creative for an event celebrating the city’s thriving creative arts scene. Courtney Creative runs programmes to give young people the tools and experience to excel in the film industry, and The Duke and Duchess will meet a number of young creatives demonstrating their skills in props, make-up, and costume.

The following day, Their Royal Highnesses will travel to Auckland, where they will firstly visit the North Shore to dedicate a 20 hectare area of native bush to The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy. After unveiling the plaque, The Duke and Duchess will hear more about the ecological importance of the native bush, before joining children from the 'Trees in Survival' group in a ‘welly-wanging’ contest.

Their Royal Highnesses will then join the Prime Minister to visit Pillars, a charity operating across New Zealand that supports children who have a parent in prison through the provision of special mentoring schemes. As a wedding present to The Duke and Duchess, the Government of New Zealand gifted $5000 dollars to Pillars, and Their Royal Highnesses will have the opportunity to meet some of the children who have directly benefitted from this funding.

Later that afternoon, The Duke and Duchess will have the opportunity to meet the people of Auckland on the Viaduct Harbour, before attending a Reception hosted by the Prime Minister at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. This reception will include cultural performances and entertainment by members of the Pasifika community living in Auckland. The guests will be predominantly young people in the 17 to 25-year age group who are making significant contributions to the wellbeing of their communities, representing the future of New Zealand.

The final day of Their Royal Highnesses’ tour will take place in Rotorua, a town set on Lake Rotorua, renowned for its geothermal activity and Maori culture. The Duke and Duchess will firstly visit Te Papaiouru Marae, for a formal pōwhiri and luncheon in Their Royal Highnesses’ honour.

Next, The Duke and Duchess will head to Rainbow Springs to learn more about the centre’s kiwi breeding programme. Kiwi, which are New Zealand’s national bird, have become increasingly endangered in recent years, and Their Royal Highnesses will meet conservationists working to protect the species. They will also have the opportunity to name two young kiwi chicks at Rainbow Springs.

Later that afternoon, The Duke and Duchess will head into the city for the chance to meet members of the public gathered there. They will then travel to Redwoods Treewalk Rotorua. The treewalk is a 700m-long walkway of suspension bridges between 117-year-old Redwood trees. The forest is also the home to a thriving mountain biking community that draws people of all ages to the Redwoods. The Duke and Duchess will learn more about the forest’s history as they take on the tree walk, and will then meet invited representatives of the local biking community under the forest canopy.

Their Royal Highnesses will return to Auckland that evening, before departing for London the following day.

#Meghan Markle #Prince Harry #celebrities #british royal family #Duke of Sussex #Duchess of Sussex #royal tour

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sciencespies · 3 years

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This Woman Is Training Citizen Scientists To Save Virgin Forests In The Philippines

https://sciencespies.com/news/this-woman-is-training-citizen-scientists-to-save-virgin-forests-in-the-philippines/

This Woman Is Training Citizen Scientists To Save Virgin Forests In The Philippines

Conservationist KM Reyes leading a biodiversity research training expedition in 2019 at Cleopatra’s … [+] Needle Critical Habitat in the Philippines.

Kyle Venturillo

Conservationist KM Reyes helped get a forested area one-third the size of Los Angeles legally designated as a critical habitat in the Philippines, now she’s training citizen scientists, including indigenous people, to collect conservation data in the country’s Palawan province.

Reyes, a National Geographic Explorer and a co-Founder of the Centre for Sustainability PH, a women-led, youth, environmental NGO says the country was once 95 percent covered in rain forest, now only 3 percent remains.

A large proportion of what remains is in Palawan, which is also the ancestral domain of the last 200 members of the disappearing indigenous Batak tribe, and countless unique and endemic fauna and flora, including the highly-poached Pangolin.

But, Reyes, said, the forests there, particularly the 41,350 hectares of the Cleopatra’s Needle Critical Habitat (CNCH), which was protected by law in 2017, are little studied with vast tracts of rain forest lacking even a baseline biodiversity or social survey.

“Due to our remote location in far-western Philippines, there is a dearth of researchers/scientists here, so by equipping our communities through our training program, we lessen our dependence on outside scientists to understand the biological importance of our forests, and empower more citizenry to effectively defend and protect our island’s fresh water supplies,” she said.

MORE FOR YOU

Reyes said her organisation now provides a 315-hour parabiology and communications course called the The Knowledge is Power (to the Forest) program, to up-skill the indigenous and community forest rangers who live in and around CNCH.

“First, they are trained as parabiologists to conduct independent biodiversity monitoring and assessment surveys in riverine habitats while on patrol,” she said, “These are skills that have traditionally been reserved for scientists and researchers, covering both data collection (eg. completing data sheets, identifying diagnostic characters of taxa, describing habitat parameters, field journaling) and standardised survey methods (eg. line transect/visual encounter surveys, and proper specimen collection & preservation).

The participants are also trained as science communicators to gain the skills and confidence to defend and share their findings to educate their communities, and influence political decision-makers.

From Australia to the World

“I was born and raised in Australia to Filipino parents,” Reyes said, “In large part due to the alienation, racism, and sexism I experienced growing up and into adulthood as an Australian woman of color, I opted to spend more time abroad where I worked in empowerment projects with impoverished urban communities in Europe, Latin America, and North Africa,” she said.

Reyes said that after so many years abroad, she was finally ready to see the Philippines for the first time and decided to settle there in 2014.

“We started the Cleopatra’s Needle project with my local colleagues and eventually founded CS together,” she said.

Building Capacity in the Global South

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted more urgently than ever before the importance of community-led research and conservation,” Reyes said, “In and around our wild places across the planet, major research gaps have occurred for scientists who are remote from their research sites with no locals trained to do the data collection and research in their absence.”

Reyes says that the course is a simple idea that is scalable and replicable. That means any indigenous and local community from north to south, east to west, can participate in to contribute and influence science and conservation in their area.

“For instance, our indigenous and community forest rangers/parabiologists from Cleopatra’s Needle in central Palawan are already actively working with CS and the indigenous Tagbanua tribe on biodiversity data collection toward the establishment of our proposed Kensad Critical Habitat in southern Palawan, in collaboration with the indigenous Tagbanua tribe who have inhabited the area since time immemorial,” she said.

Setting up mist netting during a biodiversity research training expedition in 2019 at Cleopatra’s … [+] Needle Critical Habitat in the Philippines.

Kyle Venturillo

Another young conservationist from the Philippines is Anna Oposa, co-founder of conservation NGO Save Philipines Seas. She also goes by another title: Chief Mermaid.

MORE FROM FORBESWho Is The Chief Mermaid? How Is She Saving Philippines Sharks?By Andrew Wight

And although the title might raise a smile, it has also helped to raise funds for serious marine conservation work. Her organisation, Save Philippine Seas aims to conserve and restore coastal and marine resources via environmental education and community-based projects.

#News

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livinginlandmarketing · 4 years

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Barbershops and beauty salons have always been about more than the shave and a haircut, or the mani-pedi.

They’ve often been a refuge from the stresses and divisions of the outside world, a place to settle into a swivel chair and exhale. After all, you can’t really doom-scroll during a French manicure.

But just as California salons are finally reopening after a punishing pandemic lockdown, the race between President Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden is coming down to its final week — and the plastic partitions between stations aren’t the only new divide.

In many places, presidential politics have upended the special trust between hairdresser and client — just ask House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was outed for a private shampoo and blowout in a shuttered San Francisco salon in late August.

Tensions across California have become so fraught in places that hairdressers are spinning their chairs away from the mirror so clients won’t see their eyes roll. And customers have insulted their hairdressers over political preferences. Risky move around scissors.

Others have embraced the battle lines, making it clear with unmasked barbers or Black Lives Matter posters exactly where they stand on next month’s election — and who is welcome inside.

“The people who don’t want to be here filtered themselves out and it’s awesome,” said Trump supporter and Vacaville barber Juan Desmarais.

Across California, from a West Hollywood salon where hairdressers have been known to drop their scissors to join street marches to an Indian-American salon in the East Bay where pursed lips are better for business than celebrating Kamala Harris’ historic run, we check in with six establishments to ask: Is it safe anywhere these days to raise the topic of you-for-Trump-or-Biden?

Hair stylist Nicole Caudillo, 27, will engage in political discussions with her clients especially if they share her views. For those that don’t, she politely listens and allows them to vent. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

West Hollywood: Shorty’s Barber Shop

Go ahead and vent

Dan O’Connor, an Australian living in West Hollywood, said in recent months he’s lost friends over politics. As he waited for a haircut on a recent sunny afternoon, O’Connor said he’d have a hard time supporting a business where the staff or customers openly talked about their love for Trump.

But Trump support is a sentiment that’s rarely heard at Shorty’s Barber Shop. The business sits a couple blocks off famed Melrose Avenue, has Black Lives Matter signs in the windows, and has been recognized for being LGBTQ friendly.

Politics isn’t off the table at Shorty’s. In fact, O’Connor’s barber, Courtney Leavitt, said he often brings up particular issues or candidates with his clients. He doesn’t try to tell them how to vote, he said, but he likes to share what he knows and to learn from all of the people who come through his chair.

Leavitt acknowledged his shop is in a liberal bubble. But the 34-year-old, who sports bright blue hair and a black sequin face mask, said the conversations have never become heated.

Stylist Nicole Caudillo said she often gets the sense that clients are afraid to talk politics with some of their family and friends for fear it will turn into an argument. So, as with other aspects of their lives, they tend to lay it all out when they’re in the salon chair. If they offer views Caudillo strongly opposes, she might gently change the subject. But for the most part, she lets them have their say.

Around both the 2016 and 2018 elections Caudillo remembers stylists at her former salon in Hollywood running out the door to join a passing Women’s March demonstration. There was frustration, she said, but also an excited energy.

That’s not the case now, the stylists say.

“I think, at this point,” Leavitt said, “we’re just hearing a lot of fatigue.”

VACAVILLE, CA – OCTOBER 19: Primo’s Barbershop owner Juan Desmarais talks during an interview while cutting a customer’s hair in Vacaville, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Vacaville: Primo’s Barber Shop

‘I stand my ground’

Juan Desmarais doesn’t have a Donald Trump campaign sign in front of his barbershop. But he might as well. There’s no doubt where he stands on the presidential race.

It’s not just the big U.S. Marines and American flags mounted on either side of the front door or the dozens of law enforcement patches on the walls inside or the mask requirements he ignores. Ever since he made national news defying state orders to shut down his Primo’s Barber Shop early in the coronavirus pandemic, he’s become a local celebrity.

When the state threatened to suspend his license earlier this month, dozens of locals lined Merchant Street for a “Patriots for Primo’s” rally.

“I’m a conservative hero,” he said. “I stand my ground.”

You won’t find Biden supporters in here for a $30 haircut ($20 for veterans, seniors and law enforcement). In this city an hour north of San Francisco that is home to two state prisons and surrounded by ranch lands, maskless customers getting haircuts at Primo’s have found their Trump-loving tribe.

It’s good for business.

“We’ve never been tipped out as high as we have,” Desmarais said.

On Monday morning, nearly every chair was full.

The only backlash was the threatening voice messages he received after appearing on CNN, with some callers telling Desmarais, “I hope you die.” After he appeared on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson show, he was flooded with “tons of love.”

Desmarais, 41, is a Marine veteran who fought in Iraq, a California Highway Patrol officer who broke his back in a crash before he retired on disability, and the son of a Mexican immigrant farmworker who gained citizenship after 28 years. He’s one of the 30 percent of Latino voters that support Trump, polls show, with many drawn to his tough persona and business instincts.

And nothing sets him off more than a discussion about the coronavirus lockdown.

“If I had gone out and rioted, I would have been bailed out or never even been arrested,” he said of the summer racial justice rallies. “All I want to do is make enough to provide for my family and I’m the criminal.”

Desmarais supports Trump’s border wall but also favors an immigration overhaul and amnesty plan. Mostly, though, he supports small businesses.

“Politics are about everyday life,” he said. “It’s not always about the social justice thing. At the end of the day, it’s about a haircut.”

Little Saigon:

Kathy Tran, owner of Sinh’s Hair Salon and Nails in Westminster on washes a client’s hair. Tran she avoids talking politics with customers. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Silence speaks volumes

At Sinh’s Hair Salon & Nails, tucked away on the first floor of a shopping center in the heart of Orange County’s Little Saigon in Westminster, political talk of any kind is discouraged. Owner Kathy Tran said it’s “too controversial” these days.

Tran, who wore a blue surgical mask as she spoke through a translator, said she’s just grateful to have her eight-year-old business open again after it was shuttered for several months due to the pandemic. So Tran said she doesn’t want to risk offending those customers who have returned.

Five years ago, talking politics in Little Saigon — which boasts the largest concentration of Vietnamese immigrants in the United States — wasn’t particularly divisive. While Asian Americans overall have long leaned left at the state and federal levels, Vietnamese Americans, in Orange County in particular, voted solidly GOP for decades.

A gradual shift accelerated in 2016, as Trump ran for office. His strict immigration policies and, more recently, his preference for referencing the “kung flu” virus, have been blamed for a spike in hate incidents directed at Asian Americans. Trump also is seen as a catalyst for a community-wide rise in progressive activism that’s dividing older and younger generations.

The only political signs on the lawn in front of Tran’s shopping center promote Republican candidates. While Tran said her employees will occasionally talk politics when customers aren’t around, she declined to share her views on any candidates or issues.

Customer Sonia Valenzuela likes it that way.

The 65-year-old from Lake Forest, who drives once a week to Little Saigon for good food and to get her nails done in peace, said: “I’d rather not know.”

FREMONT, CA – OCTOBER 06: Customer Neeru Vermani of Fremont is seen in the mirror as she talks during an interview while Pamper Yourself With Karuna owner Karuna Khanna styles her hair in Fremont, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Fremont: Pamper Yourself with Karuna

Swaying back and forth

Karuna Khanna may have been the last undecided hairdresser in the country.

“I’m confused,” she said, just three weeks before Election Day. “I’m not much into politics, but I definitely listen.”

Even with vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, whose mother was from India, thrilling many in the Indian-American community, “I sway back and forth,” Khanna said.

At her “Pamper Yourself with Karuna” hair salon in a Fremont strip mall, she gets an earful. First from her business partner, Meenakshi Kumar, who agrees with 72 percent of Indian-Americans who told pollsters they plan to vote for Biden, then from customers who are talking more and more about the presidential race.

“People have strong opinions in politics. I don’t want to get into that fight,” Khanna said. “It’s better to shut my mouth and listen.”

It’s one of the most important things she learned in beauty school, she said. “Never give your opinion.”

She followed that advice when Meenu Vermani, 45, a customer and personal friend, came in for a styling. Vermani, who owns a tutoring business for high schoolers, just became an American citizen and plans to cast her first ballot for … Trump.

“Trump is fighting for these extra payroll protection programs for small businesses like ours,” she said. “If I need someone to support my business, I’m going to vote Trump.”

Khanna is a Democrat and had supported President Barack Obama, but this time, she said as she took a curling iron to Vermani’s hair, “I might change my mind.”

In the last few days, however, it was Khanna’s husband, not a customer, who persuaded her, finally, to fill out her ballot for Biden. She didn’t like Trump’s bullying in the first debate anyway and she was won over by Harris’ performance a week later.

Still, Khanna’s political tolerance in the salon, along with her haircuts and highlights, seems to be paying off. According to her website, “my customers love me.”

Arianna Vizcarrondo a hairstylist at the Cuttin’ Country Salon in Norco avoids talking politics with clients. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Norco: Cuttin Country Salon

‘Fed up’ in Horsetown USA

Veteran stylist Kassy Cannon at Cuttin Country Salon in Norco shook her head as she read the breaking news on her cellphone.

Under mandates from Gov. Gavin Newsom and state health authorities, salons such as hers in Riverside County would once again be forced to work outdoors — or not at all — due to the county’s rising coronavirus cases.

Branded “Horsetown USA,” Norco is less diverse and more Republican than much of Southern California. Red, white and blue lines are painted on the town’s main drag. Travel a block north or south of Cuttin Country Salon, and you’ll find several homes flying Trump flags. And at the neighboring shopping center, a booth sells pro-Trump T-shirts and purses decorated with Republican elephants.

Though Cannon knows most of her clients well and said a majority are Trump supporters, she said she’s generally tried to avoid political talk during her 27 years at the salon. She remembers a rare exception, when two customers argued about Trump during the run-up to the 2016 election only to drop it when the rest of the packed salon fell silent.

But this year is different. Cannon and a client, who declined to give her name, both said politics have become almost unavoidable while wrapped up with the virus. In their view, it’s driving locals to leave California.

“They’re done with the governor,” Cannon said, with no mask in sight. “I hear that all the time.”

Stylist Arianna Vizcarraondo, who lives in nearby Corona but has worked at Cuttin Country Salon for four years, said she was trained not to discuss politics or religion with clients. But through a Halloween-themed mask, the 25-year-old said in recent months more and more customers have been bringing politics up on their own.

The most common theme, she said, is quite simple. And for voters across California, it doesn’t necessarily apply to one side or the other: “They’re fed up.”

OAKLAND, CA – OCTOBER 07: Customer Brandon Tobler talks during an interview while getting a hair cut by HIM Barbershop owner, Jerron Robertson, in Oakland, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

Oakland: HIM Barber Shop

‘If everyone agrees, you’re not thinking’

From the sidewalk out front of HIM Barber Shop on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Brandon Tobler can hear the shouting.

It’s the soothing sound of a safe haven, he said, the one place Black people can really debate politics, religion and life and “not get offended.”

Leading the discussion from behind the battleground barber chair is Jerron Robertson, the shop owner who has an opinion on just about everything and is a contrarian by nature. (He’s a Rastafarian with dreadlocks who doesn’t believe in cutting his own hair, but cuts others’ for a living.)

“Someone told me that if everyone agrees,” he said, “you’re not thinking.”

Robertson is only 42, but growing up on the streets of Oakland, he has acquired a sense of history and a deep cynicism.

Trump’s “law and order” campaign to quell the riots that accompanied Black Lives Matter protests barely fazes him.

“Nothing’s really changed. It’s just the same thing over and over. Rodney King riots, Watts riots back in the day, it’s all the same,” he said. “It’s not the president. It’s the system.”

To Tobler, though, Trump’s tough talk on protesters is oppressive. “He’s trying to keep us quiet,” said Tobler, a 31-year-old former teacher, who grew up in Atlanta and comes from a long line of Black Democrats. His support of Biden comes easily.

Besides, Tobler said, after four years of Trump and a pandemic that makes it hard for him to find a job, “I’m for change. I don’t believe in a lot of the things (Trump has) done so far and definitely don’t agree with a lot of the things he’s said.”

Robertson jumped in.

“I don’t like what Trump says, but I don’t like what a lot of people say. When I go by what he does, I don’t actually have a problem with the man. I opened my business during Trump and I was getting beat up by the police during Obama.”

Maybe it’s inevitable that voices get raised here, just to be heard over the blaring reggae music and loud buzz of the electric razors. But you can still make out Robertson’s cynicism.

“Trump isn’t going to do anything for the racist White people and Biden ain’t gonna do nothing for the poor Blacks,” said the barber, who said neither Trump or Biden deserves his vote. “They just want your vote and as soon as they get your vote, the people who donated to their campaign, that’s who they’re going to do something for.”

All quiet, routine at early voting locations in Riverside County

Will poll watchers be out in Southern California for Nov. 3 election?

Which Inland cities are the most Republican, Democratic?

Voting by mail? Most Californians have preferred it over in-person voting for years

Election 2020: Maine, Nebraska could play pivotal role

-on October 25, 2020 at 03:47AM by Julia Sulek, Brooke Staggs

#riversidenews

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roundtheworldrambles · 4 years

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Singapore - Part 1

Day 138 – Auckland to Singapore

Leaving New Zealand behind, I took off from Auckland’s airport in the early afternoon, heading northwest towards Asia. My flight took me over the Tasman Sea, across the orange sand plains of the Australian outback, and across the Java Sea, sprinkled with thousands of Indonesian islands.

As our airplane drew near to Changi airport, I had a spectacular, birds-eye view of hundreds upon hundreds of ships anchored along the Singapore Strait. It was an amazing sight, and I was able to immediately get a snapshot of Singapore’s economic and trading power in the region. Incredibly, at any given time, there are about 1,000 vessels in Singapore’s port, with a ship arriving or departing almost every 2-3 minutes!

Arriving at the contemporary airport, I breezed through customs and onto Singapore’s equally modern transit system, heading west into the city. I arrived in the heart of Chinatown at dusk, emerging onto Pagoda Street, a historic merchant’s district packed with souvenir shops, Chinese restaurants, traditional art and electronics. This vibrant area was packed with people, with food stalls, kiosks and musicians spilling out onto the street in celebration of Chinese New Years. The architecture of the neighbourhood was fascinating, with rows upon rows of technicolour shophouses. Originally built in the early 1800s, these buildings have been restored and repainted in every colour of the rainbow, with large, shuttered windows opening onto the humming streets below.

Chinatown in Singapore

In every direction I looked I saw red, the official colour of Chinese New Years, and a symbol of luck and good fortune. I wove through the crowds and under hundreds of swinging lanterns, finally locating my hostel for the evening. I hadn’t realized it at the time of booking, but my hostel was actually on the second storey of one of these historic shophouses, with my room looking directly out over Pagoda Street. While this made for some very cool pictures, and a birds-eye view of the festivities below, it also ended up being very loud! Over the rest of the week, earplugs and a loud fan became my best friends – allowing me to get some much-needed shut-eye while the New Years’ revelry carried on late into the night. Despite this small inconvenience, it was very cool to be in Singapore during this time, and get an inside look at the country’s celebrations!

After checking in, I returned to the bustling streets to explore. Although I was tired for my long flight, my senses were jolted awake from the sights, smells and sounds of Chinatown – steaming baskets of dim sum and street food, red envelopes for “lucky money”, a traditional gift for children during New Years, the pungent smell of durian fruit, and a canopy of lanterns criss-crossing the night sky overhead.

I capped off my evening with chicken rice and dim sum at Maxwell Food Centre, one of the many hawker markets that Singapore is famous for. Scattered around the city, these local food halls are home to some Michelin-starred food stalls – with all eats usually under $10! It was a delicious way to start off my travel in Southeast Asia.

Day 139 – Singapore

My first full day started with life admin – getting set up with a new SIM card, a replacement tote bag and new set of reading glasses, after I accidentally stepped on mine when camping in New Zealand! I had to be in Singapore for almost a week because of the timing for my second set of vaccinations – Rabies and Japanese Encephalitis - specific to my next two months in Southeast Asia. Although I wasn’t originally planning to be in Singapore for this long, it was a nice change of pace, as I didn’t feel rushed to see everything at once.

Chinatown

I wandered around Chinatown and downtown Singapore during that daytime, and began to get an even clearer picture of Singapore’s rich cultural diversity, from the countless options for ethnic cuisine, to numerous places of worship for Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and Christian faiths – often all within a few blocks. It is clear that Singapore’s culture is an incredible fusion of culture, ethnicity, faith, and language. The blend of Malaysian, Indian, Chinese, Arab and English cultures is on full display at every turn throughout this vibrant “Lion City”.

Kumquat Plants on Pagoda Street

Walking through the heart of Chinatown, I first explored Sri Mariamman Temple, the oldest Hindu Shrine in Singapore. It was originally built in 1827 by an Indian trader from Penang, Malaysia, and the Dravidian architecture of the temple was simply stunning. This particular style of temple originated from South India and Sri Lanka, with the architecture consisting of pyramid shaped towers throughout the temple. The Sri Mariamman Temple stands out with its large gopurum (monumental entrance tower). The massive gopurum had numerous tiers, consisting of brightly coloured sculptures of Hindu deities.

Covering my shoulders and taking my shoes off, I walked through the heavy wooden gates to enter the temple. I wandered into a courtyard with the main prayer hall located in the centre, where there were large sculptures of deities such as Rama, Muraga and Krishna. Flower garlands, called “mala” had been placed around the necks of these deities by devotees.

Heading over a few blocks, I walked around the perimeter of Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, a 5-story, modern Buddhist Temple. Built in 2007, the temple gets its name from what is thought to be the tooth of Buddha (recovered from his funeral pyre in India), which is displayed in the temple. Thousands of red lanterns encircled the base of the temple, swinging in the breeze.

Clarke Quay

I continued onwards to Clarke Quay, located on the banks of the Singapore River. Once the heart of the city and a centre for marine trade and commerce, this neighbourhood is packed with both colonial-era architecture and colourful modern buildings. Visitors to Clarke Quay can still ride the historic “bumboats” that were used to unload wares from around the world. I wandered along the walkways lining the river, taking in the sights of this diverse neighbourhood.

MICA Building in Clarke Quay

In the late afternoon, I boarded the MTR to head up to Emerald Hill. Located near the famous shopping district of Orchard Road, Emerald Hill is a peaceful conservation area, filled with cobblestoned streets and beautifully preserved Peranakan shop houses, complete with grand entrance gates, sculpted, colourful wall decorations, and wooden window shutters. Beautifully tended gardens with lush, tropical vegetation surrounded the buildings, adding to the beauty of this neighbourhood. In front of some of the homes, there were touches of red decorations, in celebration of the New Year. Kumquat plants were outside the front doors, decorated with red ribbons for luck, their yellow-orange fruit symbolizing prosperity.

Emerald Hill

A few of the shophouses on Emerald Hill had been converted into trendy patios and cafes, where I stopped at one for a glass of wine, taking in the peaceful ambience of the neighbourhood. As evening fell, I returned to the hubbub of Chinatown, sampling street food on Smith Street and popping in and out of bustling stalls and shops, before making my way home for the evening.

Day 140 – Singapore

It was a hot, humid morning as I boarded the MRT, heading to Eunos Station in Eastern Singapore. My destination was the Joo Chiat, located on the Eastern side of the island, a neighbourhood considered to be one of the early heritage towns in the country. It is also known for being a Peranakan community, an ethnic group descended from marriages between Chinese and Indian men and local Malay or Indonesian women from the Malaysian Archipelago (with Singapore at its base).

Joo Chiat

In Joo Chiat, the neighbourhood is full of colourful homes decorated with ceramic tiles and sculpted facades. These heritage homes are juxtaposed with trendy bars and modern shops, sprinkled throughout the neighbourhood. I walked along Koon Seng Road to visit the famous stretch of Peranakan shophouses. Built in the 1920s, these 3-storey homes are painted in various pastel shades, with intricate floral patterns decorating the exteriors.

House of Tan Teng Niah

Because I love a good walk when travelling, I decided to head back towards the city centre on foot, which was a great way for me to get a sense of everyday life in the Singapore. I stopped in Little India in the early afternoon to visit the house of Tan Teng Niah. Constructed in the early 1900s by a local businessman, this villa is an example of a home of many of Singapore’s ethnic-Chinese business around the turn of the century. When it was restored about 30 years ago, it was painted in a rainbow of vivid colours – with every section of the house in a slightly different hue. It was quite a striking sight!

I continued onwards to Kampong Gelam, a neighbourhood which has been home to the Malay, Arab and Burgis communities of Singapore since the 1800s. Today, the area is one of Singapore’s creative hubs, packed with street art, independent boutiques, and trendy pubs and bars. In addition to being a popular hipster hangout, Kampong Glam also is host to many colourful heritage and worship sites. Arab Street, part of Singapore’s Muslim Quarter, is packed with stores selling wares such as Persian Rugs, intricate textiles and Arab teas. It is an area that has fusion of culture, religion and people, and definitely has something for everyone.

Nearby, the spectacular Masjid Sultan Mosque is framed by swaying palm trees. Considered to be the “national mosque” of the city-state, it has a history of over 200 years, with several versions of a mosque having been built on the grounds. The current Masjid Sultan Mosque was built in the 1930s, and has an iconic gold dome, flanked by a tall minaret with a gold roof.

Masjid Sultan

I stopped for dinner and a Tiger beer at the patio of a jazz café, tucked along an alley with extravagant and street art, people watching and taking in the sights and sounds of Kampong Gelam. Tired from the humidity and my long day of walking, I hopped on the MRT and headed back to my hostel in Chinatown.

#singapore

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gta-5-cheats · 6 years

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People lost in the gun community in 2017

New Post has been published on http://secondcovers.com/people-lost-in-the-gun-community-in-2017/

People lost in the gun community in 2017

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From Olympic medalists and Second Amendment advocates to outdoor writers and film stars, the gun culture world lost several faces in 2017.

Theunis Botha– Noted South African big game hunter was killed at in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park in a freak hunting accident, crushed by an elephant shot by another hunter.

Jim Bunning– Perhaps best remembered as the Hall of Fame pitcher who threw just the seventh perfect game in Major League Baseball history, Bunning went on to become a conservative lawmaker representing his home state of Kentucky in Congress for over 20 years. During that time, the NRA him with scores of votes on gun rights issues. Bunning died aged 85 in May. His seat has been held since U.S. Sen. Rand Paul since 2011.

Powers Boothe– With some of the most memorable gun culture lines uttered on the big screen, Boothe, whose credits include Red Dawn, Tombstone, and Deadwood, Boothe died at in May.

Melania Capitan– The Spanish huntress with more than 10,000 followers on social media took her own life at age 27 in June, after what some described as cyberbullying over her lifestyle, leaving a hunting organization to push for criminal charges against her tormentors citing “animal terrorism.”

Magda Fedor– Over the course of a 40-year career, this sports pistol shooter participated in numerous European and World Championships, earning a reported 123 medals — but never had a chance to compete in the Olympics as shooting sports for women were only introduced to those international games after she retired. She died at in December.

Roy Innis– In the 1960s the Army veteran and research chemist became the outspoken national chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality. Among the civil rights Innis advocated for were those protected by the Second Amendment. He subsequently became a lifetime NRA member, sitting on the organization’s board of directors for over 20 years, serving at times on the group’s Urban Affairs and Ethics committees, that gun control was “meant to deprive you of your freedom.”

Peder Lund– A former U.S. Army Ranger and Green Beret, Lund founded the Professional Action Library in 1970, a publishing enterprise that later turned into Paladin Press. Paladin went on to produce more than 800 how-to books and videos on topics like self-defense, firearms, martial arts, and survival with Lund at the helm. The company this year following Lund’s death at age 75 while on vacation in Finland.

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Richard “Mack” Machowicz– A former Navy SEAL, Machowicz was the longtime host first of the Discovery Channel’s show Future Weapons and a member of the Spike show, Deadliest Warrior. An ordained Buddhist priest, he died in May at age 51 from brain cancer.

Bill Paxton– Paxton, whose roles ranged from a Colonial Marine to Tombstone gunslinger Morgan Earp, died at in June.

Bob Owens– The founder and editor of the popular pro-gun website Bearing Arms was found dead in his vehicle in North Carolina, in May at , in a shooting that was later ruled a suicide.

Jim Reardon– Navy veteran and former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent, he went on to become the outdoors editor for Alaska Magazine and pen more than 20 books, many on hunting including such classics as “Hunting Alaska’s Far Places: Half a Century with Rifle and Shotgun” and “Alaska’s Wolf Man: The 1915-55 Wilderness Adventures of Frank Glaser.” Reardon died at in February.

George Romero– The New York-born filmmaker who unleashed modern zombie culture on the world in his Night of the Living Dead in 1968 and went on to fine-tune the genre over the course of nearly a half-century probably was responsible for as many gun sales as Obama. He died in June at age 77. Notably, director Tobe Hooper, of Texas Chain Saw Massacre fame, also died this year at age 74.

Alexander Taransky– An Australian rapid-fire pistol competitor, Taransky was a triple Olympian and long-time national coach. He died at in December.

Lones W. Wigger, Jr.- The retired Army officer, shooting coach, Olympic medalist and sniper school instructor died in December at . Wigger was a 24-time World Champion, 33-time world-record holder, and 91-time National Champion in addition to bringing home two golds and a silver from the Olympics.

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brookstonalmanac · 5 years

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Events 4.25

404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion. 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate. Muslim control over Transcaucasia is solidified and its Islamization begins, while several major Armenian nakharar families lose power and their remnants flee to the Byzantine Empire. 799 – After mistreatment and disfigurement by the citizens of Rome, pope Leo III flees to the Frankish court of king Charlemagne at Paderborn for protection. 1134 – The name Zagreb was mentioned for the first time in the Felician Charter relating to the establishment of the Zagreb Bishopric around 1094. 1607 – Eighty Years' War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar. 1644 – The Chongzhen Emperor, the last Emperor of Ming dynasty China, commits suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng. 1707 – A coalition of Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal is defeated by a Franco-Spanish army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession. 1792 – Highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine. 1792 – "La Marseillaise" (the French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle. 1804 – The western Georgian kingdom of Imereti accepts the suzerainty of the Russian Empire. 1829 – Charles Fremantle arrives in HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom. 1846 – Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War. 1849 – The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal's English population and triggering the Montreal Riots. 1859 – British and French engineers break ground for the Suez Canal. 1862 – American Civil War: Forces under U.S. Admiral David Farragut demand the surrender of the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana. 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Marks' Mills. 1882 – French and Vietnamese troops clashed in Tonkin, when Commandant Henri Rivière seized the citadel of Hanoi with a small force of marine infantry. 1898 – Spanish–American War: The United States declares war on Spain. 1901 – New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates. 1915 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins: The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by British, French, Indian, Newfoundland, Australian and New Zealand troops, begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles. 1916 – Anzac Day is commemorated for the first time on the first anniversary of the landing at ANZAC Cove. 1920 – At the San Remo conference, the principal Allied Powers of World War I adopt a resolution to determine the allocation of Class "A" League of Nations mandates for administration of the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East. 1938 – U.S. Supreme Court delivers its opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law. 1940 – Merkið, the flag of the Faroe Islands is approved by the British occupation government. 1944 – The United Negro College Fund is incorporated. 1945 – Elbe Day: United States and Soviet troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two. 1945 – Liberation Day (Italy): The Nazi occupation army surrenders and leaves Northern Italy after a general partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement; the puppet fascist regime dissolves and Benito Mussolini is captured after trying to escape. This day was set as a public holiday to celebrate the Liberation of Italy. 1945 – United Nations Conference on International Organization: Founding negotiations for the United Nations begin in San Francisco. 1945 – The last German troops retreat from Finland's soil in Lapland, ending the Lapland War. Military acts of Second World War end in Finland. 1951 – Korean War: Assaulting Chinese forces are forced to withdraw after heavy fighting with UN forces, primarily made up of Australian and Canadian troops, at the Battle of Kapyong. 1953 – Francis Crick and James Watson publish "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" describing the double helix structure of DNA. 1954 – The first practical solar cell is publicly demonstrated by Bell Telephone Laboratories. 1959 – The Saint Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping. 1960 – The United States Navy submarine USS Triton completes the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe. 1961 – Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit. 1972 – Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive: The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum. 1974 – Carnation Revolution: A leftist military coup in Portugal overthrows the authoritarian-conservative Estado Novo regime and establishes a democratic government. 1975 – As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost ten years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam. 1981 – More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. 1982 – Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula per the Camp David Accords. 1983 – Cold War: American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war. 1983 – Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto's orbit. 1986 – Mswati III is crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II. 1988 – In Israel, John Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II. 1990 – Violeta Chamorro takes office as the President of Nicaragua, the first woman to hold the position. 2001 – Michele Alboreto is killed while testing an Audi R8 at the Lausitzring in Germany. 2004 – The March for Women's Lives brings between 500,000 and 800,000 protesters, mostly pro-choice, to Washington D.C. to protest the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, and other restrictions on abortion. 2005 – The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937. 2005 – Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union. 2007 – Boris Yeltsin's funeral: The first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894. 2014 – Flint, Michigan switches its water source, beginning the Flint water crisis. 2015 – Nearly 9,100 are killed after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Nepal.

#Events

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designerdogtips · 7 years

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iconic Shattuck Avenue restaurant

Oscar’s, the iconic Shattuck Avenue restaurant, is not long for this world. The restaurant, a Berkeley institution since 1950, will close in the next month or two, reports Eater SF. Owned by the same family for many years, the corner restaurant, at 1890 Shattuck Ave.

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studentofrhetoric-blog · 7 years

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Part 2, Monday, April 17th, 2017

International News:

--- "Mothers Noha, a Shi'ite, and Samira, a Sunni, were besieged for nearly two years on each side of Syria's civil war. At the weekend they finally escaped the suffocating blockades under an evacuation agreement - but their ordeal was not over. As they waited at two transit points miles apart outside Aleppo, a bomb attack hit Noha's bus convoy, killing more than 120 people including dozens of children. After ambulances rushed off the wounded, new buses arrived and the two convoys eventually reached their destinations - one in government territory and the other in rebel territory. In the hours leading up to Saturday's attacks, the two women spoke to Reuters about what they had left behind, their families being split up, and the likelihood they would never return home. Reuters was not allowed back past security to try to find Noha after the blast, and lost contact with Samira after speaking to her earlier on another evacuee's phone. "We've lost everything. We hope to go back one day, but I don't expect we will," said Noha, 45, asking not to be identified by her last name. Noha left al-Foua, one of two Shi'ite villages besieged by Syrian insurgents in Idlib province with her two youngest children and 5,000 other people under a deal between the Syrian government and armed opposition. In exchange, 2,000 Sunni residents and rebel fighters from the government-besieged town of Madaya near Damascus - Samira's hometown - were given safe passage out, and bussed to Idlib province, a rebel stronghold, via Aleppo."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-displaced-idUSKBN17J0ZJ?il=0

--- "Hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails began a hunger strike on Monday in response to a call by prominent prisoner Marwan Barghouti, widely seen as a possible future Palestinian president. Palestinians termed the open-ended strike a protest against poor conditions and an Israeli policy of detention without trial that has been applied against thousands since the 1980s. Israel said the move by the prisoners, many of whom were convicted of attacks or planning attacks against Israel, was politically motivated. The protest was led by Barghouti, 58, a leader of the mainstream Fatah movement of the Palestine Liberation Organization, serving five life terms after being convicted of murder in the killing of Israelis in a 2000-2005 uprising. The strike, if sustained, could present a challenge to Israel and raise tensions between the two sides as the 50th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip approaches in June. Israeli troops and settlers pulled out of the Gaza Strip, now run by Hamas Islamists, in 2005, but peace talks on the creation of a Palestinian state collapsed with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2014."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-prisoners-idUSKBN17J0XZ?il=0

--- "Islamic State is talking to al Qaeda about a possible alliance as Iraqi troops close in on IS fighters in Mosul, Iraqi Vice President Ayad Allawi said in an interview on Monday. Allawi said he got the information on Monday from Iraqi and regional contacts knowledgeable about Iraq. "The discussion has started now," Allawi said. "There are discussions and dialogue between messengers representing Baghdadi and representing Zawahiri," referring to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and Ayman al Zawahiri, the head of al Qaeda. Islamic State split from al Qaeda in 2014 and the two groups have since waged an acrimonious battle for recruits, funding and the mantle of global jihad. Zawahiri has publicly criticized Islamic State for its brutal methods, which have included beheadings, drownings and immolation. It is unclear how exactly the two group may work together, Allawi said."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-islamic-state-idUSKBN17J1DT?il=0

--- "Presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron urged French voters on Monday to turn the page on the last 20 years and bring a new generation to power, as he stepped up attacks against resurgent far-left and conservative rivals six days before voting day.Presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron urged French voters on Monday to turn the page on the last 20 years and bring a new generation to power, as he stepped up attacks against resurgent far-left and conservative rivals six days before voting day. Macron, a 39-year-old pro-EU centrist who would become the youngest French leader since Napoleon if elected, said recent leaders had betrayed the post-war generation which had rebuilt the country, leaving France unreformed and sclerotic. "What has been proposed to the French in the last 20 years is not liberation or reconstruction, but a slow, unavowed acceptation of unemployment, state impotence and social breakdown," he told a cheering crowd of at least 18,000 people in the Bercy arena in Paris. Investors are glued to the outcome of France's most unpredictable election in decades. Polls suggest growing numbers of voters are turning away from mainstream parties because of disenchantment with the establishment and frustration at years of economic malaise."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-election-macron-idUSKBN17J1J0?il=0

--- "Far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Sunday sought to mobilize her supporters six days ahead of France's most unpredictable presidential election in decades by pledging to suspend all immigration and shield voters from "savage globalization." Opinion polls have for months shown Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron qualifying on Sunday for the May 7 run-off, but the gap with conservative Francois Fillon and far-leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon has been tightening. "I will protect you. My first measure as president will be to reinstate France's borders," Le Pen said to wide applause and cheers from the crowd of about 5,000, prompting the National Front's (FN) traditional "This is our home!" chant. Slamming her rivals, whom she said wanted "savage globalization," she said hers was the camp of patriots. "The choice on Sunday is simple," she said. "It is a choice between a France that is rising again and a France that is sinking." While no polls have shown Le Pen missing out on the run-off, they are now within the margin of error and any two of the four top candidates have a shot at qualifying. Polls have consistently shown her losing that second round."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-election-pen-idUSKBN17J1FU?il=0

--- "Turkey extended its state of emergency on Monday by three months starting from Wednesday, its third such extension after a coup attempt last July, a deputy prime minister said. The decision came after the National Security Council advised extending it, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told reporters in a press conference in Ankara."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-emergency-pm-idUSKBN17J1MU?il=0

--- "U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told business leaders in Seoul on Tuesday that the Trump administration will review and reform the five-year-old free trade agreement between the two countries. Pence said the U.S. trade deficit has more than doubled in the five years since the U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement began and there are too many barriers for U.S. businesses in the country. Pence's meeting in Seoul with business leaders comes before he heads to Tokyo later on Tuesday, where he will meet Japan's Finance Minister Taro Aso and kick off talks that Washington hopes will open doors for U.S.-made products. U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to narrow big trade deficits with nations like China and Japan, saying he would boost U.S. manufacturing jobs. "That's the hard truth," Pence told an American Chamber of Commerce meeting in Seoul. "We have to be honest about where our trade relationship is falling short", said Pence, adding the Trump administration would work with businesses on reforms."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-usa-pence-idUSKBN17K01C?il=0

--- "U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Tuesday the United States was eager to strengthen its trade relations with Japan, after meeting his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo. Asked about a possible free trade agreement, Ross told reporters: "It's a little bit early to say just what forms things will take, but we are certainly eager to increase our trade relationships with Japan and to do so in the form of an agreement." He added: "We made good progress in terms of establishing the overall issues and frame of reference for continuing dialogue." Japanese Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko, also speaking after their meeting, told reporters he had a "detailed, frank and practical" discussion with Ross. Separately, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will meet with Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday, kicking off talks in Tokyo that the White House hopes will open doors in Japan for U.S. products and attract Japanese investment in U.S. infrastructure projects."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pence-asia-japan-ross-idUSKBN17K08U?il=0

--- "U.S. Marines began arriving in Australia's tropical north on Tuesday for a six-month deployment during which they will conduct exercises with Australian and visiting Chinese forces. The 25-year annual deployment program started by former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2011 is part of the U.S. "pivot" to Asia at a time of increased assertiveness by China. "I think that the commitment that we've taken to put a task force here with a conversation to get larger over the years says that we do think this is an important region," said Marines' commander Lieutenant Colonel Brian Middleton after the first troops arrived in Darwin in the Northern Territory. "Being close to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, the Indo Pacific position has always been important." Middleton said the marines would conduct an "important exercise alongside our Chinese partners" and Australia. The strength of this year's deployment at 1,250 troops lags well behind the initial plan for the deployment to reach 2,500 Marines this year, but it will see the largest U.S. aircraft contingent to Australia in peacetime history."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-usa-defence-idUSKBN17K09N?il=0

--- "Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday diplomatic means must be used to resolve tensions on the Korean peninsula, where North Korea has vowed to continue with its nuclear and missile programs in defiance of U.N. sanctions. Wang, speaking at a news conference in Beijing, urged all sides to find a peaceful solution."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-china-idUSKBN17K093?il=0

Domestic & International News:

--- "Advisers to President Donald Trump will meet on Tuesday to discuss whether to recommend that he withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, a White House official said on Monday. The accord, agreed on by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015, aims to limit planetary warming in part by slashing carbon dioxide and other emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. Under the pact, the United States committed to reducing its emissions by 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. Trump has said the United States should "cancel" the deal, but he has been mostly quiet on the issue since he was elected last November. Environmental groups want Washington to remain in the Paris agreement, even if the new administration weakens U.S. pledges. A White House official said Trump's aides would "discuss the options, with the goal of providing a recommendation to the president about the path forward." The meeting comes before a summit of the Group of Seven wealthy nations in late May, the deadline for the White House to take a position. White House officials, led by the National Economic Council, have recently been asking publicly traded energy companies for advice on whether to stay in the agreement."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-climatechange-idUSKBN17J1DN?il=0

--- "U.S. President Donald Trump called Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on winning a referendum expanding his authority, sources in Erdogan's palace said on Monday. Turkey voted on Sunday to switch to a presidential system, greatly increasing Erdogan's powers. Unofficial results, which the opposition said it would challenge, showed a narrow victory for him with 51.4 percent of votes cast in favor."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-election-usa-idUSKBN17J1M3?il=0

--- "On his first trip as U.S defense secretary to parts of the Middle East and Africa, Jim Mattis will focus on the fight against Islamic State and articulating President Donald Trump's policy toward Syria, officials and experts say. His trip may give clarity to adversaries and allies alike about the Trump administration's tactics in the fight against Islamic State militants and its willingness to use military power more liberally than former President Barack Obama did. One of the main questions from allies about Syria is whether Washington has formulated a strategy to prevent areas seized from militants from collapsing into ethnic and sectarian feuds or succumbing to a new generation of extremism, as parts of Iraq and Afghanistan have done since the U.S. invaded them. U.S.-backed forces are fighting to retake the Islamic State strongholds of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria, and questions remain about what will happen after that and what role other allies such as Saudi Arabia, can play. There are signs that Trump has given the U.S. military more latitude to use force, including ordering a cruise missile strike against a Syrian air base and cheering the unprecedented use of a monster bomb against an Islamic State target in Afghanistan last week...Arriving in the region on Tuesday, his stops include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and Israel."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mideast-mattis-idUSKBN17J1RA?il=0

--- "U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday will sign an executive order directing federal agencies to recommend changes to a temporary visa program used to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill high-skilled jobs. Two senior Trump administration officials who briefed reporters at the White House said Trump will also use the "buy American and hire American" order to seek changes in government procurement practices to increase the purchase of American products in federal contracts. Trump is to sign the order when he visits the world headquarters of Snap-On Inc, a tool manufacturer in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The order is an attempt by Trump to carry out his "America First" campaign pledges to reform U.S. immigration policies and encourage purchases of American products. As he nears the 100-day benchmark of his presidency, Trump has no major legislative achievements to tout but has used executive orders to seek regulatory changes to help the U.S. economy. The order he will sign on Tuesday will call for "the strict enforcement of all laws governing entry into the United States of labor from abroad for the stated purpose of creating higher wages and higher employment rates for workers in the United States," one of the senior officials said. It will call on the departments of Labor, Justice, Homeland Security and State to take action to crack down on what the official called "fraud and abuse" in the U.S. immigration system to protect American workers."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-visa-idUSKBN17K02U?il=0

Domestic News:

--- "President Donald Trump's appointee Neil Gorsuch on Monday showed himself to be a frequent and energetic questioner during U.S. Supreme Court arguments in his first day hearing cases as a justice, at one point even apologizing for talking too much. Gorsuch, whose confirmation to the lifetime job restored the court's conservative majority, exhibited composure and confidence, sitting on the far right of the bench in the ornate courtroom, alongside liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor. He appeared relaxed, gingerly sipping from a disposable coffee cup. The justices, with the exception of the usually silent Clarence Thomas, are known for their aggressive questioning, and Gorsuch showed no qualms about jumping right in. Eight times during the course of three one-hour arguments Gorsuch peppered attorneys with a series of pointed questions...The Coloradoan came across as temperamentally different from the sometimes hard-edged New Yorker Scalia, offering respectful but firm questioning even when the lawyer facing his queries seemed evasive."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-gorsuch-idUSKBN17J0NZ?il=0

--- "Mini motorcycle and go-kart maker Monster Moto made a big bet on U.S. manufacturing by moving assembly to this Louisiana town in 2016 from China. But it will be a long ride before it can stamp its products "Made in USA." The loss of nearly one out four U.S. factories in the last two decades means parts for its bike frames and engines must be purchased in China, where the manufacturing supply chain moved years ago. "There's just no way to source parts in America right now," said Monster Moto Chief Executive Alex Keechle during a tour of the company's assembly plant. "But by planting the flag here, we believe suppliers will follow." Monster Moto's experience is an example of the obstacles American companies face as they, along with President Donald Trump, try to rebuild American manufacturing. U.S. automakers and their suppliers, for example, have already invested billions in plants abroad and would face an expensive and time-consuming transition to buy thousands of American-made parts if President Trump’s proposed “border tax” on imported goods were to become law. When companies reshore assembly to U.S. soil – in Monster Moto’s case that took two years to find a location and negotiate support from local and state officials – they are betting their demand will create a local supply chain that currently does not exist...Their experience has shown Americans’ patriotic shopping habits have limits, namely when it comes to price. Take Monster Moto's bikes, which sell for between $249 to $749. Keechle, the CEO, says he can’t raise those prices for fear his price sensitive prospective customers will turn to less expensive rivals made in China. "Consumers won't give you a free pass just because you put 'Made in USA' on the box," Keechle says. "You have to remain price competitive."Keeping a sharp eye on labor costs in their factory is one thing these U.S. manufactures can control. They see replacing primarily lower-skilled workers on the assembly line with robots on American factory floors as the only way to produce here in a financially viable, cost-competitive way. It’s a trend that runs against the narrative candidate Donald Trump used to win the U.S. Presidency."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-manufacturing-suppliers-idUSKBN17J0SY?il=0

--- "U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Trump administration's timetable for tax reform is set to falter following setbacks in negotiations with Congress over healthcare, the Financial Times reported on Monday. Mnuchin told the Financial Times in an interview that the target to get tax reforms through Congress and on President Donald Trump's desk before August was "highly aggressive to not realistic at this point". "It is fair to say it is probably delayed a bit because of the healthcare," Mnuchin told the newspaper. Mnuchin also told the Financial Times he agreed with Trump's view that the dollar's strength in the short term was hurting exports, but said he saw the currency's strength over the long term as a positive. "As the world's currency, the primary reserve currency, I think that over long periods of time the strength of the dollar is a good thing," the Financial Times quoted Mnuchin as saying. Trump has signaled he wants to streamline the income tax system, cut federal regulations, reduce corporate income tax and add new taxes to prod companies to keep or move production to the United States."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-mnuchin-idUSKBN17J1LZ?il=0

--- "An Illinois lawmaker on Monday introduced a bill to ban the forcible removal of travelers from flights by state or local government employees after a United Airlines passenger was dragged from an aircraft last week. The Airline Passenger Protection Act, sponsored by Republican state Representative Peter Breen, came after Dr. David Dao, 69, was pulled from a United flight at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to make space for four crew members. The treatment of Dao sparked international outrage, as well as multiple apologies from the carrier, and raised questions about the overbooking policies of airlines. Under Breen's measure, passengers could not be removed from flights unless they were presenting a danger to themselves or others, an emergency was taking place or the passenger had caused a serious disturbance, according to a copy of the bill introduced in the state capital, Springfield. "A commercial airline that removes validly seated customers without serious cause breaches the sacred trust between passengers and their airlines," the bill said. The legislation would also bar the state of Illinois from making travel arrangements, doing business with or having investments in any commercial airline that maintained a policy of removing paying passengers to make room for employees traveling on non-revenue tickets."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-illinois-airlines-ual-idUSKBN17J1JX?il=0

#international affairs #domestic affairs #source: reuters

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viralhottopics · 7 years

Text

Trump’s courtiers bring chaotic and capricious style to White House

Two weeks in, the new administration resembles the court of a Renaissance king, with favorites infighting and Steve Bannon a Cardinal Richelieu in cargo pants

After 15 days of chaotic activity when he made heads spin around the world, President Donald Trump flew from Washington on Friday for the Florida mansion he calls the Winter White House, leaving behind a faintly traumatised US capital.

The exhausting first two weeks of the Trump presidency were bookended by an obsessive fixation with his inaugural crowd size and his use of a usually solemn speech at the national prayer breakfast to continue a feud with Arnold Schwarzenegger over ratings for The Apprentice.

The turbulent character of the early days has looked little different from the insurgent campaign that propelled him to the Oval Office as he has escalated tensions with Mexico, flouted diplomatic norms with Australia, picked fights with members of his own party and signed a flurry of executive orders that have already reshaped perceptions of America on the global stage.

At the center of it all has been a cast of characters jockeying for Trumps ear, creating a struggle for power that has manifested in a mix of chaos, leaks and uncertainty.

The Trump White House already bears more resemblance to the court of a Renaissance king than to most prior administrations as favorites come and go, counselors quarrel over favor and policy decisions are often made by whim or without consultation.

Steve Bannon, the former Goldman Sachs rightwing ideologue, now chief strategist and counselor to the president has been virtually ever present in the Oval Office since inauguration day, bringing to the center of American politics the apocalyptic worldview that turned his Breitbart website into a magnet for conservatives who thrilled to its sensationalist headlines and vented their anger in its comments section.

Steve Bannon (right) and the national security adviser, Michael Flynn, sit in on Donald Trumps testy phone call with the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull. Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

A Cardinal Richelieu in cargo pants, he guides many key ideological decisions, giving Trumps early policy moves the look of a Breitbart daily news list. His loyal ally Stephen Miller, a 31-year-oldformer Capitol Hill staffer, has proved to be a lightning rod for criticism as Trumps ban on refugees and immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries swiftly unravelled.

Miller, the policy director and speechwriter, was a staffer for Jeff Sessions the Alabama senator who was a relatively obscure immigration hawk until Trump and Bannon adopted him as the intellectual force at the back of their rightwing radicalism.

Sessions, who has been nominated to be Trumps attorney general, has a reactionary record on race, voting rights and immigration. He opposes same-sex marriage, and when Trump was caught on tape talking of grabbing women by the pussy, Sessions called it a stretch to characterize that as sexual assault.

Miller often served as Trumps warm-up man on the campaign trail, whipping up rallies as crowds chanted build the wall, and wrote Trumps speeches, attempting to mold the candidates stream of consciousness into complete sentences. Miller, with Bannon, was responsible for the American carnage inauguration speech which delivered Trumps dark vision of the country he was inheriting from Barack Obama.

On the other side is Reince Priebus, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, who could hardly be further removed in personality and style: mild where those around him are brash. As chief of staff, he should be the gatekeeper, but has struggled to assert himself. He has already been briefed against, including a memorable quote this week in the Washington Post, in which an anonymous official said of him: A little bit of under-competence and a slight amount of insecurity can breed some paranoia and backstabbing, adding: We have to get Reince to relax into the job and become more competent, because hes seeing shadows where there are no shadows.

Another who is visibly struggling is Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary who also came on board from the RNC. The daily face of the administration behind the lectern in the Brady press briefing room, his side parting, and pocket square precision have not been matched when he opens his mouth the typically hour-long sessions slide from attempts at false bonhomie to bitter personal attacks on individual journalists. Often shouting, this week he got into another Alice in Wonderland battle with the facts when he denied that Trumps immigration ban was really a ban, even though it was pointed out to him by reporters that, both he and the president himself had repeatedly used the word to describe one of the first signature policies of the new administration.

But the president himself called it a ban, a reporter said. So is he confused, or are you confused?

Im not confused. The words that are being used to describe it are derived from what the media is calling it. He has been very clear that it is extreme vetting.

Perhaps the most high-profile person from Trumps orbit, Kellyanne Conway, remains precisely that: a public face of the administration whose primary role appears to be hopscotching between the news networks almost as performance art.

The pollster had worked on the conservative right with the National Rifle Association, Newt Gingrich and Trumps own vice-president, Mike Pence, before bringing a steely professionalism to Trumps campaign. Her forceful, combative style with television inquisitors has been mostly impressive although her use of the phrase alternative facts to justify the Trump White House view of the world will probably hang around her neck for years to come.

All the while in the background lurk Trumps daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka walk to board Marine One at the White House on Thursday. Photograph: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

As Trumps wife Melania has disappeared from public view, opting to remain in New York City where their 10-year-old son Barron attends school, Ivanka has served as a de facto first lady. She visited Dover air force base with her father on Wednesday to honor the first US service member killed under Trumps watch.

Kushner, who ran much of the Trump campaign, is one of his father-in-laws closest advisers, somehow elevated from Manhattan property deals to security clearance at the heart of government and a seat in the situation room.

So far he has been scarcely visible popping up to fill out the chorus line behind Trump in Oval Office photocalls as the president flourishes another executive order. Yet when a special forces raid in Yemen that led to the death of an American soldier was approved, Kushner sat with Bannon and Priebus while Trump made the decision.

The growing influence of Bannon has sounded alarm bells across Washington, even among Republicans. While most lawmakers from Trumps own party are reticent to insert their opinion into his staffing decisions, his decision to elevate the former Breitbart CEO to the National Security Council was met with concern for potentially insulating the president from experienced professionals in favor of his political allies.

It sounds problematic to me, said Lindsey Graham, a senator from South Carolina who was a vocal critic of Trumps during the presidential campaign.

The National Security Council has been driven by professional folks. Ive never seen a situation where someone whos more from the political realm has a permanent seat. I dont think thats a good precedent.

James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma who sits on the Senate intelligence committee, said Bannons appointment was obviously a political position in the middle of a body that is usually distinctly non-political.

Obviously the president can choose how hes going to have the inner workings of his White House, he said. Itll be of interest to us just how it operates.

But the unveiling of the first major Bannon-driven policy, framed as a matter of urgent national security, was nothing short of tumultuous.

Last Friday, Trump ended the first week of his presidency by temporarily suspending all refugee admissions to the US and placing a moratorium on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, spiraling the US government into days of chaos that played out globally.

The executive order, shaped by Bannon and Miller, made good on Trumps campaign promise to crack down on Muslim immigration to the US. Chaos ensued at airports across the country, as officials acting upon the administrations order hadnt a clue how to implement it. Green card holders and interpreters who served alongside the US military in war-torn countries were swept up in its broad implications, and even young children were detained for hours.

It was soon revealed that neither John Kelly nor James Mattis, the new secretaries of homeland security and the defense department, had been fully briefed in advance. Nor had congressional leaders, with even the House speaker, Paul Ryan, telling reporters days later that he only learned of what was in the travel ban as the policy was being issued.

Stephen Miller: Hes really clicked with the president and understands how the president wants to articulate and frame things, one former Trump adviser said. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Miller, the architect of the order, was sent out to defend the ban on national television as a split-screen carried the widespread protests prompted by the dramatic shift in policy.

But despite Millers vigorous justification for what the White House dubbed as extreme vetting, the damage had been done. A number of Republicans, who might have otherwise supported Trumps action had they been involved in the process, sharply criticized the administrations handling of the ordeal and called for swift changes.

The botched rollout of the travel ban, according to a veteran of Capitol Hill and Republican campaigns, was emblematic of the challenges posed by the current power structure surrounding Trump.

There are not enough people of that ilk with the requisite experience to successfully operate the federal government, said the strategist, who requested anonymity to speak more freely.

At the same time, the scope of the decisions that have to be made by the executive branch of the US government is so vast that you have to delegate power.

The tension surrounding the travel ban and its immediate aftermath also laid bare the fissures emerging between the various factions within the White House.

As Bannon and Miller called the shots behind the scenes, crafting a policy that played directly to Trumps base, Priebus and Spicer found themselves tasked with cleaning up the mess.

Miller did, however, face the heat when MSNBC host Joe Scarborough launched into a stinging rebuke on his morning talkshow regularly watched by Trump himself.

Youve got a very young person in the White House on a power trip thinking that you can just write executive orders and tell all of your cabinet agencies to go to hell, Scarborough said, before addressing Miller plainly.

By the time youre 35, maybe youll know how Washington and the White House really works.

If youre still around, he added. I hope youre not.

Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon share a lighter moment in the Oval Office. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Some close to Trump defended Miller, framing the outrage over the travel ban as driven by negative media coverage. Jason Miller, a former adviser to Trump, no relation to Stephen Miller, said the young aide had developed a unique understanding of Trump and his appeal on the campaign trail.

Steve really understands the economic populism movement both from his time working in conservative politics and being on the campaign trail, Jason Miller told the Guardian.

Hes really clicked with the president and understands how the president wants to articulate and frame things.

Jason Miller also contested reports of dysfunction inside the West Wing, deeming many of the leaks from within the administration as the work of government officials who never wished for Trump to get elected.

Are some people getting their knickers in a twist because of the changes? Yeah, he said. But these are the things the president said he was going to fight for and advocate.

The core team at Trumps side inside the Oval Office, Miller added, was unlikely to change.

Trumps campaign was nonetheless rocked by repeated shakeups. And the Trump White House is expected to be no different, where staffers of even the most even-keeled presidents are prone to burn out after only a few years.

To some observers, those surrounding Trump are ultimately powerless in the face of a president who obsessively drives his own image.

Referring to Trumps contentious call with the Australian prime minister, Lindsey Graham said the incident was a precise example of where regardless of those standing at his shoulder, the words of the president of the United States really matter.

Eventually hes the president. Hes the guy on the phone, Graham said.

And to the extent that politics is music, hes off key.

The inner circle

Steve Bannon: Trumps dishevelled chief strategist has brought his rightwing Breitbart website agenda to the seat of power and has been a virtual ever-present in the Oval Office.

Steve Miller: an ex-Capitol Hill staffer who has risen from role as Trumps election rally warm-up man to writing the American carnage inauguration speech and botching the chaotic roll-out of the immigration ban.

Reince Priebus: the chief of staff who came from within the Republican party machine to try to professionalise the freewheeling Trump operation. Already facing questions over his ability to control.

Jared Kushner: the son-in-law with security clearance. Property deals in Manhattan swapped for a role in the conversation when the US launched a raid in Yemen.

Ivanka Trump: daughter stepped in on first lady duties, joining her father aboard Marine One when he went to honour the return of a fallen US Navy Seal killed in the Yemen commando raid.

Kellyanne Conway: combative defender of the Trump administration on the airwaves certain to be forever remembered for proposing alternative facts.

Sean Spicer: clean-cut, well-scrubbed but not very polished. The White House spokesman rapidly defaults to rage in the briefing room. Period.

Read more: http://bit.ly/2kzrPBN

from Trump’s courtiers bring chaotic and capricious style to White House

#Trump’s courtiers bring chaotic and capricious style to White House

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foodselfiesandstuffblog · 7 years

Text

Marlon Jones: WHY I’M DONE TALKING ABOUT DIVERSITY

This is a repost of an article posted to lithub. Marlon James won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for his recent novel "A Brief History of Seven Killings".

Marlon James was born in Jamaica in 1970. His most recent novel is A Brief History of Seven Killings, won the 2015 Man Booker Prize, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and won the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature for fiction, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for fiction, and the Minnesota Book Award. He is also the author of The Book of Night Women and John Crow’s Devil. He lives in Minneapolis.

You’d think with the rise of Donald Trump in the US, Marine Le Pen in France, the newly energized Neo-Nazi and KKK movements, and with people from all over the world (but particularly Europe) suddenly emboldened to be public with their racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia, that now would be the perfect time to raise the banner high for diversity. Now would be the time to have discussions, and raise awareness. And yet now seems like the perfect time to stop talking about it.

Or at least stop talking about it in the way we always have. Why now, when that voice seems to be needed most? The problem is all this talking. Liberals, in particular love to talk. We debate issues, we explore the conservative angle (despite them never returning the favor), we talk about solutions, we even try to tolerate those who would not tolerate us. The problem with all this conversation, is that it is all we do. We have diversity panels and invite writers of color, perhaps Roxane Gay (who has long called out the lit establishment on this habit, and who inspired me to write this piece), or Junot Diaz, or an Indigenous American and/or Australian so as to not ignore original peoples. We invite a gay man or woman, with extra bonus points if the homosexual is a person of color. Then we invite a few white persons who claim to get it, even if they are mystified by the racial arguments breaking out on college campuses (aren’t they all rich kids?) or Black Lives Matter.

It’s not just that diversity, like tolerance is an outcome treated as a goal. It is that we too often mistake discussing diversity with doing anything constructive about it. This might be something we picked up from academia, the idea that discussing an issue is somehow on par with solving it, or at least beginning the process. A panel on diversity is like a panel on world peace. It should be seeking a time when we no longer need such panels. It should be a panel actively working towards its own irrelevance. The fact that we’re still having them not only means that we continue to fail, but the false sense of accomplishment in simply having one is deceiving us into thinking that something was tried.

One could ask, but isn’t that why we need to have that talk more than ever? To recognize and appreciate diversity more, to overcome racism, sexism and all the other isms that divide us? Well for one, saying these isms are dividing us is implying that we are equally to blame for the division. What is happening is one group using social, economic and political policies to separate themselves from others, not always deliberately. It’s not for the black person to be more open-minded. It’s for the white person to be less racist. It’s not for the trans person to prove why she needs to use the female bathroom. It’s for the bigot to stop attacking trans people. The problem with me coming to the table to talk about diversity is the belief that I have some role to play in us accomplishing it, and I don’t. And the fact that I have to return to that table often should be proof that such discussions aren’t achieving what they are supposed to.

And whose diversity is it anyway? Are we truly being diverse, or are we just widening that hierarchal lens for one sector of the population to broaden their view of the world? For some people, an Asian sidekick in a movie is diversity. Or a white woman putting on a Kimono. But who is this diversity benefiting? And what about diversity’s side effects, like cultural appropriation, which some people still look upon as a positive thing? Are we truly broadening our landscapes, or are we just cutting off a manageable chunk of exotica or worse, putting a white voice on top and selling a million copies, exploiting the cultural richness of diverse peoples without accepting the people themselves or even worse—simultaneously driving them out?

Because the other problem with diversity, is that it works with segregation extremely well. In fact it gives liberals in particular the opportunity to pay lip service to a thing that they may be unable or unwilling to actually practice. Well that’s not totally true. They could travel to these neighborhoods of color if they wanted to (maybe for some authentic Indian food), but for security concerns. “Sketchy,” becomes the code word for black, or brown or just poor. Again, these are liberal cities that pride themselves on diversity, and yet New York City has the most segregated schools in America. Chicago’s blacks and whites live such radically different lives that they are essentially in two cities. A multiplicity of neighborhoods merely means that multiplicity exists. It doesn’t mean that anybody lives, works or even plays together.

Funnily enough these diversity panels tend to happen at festivals, and conferences in cities where diversity is all but forced out: New York, Washington DC, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle. Portland, Oregon, for example is the whitest city in America with a 75 percent white population and a 3 percent black population that’s getting smaller. San Francisco is at 5.4 percent and Los Angeles’ population is getting smaller too. These are cities, and by extension people who would be horrified at the idea of being called racist, and yet they seem to be active segregationists. Because one of the hallmarks of these cities is a total failure at housing affordability, something these cities still don’t recognize as failures because 1.) They are a result of environmental policies that meant well, but drove prices up and put huge burdens on low-income households, 2.) So much money is being made and 3.) It’s only colored people who are being kicked out anyway. Last year when a friend lamented to me that he was being kicked out of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, I suggested he track down the Puerto Ricans his arrival helped drive out, and see where they went. Better yet, try this experiment on Air BnB: Book a few places using a photo of a black person.

Diversity can’t accomplish anything because diversity shouldn’t have been a goal in the first place. The other problem is the continued insistence on having the writer of color talk about these things, as if by getting Claudia Rankine to talk about diversity, one has accomplished it. Rankine would be the first to point out the hypocrisy in the assumption itself, probably in the first line of her speech. You would think our sole purpose as writers at these panels is to broaden the understanding of white people, when we could you know, talk about writing. Worse, it’s the same talk we gave last year, and the year before that, and the year before that one, going back years, and decades. Either we’re not speaking loud enough, or clear enough, or maybe nobody is listening. Maybe a diversity panel should be all white.

Think about it: A panel on diversity with no diversity on it. The outrage would be immediate, even from people of color. And yet maybe that is what should happen. And maybe the first question should be why do we need a black person on a panel to talk about inclusion when it’s the white person who needs to figure out how to include? I actually think a far more profound set of questions could arise if the writer of color is not there, beginning by what her absence means. Is such a discussion legitimate without the black, or brown or gay voice, despite diversity being a white problem? What does a white problem even mean, especially if the default position is that we’re basically in the right? Are we even equipped to talk about diversity, or were we leaving it to the colored person to provide insight for us to float an opinion on top of it? What do we really know about segregation? Do we have the latest figures on persons of color working in publishing? Who is Sandra Bland and does she matter to you? Rather than hear black people complain about it, can you provide a guess, or even a solid explanation why all black female writers get the same book cover? And if you hear yourself reciting the same talking points all over again would you recognize it?

My fear though is that our absence would create a different set of problems. After all, when it comes to diversity most of us feel we’re doing a good job until someone, usually a person of color points out that we’re not. Maybe a diversity panel with no diversity results in nothing being discussed. But we, the other, are exhausted by people’s short memories. It’s like that mental condition where a person’s mind goes blank every day, resetting at the point before brain damage. The point I will raise at a diversity panel this year, will be the same point I raised ten years ago, which again reinforces the question of what purpose these panels serve. Especially when its primary purpose, which is to get to the day when we will no longer need such panels, is not any closer than it was before. Maybe we will stop failing so badly at true diversity when we stop thinking that all we need to do is talk about it.

#Marlon James #Jamaica #Man Booker Prize #A Brief History of Seven Killings

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brookstonalmanac · 3 years

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Events 6.10

671 – Emperor Tenji of Japan introduces a water clock (clepsydra) called Rokoku. The instrument, which measures time and indicates hours, is placed in the capital of Ōtsu. 1190 – Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowns in the river Saleph while leading an army to Jerusalem. 1329 – The Battle of Pelekanon results in a Byzantine defeat by the Ottoman Empire. 1523 – Copenhagen is surrounded by the army of Frederick I of Denmark, as the city will not recognise him as the successor of Christian II of Denmark. 1539 – Council of Trent: Pope Paul III sends out letters to his bishops, delaying the Council due to war and the difficulty bishops had traveling to Venice. 1596 – Willem Barents and Jacob van Heemskerk discover Bear Island. 1619 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Záblatí, a turning point in the Bohemian Revolt. 1624 – Signing of the Treaty of Compiègne between France and the Netherlands. 1692 – Salem witch trials: Bridget Bishop is hanged at Gallows Hill near Salem, Massachusetts, for "certaine Detestable Arts called Witchcraft and Sorceries". 1719 – Jacobite risings: Battle of Glen Shiel. 1782 – King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I) of Siam (modern day Thailand) is crowned. 1786 – A landslide dam on the Dadu River created by an earthquake ten days earlier collapses, killing 100,000 in the Sichuan province of China. 1793 – The Jardin des Plantes museum opens in Paris. A year later, it becomes the first public zoo. 1793 – French Revolution: Following the arrests of Girondin leaders, the Jacobins gain control of the Committee of Public Safety installing the revolutionary dictatorship. 1805 – First Barbary War: Yusuf Karamanli signs a treaty ending the hostilities between Tripolitania and the United States. 1829 – The first Boat Race between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge takes place on the Thames in London. 1838 – Myall Creek massacre: Twenty-eight Aboriginal Australians are murdered. 1854 – The United States Naval Academy graduates its first class of students. 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Big Bethel: Confederate troops under John B. Magruder defeat a much larger Union force led by General Ebenezer W. Pierce in Virginia. 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Brice's Crossroads: Confederate troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest defeat a much larger Union force led by General Samuel D. Sturgis in Mississippi. 1868 – Mihailo Obrenović III, Prince of Serbia is assassinated. 1871 – Sinmiyangyo: Captain McLane Tilton leads 109 US Marines in a naval attack on Han River forts on Kanghwa Island, Korea. 1878 – League of Prizren is established, to oppose the decisions of the Congress of Berlin and the Treaty of San Stefano, as a consequence of which the Albanian lands in the Balkans were being partitioned and given to the neighbor states of Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Greece. 1886 – Mount Tarawera in New Zealand erupts, killing 153 people and burying the famous Pink and White Terraces. Eruptions continue for three months creating a large, 17 km long fissure across the mountain peak. 1898 – Spanish–American War: In the Battle of Guantánamo Bay, U.S. Marines begin the American invasion of Spanish-held Cuba. 1916 – The Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire was declared by Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca. 1918 – The Austro-Hungarian battleship SMS Szent István sinks off the Croatian coast after being torpedoed by an Italian MAS motorboat; the event is recorded by camera from a nearby vessel. 1924 – Fascists kidnap and kill Italian Socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti in Rome. 1935 – Dr. Robert Smith takes his last drink, and Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in Akron, Ohio, United States, by him and Bill Wilson. 1935 – Chaco War ends: A truce is called between Bolivia and Paraguay who had been fighting since 1932. 1940 – World War II: The Kingdom of Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom. 1940 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt denounces Italy's actions in his "Stab in the Back" speech at the graduation ceremonies of the University of Virginia. 1940 – World War II: Military resistance to the German occupation of Norway ends. 1942 – World War II: The Lidice massacre is perpetrated as a reprisal for the assassination of Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich. 1944 – World War II: Six hundred forty-two men, women and children massacred at Oradour-sur-Glane, France. 1944 – World War II: In Distomo, Boeotia, Greece, 218 men, women and children are massacred by German troops. 1944 – In baseball, 15-year-old Joe Nuxhall of the Cincinnati Reds becomes the youngest player ever in a major-league game. 1945 – Australian Imperial Forces land in Brunei Bay to liberate Brunei. 1947 – Saab produces its first automobile. 1957 – John Diefenbaker leads the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to a stunning upset in the 1957 Canadian federal election, ending 22 years of Liberal Party government. 1963 – The Equal Pay Act of 1963, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex, was signed into law by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program. 1964 – United States Senate breaks a 75-day filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, leading to the bill's passage. 1967 – The Six-Day War ends: Israel and Syria agree to a cease-fire. 1977 – James Earl Ray escapes from Brushy Mountain State Prison in Petros, Tennessee. He is recaptured three days later. 1980 – The African National Congress in South Africa publishes a call to fight from their imprisoned leader Nelson Mandela. 1982 – Lebanon War: The Syrian Arab Army defeats the Israeli Defense Forces in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub. 1990 – British Airways Flight 5390 lands safely at Southampton Airport after a blowout in the cockpit causes the captain to be partially sucked from the cockpit. There are no fatalities. 1991 – Eleven-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard is kidnapped in South Lake Tahoe, California; she would remain a captive until 2009. 1994 – China conducts a nuclear test for DF-31 warhead at Area C (Beishan), Lop Nur, its prominence being due to the Cox Report. 1996 – Peace talks begin in Northern Ireland without the participation of Sinn Féin. 1997 – Before fleeing his northern stronghold, Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot orders the killing of his defense chief Son Sen and 11 of Sen's family members. 1999 – Kosovo War: NATO suspends its airstrikes after Slobodan Milošević agrees to withdraw Serbian forces from Kosovo. 2001 – Pope John Paul II canonizes Lebanon's first female saint, Saint Rafqa. 2002 – The first direct electronic communication experiment between the nervous systems of two humans is carried out by Kevin Warwick in the United Kingdom. 2003 – The Spirit rover is launched, beginning NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission. 2009 – James Wenneker von Brunn, who was 88-years-old, opened fire inside the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and fatally shot Museum Special Police Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns. Other security guards returned fire, wounding von Brunn, who was apprehended. 2019 – An Agusta A109E Power crashed onto the AXA Equitable Center on Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, which sparked a fire on the top of the building. The pilot of the helicopter was killed.

#Events

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brookstonalmanac · 4 years

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Events 6.10

#Events

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brookstonalmanac · 4 years

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Events 4.25

404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion. 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate. Muslim control over Transcaucasia is solidified and its Islamization begins, while several major Armenian nakharar families lose power and their remnants flee to the Byzantine Empire. 799 – After mistreatment and disfigurement by the citizens of Rome, pope Leo III flees to the Frankish court of king Charlemagne at Paderborn for protection. 1134 – The name Zagreb was mentioned for the first time in the Felician Charter relating to the establishment of the Zagreb Bishopric around 1094. 1607 – Eighty Years' War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar. 1644 – The Chongzhen Emperor, the last Emperor of Ming dynasty China, commits suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng. 1707 – A coalition of Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal is defeated by a Franco-Spanish army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession. 1792 – Highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine. 1792 – "La Marseillaise" (the French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle. 1804 – The western Georgian kingdom of Imereti accepts the suzerainty of the Russian Empire. 1829 – Charles Fremantle arrives in HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom. 1846 – Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War. 1849 – The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal's English population and triggering the Montreal Riots. 1859 – British and French engineers break ground for the Suez Canal. 1862 – American Civil War: Forces under U.S. Admiral David Farragut demand the surrender of the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana. 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Marks' Mills. 1882 – French and Vietnamese troops clashed in Tonkin, when Commandant Henri Rivière seized the citadel of Hanoi with a small force of marine infantry. 1898 – Spanish–American War: The United States declares war on Spain. 1901 – New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates. 1915 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins: The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by British, French, Indian, Newfoundland, Australian and New Zealand troops, begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles. 1916 – Anzac Day is commemorated for the first time on the first anniversary of the landing at ANZAC Cove. 1920 – At the San Remo conference, the principal Allied Powers of World War I adopt a resolution to determine the allocation of Class "A" League of Nations mandates for administration of the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East. 1938 – U.S. Supreme Court delivers its opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law. 1940 – Merkið, the flag of the Faroe Islands is approved by the British occupation government. 1944 – The United Negro College Fund is incorporated. 1945 – Elbe Day: United States and Soviet troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two. 1945 – Liberation Day (Italy): The Nazi occupation army surrenders and leaves Northern Italy after a general partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement; the puppet fascist regime dissolves and Benito Mussolini is captured after trying to escape. This day was set as a public holiday to celebrate the Liberation of Italy. 1945 – United Nations Conference on International Organization: Founding negotiations for the United Nations begin in San Francisco. 1945 – The last German troops retreat from Finland's soil in Lapland, ending the Lapland War. Military acts of Second World War end in Finland. 1951 – Korean War: Assaulting Chinese forces are forced to withdraw after heavy fighting with UN forces, primarily made up of Australian and Canadian troops, at the Battle of Kapyong. 1953 – Francis Crick and James Watson publish "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" describing the double helix structure of DNA. 1954 – The first practical solar cell is publicly demonstrated by Bell Telephone Laboratories. 1959 – The Saint Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping. 1960 – The United States Navy submarine USS Triton completes the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe. 1961 – Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit. 1972 – Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive: The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum. 1974 – Carnation Revolution: A leftist military coup in Portugal overthrows the authoritarian-conservative Estado Novo regime and establishes a democratic government. 1975 – As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost ten years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam. 1981 – More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. 1982 – Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula per the Camp David Accords. 1983 – Cold War: American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war. 1983 – Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto's orbit. 1986 – Mswati III is crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II. 1988 – In Israel, John Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II. 1990 – Violeta Chamorro takes office as the President of Nicaragua, the first woman to hold the position. 2001 – Michele Alboreto is killed while testing an Audi R8 at the Lausitzring in Germany. 2004 – The March for Women's Lives brings between 500,000 and 800,000 protesters, mostly pro-choice, to Washington D.C. to protest the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, and other restrictions on abortion. 2005 – The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937. 2005 – Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union. 2007 – Boris Yeltsin's funeral: The first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894. 2015 – Nearly 9,100 are killed after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Nepal.

#Events

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brookstonalmanac · 5 years

Text

Events 6.10

671 – Emperor Tenji of Japan introduces a water clock (clepsydra) called Rokoku. The instrument, which measures time and indicates hours, is placed in the capital of Ōtsu. 1190 – Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowns in the river Saleph while leading an army to Jerusalem. 1329 – The Battle of Pelekanon results in a Byzantine defeat by the Ottoman Empire. 1523 – Copenhagen is surrounded by the army of Frederick I of Denmark, as the city won't recognise him as the successor of Christian II of Denmark. 1539 – Council of Trent: Pope Paul III sends out letters to his bishops, delaying the Council due to war and the difficulty bishops had traveling to Venice. 1596 – Willem Barents and Jacob van Heemskerk discover Bear Island. 1619 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Záblatí, a turning point in the Bohemian Revolt. 1624 – Signing of the Treaty of Compiègne between France and the Netherlands. 1692 – Salem witch trials: Bridget Bishop is hanged at Gallows Hill near Salem, Massachusetts, for "certaine Detestable Arts called Witchcraft and Sorceries". 1719 – Jacobite risings: Battle of Glen Shiel. 1782 – King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I) of Siam (modern day Thailand) is crowned. 1786 – A landslide dam on the Dadu River created by an earthquake ten days earlier collapses, killing 100,000 in the Sichuan province of China. 1793 – The Jardin des Plantes museum opens in Paris. A year later, it becomes the first public zoo. 1793 – French Revolution: Following the arrests of Girondin leaders, the Jacobins gain control of the Committee of Public Safety installing the revolutionary dictatorship. 1805 – First Barbary War: Yusuf Karamanli signs a treaty ending the hostilities between Tripolitania and the United States. 1829 – The first Boat Race between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge takes place on the Thames in London. 1838 – Myall Creek massacre: Twenty-eight Aboriginal Australians are murdered. 1854 – The United States Naval Academy graduates its first class of students. 1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Big Bethel: Confederate troops under John B. Magruder defeat a much larger Union force led by General Ebenezer W. Pierce in Virginia. 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Brice's Crossroads: Confederate troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest defeat a much larger Union force led by General Samuel D. Sturgis in Mississippi. 1868 – Mihailo Obrenović III, Prince of Serbia is assassinated. 1871 – Sinmiyangyo: Captain McLane Tilton leads 109 US Marines in a naval attack on Han River forts on Kanghwa Island, Korea. 1878 – League of Prizren is established, to oppose the decisions of the Congress of Berlin and the Treaty of San Stefano, as a consequence of which the Albanian lands in the Balkans were being partitioned and given to the neighbor states of Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Greece. 1886 – Mount Tarawera in New Zealand erupts, killing 153 people and burying the famous Pink and White Terraces. Eruptions continue for three months creating a large, 17 km long fissure across the mountain peak. 1898 – Spanish–American War: U.S. Marines land on the island of Cuba. 1916 – The Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire was declared by Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca. 1918 – The Austro-Hungarian battleship SMS Szent István sinks off the Croatian coast after being torpedoed by an Italian MAS motorboat; the event is recorded by camera from a nearby vessel. 1924 – Fascists kidnap and kill Italian Socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti in Rome. 1935 – Dr. Robert Smith takes his last drink, and Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in Akron, Ohio, United States, by him and Bill Wilson. 1935 – Chaco War ends: A truce is called between Bolivia and Paraguay who had been fighting since 1932. 1940 – World War II: The Kingdom of Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom. 1940 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt denounces Italy's actions in his "Stab in the Back" speech at the graduation ceremonies of the University of Virginia. 1940 – World War II: Military resistance to the German occupation of Norway ends. 1942 – World War II: Nazis burn the Czech village of Lidice in reprisal for the killing of Reinhard Heydrich. 1944 – World War II: Six hundred forty-two men, women and children massacred at Oradour-sur-Glane, France. 1944 – World War II: In Distomo, Boeotia, Greece, 218 men, women and children are massacred by German troops. 1944 – In baseball, 15-year-old Joe Nuxhall of the Cincinnati Reds becomes the youngest player ever in a major-league game. 1945 – Australian Imperial Forces land in Brunei Bay to liberate Brunei. 1947 – Saab produces its first automobile. 1957 – John Diefenbaker leads the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to a stunning upset in the Canadian federal election, 1957, ending 22 years of Liberal Party government. 1963 – The Equal Pay Act of 1963, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex, was signed into law by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program. 1964 – United States Senate breaks a 75-day filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, leading to the bill's passage. 1967 – The Six-Day War ends: Israel and Syria agree to a cease-fire. 1977 – James Earl Ray escapes from Brushy Mountain State Prison in Petros, Tennessee. He is recaptured three days later. 1980 – The African National Congress in South Africa publishes a call to fight from their imprisoned leader Nelson Mandela. 1982 – The Syrian Arab Army led by generals Ali and Habib Mahmood defeat the Israeli Defense Forces near Sultan Yacoub, Lebanon, during the 1982 Lebanon War resulting in 30 dead and three missing for the IDF, ten tanks lost and three APCs destroyed. 1990 – British Airways Flight 5390 lands safely at Southampton Airport after a blowout in the cockpit causes the captain to be partially sucked from the cockpit. There are no fatalities 1991 – Eleven-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard is kidnapped in South Lake Tahoe, California; she would remain a captive until 2009. 1994 – China conducts a nuclear test for DF-31 warhead at Area C (Beishan), Lop Nur, its prominence being due to the Cox Report. 1996 – Peace talks begin in Northern Ireland without the participation of Sinn Féin. 1997 – Before fleeing his northern stronghold, Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot orders the killing of his defense chief Son Sen and 11 of Sen's family members. 1999 – Kosovo War: NATO suspends its airstrikes after Slobodan Milošević agrees to withdraw Serbian forces from Kosovo. 2001 – Pope John Paul II canonizes Lebanon's first female saint, Saint Rafqa. 2002 – The first direct electronic communication experiment between the nervous systems of two humans is carried out by Kevin Warwick in the United Kingdom. 2003 – The Spirit rover is launched, beginning NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission. 2017 – The World Expo is opened in Astana, Kazakhstan.

#Events

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