#edwin andrews air base

[rhk111sblog]

The A-29B Super Tucano Aircraft of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) seems to be operating on a Buddy System, sharing one Electro-Optical/Forward Looking Infra-Red (EO/FLIR) “Ball” for every two Aircraft while the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) used their newest Assets like the Super Tucanos, Autonomous Truck Mounted-howitzer System (ATMOS) and Hermes Drones to make a devastating strike against the New People's Army (NPA) even under the cover of Darkness

[nocternalrandomness]

”Decent Checklist”

USAF pilot flying a C-130 Hercules assigned to the 36th Air Squadron performs his descent checklist during approach to Edwin-Andrews Air Base located in Zamboanga City.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 1.26

661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph. 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire. 1500 – Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil. 1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Mw Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people. 1564 – The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. 1564 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tsardom of Russia in the Battle of Ula during the Livonian War. 1565 – Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent. 1699 – For the first time, the Ottoman Empire permanently cedes territory to the Christian powers. 1700 – The 8.7–9.2 Mw Cascadia earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records. 1736 – Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne. 1788 – The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on Australia. Commemorated as Australia Day. 1808 – The Rum Rebellion is the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in New South Wales. 1837 – Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state. 1838 – Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States. 1841 – James Bremer takes formal possession of Hong Kong Island at what is now Possession Point, establishing British Hong Kong. 1855 – Point No Point Treaty is signed in Washington Territory. 1856 – First Battle of Seattle: Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all-day battle with settlers. 1861 – American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union. 1863 – American Civil War: General Ambrose Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He is replaced by Joseph Hooker. 1863 – American Civil War: Governor of Massachusetts John Albion Andrew receives permission from the Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent. 1870 – Reconstruction Era: Virginia rejoins the Union. 1885 – Troops loyal to The Mahdi conquer Khartoum, killing the Governor-General Charles George Gordon. 1905 – The world's largest diamond ever, the Cullinan weighing 3,106.75 carats (0.621350 kg), is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa. 1911 – Glenn Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane. 1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress. 1918 – Finnish Civil War: A group of Red Guards hangs a red lantern atop the tower of Helsinki Workers' Hall to symbolically mark the start of the war. 1920 – Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company, which he later sold to his former employer. 1926 – The first demonstration of the television by John Logie Baird. 1930 – The Indian National Congress declares 26 January as Independence Day or as the day for Poorna Swaraj ("Complete Independence") which occurred 17 years later. 1934 – The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City. 1934 – German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed. 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Catalonia Offensive: Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona. 1942 – World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe, landing in Northern Ireland. 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins encircling the German Fourth Army near Heiligenbeil in East Prussia, which will end in destruction of the 4th Army two months later. 1945 – World War II: Audie Murphy displays valor and bravery in action for which he will later be awarded the Medal of Honor. 1949 – The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope (until BTA-6 is built in 1976). 1950 – The Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as the first President of India. Observed as Republic Day in India. 1952 – Black Saturday in Egypt: rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. 1956 – Soviet Union cedes Porkkala back to Finland. 1961 – John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be the first woman Physician to the President. 1962 – Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon. The space probe later misses the moon by 22,000 miles (35,400 km). 1965 – Hindi becomes the official language of India. 1972 – JAT Fight 367 is destroyed by a terrorist bomb, killing 27 of the 28 people on board the DC-9. Flight attendant Vesna Vulović survives with critical injuries. 1974 – Turkish Airlines Flight 301 crashes during takeoff from Izmir Cumaovası Airport (now İzmir Adnan Menderes Airport), killing 66 of the 73 people on board the Fokker F28 Fellowship. 1980 – Egypt–Israel relations are formally established. 1986 – The Ugandan government of Tito Okello is overthrown by the National Resistance Army, led by Yoweri Museveni. 1991 – Mohamed Siad Barre is removed from power in Somalia, ending centralized government, and is succeeded by Ali Mahdi. 1992 – Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons. 1998 – Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. 2001 – The 7.7 Mw Gujarat earthquake shakes Western India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 13,805–20,023 dead and about 166,800 injured. 2009 – Rioting breaks out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina. 2015 – An aircraft crashes at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people and injuring 21 others. 2020 – A Sikorsky S-76B flying from John Wayne Airport to Camarillo Airport crashes in Calabasas, 30 miles west of Los Angeles, killing all nine people on board, including former five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant.

[libertasrpg]

We welcome Thomas Hatter to the city. He’s 32 years old and is a book store manager. Hatter is often mistaken for Taron Egerton. He’s open.

→ Background Information

Thomas Hatter has always been a bit of a while one. As a child, his parents regularly tried and failed to get him under control. They figured his energy levels would calm down as he grew up. That never happened though. So, people just had to learn to deal with him. He’s a very marmite person. Some people think he’s great, and some people can’t stand him. His own family distanced themselves from him when he moved out on his own because they were sick of asking him to slow down. It was sad for him to begin with but eventually he learned that if people didn’t like him the way he was, then they weren’t worth having around. 

→ Living Situation

When Thomas first moved to Libertas, he did move in with someone. It quickly became apparent though that he wasn’t designed to live with others. His eccentric ways and often unruly behaviour meant his roommate quickly grew sick of him. They had enough of him making a racket at 4am in the morning. So now he lives alone. This does mean that he has complete rule of his domain now, and he definitely enjoys that. There isn’t a single empty shelf in the place. Every room is stuffed to the brim with bowties, books and hats. Thomas calls it his ‘organized mess’ and it is exactly that. The place looks like a bomb went off most of the time but if you asked for Thomas to find a specific item, he’d have it for you seconds later. 

→ Relocation Explanation

Thomas had a great life. He was happy and content. His best friend, King, really helped him keep a level head at all times. But then one day -- King was gone. In what was labelled a ‘sexscapade gone wrong’ with his girlfriend, Iracebeth, King lost his life. Thomas was absolutely distraught. The death sent him absolutely off the rails. So, along with Iracebeth’s assistant who was also looking to escape, Hatter left his home looking for a new start.

→ His Personality

Hatter’s name is known far and wide, thanks to his eccentricities. He’s incredibly loud and has often been labelled “insane”. Thomas does not do anything in halves. There is nothing that makes Thomas smile wider than the smiles of others so he lives to make people happy. This often means he’ll go to crazy (sometimes worrying) lengths but everything is usually okay at the end of the day. Coming from a theatre family, Hatter knows how to put on a show - Whether that be as the manager of his book shop or as a host of a tea party. There is nothing more he loves than a good party and often holds them in his store. 

→ His Qualities

Charming, eccentric, creative, loyal

Temperamental, unprofessional, forgetful

→ His Relationships

Andrew Hare (Colleague): Andrew is Thomas’s illusive and mysterious deputy manager at the bookstore. He tends to stay behind the scenes most of the time and doesn’t do a lot of front-facing work. Andrew comes on very strong when talking to people which is why Hatter agrees that it’s good to keep him behind the scenes.

Alice Kingsleigh (Close friend): Thomas and Alice befriended after she started to become one of the bookshop regulars. She’s a cheery young lady and Hatter simply adores her. His favourite thing is exchanging stories with her about each other’s lives.

Charlie Mace (Employee): Charlie immediately seemed like the exact right person to have in the bookstore. When they turned up for their job interview, Thomas knew he wanted to hire them immediately. They have the exact same lust for life as him.

→ Possible Connections

Iracebeth Marmoreal (Enemy): Thomas really tries to not waste too much breathe on Iracebeth. The mere thought of her enrages him. Hatter is fairly certain she is to blame for his friend’s death still. It breaks his heart. So, he does what he can to both avoid her physically and also avoid thinking about her.

Dora Mallymkun (Employee): It would have been hard for Thomas to turn Dora down. He adores how incredibly sweet and kind-hearted she is, even if her air-head means she sometimes turns up late to work (Hatter normally despises people who’re late). Not giving her the job or firing her would be like taking candy from a child.

Edwin White (Acquaintance): After Edwin and Thomas both arrived in Libertas together, they unfortunately ended up drifting apart. They were both each other’s last reminders of the live they’d led before. If they do see each other in the street they’ll exchange a smile, but that’s all for now.

Hatter is based on the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland.

[phgq]

Relentless ops vs. ASG played role in rescue of Indo captives

#PHnews: Relentless ops vs. ASG played role in rescue of Indo captives

MANILA – Relentless military operations in Sulu played a role in the successful rescue of four kidnapped Indonesians as their efforts forced the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) to move out of their comfort zones and mass bases, said Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief-of-Staff, Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Monday.

“The kidnap victims have been held captive by the ASG for more than a year and through the AFP’s relentless efforts, the ASG who were based in Sulu, were driven out of their comfort zones and mass base, which eventually led to the successful rescue operation last week in Tawi-Tawi,” Sobejana said.

Earlier, Sobejana and Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge, Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, handed over the rescued Indonesians to their embassy representatives during a short ceremony at the General Headquarters Canopy Area, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

The Indonesian Embassy led by Charge d’affaires, Widya Rahmanto received the kidnap victims.

Also present were Indonesian Defense Attaché, Colonel Reza Suud, and Army Attaché Colonel Sigit Himawan.

The four Indonesians – Riswanto Bin Hayono, Arical Kastamiran, Arsyad Bin Dahalan, and Khairuldin Bin Yai Kii – were flown via a Philippine Air Force C-130 aircraft from Edwin Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga City to Manila on Sunday.

Personnel from the Western Mindanao Command provided security and assistance during their transport.

Hayono, Kastamiran, and Dahalan were among the rescued individuals in South Ubian, Tawi-Tawi evening of March 18 by Tandubas Police.

The 15-year old Yai Kii, on the other hand, was rescued by elements of the Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi on Sunday in Kalupag Island, Languyan, Tawi-Tawi.

“This (a) noteworthy accomplishment was a concerted effort with our counterparts from the PNP and the Local Government Units in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. It is a clear manifestation that through cooperation and vigilant support from various stakeholders – through a whole-of-nation approach – we can effectively fight and prevent the spread of terrorism,” Sobejana said.

Meanwhile, the Charge d'Affaires of Indonesia to the Philippines extended his highest appreciation to the Government of the Philippines and all respective agencies for rescuing the victims.

He conveyed the acknowledgment of the Indonesian Government for the sincere effort and extraordinary courage of the AFP and the PNP.

On January 17, 2020, Abu Sayyaf terrorists led by sub-leaders Ben Wagas, Apo Mike, and Injam Yadah abducted five Indonesians off the waters of Tambisan, Malaysia.

They were brought to Patikul, Sulu where they experienced 13 encounters between government troops and their captors.

In one of the encounters on September 28, 2020, operating troops recovered the dead body of one Indonesian named Daeng Akbal Labaa during clearing operations.

He was believed to have died of a heart attack. The cadaver was later turned over to Indonesian authorities.

“Given the lessons learned in the past, the AFP has fully recognized that we need to operate, not just as an instrument of war and a tool of policy but as a vital partner in nation-building, as we endeavor to sustain peace and stability for current and future generations of Filipinos,” Sobejana said. (PNA)

***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "Relentless ops vs. ASG played role in rescue of Indo captives." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134702 (accessed March 24, 2021 at 09:37PM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "Relentless ops vs. ASG played role in rescue of Indo captives." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134702 (archived).

[sunwisher-blog]

David Cook – Time of My Life

David Cook – Time of My Life

Call 1-855-637-4055 for our Psychic line as low as 66¢/min About David Cook: Cook originally did not plan to try out for the show. He went to the auditions in Omaha, Nebraska initially to support his younger brother (who did not make it to Hollywood) and then, prompted by mother and brother when a show producer noticed him, David auditioned himself. He performed Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On a Prayer” for his audition. For his first Hollywood audition, Cook performed “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” by Bryan Adams, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. On the second song in Hollywood, he sang “I’ll Be” by Edwin McCain. Cook took advantage of the decision to allow contestants to play musical instruments. Besides his Hollywood audition, he also accompanied himself on electric guitar for his performances of “All Right Now”, “Hello”, “Day Tripper”, “I’m Alive“, “Baba O’Riley”, “Dare You to Move”, and “Dream Big”, and on acoustic guitar for “Little Sparrow”, “All I Really Need Is You”, and “The World I Know”. His white, left-handed Gibson Les Paul electric guitar has the letters “AC” on it; as Cook told TV Guide, “I have two brothers, Adam and Andrew. So, because of superstition, I put their initials on everything growing up.” Starting from the Top 12 week, he also wore (and continues to wear) an orange wristband to support a 7-year-old fan, Lindsey Rose, with leukemia. Another of Cook’s performances, The Beatles‘ “Day Tripper”, was credited to Whitesnake. Seattle-based band Doxology has claimed that Cook’s performance of The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” was based on a version the band recorded over a year ago. On April 1, before performing his self-arranged rendition of Dolly Parton‘s “Little Sparrow” on American Idol, Cook told Ryan Seacrest in the interview session that his performance of “Eleanor Rigby” was based on Neil Zaza’s and Doxology’s versions. He also reiterated the credits of Whitesnake and Chris Cornell. Despite the controversy, critics praised Cook for choosing versions of songs that fit his vocal style. Cook’s arrangements of “Happy Together“, “Hello”, “Little Sparrow”, “Always Be My Baby”, “All I Really Need Is You”, “Baba O’Riley”, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”, “Dream Big” and “The World I Know” were original arrangements. Cook won the seventh season of American Idol on May 21, 2008, receiving 56 percent of the votes, with 12 million votes over David Archuleta, the runner-up. Cook then sang “The Time of My Life“, the winning song of the 2008 American Idol Songwriter’s Competition. In the final tally, Archuleta received 44 percent of the votes. During the final show, identical commercials promoting Guitar Hero featured David Cook and fellow finalist Archuleta mimicked the Tom Cruise scene from Risky Business where he dances in his underwear playing an air guitar. lyrics: I’ve been waiting for my dreams To turn into something I could believe in And looking for that Magic rainbow On the horizon I couldn’t see it Until I let go Gave into love and watched all the bitterness burn Now I’m coming alive Body and soul And feelin’ my world start to turn And I’ll taste every moment And live it out loud I know this is the time, This is the time To be more than a name Or a face in the crowd I know this is the time This is the time of my life Time of my life Holding onto things that vanished Into the air Left me in pieces But now I’m rising from the ashes Finding my wings And all that I needed Was there all along Within my reach As close as the beat of my heart So I’ll taste every moment And live it out loud I know this is the time, This is the time to be More than a name Or a face in the crowd I know this is the time This is the time of my life Time of my life And I’m out on the edge of forever Ready to run I’m keeping my feet on the ground My arms open wide My face to the sun I’ll taste every moment And live it out loud I know this is the time, This is the time to be More than a name Or a face in the crowd I know this is the time This is the time of my life Time of my life More than a name Or a face in the crowd This is the time This is the time of my life. This is the time of my life. Click here to return to positive music list Read the full article

[agritecture]

LA Agritecture Workshop Connects Community Around Sustainable Urban Food Production

How do you address food shortage, lack of jobs and lack of green space all in one design solution that is accessible to the community yet profitable to sustain itself as a business?  This is the question our multidisciplinary team tackled on a day long Agritecture workshop held at the office of Perkins+Will in downtown Los Angeles.

Our next Agritecture Design Workshop will be in Baltimore in June 2017. Click here for more information.

Context of Los Angeles

Los Angeles has been experiencing a resurgence of interest in urban agriculture as our city grows denser, taller, and ever more diverse.   Beyond the veil of hollywood glamour, a cultural shift has been slowly emerging - a movement towards a healthy and environmentally conscious lifestyle, a resurfaced interest in strengthening our diverse communities and an effort to becoming more resilient as a city.  Water, food and energy have been central topics of discourse as we chart our way towards carbon neutrality.  Essential to this transformation is a re-imagination of our food system.  How do we reduce our consumption of natural resources while increasing the reliability of our food supply?  Where does food production fit in our urban context? And furthermore, how would vertical farming affect urban form?

Devika from Perkins+Will and Jose begin preliminary sketching (team two)

Connecting the Country to the City

The Cornfield Arroyo Seco Specific Plan (CASP) proposes a vision that integrates farming land use in an urban landscape.  Our workshop group was tasked with designing a vertical farm on a parcel within this zoning area.  Ethnic neighborhoods surrounding the LA River are currently identified as food deserts with no real access to fresh produce.  With this in mind, our team set out to bring the country to this predominantly industrial neighborhood.

Johanna presents on how team one would integrate with the local neighborhood

Agro-Hub

Touring LA Cleantech Incubator's (LACI) facility helped us realize the potential in marrying clean-tech ideas with business mentoring.  With the nearby LA Kitchen, Goodwill culinary training and worksource station, we identified an opportunity to foster economic growth by serving as a hub for local culinary businesses.  Community members would be able to rent a full industrial kitchen, garden space as well as offices and administrative resources.  Offering these resources would empower the larger community to not only produce their own healthy food, but also to create businesses that would over time mitigate the “food desert” status.

Eighty thousand square feet of vertical farming area would produce twenty pounds of crop per square feet, which at wholesale price would yield us $6.4 million annually.  Our team also integrated rooftop garden towers and avocado and fruit trees, which would yield an extra half a million dollars annually.  Visitors ride a glass elevator up the vertical farm tower to a rooftop restaurant and garden, where they are served savory dishes with fresh produce directly from our vertical farm (Tower to Table), while enjoying sweeping views of the LA River.   

Team Three Design - Plan View

Team Three Design

Team Three Rendering by Jimmy from Perkins+Will

Collaborative Design Process

The first day's meeting point set the tone for the attendees, who for the most part were curious first-timers participating in Agritecture's design workshop.   From soil-based agriculture to a crash course in water-based agriculture, workshop participants were provided with the guidelines and required deliverables necessary to satisfy the judging criteria. Once the presentations were out of the way, we finally got a chance to personally meet the members of our respective teams, and loosely define a game-plan for the following day.

Leigh from Perkins+Will and Jen from RiverLA present @ LACI The second and final day of the workshop was held in the Los Angeles offices of Perkins + Will, a research-based architecture and design firm specializing in areas of sustainability, resilience, and health and wellness. Team 3 (our team) was designated a large desk in the northeast corner of the firm's office, with windows large enough to grant entry to morning sun's rays. Energized by the sun, we began brainstorming and soon allocating tasks to all members of the group.

Agritecture’s Andrew Blume advises team three Before joining the group in LA, I had made it clear to myself that winning was not the priority of this "friendly competition", but the ability to appreciate the gathering of like-minded people and being able to reach a common goal, and that was what Team 3 was able to accomplish. The synergy among the group allowed for respectful dialogue and last minute changes/additions to be easily incorporated into the final presentation. Occasional visits from the members of the Agritecture team helped guide and keep us focused as we got closer to our deadline. Working with a limited time-frame, architects Avideh and Jimmy were able to piece together fine computer-based architectural pieces, allowing Jerome, Niels, and Heather to focus on calculating numbers pertaining to leafy green and mushroom production costs, while Brian, Manuel, and Mishael mapped out a suitable marketing strategy.  As a team, we were keen on providing a solution that not only brought our vertical farming vision to life, but was also sensitive to the needs of the community.  Our final design proposal was a building that gently slopes up to become a tower - a glimpse into how urban agriculture could affect urban form in new and interesting ways.  

Colin Archipley delivers the event’s keynote speech

Giving Back

While the judges deliberated on which team would be crowned the winner, we heard a presentation by Farmer Ben from team one and from Community Healing Gardens. It was terrific to hear about how they support community through urban gardening, particularly with the garden they support at Edwin Markham Middle School in Watts. What was even more terrific was that at the conclusion of the workshop, the +Farm unit that was on display was donated to Edwin Markham Middle School.

Big shout out to all those who made the donation of this system happen including:

Transcend Lighting (LEDs)

Bluelab (sensor/controller)

No Stress Hydroponics (discounts on equipment)

Association for Vertical Farming (donated the racking)

Agritecture & Blue Planet Consulting (organized donation + paid for all additional expense)   

This +farm unit will be donated to Edwin Markham Middle School in Watts READ MORE ABOUT THE +FARM BEING RECOGNIZED BY THE WHITEHOUSE

In conclusion, the LA Agritecture Workshop was a valuable and fun experience. Thank you to Perkins+Will for sponsoring and hosting the workshop!

Team three poses with their prize, Hamama Greens

What follows is a team one recap: 

Our Mission

Team Agora-Culture’s objective was to convert an unused space in an underserved community into a space for science, education, learning, community-building, and nutritious food.  We were presented with the challenge of converting an underutilized parcel of land in the Cornfield Arroyo Seco zone into such a space.  The idea of a space that serves to both empower and strengthen the local community while simultaneously foster sustainable development resonated well with Team Agora-Culture.  We chose the name Agora-Culture because it reflects our allegorical comparison of our project to the Greek agora; an accessible space where community members gather to both sell fresh food and engage with one another.

Andreas from team one presents to the crowd

Our Vision

Our architects, engineers, and horticulturalists convened to produce a design that gracefully marries the traditional garden and farmers’ market atmosphere with high tech vertical aquaponic farming installations.  The design features a four story, U-shaped terraced building with rooftop garden that is surrounded by orchards and gardens that grow specialty produce.  The first story of the structure is an open-air farmers market that sells produce grown in the indoor aeroponic farms on the higher levels, the rooftop gardens, and the surrounding orchards.  We intended to make this space as accessible as possible; the aeroponic farms will serve as both active food production facilities and educational centers that will serve as a field trip venue for local grade schools.  To help Agora-Culture even better accommodate students as well as provide venue space for community events, we elected to include an event space on the roof in our design.

Agoura-Culture is structured as a nonprofit to ensure that it best serves the needs of the community.  Our nonprofit status would allow us to price food affordably and receive funding from government organizations and CSR.  This is integral to serving the needs of the community, because otherwise, we would be constrained by the expectations of investors and shareholders who may or may not share our vision.

Challenges and Solutions

Organization and time management were the two most challenging issues that our team faced.  We attempted to set ambitious goals and deadlines to keep everyone on task and productive, but we eventually found that our effort to do so was marred by a lack of organization despite our efforts.  We were having trouble deciding on several of the design elements of our structure, and this resulted in us losing time that could have been better dedicated to a few of the other deliverables.  It was eventually decided that it was necessary for us to default to the most complete idea we had contrived; this bought us enough time to complete all of our deliverables in a punctual manner.  Granted, if we had not spent so much time deliberating over design features, we would have likely been able to present higher quality deliverables.

Team one brainstorms the problems and solutions

About the Authors

Avideh Haghighi (Team 3)

“Avideh is a sustainability designer at Steinberg architects, passionate about making positive change in our built environment.  She is personally and professionally invested in creating an environmentally sustainable and socially equitable future through an understanding of buildings as a part of a dynamic socio-ecological system.  Through her leadership at the Los Angeles Living Building Challenge collaborative, she strives to facilitate the creation of living buildings and living communities in our region.”

Khaled Shames (Team 3) Khaled is an environmental horticulturist, paying close attention to the topic of food security in Kuwait and the surrounding region. Water is a precious resource in hyper-arid environments and, it is up to the agriculture sector to address and look to water-managing solutions while curbing dependence on imported goods. Providing the local population with quality nutrition is a passion of his.

Andreas George (Team 1)

Andreas is a recent graduate from Santa Clara University who came to the LA Workshop with 2 years of gardening and permaculture volunteer experience. While at the workshop, Andreas met one of the three judges, David Rosenstein from OurFoods. Andreas is now OurFoods newest employee.

Our next Agritecture Design Workshop will be in Baltimore in June 2017. Click here for more information.

[biofunmy]

For a Georgian Revival Estate on Long Island, a Second Act

As the sun broke through clouds, spotlighting the formal gardens and splashing fountains at her 10,000-square-foot Georgian Revival house in Oyster Bay Cove, N.Y., Constance Cincotta recalled how she had never planned to leave her city life.

“I was living in Brooklyn, and had no interest in Long Island,” said Ms. Cincotta, 58, the owner of Glenwood Mason Supply Company in Brooklyn.

But in 2002, a friend sent her a real estate magazine featuring homes for sale in Nassau County, and when she saw the 1931 residence on the cover, she was awe-struck. “It was the house of my dreams, literally,” she said. “A Georgian house had been my ideal home forever. I’m a huge Anglophile. It was just everything I wanted.”

It also happened to be constructed from handsome red brick, which seemed fitting for a woman who spends her days selling masonry products and manufacturing concrete block. Growing up, she said, “We had a wooden Victorian in Brooklyn, and my father would always say, ‘Oh, God, I’m in the brick business and I have a wood house. This is terrible.’”

The Oyster Bay Cove estate, known as Highwood, was designed by the architect Henry Corse and the landscape architecture firm Innocenti & Webel for Edwin Gould, a son of the railroad financier Jay Gould. It had changed hands over the years, and its extensive property had been subdivided, but the stately old house remained largely as it ever was, with its big divided-light windows, paneled library and terrazzo floors intact, and its gardens overgrown.

When she went to see the four-acre property, Ms. Cincotta walked through the house twice and then made an offer on the spot, for about $3.5 million.

She sold her house in Brooklyn and her second home in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens, packed her belongings and made the move to this small village about 25 miles northeast of the city. Her father joined her and lived there until he died in 2007; they used a pair of walkie-talkies to communicate from distant parts of the expansive residence.

At first, the house and landscape didn’t seem to need much work. Ms. Cincotta renovated the bathrooms, which had last been updated in the 1970s, but otherwise relished the idea of using the partially empty house as a venue for entertaining.

On occasion, she had blockbuster family reunions with more than 50 overnight guests. “We had the living room set up dormitory style, with all these air mattresses,” she said.

But by 2006, she realized she needed help to create a cohesive, finished look. “When I brought my furniture in, it seemed like dollhouse furniture because of the scale of the rooms,” she said. “I was really intimidated about decorating.”

While shopping at the store and studio run by Andrew Maier, an interior designer in nearby Locust Valley, she decided she had found someone who could help. “I clicked with Andy immediately,” she said.

First she asked him to furnish the pool house, which he outfitted with an Oushak rug, an oversized antique wall clock, and a sofa and chairs from Crate & Barrel with washable slipcovers that could withstand abuse from Ms. Cincotta’s dogs, Dixie and Mason.

“It’s all very dressy,” Mr. Maier said. “Connie wasn’t doing sisal and typical pool-house stuff.”

Ms. Cincotta loved it. “So I asked him to do my living room,” she said.

There, Mr. Maier cleaned up and painted the original dentil molding, the marble-and-wood fireplace mantel and a faux door designed to give the room a sense of symmetry. He also added corner settees, an oversized velvet sofa and occasional tables — antique wood bases with column-like details for which he designed black-and-gold marble tops.

Gradually, during the years that followed, Ms. Cincotta tasked Mr. Maier with redesigning and decorating various parts of the house, including the library, the dining room, the master suite, a casual dining area off the kitchen and the terrace, as well as several outbuildings.

She also had Mr. Maier convert what was once a ladies’ sitting room into a standing bar, while maintaining the original verre églomisé wall mirrors. The new design, she said, reflects the active lives of women today: “We don’t sit.”

To restore and maintain the gardens, she hired Mary MacDonald, a landscape designer in Locust Valley.

“Without having the original drawings, we tried to put it back to what it was,” said Ms. MacDonald, who replaced, replanted and pruned what was there, all the while “keeping in mind today’s maintenance requirements,” she said, for an estate without full-time gardeners.

Along the way, Ms. Cincotta also had brick walls restored and the home’s clay-tile roof repaired when it began to fail.

Now she frequently uses the property to hold fund-raisers for local causes and groups, including Preservation Long Island, the North Shore Historical Museum and the Interfaith Nutrition Network.

Ms. Cincotta estimated that updating and maintaining the house has cost about as much as she paid to buy it. But bringing Highwood back to its former glory has been a profound experience that goes beyond a simple investment, she said: “It completely changed my life.”

For weekly email updates on residential real estate news, sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @nytrealestate.

Sahred From Source link Real Estate

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[newagesispage]

                                                            JUNE        2019

 PAGE RIB

***** Catch the new stand up: David Cross: Oh Come On

***** There is no more smoking at Disney.

***** Psilocybin mushrooms have been decriminalized in Denver!!

***** Adam Sandler is touring and he has a new stand up special out: 100% Fresh.

***** The new book, ‘The Castle at Sunset’ is coming. Looks pretty juicy!

***** FORD is cutting about 7,000 jobs.

***** Ben Domenech, Meghan McCain’s hubby did a rant about Seth Meyers after Meyers called her out on his show about some of her comments.

***** Eddie Redmayne is in pre- production on ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7.’ where he plays Tom Hayden.

***** Sexual misconduct news: Alan Dershowitz is being accused by the victim of a former client.

***** Steak n Shake is being sued again. Somebody straighten this out. Will they go out of biz?? It seemed to change when new owners took over.

***** A final rule was issued May 2 by the Department of Health and Human Services that health care workers can’t be compelled to participate in medical care that disagrees with their religion or conscious. Fuck You Patients!

***** Martin Scorsese, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard are bringing us’ Once were brothers.’ This will be the telling of RobbieRobertson’s truth about The Band.

***** Is this true? One of the reasons the USPS is struggling so bad is that senators voted to make them pre pay pensions?

***** The NRDC night of comedy with Seth Meyers, John Oliver, Tiffany Haddish, Hasan Minhaj, Sarah Silverman, John Mulaney and others raised 1.7 mil for environmental protection.

***** Edwin Hiatt was arrested for the murder of Barry Crane. Crane was a champion bridge player as well as a director and producer of such shows as Mannix, Dallas, The Incredible Hulk and Hawaii Five-0 among others.

***** Visit the site of The Alliance for lifetime income that is sponsoring the Stones No Filter tour.

***** CBS is shaking it up. Word is that the morning show will be hosted by Gayle King, Tony Dukoupil and Anthony Mason. John Dickerson will move to 60 minutes and Norah O’Donnell will anchor the CBS evening news where she’ll be perfect. What took them so fucking long??

***** Days alert: Stephen Nichols is returning as Patch.** Word is also that Tony and Anna are headed back. Best news ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Kristen may be back. So, more possibly coming back from the dead.. Will, Nicole, Jack.. None of these people are what they seem, they just aren’t quite themselves. Brainwashed? Plastic surgery on others? Fake faces? It could be any old soap opera trick. Was the whole burning building a set up?  What do Rolf and Rex have to do with this? How is it all connected? ** I am really glad that Mel and Haley are gaining story. Keep it coming. Love the pairings going on. JJ and Haley have such chemistry as do Ben and Ciara, of course.** Is Xander really Victor’s son?? Ok.. ! fake face so far with Nicole.** LET’S GIVE RORY A REAL STORY!!!!!

***** So much entertainment is bringing Trumptopia to their universe. People seem so upset and genuinely scared and they have to get it out and put their take on it.

***** Marie Osmond takes Sara Gilberts chair at The Talk.

***** Arnold Schwarzenegger was attacked by a man in South Africa.

***** Chris Hemsworth and Tiffany Haddish will star in Paramount’s buddy movie, Down Under Cover.

***** Support the National Popular Vote Compact for the Electoral College.

***** Country House @ 65-1 won the Kentucky Derby after a historic disqualification of first winner, Maximum Security. There was also much controversy before the race after 23 horses have died at Santa Anita.

***** So to be clear that we are on the same page: Obstruction is impeding or attempting to impede for a corrupt purpose like helping yourself.  Even the parts of the Mueller report that we can see show obstruction. Also, If the statute of limitations are about to run out, an indictment can be made and sealed against a sitting President. The case would be prosecuted after he is out of office. So let’s quit fucking around.** Republican Rep. from Michigan, Justin Amash urges action on our President. He writes that Trump has been engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment. He actually read the report.** Why does it seem that the ‘Great again’ and ‘Taking it back’ conservative family value crowd often turn out to be doing the shady stuff behind our backs?

***** Mueller finally spoke and seemed to reinforce both sides. He is leaving his post but the Grand jury investigation chugs along.** A Federal judge ordered all Mike Flynn passages in the Mueller report to be made public.

***** The McCain naval vessel and Japan?? Really??

***** The President is tweeting agreement with North Korea about Joe Biden? That is about right.** Scary Clown also stormed out of a meeting after Pelosi was talking about his cover up earlier in the day. The signs for his little ‘impromptu’ press conference that he ran to were already set up.

***** So the WH seems to be telling everyone not to testify before congress. No more rules. I suppose the time has come that we can do whatever we want and there will be no consequences. It is good to know we can all fight subpoenas till the bitter end, it opens up a whole can of worms. Really this is all about seeing how far they can go, what can they get away with??

***** The Pentagon has diverted 1.5 billion from various defense department funds for his wall. The money earmarked for training troops and equipping our forces is apparently better used for the border. ** Congress has now threatened to take away the defense department’s ability to move money around. There is usually consultation but they are, of course, ignoring it.**

***** Jared wants a merit based system for the illegals. So, we want to bring immigrants into the country that will take all of the good jobs?  I do not understand this family, they want a wall so nobody gets in, they want immigrants to work at Mar A Lago to service them and now they want only people qualified to work high end jobs.** Kushner’s real estate company has gotten about $800 mil in federal loans.

***** At this point Trump’s 225 days of golf have cost us $122 mil and he is making money for his resorts every time.

***** Theresa May is out.

***** Kim Jong Un’s top aide is said to have been put in hard labor.  North Korea also executed Kim Hyok Chol and four foreign ministry officials in March after the Trump summit charged with espionage.

***** Mexico is getting a 5% tariff.

***** Native Americans are being killed by police officers at a higher rate than anybody else.

***** Fuck dementia.. Just TRIP!!

***** Manafort’s condo in Trump tower is being put up for auction as the Government takes possession.

***** The New Haven documentary film fest is running a 7 film retrospective of Michael Moore’s work this month.

***** A new report says that the EPA has been ordered to get thousands of deaths “off the books” by altering the way they calculate the risks of air pollution.

***** Ben Carson will never live down his ‘OREO’ moment. If there wasn’t enough proof that people without a clue have been put in charge, this is it. Supporters have to be pretty stupid to think it is a good idea for the stupid people to be in charge. What is so wrong with smart people, not crafty, slick people, I mean smart people who know how to actually solve problems and come up with good ideas? I can’t help but think of an Uncle in our family called Mort. There was much talk when I was a child of Mort being so smart and quiet. When he came to family gatherings he would sit in the corner and read and learn instead of socializing. I always wondered why they thought that was wrong. I was so envious of him. I realize that isn’t exactly on the same page but smart is good.** One day after Carson’s ‘testimony’ there was a new proposal to HUD’s equal access rule. It would allow federally funded homeless shelters to consider sexual and gender identity, privacy, safety, practical concerns and religious beliefs when deciding if they want to accommodate someone.

***** The Harriet Tubman $20 bill will be delayed for circulation until possibly 2028. Scary Clown has always criticized the move and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says that Andrew Jackson will remain on the bill for now.

***** The costuming on HBO’s The Young Pope is so fucking awesome.

***** Former WH chief of staff John Kelly has joined the board of Caliburn International. This conglomerate operates facilities that hold the detained immigrant children in our country.

***** Matt Smith stars in ‘Charlie Says’ in the latest incarnation of Manson.

***** Hooray for Chobani!! The company is paying off school lunch debt in Rhode Island for students so they don’t have to eat jelly sandwiches.

***** Bill De Blasio is running for President.

***** Gene Simmons of KISS gave a press briefing at the Department of Defense.

***** Citrus farmers are using antibiotics to fight bacteria in crops. Health officials are afraid this could fuel antibiotic resistance in us.

***** Sen. Michael Bennett is running for President.** He said that his Mother found out he was running from the newspaper. There was some talk about Jello when he was interviewed on Seth Meyers.

***** The Chief Pig compared Mayor Pete to Alfred E. Neuman. Pete said he was glad that he inspired the President to make a literary reference, even though the Mayor was too young to know the reference.

***** There is a Variety series : Actors on Actors. See the one with Jason Bateman and Bill Hader. Yeow. oh to be the cream in that Oreo. Can I say that in the Me Too era? Are there reverse problems with that??

***** For Putin, things started off as a mountain and ended up being a _____. He is laughing at this country every day.

***** ‘The Quiet One’, a doc about Bill Wyman is here.

***** Matthew Modine is running for SAG AFTRA president. He is getting endorsements from Ed Asner, Vincent D’Onofrio, Mira Sorvino, Nancy Sinatra, Patricia and Rosanna Arquette, Sean Astin, Ernie Hudson, Alfred Molina and Bill Mumy.

***** The Cool Kids was cancelled. BOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF?? Their September debut was the most watched Friday broadcast comedy debut in almost 6 years.

*****Empire will end after season 6.

***** The Daytime Emmys didn’t do much for Days after all those noms. Kyler Pettis was the only winner. I was happy for GH’s Max Gail. CBS Sunday Morning won best morning program. There has been some controversy over some of the regulations and some tv shows threatened to boycott. At one point, Patrika Darbo had an Emmy revoked. There was some stunning fashion. My faves were Annika Noelle, Jaqueline Macinnes Wood, Camila Banus, Lexie Stevenson, Linsey Godfrey, Olivia Rose Keegan, Brandon Barash, Carolyn Hennesy and Victoria Konefal.

***** There is some shady business in Wisconsin with Foxconn. The Taiwanese company made big promises with Scott Walker and Trump. They have since been backing out of the manufacturing side of the deal. Republicans want to blame the new democratic Governor but he was warning them about this company way back when.  Why are these hucksters always blaming others for the kinds of things they do??

***** HB 1633 in Illinois is a bill to, among other things, make a felony of peaceful protests!! Thanks oil lobbyists!** But, Illinois is making some progress in the right direction on some fronts.. House Bill 1438 was approved by the Senate to legalize possession and sale of weed. At the end of May it passed the house. The bad news is that police already have records of those that use medical marijuana and if they pull you over, they can charge you if you have used any that day. ** The Reproductive Health Act passed which states that an egg, embryo or fetus does not have independent rights and the state can’t deny or restrict reproductive rights.

***** After chickengate, the committee voted to hold Attorney General Barr in contempt of congress. Now it moves on but the contempt can be denied by the DOJ. Rep. from Texas, Sheila Jackson Lee made a great speech and broke it down to show that they were only making a simple request of documents and the WH and Barr will not comply.

***** The WH has been revoking press passes from journalists they do not want there, nearly the entire corp. They granted exceptions for the press they like.

***** Amal Clooney helped to free Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe OO from Myanmar. Many other journalists are still being held.

***** A man in Illinois takes old bikes and parts and makes them useable again. He gives them to people in need of transportation. A Morton woman put out a call on the internet to gather old bikes for him and got them beyond her wildest dreams. Way to go!!

***** In Georgia abortions could soon be illegal after 6 weeks. 3 production companies, Blown Deadline productions, Killer Films and Duplass Brothers productions say if that happens they will no longer film in Georgia. Now Alabama has jumped on board with the want to prosecute Doctors. And it goes on with Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Iowa, Louisiana, Utah and North Dakota.  The Reich is chipping away at our rights. Why do we keep putting so many conservative men in powerful  places?? Why are the 1% ruling the rest of us??** Debbie Harry commented at the ASCAP pop music awards, “I think it’s criminal.”** Some states are saying they may even investigate miscarriages. Why not just follow all ejaculations?? I have had a miscarriage and the last thing I would have needed in my pain was someone investigating me. WTF?

***** Did anybody else the owl clock on American Housewife?

***** John Waters has a new book: Mr. Know it all

***** Letterman is back with his Netflix gig where he will interview Tiffany Haddish, Ellen, Melinda Gates and Kanye West. Doesn’t it seem like our world went crazy after Dave left his CBS show? More Dave!  On the talk show rounds he does sort of seem like an old guy holding court but still hot!!!

***** The Wal Mart pick up ad with all the famous rides makes me a little crazy when the lowly Wal Mart employee worker is getting hit by a customer.

***** Liam Neeson will star in The Minuteman.

***** Caterpillar has sent a cease and desist to coffee company Cat and Cloud because of their name.

***** McDonalds is said to be bringing America the best of their international menu this summer for a test drive.

***** The Al Franken podcast is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

***** A cancer diagnosis usually ends with 4 in 10 patients depleting their savings.

***** Secretary Amy L. Bedwell was arrested for theft from a parent teacher organization in Illinois. She will go to court for the Riverview grade school incident on June 12.

***** Spielberg’s Amblin tv is severing ties with the show Bull. CBS has paid 9.5 mil to settle harassment claims by Eliza Dushku against Michael Weatherly.

***** The Met Gala was at its best with wonderful camp looks from Harry Styles, Lady Gaga, Billy Porter, Janelle Monae, Zendaya , Laverne Cox, RuPaul, Darren Criss, Ashley Graham, Dua Liba, Natasha Lyonne and Lupita N’yongo.

***** August will bring us John Goodman and Danny McBride as part of a televangelist family in The Righteous Gemstones.

***** Cannes person of the year in entertainment award this year is Lorne Michaels.

***** New show, Bluff City Law looks pretty good even though we really don’t need another lawyer show.

***** Mick is back at it and new dates have been set for the Stones tour which will begin June 21 in Chicago!!!!!!

***** The Illinois department of corrections have not been able to account for 3, 568 items in a recent audit.

***** Ava Duverney has made a movie that needed to be made about the Central Park 5.

***** There is a helium shortage.

***** Steve Kroft of 60 minutes is retiring.

***** Director Bong Joon-Ho’s ‘Parasite’ has won the Palme d’or at Cannes.

***** Duff Mcagan has a new solo album with help from Shooter Jennings.

***** Conan has settled a lawsuit over joke theft. A blogger claimed that his writers had stolen 4 jokes from his blog. The jokes were not that unique and there are so many hundreds of similar jokes out there anymore with the crazy news cycle and so many late night hosts and on liners. Conan wrote about hs odyssey in Variety.** Conan also wrote a theme song for NPR news.

***** Mike Pompeo seems happy that when the ice caps melt there will be new, easier to travel trade routes. So, do you think it is a hoax or are they really melting?

***** Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield will pay Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker in a biopic.

***** Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost are engaged.

***** Meghan Markle and Prince Harry brought us 7 lb. 3 oz. Archie Harrison Mountbatten Windsor.

***** R.I.P. Peter Mayhew, 9 gray whales, Kendrick Castillo, Jim Fowler, Doris Day, Sammy Shore, Alvin Sargent , Tim Conway , Ron Hiatt, all the children who keep dying in our custody , victims of the Virginia Beach shooting, John Pinto and Peggy Lipton.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 1.26

661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph. 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire. 1500 – Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil. 1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Mw Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people. 1564 – The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. 1564 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tsardom of Russia in the Battle of Ula during the Livonian War. 1565 – Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent. 1699 – For the first time, the Ottoman Empire permanently cedes territory to the Christian powers. 1700 – The 8.7–9.2 Mw Cascadia earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records. 1736 – Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne. 1788 – The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on Australia. Commemorated as Australia Day. 1808 – The Rum Rebellion is the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in New South Wales. 1837 – Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state. 1838 – Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States. 1841 – James Bremer takes formal possession of Hong Kong Island at what is now Possession Point, establishing British Hong Kong. 1855 – Point No Point Treaty is signed in Washington Territory. 1856 – First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers. 1861 – American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union. 1863 – American Civil War: General Ambrose Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He is replaced by Joseph Hooker. 1863 – American Civil War: Governor of Massachusetts John Albion Andrew receives permission from the Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent. 1870 – Reconstruction Era: Virginia rejoins the Union. 1885 – Troops loyal to The Mahdi conquer Khartoum, killing the Governor-General Charles George Gordon. 1905 – The world's largest diamond ever, the Cullinan weighing 3,106.75 carats (0.621350 kg), is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa. 1911 – Glenn Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane. 1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress. 1918 – Finnish Civil War: A group of Red Guards hangs a red lantern atop the tower of Helsinki Workers' Hall to symbolically mark the start of the war. 1920 – Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer. 1926 – The first demonstration of the television by John Logie Baird. 1930 – The Indian National Congress declares 26 January as Independence Day or as the day for Poorna Swaraj ("Complete Independence") which occurred 17 years later. 1934 – The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City. 1934 – German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed. 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Catalonia Offensive: Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona. 1942 – World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland. 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins encircling the German Fourth Army near Heiligenbeil in East Prussia, which will end in destruction of the 4th Army two months later. 1945 – World War II: Audie Murphy displays valor and bravery in action for which he will later be awarded the Medal of Honor. 1949 – The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope (until BTA-6 is built in 1976). 1950 – The Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first President of India. Observed as Republic Day in India. 1952 – Black Saturday in Egypt: rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. 1956 – Soviet Union cedes Porkkala back to Finland. 1961 – John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be the first woman Physician to the President. 1962 – Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon. The space probe later misses the moon by 22,000 miles (35,400 km). 1965 – Hindi becomes the official language of India. 1972 – JAT Fight 367 is destroyed by a terrorist bomb, killing 27 of the 28 people on board the DC-9. Flight attendant Vesna Vulović survives with critical injuries. 1980 – Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations. 1986 – The Ugandan government of Tito Okello is overthrown by the National Resistance Army, led by Yoweri Museveni. 1991 – Mohamed Siad Barre is removed from power in Somalia, ending centralized government, and is succeeded by Ali Mahdi. 1992 – Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons. 1998 – Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. 2001 – The 7.7 Mw Gujarat earthquake shakes Western India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 13,805–20,023 dead and about 166,800 injured. 2009 – Rioting breaks out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina. 2015 – An aircraft crashes at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people and injuring 21 others.

[phgq]

PRRD avoiding places with high Covid-19 cases

#PHnews: PRRD avoiding places with high Covid-19 cases

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte is avoiding areas that have high cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) to keep him coronavirus-free, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte is “confident” to pursue public engagements amid the pandemic because the Presidential Security Group (PSG) and the Presidential Management Staff (MPS) are making sure that strict health protocols are being followed.

“Ang epicenter po talaga ay Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, at Metro Davao. At hindi naman po siya nagpupunta doon sa mga area na ‘yun (The epicenter [of Covid-19] is Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao. He is not going there),” Roque, who is now in isolation after catching Covid-19, said in a virtual presser.

Roque’s statement came a day after the Philippines logged around 5,404 new Covid-19 infections, the biggest-single day increase in cases recorded in the country this year.

Duterte stayed at Malacañan Palace in Manila when he placed the entire Luzon under the most restrictive enhanced community quarantine in March last year. He only returned to his residence in Davao City on May 16 last year after quarantine restrictions were eased.

The first time he made a public engagement was on July 3, 2020, when he visited the soldiers at the Edwin Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga City.

Duterte, unfazed by the threat posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, has since then attended several public events.

This month, Duterte attended six public events, including the ceremonial turnover of Covid-19 vaccine doses developed by AstraZeneca and Sinovac.

Covid-19 test required

On Thursday, Duterte is set to attend an event in Eastern Samar and another one in Tacloban City.

Roque said there has been no change in Duterte’s scheduled activities.

He, nevertheless, ensured that attendees are required to undergo reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests so as not to compromise Duterte’s health.

“Meron na pong distinction ngayon ‘yung mga lalapit at hindi lalapit. At meron na po talagang separate listahan kung sinong dapat mag-PCR, yung talagang magkakaroon lang ng access kay Presidente ang mag-PCR (There has been a distinction as to who can or who cannot go near [Duterte]. And there is a separate list of people who have access to the President and are required to undergo RT-PCR test),” Roque said.

Roque said the PSG and the PMS are also requiring the use of face mask and face shield, as well as the strict observance of physical distancing during Duterte’s public events.

“Talagang mahirap pong lumapit kay Presidente. So gumagawa naman po ng hakbang para talaga maprotektahan ang kalusugan ng Presidente. At the same time, si Presidente po ang may kagustuhan talagang lumibot nang makita ang kalagayan ng ating mga kababayan (It’s really difficult to go near the President. So we are looking for ways to protect the President’s health. At the same time, it is the President who wants to go around the country to monitor the situation of our countrymen),” he said.

Virtual meet

As a safety measure against Covid-19, Duterte is also holding “virtual” meetings with Cabinet members who have acquired or are exposed to the coronavirus, Roque said.

Roque then noted that he, along with Covid-19 vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, attended an online meeting with President on Monday.

“Well, nangyari po kahapon ‘yun. Ang kasama lang niya, si Secretary Duque, at tatlo po kaming online -- si Secretary Galvez, Secretary Delfin Lorenzana at ako po -- were online (That happened yesterday. He was just with Secretary Duque and the three of us -- Secretary Galvez, Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, and I -- were online). Secretary Galvez because he’s on quarantine having arrived from abroad Secretary Lorenzana because he also had an exposure,” he said. (PNA)

***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "PRRD avoiding places with high Covid-19 cases." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1133767 (accessed March 17, 2021 at 12:06AM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "PRRD avoiding places with high Covid-19 cases." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1133767 (archived).

[goldeagleprice]

Roosevelts sign Silver Certificate

By Mark Hotz

This month, in my continuing series of signed currency in my collection, the so-called “short snorters,” we will look at some more of my favorite notes. These are the short snorters signed by famous people of the day: politicians, entertainers, high ranking officers, etc. I hope you will enjoy viewing these notes; I have had most of them for many years, and this is the first time any of them have been published.

This particular presentation is particularly pertinent in light of the recent high price realized by a short snorter signed by President Harry Truman and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, among others. There clearly is a lot of serious interest in historically important autographed notes. I am fortunate to have a few among my own holdings.

Fig. 1: This Series of 1935-A $1 Silver Certificate is covered with signatures, but the important one is that of Edward, Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII of England. His signature is identified by the arrow in the photo and is genuine.

The first one to show you I have had for more than 20 years, and is the only so-called short snorter signed by an important personage that I have ever purchased as such. All of the others I found here and there sold merely as short snorters with no identified signatures. This one is a Series of 1935-A $1 Silver Certificate ascribed to Lt. Morton Marborg. Though covered with signatures, it boldly displays the signature of none other than Edward, Duke of Windsor, late King Edward VIII of England. His signature “Edward” underlined, just above the left-hand serial number, is bold and clear. I have compared it to others of the Duke, and it is identical.

How did Edward, Duke of Windsor, come to sign this note, and who are all of the other signatories? Honestly, this is still a mystery to me. There are several signatures of lieutenants and a captain, and what appear to be crewmembers of either a ship or plane. The Duke of Windsor spent most of the war as Governor of the Bahamas and did make a few trips to the U.S. during that time. I simply have not been able to locate any information about the other signers. Some include: Lt. Joseph T. Camilleri, Captain R. Huff, Lt. Henry Nan and Angus Vincensi. All I really do know is that the signature of Edward VIII is genuine.

Another intriguing item is another 1935-A $1 inscribed “SHORT-SNORTER A.L. 11/1/42.” This, like many others, is covered in signatures on both sides. However, among the signatures are found none other than Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor’s signature is particularly prominent in turquoise ink in the reverse left margin. In addition, several minor entertainers’ signatures are also found: Wini Shaw, an American actress and USO troupe; Helen and Dorothy Blossom, Vaudeville actresses and USO troupes; Lt. Colonel M. Jackson (?); Joette (?), Wallis J. Currie (signed twice), etc.

Fig. 5: Here is a World War II era photo of Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt, whose signatures grace the short snorter in the author’s collection.(Photo by MPI/Getty Images)

I cannot find any references whereby FDR and Eleanor would have traveled together by plane any time in 1942. I gather that this note represents a long-term short snorter, with signatures gathered over a period of time after 11/1/1942. Eleanor Roosevelt made many trips to Europe during the war to visit the troops; clearly she may have been accompanied by USO troupes. Perhaps Franklin Roosevelt accompanied her to an airfield on departure, and his signature was then obtained. Most of the signatures on this note are sloppy or obscured by the back design.

The fun part about this note was that I obtained it at the FUN show in Florida many years ago from a major dealer who had a box of short snorters. When I asked to look through them, he told me, “You won’t find anything good in there, I checked them all out.” Well, I guess he didn’t check them out very well.

Fig. 6: This Series of 1935-A $1 HAWAII overprint note bears the autographs of three important American generals in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. They are: Lt. Gen. Robert C. Richardson (single arrow), Maj. Gen. Andrew D. Bruce (double arrow) and Brig. Gen. Edwin H. Randle (triple arrow).

A Series of 1935-A $1 Hawaii note caught my eye even though it only bore three signatures. I examined it and immediately saw that underneath one signature were the words “Lieutenant General.” The modest price of $15 was quickly paid. I soon identified the signatures as Robert C. Richardson, Lieutenant General; Edwin H. Randle, Brig. Gen.; and A.D. Bruce, Maj. Gen. 77th Div. This was quite a find!

As it turns out, each of these men was an important leader in the War in the Pacific.

Fig. 7: Here is a photo of Lt. General Robert C. Richardson as he appeared during World War II.

Lt. Gen. Robert C. Richardson was promoted to that rank in June 1943 and appointed Military Governor of Hawaii, Commanding General of the Hawaiian Department, and administrative commander of all military personnel in the Pacific (COMGENCENTPAC = Commanding General Central Pacific). As the administrative commander, he oversaw all the Army’s planning, logistical preparation, training and force deployment efforts as part of the overall U.S. joint forces island-hopping campaign that led to the surrender of Japan. His army ground and air forces fought in all the major central and mid-Pacific battles under the operational command of Admiral Nimitz. Lt. Gen. Richardson stood in the front row of senior leaders who witnessed Japan’s formal surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri.

Fig. 8: Here is a photo of Major General Andrew D. Bruce, assistant commander of the 77th Infantry Division under Lt. Gen. Richardson.

Major General Andrew D. Bruce assumed command of the famed 77th Infantry Division in June of 1943. Under Bruce’s leadership, the 77th Division fought in the Pacific War, participating in campaigns in Guam, Leyte and the Ryukyus. At Leyte, in the Philippines, the division was responsible for taking Palompon, the last main port the Japanese held on the island. During the 10-day battle for that area of the island, from Dec. 21 through Dec. 31, 1944, the division estimated that they had killed 5,779 Japanese soldiers and taken 29 prisoners, with only 17 Americans killed, 116 wounded and six missing in action. In April 1945, the 77th Division was ordered to seize the island of Ie Shima in the Ryukyu Islands so that the U.S. Army could use the island’s airfields to support assaults on Okinawa and other islands in Japan. During the six-day battle to secure the island, 4,706 Japanese soldiers and civilians were killed, while 172 Americans were killed, 902 were wounded and 46 were missing. During the battle, famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed. Major General Bruce and his men buried Pyle on the island, later erecting a monument to him. After the surrender, Gen. Bruce was appointed Governor of Hokkaido. After the occupation, he became the third president and first chancellor of the University of Houston.

Brigadier General Edwin H. Randle was Assistant Commander of the 77th Infantry Division under General Bruce. He was active on shore during most of the Division’s actions and met daily with General Bruce. He was heavily involved in the actions in the Marianna Islands and the taking of Ie Shima. He authored the book, Safi Adventure: The First Operation of a Famous Regimental Combat Team, after the war.

Last for this month is a rather tattered Greenland 5 kroner note, P-15d, of World War II vintage, a very unusual short snorter base type. Several signatures are on the back of the note. There are three members of the Metaxas family. I have been unable to verify this, but they could likely have been exiled relatives of Ioannis Metaxas, the Prime Minister of Greece from 1936-1941. Most prominent among the signatures is that of Major General William S. Key.

William S. Key was an Oklahoma man who was a Democratic candidate for governor of that state in 1938. He became a Major General in the Oklahoma National Guard and from September 1940 to October 1942 was the commander of the 45th Infantry Division, regular army, and commandant of Fort Sill. In 1942, he was appointed as provost general marshal in Europe. From June 1943 to December 1944 he was the commanding general of the U.S. forces in Iceland. Key then served as the commanding general of the forces in Hungary and as chief U.S. representative on the Allied Control Commission for Hungary from January 1945 until his retirement in August 1946.

The note may have been signed on a flight from Greenland to Iceland or from Iceland back to Europe when General Key took up his role as commander in Hungary. The other signatures on the note are hard to decipher; several appear to be foreign, though there are signatures of one captain and one lieutenant colonel.

This concludes this month’s section on short snorters in my collection. I will have some others of a more varied interest to show you next month.

Readers may address questions or comments about this article to Mark Hotz directly by email at markbhotz@aol.com.

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[brookstonalmanac]

Events 1.26

661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph. 1500 – Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil. 1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Mw Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people. 1564 – The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. 1564 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Tsardom of Russia in the Battle of Ula during the Livonian War. 1565 – Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan sultanates, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent. 1699 – For the first time, the Ottoman Empire permanently cedes territory to the Christian powers. 1700 – The 8.7–9.2 Mw Cascadia earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records. 1736 – Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne. 1788 – The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sails into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on Australia. Commemorated as Australia Day. 1808 – The Rum Rebellion is the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in Australia. 1837 – Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state. 1838 – Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States 1841 – James Bremer takes formal possession of Hong Kong Island at what is now Possession Point, establishing British Hong Kong. 1855 – Point No Point Treaty is signed in Washington Territory. 1856 – First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers. 1861 – American Civil War: The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union. 1863 – American Civil War: General Ambrose Burnside is relieved of command of the Army of the Potomac after the disastrous Fredericksburg campaign. He is replaced by Joseph Hooker. 1863 – American Civil War: Governor of Massachusetts John Albion Andrew receives permission from the Secretary of War to raise a militia organization for men of African descent. 1870 – Reconstruction Era: Virginia rejoins the Union. 1885 – Troops loyal to The Mahdi conquer Khartoum, killing the Governor-General Charles George Gordon. 1905 – The world's largest diamond ever, the Cullinan weighing 3,106.75 carats (0.621350 kg), is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa. 1911 – Glenn Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane. 1915 – The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress. 1918 – Finnish Civil War: A group of Red Guards hangs a red lantern atop the tower of Helsinki Workers' Hall to symbolically mark the start of the war. 1920 – Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer. 1926 – The first demonstration of the television by John Logie Baird. 1930 – The Indian National Congress declares 26 January as Independence Day or as the day for Poorna Swaraj ("Complete Independence") which occurred 17 years later. 1934 – The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, New York City. 1934 – German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact is signed. 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Catalonia Offensive: Troops loyal to nationalist General Francisco Franco and aided by Italy take Barcelona. 1942 – World War II: The first United States forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland. 1945 – World War II: The Red Army begins encircling the German Fourth Army near Heiligenbeil in East Prussia, which will end in destruction of the 4th Army two months later. 1945 – World War II: Audie Murphy displays valor and bravery in action for which he will later be awarded the Medal of Honor. 1949 – The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope (until BTA-6 is built in 1976). 1950 – The Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as its first President of India. Observed as Republic Day in India. 1952 – Black Saturday in Egypt: rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. 1956 – Soviet Union cedes Porkkala back to Finland. 1961 – John F. Kennedy appoints Janet G. Travell to be the first woman Physician to the President. 1962 – Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon. The space probe later misses the moon by 22,000 miles (35,400 km). 1965 – Hindi becomes the official language of India. 1980 – Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations. 1986 – The Ugandan government of Tito Okello is overthrown by the National Resistance Army, led by Yoweri Museveni. 1991 – Mohamed Siad Barre is removed from power in Somalia, ending centralized government, and is succeeded by Ali Mahdi. 1992 – Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons. 1998 – Lewinsky scandal: On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. 2001 – The 7.7 Mw Gujarat earthquake shakes Western India with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), leaving 13,805–20,023 dead and about 166,800 injured. 2009 – Rioting breaks out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina. 2015 – An aircraft crashes at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people and injuring 21 others.

[phgq]

Vaccinated AFP front-liners reach almost 15K

#PHnews: Vaccinated AFP front-liners reach almost 15K

MANILA – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Friday announced that it has successfully inoculated almost 15,000 front line personnel with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines.

Citing latest data, the AFP said a total of 14,969 military front-liners have been vaccinated as of Thursday.

It has also transported 39,000 vials of Sinovac's CoronaVac coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines to various military treatment facilities (MTFs).

“The AFP’s delivery of the coronavirus vaccines is now in full gear in support of the government’s vaccination campaign against the Covid-19 pandemic. With the ongoing distribution and inoculation of our frontline personnel, we hope to contribute to the speedy restoration of normalcy in the country,” AFP chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said.

As of this report, 16 MTFs in Luzon were able to receive 30,600 vials of CoronaVac, of which 13,555 personnel were vaccinated.

Among the facilities in the National Capital Region were V. Luna Medical Center, Camp Aguinaldo Station Hospital, Philippine Army General Hospital, Philippine Air Force General Hospital, and Manila Naval Hospital.

Also from Luzon were Wallace Air Station Medical Infirmary and Naval Station Ogbenar Medical Station in La Union; Fort Del Pilar Station Hospital in Benguet; Fort Magsaysay Station Hospital in Nueva Ecija; Basa Air Base Hospital and Air Force City Hospital in Pampanga; Camp Aquino Station Hospital in Tarlac; Camp Guillermo Nakar Station Hospital in Lucena; Cavite Naval Hospital; Camp Elias Angeles Station Hospital in Camarines Sur; and Naval Station Julhasan Arasain Medical Dispensary in Albay.

In the Visayas, 4,200 vials were delivered in five MTFs with 684 frontline personnel already vaccinated.

The facilities were Camp Peralta Station Hospital in Capiz; Benito N. Ebuen Air Base Hospital, Camp Lapu-Lapu Station Hospital and Naval Base Rafael Ramos Medical Dispensary in Cebu; and Camp Vicente Lukban Station Hospital in Samar. Six MTFs in Mindanao received 4,200 doses with 730 personnel vaccinated.

The medical facilities were Camp Evangelista Station Hospital in Misamis Oriental; Camp Panacan Station Hospital in Davao Del Norte; Camp Manuel T. Yan Sr Station Hospital in Davao City; Camp Gonzalo H. Siongco Station Hospital in Maguindanao; Camp Navarro General Hospital and Edwin Andrews Air Base Hospital in Zamboanga Del Sur.

The AFP continues to utilize its land and air assets for the continuous delivery of vaccines to other authorized vaccination facilities nationwide.

Just recently, the newly acquired Black Hawk helicopters were deployed to deliver 1,800 doses of CoronaVac and 58 boxes of personal protective equipment to Basco, Batanes.

“The full cooperation of our members, especially our front line personnel is needed if we are to make significant milestones in our fight against Covid-19. With them protected, our regular members too can avail of the safe and effective vaccines to further reinforce our collective measures to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our country from the effects of the pandemic,” Sobejana said. (PNA)

***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "Vaccinated AFP front-liners reach almost 15K." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1133401 (accessed March 12, 2021 at 10:45PM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "Vaccinated AFP front-liners reach almost 15K." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1133401 (archived).

[russiagate-blog]

American Mindshare

As time moves on through the DJT Presidency, it's important to understand the dynamics at play in capturing the future mind of our nation. Below you will find recent and past excerpts from historically credible outlets covering the media giant Sinclair Broadcasting. May 9, 2017- "The name Sinclair Broadcast Group may not be as familiar to Americans as Fox News, Rush Limbaugh or Breitbart, but make no mistake: it has long been an influential force for Republican politicians and political candidates, including Donald Trump. Now, thanks in no small part to Trump's victory in November, it is poised to grow even more powerful. On Monday, Sinclair announced a $3.9 billion deal to acquire Tribune Media. If approved, that deal would add more than 40 local television stations to the roster of 173 Sinclair already has across the country. If Sinclair's history is any guide, these stations may become more conservative. As America's biggest local television owner, Sinclair's total household reach was already hitting the 39% cap imposed by the Federal Communications Commission, effectively barring it from further acquisitions. But the FCC, under chairman Ajit Pai, newly appointed to that post by Trump, has moved to reinstate an archaic rule known as the "UHF discount" that allows broadcasters to understate their overall reach. Industry expectations are that Sinclair's acquisition will be approved. That will no doubt satisfy David D. Smith, Sinclair's growth-driven executive chairman who is responsible for the company's meteoric growth over the last two-and-a-half decades. [CNN] -Craig Aaron, the president and CEO of Free Press, called the transaction a “scandal." "Sinclair — the Trump-favoring broadcast mega-chain — gets some FCC rules changed and expects others to be erased. All so that Sinclair can air its cookie cutter newscasts to nearly 70% of the country’s population in local markets across the country, he said in a statement." May 12, 2017 "Since November 2015, Sinclair has ordered its stations to run a daily segment from a “Terrorism Alert Desk” with updates on terrorism-related news around the world. During the election campaign last year, it sent out a package that suggested in part that voters should not support Hillary Clinton because the Democratic Party was historically pro-slavery. More recently, Sinclair asked stations to run a short segment in which Scott Livingston, the company’s vice president for news, accused the national news media of publishing “fake news stories.” [NYT] -April 2017, Sinclair hired Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump spokesman, as chief political analyst. [Variety] -Ephshteyn, the "Russia-born investment banker and attorney moderated a panel at an October 2013 conference in New York City called “Invest in Moscow!” The panel was mainly comprised of Moscow city government officials, like Sergey Cheremin, a city minister who heads Moscow’s foreign economic and international relations department. " Huffington Post 8/12/16 -Epshteyn’s LinkedIn [profile] says he provides “Consulting And Liaising Services For For [sic] Domestic And International Transactions With A Focus On Eastern Europe An [sic] Former Soviet Union.” Eric Hananoki at Media Matters Epshteyn ‘s LinkedIn profile includes other shady activity. He claims to have been Managing Director of Business and Legal Affairs at West America Securities Corp. from 2009-2013. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority expelled West America in 2013; the firm’s CEO was barred for fraud. -March 18, 2017- "Circa News, a millennial-focused media outlet that launched only eight months ago, has been embraced by Republicans for aggressive reporting on Russian meddling in the 2016 election that runs counter to reporting in more mainstream outlet. For the past week, Circa has been dropping new exclusives on federal investigations into Russian influence on a near-daily basis. Their reporting has coursed through conservative media, where it has been held up as an example of fair and hard-hitting investigative reporting on an issue that has been a flashpoint of controversy between the White House, Congress and the press. [The Hill] Circa News was acquired by non-other than...Sinclair Broadcasting in the Spring of 2016 -Dec 16, 2016: "Donald Trump's campaign struck a deal with Sinclair Broadcast Group during the campaign to try and secure better media coverage, his son-in-law Jared Kushner told business executives Friday in Manhattan. Kushner said the agreement with Sinclair, which owns television stations across the country in many swing states and often packages news for their affiliates to run, gave them more access to Trump and the campaign, according to six people who heard his remarks. In exchange, Sinclair would broadcast their Trump interviews across the country without commentary, Kushner said. Kushner highlighted that Sinclair, in states like Ohio, reaches a much wider audience — around 250,000 listeners — than networks like CNN, which reach somewhere around 30,000." [politico] Note: Sinclair Broadcasting denies this claim despite Politico's 6 direct sources. -Background (published in 2005): "At Sinclair, the top of the food chain is David Smith. An imposing man with a pink complexion and a confrontational manner, Smith comes across like an overgrown frat boy who suddenly struck it rich. His father, Julian Sinclair Smith, launched the family's first television station in 1971, and in the last decade, David and his three brothers have expanded the operation into a broadcast empire with access to four in one American households. During a daylong tour of Sinclair's headquarters, on the outskirts of Baltimore, Smith repeatedly boasts about his wealth ("I bet you wish you were my son," he tells me. "It would put you in a different financial bracket") and proudly shows off his travel photographs, which are mounted and displayed in the hallways of Sinclair's five-story office building. He makes no secret of his support for Bush and describes Sinclair as one of the only bastions of objectivity in American journalism.Smith had some experience in the media when he took over the company from his father — but it wasn't the kind of work most conservatives would appreciate. In the 1970s, he was a partner in a business called Ciné Processors, which made bootleg copies of porn films in the basement of a building owned by another of his father's companies, the Commercial Radio Institute. "We had the film-processing lab in operation for, like, a year," recalls David Williams, Smith's partner at Ciné. "The first film we copied was Deep Throat, which had just opened in New York and was not available anywhere else." According to Williams, Ciné got involved with the mob and was busted by the police. "How David got control of the family company after that, I don't know," he says. "He was just a big egotist. He wanted attention." Smith's media connections came in handy in 1996, when he was arrested on suspicion of soliciting a prostitute who, police said, performed "an unnatural and perverted sex act on him" in a Mercedes owned by Sinclair. Charged with a misdemeanor sex offense, Smith cut an unusual deal: In lieu of doing community service, he ordered Sinclair to broadcast reports publicizing local drug programs. "The judge was outraged," former Sinclair reporter LuAnne Canipe told Salon. "He said, 'How can employees do community service for their boss?'" Smith was equally creative when it came to skirting federal rules that forbid broadcasters from controlling two television stations in the same market. The scheme was simple: Smith's mother, Carolyn, and Sinclair employee Edwin Edwards would buy a station in a market where the company already owned an outlet, and then promptly turn control of the new operation over to Sinclair. In 2001, the FCC ruled that the broadcaster had violated federal ownership laws and slapped it with a $40,000 fine — but allowed Sinclair to keep the stations. Today the company owns or operates affiliates of every major network in twenty states — including two stations in Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Columbus, Ohio, and Pittsburgh. "Sinclair is the most aggressive broadcaster in trying to increase the number of stations it controls," says Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, a nonprofit law firm in Washington, D.C. "They figured out how to be a very big fish in some pretty small ponds." First, the company slashes news staffs at its local affiliates to as few as fifteen employees, compared to as many as eighty at its competitors. Then it produces programs at its headquarters, called News Central, that are designed to look like local news. As we tour the studios, Hyman calls my attention to the anchor desk and backdrops, which have been created to match those at Sinclair affiliates. That way, when the company's on-air personalities sit in Baltimore and banter with local anchors, viewers think the broadcasts are taking place in their hometown. "There's no indication that these pieces are coming from News Central in Maryland, no disclaimer," says Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, a media-reform group based in Northampton, Massachusetts." [2005 Rolling Stone] Knowledge is Patriotic, feel free to share.