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Familiar praise of Notre Dame’s tight ends rings anew

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There comes a point when repeated vague praises ring hollow. Until proven true, they are nothing but the echoes of potential. One can be forgiven for feeling that way with half of Notre Dame’s active tight ends this spring, but the applause of coaches and teammates alike pertains to both of the healthy tight ends, so at least some of it should be given due consideration.

With fifth-year Nic Weishar and rising sophomore Brock Wright both recovering from shoulder surgeries and early-enrolled freshman George Takacs out after a cartilage surgery, only rising senior Alizé Mack (pictured above) and rising sophomore Cole Kmet are currently full-go among the tight ends.

High expectations have followed Mack throughout his career, particularly since a 45-yard grab as a freshman helped set up the Irish for a come-from-behind victory at No. 21 Temple in October of 2015. Even though Mack missed his sophomore season due to academic issues, he landed on the John Mackey Award watch list heading into 2017, identifying him as among the nation’s most-talented tight ends.

Of course, Mack managed just 19 catches for 166 yards and a touchdown last season, not exactly the production anticipated from a Mackey candidate. He appeared in only 10 games, partly due to a concussion and partly due to further disciplinary missteps.

Such has not yet been a concern for Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly this spring.

“He’s been more consistent,” Kelly said Saturday. “Obviously, what plagued him last year was inconsistency. Everything that he did was inconsistent.

“… I’m happy for him that he’s showing some consistency. When he does, the jury is still out there. He still has a ways to go.”

That is the repeated, albeit certainly tempered and possibly now accurate, recognition at tight end. Kelly’s regards for Kmet may have been as predictable, and they serve to put Mack on notice. Even when Durham Smythe was ahead of him on the depth chart, no other Irish tight end could match Mack’s athleticism or top-end impact. Kmet just might.

“Cole certainly creates a competitive situation there,” Kelly said. “It’s [Mack’s] job to motivate himself, but I would think that’s pretty motivating to watch [Kmet] and what he does.”

Even as a consensus four-star recruit and the No. 3 tight end in his class, per rivals.com, any previous hype about Kmet pales in comparison to the commentary after seeing him in first-team situations a full year into his collegiate career. Kelly ran through the gamut of situations in which Kmet has excelled this spring, citing soft hands, physical blocking and an aggressiveness when running after the catch.

Notre Dame lists Kmet at 6-foot-5 ½ and Mack at 6-foot-4 ¾. That difference is negligible, but it reinforces Kmet may offer the same luxury for quarterbacks that Mack does, an ability to go up and get the ball almost no matter where it is thrown, something also available in 6-foot-4 receivers rising junior Chase Claypool and rising senior Miles Boykin.

“You put it in their area, those guys are going to come down with it,” rising senior quarterback Brandon Wimbush said. “Last year we averaged 6-4, 6-5 outside, and obviously Miles and Chase are the same size, then those two guys inside.”

The matching of size and speed with strong hands has long been sought from Mack. He has yet to truly bring the reputation of “Tight End U” to fruition. Then again, he has not had Kmet around offering similar possibilities.

Kmet’s excellence elsewhere
In the spring, Kmet also contributes as an Irish relief pitcher. In 10 appearances and 22.2 innings to date, Kmet has struck out 19 with an ERA of 2.78 and a WHIP of 1.32, notching three saves. If he wanted, Kmet could spend even more time away from the football team as a result of the baseball duties.

Kelly said he gave Kmet the chance to miss Saturday morning’s practice after recording a save Friday evening. Instead, Kmet dismissed the notion outright.

“His response was, ‘I threw like 15 (pitches). I didn’t do anything for like two hours. Of course I’m practicing,’” Kelly said of Kmet’s incredulity. “That’s just the kind of guy he is. He’s just fun to watch.”

Could those abilities lead to a decision down the line a la former Irish receiver/pitcher Jeff Samardzija? It is a natural question to ask, if for no other reason than the University involved.

“As far as the baseball part of it? Yeah, maybe,” Notre Dame baseball manager Mik Aoki told ND Insider’s Eric Hansen. “… While the curveball could get a little sharper and the change-up could certainly get a little better and all those types of things, he’s got the most important thing. He’s got the mental toughness to go out there and compete.”

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‘Tight End U’ finds its next piece with Iowa TE Eli Raridon committing to Notre Dame

Eli Raridon

At some point, describing Notre Dame as “Tight End U” becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Admittedly, that point was probably a few NFL draft picks ago, but with Tommy Tremble becoming the 10th Irish tight end selected in the last 16 drafts and then a new tight end commitment to come the same weekend, it is clear how the years of success can appeal to the next players likely to succeed.

Consensus three-star tight end Eli Raridon (Valley High School; West Des Moines, Iowa) announced a commitment to Notre Dame on Sunday. Suggesting any high school junior should be looked at as a future draft pick is unnecessarily bold — although it is also the premise of recruiting rankings — but the cause-and-effect at this particular position in South Bend seems clear.

The No. 22 tight end in the class, per rivals.com, Raridon chose the Irish over homestate offers from Iowa and Iowa State, as well as from the majority of the Big Ten, Auburn and Vanderbilt. Standing 6-foot-6, he will need to add weight to his 220-pound frame, but that is to be expected at this stage in his development.

Raridon is comfortable using his height to attack a pass in the air, a comfort that can be associated with his talent playing above the rim on the basketball court. Looking at his basketball clips, Raridon’s athleticism could not be more apparent.

He has enough speed to warrant notice downfield. Not to throw more lofty comparisons around, but that speed is evident on the same seam route that Tyler Eifert and Cole Kmet both relished at Notre Dame, forcing a linebacker to turn his hips in close coverage or a safety to risk getting blown by if he comes downhill in support. Add in Raridon’s possible catch radius, and those routes could make him a model of the modern tight end.

Before then, though, the Irish will need to get some muscle onto his body. While a willing blocker, and largely successful at such in the Iowa prep ranks, Raridon will need to widen his shoulders to handle that responsibility at the next level.

The 12th commit in Notre Dame’s class of 2022, Raridon fills a vacancy created by the de-commitment of consensus three-star tight end Jack Nickel (Milton H.S.; Ga.) a few weeks ago, a de-commitment that signaled Raridon’s decision was likely not far off.

Raridon’s father played for the Irish along the offensive line in the early 2000s.

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Campaigners ‘liberate’ Dublin’s South William Street from cars for the day

— “It’s time to fight back against the dominance of motor vehicles in our towns and cities,” groups say.
— Article updated with reaction and background.

Environmental and transport campaigners have set a plan in motion to liberate Dublin’s South William Street from cars for the day.

As the above photograph, provide by the group shows, South William Street is currently closed to through motor traffic. understands that the group of protesters will not get in the way of local access, including cars exiting from the Brown Thomas Car Park.

Organisers who canvased the businesses on the street said that 19 out of 21 were “positive or super positive” and the remaining two were “indifferent”. Several years ago, a local business-lead campaign to make the street car-free failed after car park owners and larger retailers in the wider area objected to it. Campaigners also claim that there’s only a very small percentage of motorists who have expressed annoyance at them.

Then in 2015, city councillors voted to include a call to pedestrianise the street in the Dublin City Development Plan 2016-2022. The current city development plan states that it is an objective “To introduce traffic-free areas on sections on Drury Street, South William Street, Exchequer Court, Dame Court and Dame Lane while ensuring that access to car parks and deliveries is still provided for.”

Today, Cllr Neasa Hourigan (Green Party) said: “A viable pedestrian plan has been stalled for almost a decade on this street”, while Fine Gael TD Noel Rock said: “South William Street really is ripe to be pedestrianised. Would love to see this progressed and made official in near future.”

SOLE Seafood & Grill, a business based on the street, said: “We think this is wonderful! There is such an amazing buzz on South William Street today and we for one would love to see it pedestrianised permanently.”
Protest was underway at 10am

The protest action which got underway at 10am is described as being implemented by members of the Dublin Cycling Campaign, the Dublin Commuter Coalition and the Irish Pedestrian Network with support from Extinction Rebellion activists.

A statement released to the media by organisers said: “The action was prompted by the recent release of Environmental Protection Agency data which showed that air pollution in Dublin is regularly exceeding the levels deemed safe by the EU. In Ireland, the number of premature deaths attributed to air pollution annually is estimated by the EPA as 1,510 people. This is ten times the number of people who died in 2018 as a direct result of road traffic collisions.”

IMAGE: Provided by Ronan Griffin.

The statement from organisers added: “Activists wearing anti-pollution masks installed traffic-prevention measures on South William Street at 10am on Saturday and have said they will continue a series of similar actions on streets around Dublin. These would continue, they promised, until the immediate actions, not words, of Dublin City Council and the government show they get the message that “streets are for people, not cars.”

“Poisonous air harms all of us, but particularly the most vulnerable”

Janet Horner of the Dublin Cycling Campaign said: “We are extremely concerned about the toxic levels of air pollution being created by motor vehicles on a daily basis,”

”Poisonous air harms all of us, but particularly the most vulnerable. This is a public health emergency and we need to take immediate action to reduce motor traffic and to create clean air zones throughout the city. People have a right to clean air,” Horner added.

Cllr Hourigan, who is also a founder of the Irish Pedestrian Network, said: “We are calling on the authorities to create public places for people, not cars. South William Street should have been pedestrianised years ago, and today we intend to show how even our most urban streets should be a place where people with disabilities and young children can access the public realm with ease.”

Kevin Carter, acting chairperson of the Dublin Commuter Coalition, said: “The vast majority of people moving in the city centre are walking, on bikes and on public transport but they get a minority of the space. Air quality and the environmental impact of cars are going to be election issues at the next general election.”

Carter said: “Politicians need to realise that people want cities that are clean, attractive and liveable. This isn’t possible if the streets are dominated by cars, so something has got to give.”

Robin Cafolla of Extinction Rebellion Dublin said: “Transport emissions account for about one third of global greenhouse gas emissions and the rise of the private motor car has been a contributory factor in the acceleration of climate collapse. We have to take radical action to reduce our dependence on cars and enable more people to walk, cycle and use public transport.”

I am editor of and have reported on and commented on cycling in Ireland for over a decade. My background is in journalism -- I have a BA in Journalism from DCU and HDip in Print Journalism from BCFE. I wrote about cycling for national newspapers, and then started for overflow stories. Later the website was re-branded to reflect a more national focus.

1 Comment

  1. congratulations to all involved,i lived nearby in 50s-70s it was always a mess in those days the centre of the fabric trade.

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December 21, 2017

Our Most Liked Listings of 2017: Did Your Fave Win?

2017 was another great year for not just the national housing market, but our regional market in South Bend. Here at the Steve Smith Team we […]
July 3, 2017

The Perks and Challenges of Becoming a Landlord

The number of people renting a home — as opposed to buying — is on the rise. Increased purchase prices in the major cities along with […]
June 27, 2017

What You Need to Know About Buying a House This Summer

Planning on buying a house this season? Go in prepared with advice from the pros. Summer brings longer days, warmer weather and more people out house-hunting […]
June 22, 2017

Belly Up to Your Own Home Bar: Our How-to Guide

A guy walks into a bar … and he’s still in his own home. You could be that guy (or gal)! And it’s easier than you […]
June 20, 2017

8 New Costs of Owning a Home You May Never Have Considered

You’ve paid your mortgage and property tax, but you’re not quite done yet. . . You learn a lot about a house once you live in […]
June 15, 2017

Sellers: Here’s How to Update Your Home With Looks Buyers Love

Before you list, tweak your home decor and finishes to up your odds of attracting a sale. When you’re putting your home on the market, you […]
June 13, 2017

How Much House Can You Really Afford?

Just because a lender approves you for a mortgage doesn’t mean you can comfortably afford it. If you ask Google “how much house can I afford,” […]
June 8, 2017

Is Buying a ‘Starter Home’ Still Smart?

Your parents’ rite of passage may not make sense for you. When the Baby Boomer generation was venturing into adulthood, it was common to buy a “starter […]
June 6, 2017

What Type Of Mortgage Is Right For You?

Choosing the right mortgage is daunting, so we’ve demystified common scenarios to help you find the right loan. Tired of paying rent and ready to become […]
June 1, 2017

What Do Buyers and Sellers Pay in Closing Costs?

Usually, the buyer faces more line-item expenses, but the seller pays the commission. Rarely does a buyer or seller show up to the closing without knowing […]
May 30, 2017

How To Pay Off Your Mortgage Early

Your loan term might be fixed, but it doesn’t have to dictate when you’ll be mortgage-free. Find out how to speed up the process. A lot […]
May 25, 2017

Renters: Are You Ready to Buy a Home?

While you save up your down payment, take these 5 steps to get you closer to closing. For renters planning to buy a home, preliminary steps like […]
May 23, 2017

Important Credit Lessons Your Parents Didn’t Teach You

Listen up, kids: Paying interest is painful. Really, really painful. Parental wisdom is easy to ignore until you’re left scratching your head over simple adult responsibilities […]
May 18, 2017

Your Essential Moving Checklist

Map out everything you need to do, week by week, until the big day. Editor’s note: For many people, spring kicks off prime moving season. Wherever you’re headed, […]
May 16, 2017

We Weren’t The Highest Bidders, But Our Home Offer Letter Helped Us Get The House Anyway

When the home they loved was above their budget, this couple wrote an offer letter — and walked away with a win. After renting in Los Angeles, […]
May 11, 2017

3 Steps to Buying a Vacation Home With Friends

Find out if teaming up to buy a second home is right for you and your pals. Given the current strength of the dollar abroad and […]
May 9, 2017

6 Things Buyers Can Do To Ace An Open House

How maximizing time at an open house can help buyers land their dream homes. Even if you start your house hunt on Trulia, traditional home-buying methods […]
May 4, 2017

Design Trend: Shiplap All Over the House

See how you can apply this hot look in any space. Shiplap may be overtaking subway tile as the wall accent everyone’s talking about. There’s just something about […]
May 2, 2017

8 Home Issues That Could Cause A Home Sale To Fall Through

Do you know what issues most often turn off buyers or kill a sale? Here are some of the big ones. From a leaky or aging […]
April 27, 2017

3 High-Impact Spots to Use Bold Color

  Don’t hold back — bright, bold colors are on trend and easier to incorporate than you might think. The next two years are all about […]
April 25, 2017

Ways To Cut Household Expenses And Save Money Each Month

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April 20, 2017

Our Racially Divided Housing Market Is Changing, Thanks to Millennials

A look at how we got here and where we’re headed. Kieran Killeen was astounded when he bought a home in Vermont in 2002, and its title […]
April 18, 2017

What You Need To Know About Buying A Home This Spring

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April 13, 2017

5 Ways You’ll Spend Money on Your New Construction Home After Closing

Save some room in your budget for expenses after move-in. By the time you get the keys to your new construction home, you might feel stretched thin […]
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Services & Specializations

Bilingual (Spanish & English)

Counseling Services

  • Therapy to individuals, couples, children, adolescents, and/or families
  • Culturally specific counseling
  • Immigration Mental Health Evaluations

Group Counseling

  • Educational groups
  • Support groups
  • Classroom observations
  • Consultations

• Healing from abuse/emotional trauma

I have had the privilege of participating in the healing of families whose children were removed from their homes due to abuse/neglect. I have also helped to rebuild the lives of battered women & their children, helped victims of abuse to rid themselves of the ‘baggage’ that often is carried as a result from the abuse. In addition, the years in private practice positioned me to witness many men, women, and children overcome deep wounds and persevere without the load of the injustices of abuse. I see tremendous courage in all these clients.

• Marriage/relationships

Relationships are complex. They require a lot of care & maintenance. I draw experience from my own 20+ years of marriage as well as facilitate couples forums where developing communication, connection, respect & strengthening the partnership are key. I have worked with couples that are dating, recently married, remarried couples, ’empty nest’ couples, and same sex partners.

• Parenting issues

As a parent, I understand the challenges of consciously raising children. My professional experience includes helping to design & facilitate parent groups/family forums, teaching parents how to support their children through a divorce/separation, working with blended families, supporting parents in a reunification process and helping couples adopt.

• Women issues

I have dedicated my 20+ year career to the work of healing & working with women. My extensive experience is in addressing issues affecting women such as domestic violence, sexual abuse, postpartum depression, anxiety, depression, trauma, parenting, life transitions, and relationships. I have also created & lead an all girls life skills group for middle & high school young women.

• Child or adolescent issues

My extensive training includes working as a Child Advocate for court involved youth, co-facilitating art therapy groups, working 1:1 with ‘at risk’ youth, facilitating a girls life skills group, teaching an anti-violence & domestic violence curriculum in elementary thru high school classrooms, as well as seeing young clients in my office with adjustment, anxiety, depression and behavioral/emotional issues.

  • Postpartum, Emotional difficulties related to pregnancy
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Life transition issues
  • Domestic violence
  • Stress reduction
  • Personal growth
  • Cultural issues
  • Adjustment to divorce/separation
  • Adjustment to foster care

Let’s meet

It is through my strong belief in people, that I can help you find your answers and help guide you to the paths you seek.”

Conveniently located in Tigard at the intersection of highways 5 and 217, with immediate access to public transportation and easily reached from surrounding cities such as Portland, Lake Oswego, Beaverton, Tualatin and Wilsonville.

Morning, day & evening appointments available.

Call so we can find a time that works best for you.

Phone: 503.332.3394
Fax: 888.337.1752


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PySnooper – Never use print for debugging again

PySnooper is a poor man’s debugger.

You’re trying to figure out why your Python code isn’t doing what you think it should be doing. You’d love to use a full-fledged debugger with breakpoints and watches, but you can’t be bothered to set one up right now.

You want to know which lines are running and which aren’t, and what the values of the local variables are.

Most people would use print lines, in strategic locations, some of them showing the values of variables.

PySnooper lets you do the same, except instead of carefully crafting the right print lines, you just add one decorator line to the function you’re interested in. You’ll get a play-by-play log of your function, including which lines ran and when, and exactly when local variables were changed.

What makes PySnooper stand out from all other code intelligence tools? You can use it in your shitty, sprawling enterprise codebase without having to do any setup. Just slap the decorator on, as shown below, and redirect the output to a dedicated log file by specifying its path as the first argument.


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For what reason Should we Ignore the Wrong Local Citation?

For what reason Should we Ignore the Wrong Local Citation?

At the point when we talk about improving perceivability and getting discovered on the web, neighborhood references assume a significant part for nearby organizations. Continuously recollect, a neighborhood reference is a finished depiction of a business’ name, telephone number, address, and other required subtleties.

What are the Local Citation?

The main piece of neighborhood site design improvement is the creation and upkeep of nearby references the concise depiction of your business data on the web. They make more grounded your neighborhood perceivability and lift your rankings in the SERPs. While making neighborhood references for your business, there are some sure downsides to disregard to protect the adequacy of your nearby SEO endeavors. Here are some regular errors to overlook, while making neighborhood references. In addition, by picking the Digital Marketing Company in London, you can dodge some regular references legitimately.

Read Also: Bing has relaunched Site Explorer in Bing Webmaster Tools

Copy Listings

You may discover sites or neighborhood indexes, which have at least two previous postings for your business. Here and there, these copies will have conflicting business data. Copy postings happen for some reasons, yet they’re something critical to address. A few reasons why they are so troublesome.

Digital Marketing
Image Credit: Google Image

No Google My Business Profile

It best the rundown in light of how significant A GMB profile is as a nearby reference. GMB subtleties represent practically 20% of nearby positioning pointers on Google. It is the principle source from which Google pulls your business information for neighborhood look, not your site itself. In the event that you have not made a GMB profile, it is extremely simple to do. Digital Marketing Agencies in Leeds can make your record straightforwardly with Google and follow their bit by bit technique.

Off-base or Missing Information

While it’s on Google, Yelp, or one of another neighborhood reference sites, precision, and consistency of your business data is significant. You should ensure that your organization’s NAP data (Name, Address, and Phone Number) ought to be right, modern and showcases the comparative over every neighborhood reference you make.

Not Maintaining Your Business’ Citations

Guaranteeing neighborhood references is extremely fundamental data as you need to be one who deals with your business data on the web. Unclaimed references could open the entryways for your rivals to change your subtleties with the reason to misdirect your customers, or, less fortunate, take them from their own business. Guaranteeing neighborhood references is very useful for the situation that you should refresh your business data. While you have moved to workplaces, gotten another telephone number and having responsibility for references will make refreshing them a lot more straightforward.


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Kindness Is A Super Power

“Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.” – Henry James

It’s incredibly easy to be kind to people we like; in fact, it comes naturally. You greet friends with a smile, a warm hug, perhaps a kiss on the cheek. It’s also pretty easy to be kind to people you don’t know; it can be as simple as holding a door open for them, letting someone merge into traffic ahead of you, or nodding and smiling to strangers as you pass on the street.

What about being kind to people you don’t like? What about being kind to people who are unkind to you? What about being kind to people are are angry, violent or aggressively unpleasant? Is there value in being kind to those people? That’s the topic in this, the sixth and final installment (for now) in my series on the Six Medicines of Bodhichristo, with our first installment being about living for today, our second installment being about not allowing anger to control your life, our third being about the importance of not giving in to constant worry our fourth talking about the importance of having an attitude of gratitude, and our fifth about the value of hard work.

We all have people in our lives who make it difficult to be kind. It might be a boss or co-worker, a teenaged child, a parent or perhaps even a spouse – the possibilities are basically limitless – but it doesn’t matter. It’s important to think of kindness not as a trophy you bestow on those who have earned it, but rather like a gift you give to all. A great example of this from my Christian upbringing is the grace extended to us through the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, a grace that is not deserved yet is given freely. Jesus gave the gift of grace to even the most undeserving, including the hated tax collectors and, most remarkably, those who killed him on the cross. According to the New Testament story, his very last words were to ask forgiveness for those who murdered him.

Think about that for a second. By all accounts Jesus died the most brutal death ever imagined, whipped and crowned with thorns, hands and feet nailed to a cross, a wound gashed in his side by a sword and left to bleed to death in the hot African sun. His last words were an act of profound kindness towards the people who treated him so brutally. Given that example, whom can I not forgive? To whom can I not show kindness?

One thing I know from extreme first-hand experience about people who are generally unkind is that they lack inner peace. They are in a fairly constant state of turmoil, mostly self-inflicted, and are not acting out of a position of self-control, but rather from a position of mental chaos. I, myself, do not live in such a state. I have pursued and have been granted a peaceful state of mind. I have learned not to answer anger with anger (OK, most of the time), for all that does is make bad situations worse. I have learned to smile inwardly when someone is in chaos and inflicting that chaos upon me because I know that I am not in chaos and I can therefore have mercy, extend grace, be kind to them by not engaging. I can smile, I can laugh, or I can even remain silent and just let go of the need to respond at all.

“No response is a response. And it’s a powerful one. Remember that.” – Anonymous

My daughter, nine, is also faced with situations where someone is unreasonably angry and out of control. I am teaching her to weather these storms with a more recent story about a powerful girl who learns not to give in to anger, but to answer such situations with a peaceful kindness. She imagines Rey Skywalker, using The Force to float in air among trees and think “Be with me” as she imagines Jedi heroes lending her strength while John Williams’ Jedi theme music plays in the background of her mind.

I find the Jedi theme to be extremely useful in calming myself when the world around me is in turmoil. (Seriously! Try it! Click this link!)

Kindness is truly a super power, and I firmly believe it can save the world. It can certainly save the soul. try showing kindness the next time someone is rude. Try smiling, wishing them a nice day, or maybe just letting silence and your own peace permeate your being. I promise it will make a difference. If you make it a habit you will find that those people who use to really bother you with their unkind energy no longer penetrate your armor of peacefulness.

May The Force Be With You

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Open educational resources: inquiring into author use and reuse

International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning
January 1st, 2008
Publication Author:
Lisa Petrides, Lilly Nguyen, Cynthia Jimes, Anastasia Karaglani
Resource Type:
Journal Publications

For teachers and learners, the proliferation of Open Educational Resources (OER) in combination with advances in information technologies has meant centralised access to materials and the possibility of creating, using, and reusing OER globally, collaboratively, and across multiple disciplines. Through an examination of a community of author users of the OER portal Connexions, this article explores individual and group authorship, OER use and reuse and the factors contributing to and hindering these practices. As such, the paper sheds light on how OER can be sustained and continuously improved, with an emphasis on the use and reuse of dynamic, relevant, and high quality materials over time.

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Real World Solutions: A Seasoned Educator’s Experience at Big Ideas Fest

I did not land at ISKME by accident. My interest in our mission to transform education, and particularly my passion for research that bridges theory and practice, can be traced to one key influence: my father, Dr. Daniel Detzner. Since before I was born, my dad has focused his career on making higher education more accessible, on improving teaching and learning in his own classroom, and on mentoring and collaborating with colleagues.

It was only natural that in 2010 my dad joined the ranks of Big Ideas Fest participants. Then 65, he was just beginning a phased retirement from his role as a professor in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota. But my dad takes the concept of lifelong learning pretty seriously. As he explained, “Although I’m not in the early stages of my career I am always interested in seeing what new ideas are coming forth in education.”

Of particular interest to him was the convening’s focus on how technology can be leveraged to improve education systems. “I knew Big Ideas Fest would be an interesting intersection of technology and educators at all levels…I looked forward to hearing the interaction taking place among these people right in the heart of Silicon Valley.” In reflecting on his time at Big Ideas Fest, he noted that “coming to California is a different perspective than what you get in the Midwest, and the influence of technology is dramatic.”

Although he’s probably attended hundreds of conferences over the years, an aspect of Big Ideas Fest he found outstanding was the enthusiasm among participants for actively participating in the conference sessions, particularly the Action Collabs. “There was an unusual amount of creativity amongst the participants, that you don’t usually see. Most of the people in attendance came ready to participate, be active, and be engaged – whereas normally at conferences people are quite absent, passive, and disengaged,” he commented.

These outstanding levels of participation he attributed to Big Ideas Fest “being situated in the heart of creativity-land,” as well as the Action Collab method’s focus on real world solutions. At Big Ideas Fest, my father noted, participants are “working collaboratively on an idea that will have practical use in the real world.” In an era where there are so many pressing problems in the education field, Big Ideas Fest offers “an equal measure of inspiration and practical approaches to real world solutions.”


text:
Islamic Stories Azan MP3

Muslim Rule in India

The Muslim rule in India lasted for almost 1000 years. How come then, asked the British historian Sir Henry Elliot, that Hindus 'had not left any account which could enable us to gauge the traumatic impact the Muslim conquest and rule had on them'? Since there was none, Elliot went on to produce his own eight-volume History of India from its own historians (1867).

His history claimed Hindus were slain for disputing with 'Muhammedans', generally prohibited from worshipping and taking out religious processions, their idols were mutilated, their temples destroyed, they were forced into conversions and marriages, and were killed and massacred by drunk Muslim tyrants. Thus Sir Henry, and scores of other Empire scholars, went on to produce a synthetic Hindu versus Muslim history of India, and their lies became history.

However, the noted Indian scholar and historian, Dr Bishambhar Nath Pande, who passed away in New Delhi on 1 June, ranked among the very few Indians and fewer still Hindu historians who tried to be a little careful when dealing with such history. He knew that this history was 'originally compiled by European writers' whose main objective was to produce a history that would serve their policy of divide and rule.

Lord Curzon (Governor General of India 1895-99 and Viceroy 1899-1904, d.1925) was told by the Secretary of State for India, George Francis Hamilton, that they 'should so plan the educational text books that the differences between community and community are further strengthened'.

Another Viceroy, Lord Dufferin (1884-88), was advised by the Secretary of State in London that the 'division of religious feelings is greatly to our advantage', and that he expected 'some good as a result of your committee of inquiry on Indian education and on teaching material'.

'We have maintained our power in India by playing-off one part against the other,' the Secretary of State for India reminded yet another Viceroy, Lord Elgin (1862-63), 'and we must continue to do so. Do all you can, therefore, to prevent all having a common feeling.'

In his famous Khuda Bakhsh Annual Lecture (1985) Dr Pande said: 'Thus under a definite policy the Indian history books text-books were so falsified and distorted as to give an impression that the medieval [i.e. Muslim] period of Indian history was full of atrocities committed by Muslim rulers on their Hindu subjects and the Hindus had to suffer terrible indignities under Muslim rule. And there were no common factors [between Hindus and Muslims] in social, political and economic life.'

Therefore, Dr Pande was extra careful. Whenever he came across a 'fact' that looked odd to him, he would try to check and verify rather than adopt it uncritically.

He came across a history text-book taught in the Anglo-Bengali College, Allahabad which claimed that 'three thousand Brahmins had committed suicide as Tipu wanted to convert them forcibly into the fold of Islam'.

The author was a very famous scholar, Dr Har Prashad Shastri, head of the department of Sanskrit at Calcutta University. (Tipu Sultan (1750-99), who ruled over the South Indian state of Mysore (1782-99), is one of the most heroic figures in Indian history. He died on the battlefield, fighting the British.)

Was it true? Dr Pande wrote immediately to the author and asked him for the source on which he had based this episode in his text-book. After several reminders, Dr Shastri replied that he had taken this information from the Mysore Gazetteer. So Dr Pande requested the Mysore University vice chancellor, Sir Brijendra Nath Seal, to verify for him Dr Shastri's statement from the Gazetteer. Sir Brijendra referred his letter to Prof Srikantia who was then working on a new edition of the Gazetteer.

Srikantia wrote to say that the Gazetteer mentioned no such incident and, as a historian himself, he was certain that nothing like this had taken place. Prof Srikantia added that both the prime minister and the commander-in-chief of Tipu Sultan were themselves Brahmins. He also enclosed a list of 136 Hindu temples which used to receive annual grants from the Sultan's treasury.

It transpired that Shastri had lifted this story from Colonel Miles' History of Mysore which Miles claimed he had taken from a Persian manuscript in the personal library of Queen Victoria.

When Dr Pande checked further, he found that no such manuscript existed in Queen Victoria's library. Yet Dr Shastri's book was being used as a high school history text-book in seven Indian states, Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. So he sent his entire correspondence about the book to the vice chancellor of Calcutta University,

Sir Ashutosh Chaudhary. Sir Ashutosh promptly ordered Shashtri's book out of the course. Yet years later, in 1972, Dr Pande was surprised to discover the same suicide story was still being taught as 'history' in junior high schools in Uttar Pradesh. The lie had found currency as a fact of history.

The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (born 1618, reigned 1658-1707) is the most reviled of all Muslim rulers in India. He was supposed to be a great destroyer of temples and oppressor of Hindus, and a 'fundamentalist' too! As chairman of the Allahabad Municipality (1948-53), Dr Pande had to deal with a land dispute between two temple priests.

One of them had filed in evidence some farmans (royal orders) to prove that Aurangzeb had, besides cash, gifted the land in question for the maintenance of his temple. Might they not be fake, Dr Pande thought, in view of Aurangzeb's fanatically anti-Hindu image? He showed them to his friend, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, a distinguished lawyer as well a great scholar of Arabic and Persian. He was also a Brahmin. Sapru examined the documents and declared they were genuine farmans issued by Aurangzeb.

For Dr Pande this was a 'new image of Aurangzeb'; so he wrote to the chief priests of the various important temples, all over the country, requesting photocopies of any farman issued by Aurangzeb that they may have in their possession.

The response was overwhelming; he got farmans from several principal Hindu and jain temples, even from Sikh Gurudwaras in northern India. These farmans, issued between 1659 and 1685, related to grant of jagir (large parcel of agricultural lands) to support regular maintenance of these places of worship.

Dr Pande's research showed that Aurangzeb was as solicitous of the rights and welfare of his non-Muslim subjects as he was of his Muslim subjects. Hindu plaintiffs received full justice against their Muslims respondents and, if guilty, Muslims were given punishment as necessary.

One of the greatest charges against Aurangzeb is of the demolition of Vishwanath temple in Banaras (Varanasi). That was a fact, but Dr Pande unravelled the reason for it. 'While Aurangzeb was passing near Varanasi on his way to Bengal, the Hindu Rajas in his retinue requested that if the halt was made for a day, their Ranis may go to Varanasi, have a dip in the Ganges and pay their homage to Lord Vishwanath. Aurangzeb readily agreed.

'Army pickets were posted on the five mile route to Varanasi. The Ranis made journey on the palkis [palanquins]. They took their dip in the Ganges and went to the Vishwanath temple to pay their homage. After offering puja [worship] all the Ranis returned except one, the Maharani of Kutch. A thorough search was made of the temple precincts but the Rani was to be found nowhere.

'When Aurangzeb came to know of this, he was very much enraged. He sent his senior officers to search for the Rani. Ultimately they found that statue of Ganesh [the elephant-headed god which was fixed in the wall was a moveable one. When the statue was moved, they saw a flight of stairs that led to the basement. To their horror they found the missing Rani dishonoured and crying deprived of all her ornaments. The basement was just beneath Lord Vishwanath's seat.'

The Rajas demanded salutary action, and 'Aurangzeb ordered that as the sacred precincts have been despoiled, Lord Vishwanath may be moved to some other place, the temple be razed to the ground and the Mahant [head priest] be arrested and punished'.
(B N Pande, Islam and Indian Culture, Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna, 1987)

Dr Pande believed in the innate goodness of human nature. Despite all that senseless hate and periodical outbreak of anti-Muslim violence after independence, he remained an optimist. When one of the worst riots took place in 1979 in Ahmadabad, in which more than 2,000 Muslims were killed and 6,000 houses burnt, Dr Pande travelled there to see whether there was 'any humanity still alive'.

Yes, it was in one locality, Mewabhai Chaal, where he found that all the houses had been burnt down. Did they all belong to Muslims? No. Only 35 belonged to Muslims; some 125 belonged to Hindus, he was told. So, it meant, the arsonists came in two different waves; one destroying the Muslim houses and the other the Hindu houses? No, it was only one wave, said Kalayan Singh. That one, there, he pointed out to smoke billowing from what used to be his house and his tyre-shop. He was a Hindu and he had lost property and business worth 200,000 rupees.

The miscreants had asked him to point out the Muslim houses so they could spare the Hindu houses. Kalyan Singh refused, and watched as the mob set fire to all the houses - including his own. How could I betray my Muslim neighbours? he asked Dr Pande rhetorically.

Dr Pande also went to the Muslim students hostel. One-third of its residents were Hindus. "Come out all you Hindu students," yelled a murderous mob gathered outside the hostel. No, we won't, shouted back the Hindu students and locked the gate from inside. In the event, the entire hostel was evacuated by the army and then left to the mob to loot and burn.

The Hindu students were told they could take with them their books and research papers. Dr Pande met a young DSc scholar, named Desai, who had left behind his more than three years' labour, a ready-for-typing dissertation, to be burnt by the arsonists. Desai said he couldn't think of saving his thesis while some of his Muslim friends were in similar position with their theses. A noble soul! Dr Pande who had been looking for humanity found it there as well.

The inhumanity did not lie in the Indian nature, but the nature had fallen victim to the evil heritage of colonial history. Few realised how 1000 years of their history had been stolen from them. Many tended to buy the fake and doctored version handed down to them as part of their colonial heritage. Some even saw a little political advantage in this trade.

Dr Pande heard a leading Hindu Mahasabha politician and religious leader, Mahant Digvijaynath, telling an election meeting that it is written in the Qur'an that killing a Hindu was an act of goodness (thawab). Dr Pande called upon the Mahant (High Priest) and told him that he had read the Qur'an a few times but didn't find such a statement in it, and he had, therefore, brought with him several English, Urdu and Hindi translations of the Qur'an; so would he kindly point to him where exactly did the statement occur in the Qur'an?

Isn't it written there? said the Mahant. I haven't found it; if you have, please tell me, replied Dr Pande. Then what does it say? It speaks about love and brotherhood, about the oneness of mankind. What's jihad then? What is jizyah? How then India got partitioned? The Mahant went on asking, and Dr Pande kept on explaining, hoping the Mahant would correct himself. However, the Mahant's ideas were fixed, in prejudice and in ignorance.

Dr Pande himself had been a senior member of the ruling Congress party which he had joined at a very young age. He was a disciple of Gandhi, a friend of Nehru; he had taken part in each and every non-cooperation movement against the British and gone to jail eight times.

The Congress was supposed to be an all-Indian nationalist platform and yet Dr Pande's party was hardly free from the bias and ignorance of a cleverly deconstructed history. The rise of militant Hindutva tendency is only recent, but before it all became overt, the Congress itself was doing the same, albeit a little covertly.

All the horrific anti-Muslim carnage took place during more than four decades of Congress rule. The doors of the Babari Mosque were opened for Hindu worship during the tenure of Nehru's grandson, Rajiv Gandhi. The Mosque itself was pulled down during the regime of another Congress Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao.

Dr Pande was, however, just one individual. That made his work all the more important, not just from the Muslim but from the point of view of the entire country. India's deconstructed history is like a time bomb; unless it is defused, India cannot survive in one piece. Not for very long.

Bishambhar Nath Pande born on 23 December 1906 in the Madhya Pradesh of Umreth; member UP Legislative Assembly (1952-53); member UP Legislative Council (1972-74); twice member of the upper house, Rajya Sabha (1976 and 1982); Governor of Orissa state (1983-88); recipient of the highest national award Padma Shri (1976); author of several books, including The Spirit of India and The Concise History of Congress; died in New Delhi, 1 June 1998.

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International Relations Defense

China-Russia Security Cooperation: Geopolitical Signalling with Limits

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Image courtesy of padrinan/pixabay.

This article was originally published by the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) on 16 January 2018.

China-Russia enhanced security cooperation is a form of geopolitical signalling. Despite closer relations, the coming years will tell whether such cooperation is sustainable as the relationship is expected to turn increasingly asymmetrical due to China’s continuing rise. It is unlikely that China’s relationship with Russia would turn into an actual military alliance in the future, however. China’s strategic partnership with Russia is the most comprehensive among its strategic partnerships. The two countries have also enhanced coordination in internationally topical issues. In June 2017, China and Russia signed a general plan for bilateral military cooperation for the years 2017–2020.

Over the years, there has been a qualitative improvement since the first two exercises of 2005 and 2007, moving towards interoperability. Joint naval exercises with Russia help the Chinese navy to gain experience in areas further away from the Chinese coastal regions. Arms sales from Russia to China picked up after 2015 when Russia agreed to sell its most advanced technologies to China. The latter will receive the S-400 missile defence system as Russia’s first foreign customer. The delivery date has not yet been published.

The China-Russia relationship has global significance. Particularly when united, these two countries could pose a severe challenge to the US and to the broader liberal international order, a sentiment that was clearly articulated in President Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy published in December 2017. The two countries have increased and enhanced their political and security cooperation in recent years. The cooperation takes multiple forms from high-level attendance at each other’s military parades to coordinated foreign policy actions, joint military exercises and even joint development of military equipment. How should we interpret these recent trends? How does this cooperation benefit China, which is a much bigger player economically than Russia and rapidly developing its indigenous defence industry? In an attempt to address these questions, this Briefing Paper duly looks at the Chinese motivations for enhanced collaboration with Russia in the political and security spheres.

China-Russia strategic partnership and political cooperation

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, China’s relations with its neighbour improved considerably. In January 2017 China defined Russia as a “priority in diplomacy” in its White Paper titled China’s Policies on Asia-Pacific Security Cooperation. In December 2017 Chinese Ambassador to Russia, Li Hui, stated that “The comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination between China and Russia occupies a special position in the major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics and is an important manifestation of practicing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.” These recent developments are remarkable considering the history of the Sino-Soviet split and the fact that the two countries formed their “strategic partnership of coordination” in 1996, only five years after China established diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation. The war in Kosovo accelerated the process of forming closer bilateral ties. Both countries opposed NATO operations in Kosovo as constituting interference in a sovereign state’s internal affairs. In China, public opinion turned strongly against the US after NATO’s bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in which three Chinese citizens were killed.

While China has so-called strategic partnerships with multiple countries, the term “coordination” is reserved for describing the China-Russia strategic partnership. At the institutional level, the mechanisms in China’s strategic relationship with Russia are the most comprehensive and effective. The presidents, premiers and heads of the National People’s Congress and the Duma meet annually. In addition, the two countries have different institutionalized settings for various key sectors, such as the Energy Negotiators’ Meeting and China-Russia Strategic Security Consultation.[1] China and Russia are also founding members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which was established in 2001 and accepted its first new members in June 2017 when India and Pakistan joined the SCO. Particularly where new members are concerned, the SCO lacks cohesion and its regional importance has decreased.

Politically, China and Russia have a common interest in promoting a multipolar world and non-interference in states’ internal affairs. The principle of non-interference is mentioned in their 1997 joint communiqué entitled The Russian-Chinese Joint Declaration on a Multipolar World and the Establishment of a New International Order. In the UN context this preference is manifested in voting behaviour on issues involving military intervention and other forms of interference in states’ internal affairs. Both China and Russia were against placing the human rights situation in North Korea on the UN Security Council’s agenda, for example.[2] Between 2001 and 2012, China and Russia intensified their political cooperation in the UN Security Council and started to show elements of a typical coalition. The two states have, for example, used the double veto more often than before to block US- and EU-initiated draft resolutions. As only one veto would be enough to block a draft resolution, this kind of behaviour can be interpreted as an act of opposition against the dominant Western coalition.[3]

The Sino-Russian treaty of friendship signed in 2001 lifted the bilateral commitments to a new level in its Article 9: “When a situation arises in which one of the contracting parties deems that peace is being threatened and undermined or its security interests are involved or when it is confronted with the threat of aggression, the contracting parties shall immediately hold contacts and consultations in order to eliminate such threats”. Perhaps the most significant step on the bilateral front occurred in 2008 when the two countries managed to peacefully resolve their border dispute. In the same year, Chinese and Russian defence ministers also established a direct phone hotline. When Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, he chose Russia as the destination for his first state visit, and became the first foreign leader to visit the Russian military command centre in Moscow.[4] The fact that Xi and Vladimir Putin seem to get along well at a personal level helps in enhancing cooperation, which has become more intimate in comparison with Hu Jintao’s years.

After the start of the Ukraine crisis in 2014 followed by Western economic sanctions against Russia, Sino-Russian strategic interests became more congruent. China and Russia have problematic relations with the West, although these relationships represent very different levels of difficulty. Both countries try to diminish Western influences in their respective domestic contexts visible in emphasising traditional values, changing educational policies and increasing censorship. Both must also deal with Western interference with areas regarded as China’s and Russia’s spheres of influence in these countries. While China named support for multipolarity and anti-hegemonism as its foreign policy goals decades ago indicating that it does not accept the US-dominated international order, its various national interests do not make it possible to give unconditional support to Russia in its dealings with the West. Thus, China supported Russia in the Ukraine crisis tacitly for the most part, as its economic interests were against openly siding with Russia. Sometimes Chinese sources close to the military were more openly anti-US describing it as a hegemon unwilling to adapt to a changed world with newly emerging powers. According to such commentaries, the declining US fights to maintain its primacy by strengthening alliances in the Asia-Pacific region to counter China and by pushing for NATOs eastward expansion to counter Russia. However, Russia’s recent actions evoke mixed feelings in China even without the US factor. Justifying the annexation of Crimea based on a popular vote is not exactly a model that China would like to promote considering its problematic domestic situation in autonomous areas such as Tibet and Xinjiang. Regarding the Taiwan question, the Crimean case can be interpreted from multiple perspectives. It can be seen as an example of action based on voting, which would not be in China’s interests in a scenario in which Taiwan would declare independence based on a referendum. Alternatively, Crimea could be taken as a case of a stronger state taking over the territory of a weaker party without much opposition, which could be a useful precedent for China’s future Taiwan policy.

Despite somewhat different interests, closer cooperation with China can partly compensate Russia for the difficult international position it has been in, especially since 2014. For China, symbolic support from Russia in the international context can also be useful. Concrete examples of Sino-Russian win-win cooperation are the military parades organized in both countries in 2015. Most high-ranking Western politicians boycotted both events, but China and Russia gave each other face by sending their top men to attend each other’s parades. Xi Jinping was the guest of honour in Russia’s Victory Day parade in May 2015, celebrating the 70-year anniversary of the end of World War II.  For China, it was important to have President Putin attend its military parade in September 2015 when most Western countries only sent diplomats or state officials below the top leadership to the event.

The China-Russia relationship is arguably better than it has ever been, manifested in political cooperation in key issues of world politics. Since April 2015, the two countries have held regular meetings under the title of the Sino-Russian Northeast Asian security dialogue in response to US and South Korean negotiations on supplying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence missile defence system to South Korea. In July 2017 Xi Jinping was in Moscow on a state visit when North Korea conducted its first intercontinental ballistic missile test. After the launch, China and Russia issued a joint statement calling on the United States, South Korea, and North Korea to acquiesce to a “dual freeze” solution: North Korea would freeze its nuclear and ballistic missile testing in exchange for a cessation of conventional exercises by the United States and South Korea. Although this initiative received little support internationally, according to the Chinese foreign ministry, China and Russia will strengthen their coordination on the issue. It is rare for China to issue such joint statements. The country’s joint statement with Russia in July 2017 was the first of its kind in ten years issued under the name of both Chinese and Russian Foreign Ministries.[5]

Military acquisitions from Russia

Improved bilateral relations facilitate cooperation in the security realm, although the history of military equipment sales from Russia to China has had multiple twists and turns in recent years. Since the Tian’anmen Square protests of 1989, China has been under an arms embargo from the US, the EU, Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea. Moscow and Beijing signed an agreement on military technology cooperation in 1992, and since then China has bought more military equipment from Russia than from all other countries combined. Chinese orders accounted for 34–60 per cent of Russian major weapons sales between 1999 and 2006. Russian arms transfers to China peaked in 2005 to the tune of 3.1 billion USD, when China accounted for around 60 per cent of Russian deliveries. After 2005 sales declined sharply, however, falling to 0.6 billion in 2016.[6] There were several reasons for these developments. In the 2000s China had more resources to invest in its military, and its domestic defence industry became more developed than before, decreasing the need to buy equipment from Russia. Russia for its part feared Chinese reverse engineering and refused to sell its most advanced technologies to China. There were accusations that China had copied Russian technologies and sold them to African countries and elsewhere.

While the increasingly sophisticated Chinese defence industry is a stable factor continuously decreasing Chinese needs to buy equipment abroad, the fact that China and Russia managed to gradually overcome the copyright issues related to defence equipment improved trade relations. One step towards further cooperation after a low tide occurred when China and Russia signed an agreement on intellectual property in 2008 to prevent the illegal copying of technologies. After the copyright agreement, and especially since 2015, Russia has gradually agreed to sell China its most advanced military technologies.[7] Siemon Wezeman presents two alternative reasons for Russia’s willingness to sell its most advanced products to China, which also currently competes with Russia in arms sales in third markets. Either this was the last chance for Russia to engage in selling military equipment to China or it could be a result of improved bilateral relations.[8] There may be elements of both factors involved. A higher level of trust must have been reached as the parties have been able to move towards joint production in limited areas. In 2011 Russia and China established a joint venture for servicing all Russian-made helicopters operating in China. In 2016, this cooperation was upgraded into a project developing a jointly produced heavy-lift helicopter for China.[9] The two countries have also developed LADA-class submarines, which helps the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) improve its noisy submarine fleet. Moreover, China and Russia have signed several research and development agreements on aero-engine technology, the production of space components and satellite navigation systems.[10]

Deals since 2015 include China’s purchase of Su-35 fighter jets, ten of which were delivered in 2016 and the second batch in 2017 with the remaining four scheduled for delivery this year. China has also made an advance payment to Russia for S-400 Triumph missile defence systems as Russia’s first foreign customer to receive this product.[11] The S-400 units will considerably improve China’s anti-access/area-denial capability, which refers to capability consisting of interrelated missile, radar and other technologies designed to deny hostile forces access to the Chinese (coastal) territory. The S-400 could also facilitate China’s installation of an air defence identification zone in the South China Sea, which China also threatened to do in the summer of 2016. In addition, the S-400 improves China’s position with regard to Taiwan, as well as in the East China Sea where China has an air defence identification zone overlapping with those of Japan and South Korea. Depending on where China places its S-400 systems, they will have the potential to alter the balance of power in multiple Asia Pacific hotspots.

Naturally, China is intent on becoming self-sufficient in military technology as quickly as possible. In the September 2015 military parade, China showcased its advanced domestic technologies such as the so-called “carrier killer” Dongfeng-21D antiship ballistic missiles. In February 2017, the Chinese Ministry of National Defence reported on China’s successful trial launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile carrying Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles (MIRVs).[12] China is also developing hypersonic glide vehicles, which can enhance its anti-access area denial capabilities.[13] China’s domestically produced fifth generation fighter jets (J-20) became operational in September 2017 according to Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defence.[14]

Although there are still areas in which China benefits from Russian sales, it appears that the time for further trade deals may be limited. In non-traditional security fields, however, China and Russia may find areas in which cooperation benefits both parties in the future as well. Online censorship, for example, is a key policy priority for both governments, and China has lengthy experience with its great firewall. This could benefit Russia, which seems to be taking steps towards decreased liberty in Russian cyberspace. In April 2016, the first China-Russia cyber forum was held in Moscow.

Joint military exercises

Cooperation with Russia helps China to advance its maritime strategy. China’s wider security posture concentrates on improving its maritime strategy and points towards increased overseas engagement as outlined in China’s first military strategy published in 2015. The navy is being formed into an elite force for the People’s Liberation Army. Other examples of maritime concentration include building of new aircraft carriers and the naval base in Djibouti, which was opened in the spring of 2017. The first indigenously built carrier is estimated to be operational in 2020.

The 2015 Military Strategy states that “China’s armed forces will further their exchanges and cooperation with the Russian military within the framework of the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination between China and Russia, and foster a comprehensive, diverse and sustainable framework to promote military relations in more fields and at more levels”. In June 2017 the two countries signed a general plan for bilateral military cooperation for the years 2017–2020. China and Russia have held joint military exercises frequently since the 2005 Peace Mission, which was their first joint exercise involving land, sea and air units. For some years, China and Russia have held their exercises jointly with other countries in the region using the SCO as the organizing body.

There has been qualitative improvement since the first two exercises in 2005 and 2007, moving towards interoperability: in 2009 the final stages of the drills involved joint action and in 2013 the air forces trained together for the first time. Joint military exercises give both countries a wider geographical scope than would otherwise be possible. In most of these exercises, the official agenda has been “anti-terrorist” although the implementation has not always matched such scenarios. Moreover, China and Russia have not shied away from politically sensitive geographical areas: the 2014 exercises were held in the East China Sea where Sino-Japanese tensions were running high at the time. The 2016 drills were held in the contested South China Sea. According to Ethan Meick’s report, Russia sent three surface ships, two supply ships, two helicopters as well as amphibious vehicles to these 2016 drills.[15] In addition, training areas have involved the Mediterranean, which is far away from China’s territorial waters. In July 2017 Chinese and Russian troops held a joint naval exercise in the Baltic Sea, followed by another exercise in the Sea of Japan in September.

For China, joint maritime exercises have multiple motivations. In addition to political reasons for enhanced cooperation with Russia, China needs to secure shipping lanes as its commercial interests are widespread across the globe. China became the world’s number one crude oil importer in 2017 and PLAN may need to participate in securing commercial or energy shipments in the future. The largest oil suppliers to China are Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and Oman, as well as Angola and Russia.[16] From Russia, there are direct pipelines to China but part of the Russian oil sales are still transported via sea routes. PLAN also has a lot of catching up to do in operating in seas far away from its own coastline. China has participated in anti-piracy operations near Somalia since 2008, but beyond that PLAN has little experience of operating out of Asia.

The three areas of cooperation discussed above demonstrate a trend of increased and enhanced Sino-Russian coordination. Russia has sold China its most advanced military technologies, and although weapons sales have their limits due to China’s rapid domestic development, future cooperation in the form of joint production is possible in areas not restricted to helicopters. Moreover, cooperation is already underway in areas of non-traditional security, such as cyber security.

Asia is a large and important market for the Russian military industry and Russia naturally avoids placing all of its eggs in one basket by continuing to sell arms to India and Vietnam, which is not in China’s interests. Russia also conducts military exercises with other Asian countries in addition to China. Nonetheless, recent sales of military equipment to China combined with sophisticated military exercises taking a wider geographical scope than ever before serve as an efficient form of geopolitical signalling.

Despite deepened cooperation, China and Russia are not allies and any formal military alliance between the two countries is not in sight either. This is mainly due to the widening gap between the two countries’ respective global power positions. China’s relative rise will continue, whereas Russia’s position is likely to decline. A formal alliance in the foreseeable future under the increasingly asymmetrical power balance would push Russia to adopt a subordinate role, which it will be unlikely to accept. However, as long as opposing the US or the West more broadly forms congruent interests, the Sino-Russian marriage of convenience will prevail.

[1] Feng, Zhongping and Jing Huang. 2014. “China’s Strategic Partnership Diplomacy: engaging with a changing world.” European Strategic Partnership Observatory. Accessed 30 October  2017.

[2] Creutz, Katja. 2017. “Human rights in the shadow of nuclear arms control.” In Sinkkonen, Elina (ed.) The North Korean Conundrum. International responses and future challenges. FIIA Report 52, 94–96.

[3] Monteleone, Carla. 2015. “Coalition building in the UN Security Council.” International Relations 29 (1), 58.

[4] Soldatkin, Vladimir. 2013. “In Moscow, new Chinese leader Xi warns against meddling.” Reuters 24 March 2013. Accessed 6 November 2017.

[5] Wu, DD. “Russia-China Relations Reach a New High.” The Diplomat 7 July 2017. Accessed 30 October 2017.

[6] Wezeman, Siemon. 2017. “China-Russia Relations and Regional Dynamics.” SIPRI, 86; Rajagopalan, Rajeswari Pillai 2017. “China-Russia Relations and Regional Dynamics.” SIPRI, 89–90; SIPRI Arms Transfers Database Accessed 1 November 2017.

[7] Kaczmarski, Marcin. 2015. Russia-China Relations in the Post-Crisis International Order. New York: Routledge, 71–73.

[8] Wezeman, Siemon. 2017. “China-Russia Relations and Regional Dynamics.” SIPRI, 88–89.

[9] TASS 20 June 2016. “Work on Russian-Chinese heavy helicopter autonomous from 3rd countries — deputy PM.” Accessed 7 November 2017.

[10] Meick, Ethan. 2017. “China-Russia Military-to-Military Relations: Moving Toward a Higher Level of Cooperation.” US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

[11] TASS 2 February 2017. “Russia may supply ten Su-35 fighter jets to China in 2017.” Accessed 31 October 2017; “Exports of Russia’s S-400 missile systems.” TASS 9 October 2017. Accessed 31 October 2017.

[12] Chinese Ministry of National Defence. Accessed 7 February 2017.

[13] Saalman, Lora. 2017. “Factoring Russia into the US-Chinese Equation on the Hypersonic Glide Vehicles.” SIPRI Insights on Peace and Security. No. 2017/1, 1–12.

[14] Xinhua 28 September 2017. “China’s J-20 fighter jet put into service: spokesman.” Accessed 7 November 2017.

[15] Meick, Ethan. 2017. “China-Russia Military-to-Military Relations: Moving Toward a Higher Level of Cooperation.” US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

[16] Drennen, Skylar. 2017. “What Does China’s Status As Largest Oil Importer Mean For U.S. Interests?” The Fuse Accessed 3 November 2017.

About the Author

Elina Sinkkonen is a Senior Research Fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affaris’ Global Security Research Programme.

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2020 Vancouver Coastal Regional Engagement Meeting

I·SPARC is pleased to announce the dates and theme for our annual series of Regional Engagement Sessions held across BC this fall!

This year’s regional meetings will be held virtually – bringing together individuals, community leaders, organizations and others working in the areas of sport, recreation, physical activity, health, wellness, youth, and education over interactive zoom platform to engage in a forum that will explore:

  • Safely Returning to Activity – sharing how communities are staying inspired and active during COVID-19 pandemic; barriers, challenges, successes, best practices
  • Mental Wellness during COVID-19 – exploring strategies and resources for helping ourselves and others manage anxiety, boost wellness, and nurture body and spirit
  • I·SPARC Updates – 2019-20 activities/highlights, upcoming programs, new governance structure
As we are all navigating a return to sport, physical activity, recreation and health and wellness in Indigenous communities throughout BC, we invite you to join us at one of our regional sessions.

Meetings will be held between 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM with a mid-day Lunch Break

Region   Meeting Date   Via Deadline to Register
Northeast/Northwest   Wednesday, Nov 25   Zoom (link sent via email) Nov 20
Interior   Friday, Nov 27   Zoom (link sent via email) Nov 22
Vancouver Island   Friday, December 4   Zoom (link sent via email) Nov 29
Vancouver Coastal   Friday, December 11   Zoom (link sent via email) Dec 6
Fraser   Tuesday, Dec 15   Zoom (link sent via email) Dec 10

**The sessions will conducted via Zoom platform and participants will need computer with internet/wifi access. The Zoom link will be issued via email to those who register prior to the event start.

For more information, please contact your Regional Coordinator for Vancouver Coastal, Pete Natrall, at pnatrall@isparc.ca.

Each regional meeting will have draw prizes to award.
All attendees will be entered to win!

I·SPARC’s annual Regional Engagement Sessions brings together Indigenous leaders in the sport, physical activity, recreation, health, and education sectors along with other partner organizations/groups within each of its six regions. These sessions provide the opportunity to build consensus on community-based approaches to increasing participation in sport and physical activity and improving health outcomes. The Regional Engagement Sessions also support the establishment of regional priorities that guide the design of community programs delivered throughout the year.

Participants of the Regional Engagement Sessions become part of I·SPARC’s ever growing Regional Network, which is central to regional decision-making processes. Being part of the Regional Network provides a critical communication link for sharing information on regional and provincial program opportunities. It also provides the opportunity to participate on a wide range of committees that guide the planning and implementation of programs within the region.


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Invest $ 250 – how to quickly get back 50 percent

I recently reviewed several wholesalers located in China. I was happy with their prices, looking for an electric scooter (Vespa style) for my son. Unfortunately, when I received the photos and offers, they ignored my minimum order and made the required minimum order for 1 container or 25 scooters.

Not only that, but scooters cannot be flown, they must arrive by ship, as couriers do not deliver products with lead-acid batteries. There are many complex customs confusions and duties for shipping. Everything was starting to get a little complicated.

It made me think … what would I do if I only had $ 250 and I wanted to add 50% quickly. 50% is a huge estimate in less than a week. If you were able to add that $ 250 to 50% just 14 times, you would have a total of $ 109,473 if you would add that money to each transaction.

I love the concept and math of addition. This is a magic formula when you get to 50% of the territory. Starting at just $ 250, at least theoretically, you can turn them into over $ 100,000 in just 14 steps or transactions. But how could we do that? If you were able to do it once, what would stop you from doing it 13 more times?

The import research I was doing made me think. Why import. Why go through all these worries and risks. In our yard there are wonderful opportunities. Price is a funny thing. Markets vary in different areas. Elite networks charge 10 times more for the same quality products as cost-effective networks, and they justify these additional costs by referring to their logo and packaging. People know it, but still keep buying. Even if the retailer on the street has exactly the same quality products at a small price.

You can shop at these retail chains and advertise in ads. Start with a new bike, I recently saw it in thrift stores for $ 100. The quality was excellent. I could easily put a price of $ 170 or even $ 200 and I know I would get some interest. From there, the only thing is to bribe the prospective buyer with an additional discount to the initial markup of $ 150 or 50%, which we were looking for in the first place. He will feel that he has a lot and you have achieved your first challenging goal.

By the way, you can contact the retail manager and ask them to close the deal. If the bike sells easily, you can just constantly advertise and purchase bikes in quantity as a kind of passive income.


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The best bitcoin trading platforms

Cryptocurrency has given not only the fastest way to transfer money, but also a new organization with which you can trade and make money besides stocks and other commodities. While you can directly sell and buy bitcoin, you can also use bitcoin exchanges to continue your cryptocurrency trading. There are many exchanges where bitcoin trading is safe and secure, and customers also receive many advanced services. As an investor or cryptocurrency trader, you can choose any of the exchanges for your comfort. However, it is recommended to spy on the reviews of some before giving up the choice. Below is a brief overview of the best bitcoin exchanges around the world.

CoinBase: This is probably one of the most famous and largest stock exchanges where dual services are traded directly and through a wallet. CoinBase was founded in 2012 thanks to a venture search for the Y-Combinator and has grown rapidly since then. It has many lucrative services such as multiple deposit and withdrawal options, money transfers between two CoinBase instant, wallet funds with multiple signature options for more secure transfers, Bitcoin deposits insured just in case, etc. Europe and the US that easily allow transactions through them. It has relatively low transaction fees and offers bitcoin trading along with plenty of altcoin trading.

CEX.IO: one of the oldest and most well-known exchanges, launched in 2013, London as a bitcoin trading exchange as well as a cloud mining intermediary. Later, the capacity of mining increased so much that it occupied almost half the capacity of network mining; however, it is now closed. “CEX.IO” allows customers to expand a much larger volume of transactions with bitcoins, and it has the ability to instantly make bitcoin at a asking price. However, this exchange takes a high amount of exchange, but this is offset by the security and ability to allow multi-currency transactions (dollar, euro and ruble) to buy bitcoin.

Bitfinex: This is one of the most advanced trading exchanges and it is especially suitable for experienced cryptocurrency traders. With high liquidity for Ethereum as well as for bitcoins, this exchange has the best options such as credit exposure, margin and multi-order trading. In addition, Bitfinex offers a customizable graphical user interface, many types of orders such as limit, stop, trailing stop, market, etc. This exchange also provides about 50 currency pairs that can be traded and easily withdrawn for everyone. One of the largest exchanges in terms of trading volume Bitfinex offers an alias for trades, and only some services require identification. The only downside to this exchange is that it does not support the purchase of bitcoins or any other altcoins through fiat transactions.

Bitstamp: It was founded in 2011 and is the oldest of the exchanges offering transactions with cryptocurrency and bitcoins. Most respected because, despite being the oldest, he has never been a security threat lately. Bitstamp currently supports four currencies Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple, and is available with the mobile app in addition to the website for trading. It has excellent support for European users or traders who have a Eurobank account. Security is extended and cold storage, which means coins are stored offline. So you can say that hacker penetration is completely impossible. Finally, its sophisticated user interface suggests that it is not for beginners but for professionals, and it offers a relatively low transaction fee.

Kraken: It is one of the largest stock exchanges in terms of liquidity, trading volumes of euros and cryptocurrencies of Canadian dollars, US dollars and yen. The most respected Kraken exchanges, which are managed through the turmoil of cryptocurrency trading, have managed to keep a number of customers safe, no matter which other exchanges are hacked at the same time. Having 14 or more opportunities to trade cryptocurrency, the user can make a deposit as well as cryptocurrency along with a similar withdrawal option. However, it is not suitable for beginners, but has better security features and a lower transaction fee compared to CoinBase. The most important factor for Kraken is that he is trusted in society and he was the first to show volumes and prices at the Bloomberg terminal.


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Search Issue Tracker

Fixed in 2018.3.X

Found in

Issue ID

Collapseable arrows missing from missing from Avatar Mask Transform when a custom model is selected

How to reproduce:
1. Open the attached project ""
2. Select Assets/Avatar Mask
3. In the Inspector extend "Transform" and choose "LeeroyAvatar", hit Import skeleton
4. Notice that the items are missing arrows to collapse the hierarchy tree

Expected result: The bone hierarchy tree can be collapsed by hitting an arrow (do step 3 and choose "EthanAvatar" instead of "LeeroyAvatar")
Actual result: The bone hierarchy is missing the arrows to collapse/expand the elements

Reproduced with: 2017.1.3p1, 2017.2.1p4, 2017.3.1p1, 2018.1.0b8, 2018.2.0a1

  1. Response avatar

    Resolution Note (fix version 2018.3):

    Fixed in 2020.1.0a7

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View bugs we have successfully reproduced, and vote for the bugs you want to see fixed most urgently.


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Personalised Mr & Mr Large Wooden Chopping Board

Delivery Info: 3-5 Days

Warning: please double check your personalisation as how it appears here will be how it appears on the product, including spacing and punctuation. Please do not include accents and special symbols as some of our processes will not allow this.

If you are looking for a unique, ever lasting wedding gift for the soon to be Mr & Mr, or even for the happy couple’s anniversary, then this Personalised Mr & Mr Large Wooden Chopping Board is the perfect keepsake gift.

This rectangle chopping board is a romantic yet practical gift, that is beautifully engraved with a heart and swirl detailing, and has the words ‘MR And MR’ as fixed text. You can then personalise this board with a surname of up to 15 characters in length, and that all important date. All personalisation is case sensitive and will appear as entered.

Please note: Due to the font type used please refrain from using all capitals in your personalised message on Line 2 (date). If the message is all in capitals you will find the personalisation extremely difficult to understand and may even result in personalisation being missed off the product.

Also as the chopping board is a natural wood product, colour and grain may vary from board to board. This may also cause the engraving to appear slightly darker or lighter in places, however the surface should be smooth and even.

Additional information

Weight 0.744 kg
Dimensions 1.5 × 30 × 20 cm

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New logo
New logo try ITAD alpha

Mafia Gambling

Released on 11 Mar 2018
3,232nd most popular
Historical LowSteam on 2018-12-2075% off$0.99
Current BestSteam on 2021-07-080% off$3.99
Historical Low, Current Best
Welcome to the Criminal Town full of gangsters and mafioso. Test your luck in dangerous mafia Blackjack tournament also known as twenty-one, which is one of the most popular casino games around the world.

Store Platforms Price Cut Current Lowest Regular
Average price:$3.99$0.99$3.99

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Be Mine 37Groupees$4.00expired

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New logo
New logo try ITAD alpha

Pandemic: The Board Game

Released on 24 Aug 2018
2,656th most popular
Historical LowGamesPlanet UK  on 2020-11-0260% off$3.70
Current BestFanatical  on 2021-07-0916% off$8.38
Historical Low, Current Best
As skilled members of a disease-fighting team, you must keep four deadly diseases at bay while discovering their cures. Travel the world, treat infections, and find cures. You must work as a team to succeed. The clock is ticking as outbreaks and epidemics fuel the spreading plagues. Can you find all four cures in time? The fate of humanity is in your hands!Pandemic: The Board Game is a family-friendly cooperative game. Simple to understand and lots of fun, Pandemic: The Board Game puts you in an apocalyptic situation where you must work as a team to save the world. *How to playIn Pandemic: The Board Game each player has a unique role with different abilities. On a turn, players will have four actions in order to cure diseases and save the world. They can remove disease cubes from the board; fly to a city in need; trade cards with fellow players; and much more. At the end of every player’s turn, new cities are infected with disease cubes and Epidemics may arise. You must fight to prevent the outbreaks before they spin out of control. In Pandemic: The Board Game, there is only one way to win: cure all four diseases before you run out of time! An award-wining board game and player favorite since its release in 2008, Pandemic: The Board Game is now available as an iPad app. *Features-7 role cards with unique abilities-Supports games for 2, 3, or 4 players, but can be played solo if you play multiple roles-Pass-and-play multiplayer (2-4)-Three difficulty settings make the game suitable for beginners, intermediate players, and experts-Fully guided interactive tutorial; plus “Info Mode” for in-game reminders of the rules-Full rulebook included for easy access and detailed reference at all times-Animated interface gives clear indication of the game's progress and hotspots-“Undo” system-Adaptive soundtrack-Complete implementation of the board game suitable for expert play-Interface designed and tested for ease-of-use-Supports landscape or portrait orientations-Supports multitasking*Comments?We want to know what you think. Please send your feedback, ideas, and comments about the Pandemic: The Board Game app to:*Find Pandemic: The Board Game on Facebook at:

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How to Insert a Box Into a Word Document

By Tina Amo

Microsoft provides different options for creating a box in Word, but the method you select will depend on your needs. For instance, you can create a box to emphasize text or create one that is an object in a picture. The box can be as small or as large as the page will allow. You can also enhance the appearance of the box with other tools in Microsoft Word.

Step 1

Place a text box in the Word document. Click the text box on the drawing toolbar at the bottom of the document. The text box icon has an image of a page with the letter "A" on the upper left side. Click on the page, hold the left mouse button down and drag. As you drag, a text box will appear. Release the button when the box is as big as you wish. You can type text into the box.

Step 2

Insert a shape. Click the rectangle on the drawing toolbar. Click on the page and drag the cursor until the box is at the required size. Release the button.

Step 3

Make a box with the "Table" command. Click "Table" on the navigation menu and select "Draw a table." Click the table icon in the "Tables and Borders" dialog box. Use the "Number of columns" and "Number of rows" fields to make the table as big as you wish. Click the "OK" button. Highlight the table then click "Table" on the navigation bar. Select "Merge cells." The program merges the cells together so the table becomes a box.

Use the features in the drawing toolbar to change the appearance of the boxes, if you wish. For instance, you can add a shadow, change the background color and make the box a 3D object. Note that it is not possible to alter tables with the drawing toolbar.


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ITTN Editorial Team

ITTN: Ireland’s Travel Trade Network has been providing Ireland’s travel industry, North and South, with independent and insightful, professional reporting for over 55 years.

Sharon Jordan
Managing Director ITTN Group

Having acquired Irish Travel Trade Network in 2020, it is Sharon’s specific goal to provide accurate and leading news content to the Travel Consumer and Trade. Having worked for many leading Irish and Global Travel Operators, Sharon’s main passion and drive is to support a strong, credible and professional travel industry.

E: [email protected]

00 353 86 78 23 911

Caroline Sage

Advertising Sales Manager

E: [email protected]

00 353 87 97 25 002

Allie Sheehan

Communications Manager

E: [email protected]

00 353 87 91 91 518

Editorial Team

Fionn Davenport
Editor ITTN Group

Fionn is one of Ireland’s most experienced travel journalists and writers. He has also been a travel editor in Ireland and the US, a presenter on national radio and a travel consultant to a range of tourism entities and DMOs in both Ireland and the UK. He brings to the role of editor over 25 years’ experience in all aspects of travel.

E: [email protected]

Joan Scales
Editor ITTN Ireland

Joan has long been a well-respected figure in Irish travel circles and a longstanding contributor to the Irish Times on travel and tourism matters, as well as the commercial property aspects of hotels and accommodation. Her ‘Ask Joan’ column in The Irish Times was a popular place for readers’ holiday questions.  She also wrote a weekly column, ‘Road Warrior’, covering the business travel industry.

E: [email protected]

Jack Goddard

Reporter ITTN Ireland

Jack joins the team after working in many different disiplines across his career. Having worked in a solictors office, the bar trade, and the travel industry. Jack brings a young and fresh dynamic to the ITTN Ireland editorial team.

E: [email protected]

Stephanie Buckley

Stephanie Buckley is one of Ireland’s most popular influencers and bloggers and is the owner and creator of Stephanie’s sense of humour and dedication to her family can be seen across all her stories.

Muriel Bolger

Muriel Bolger is a best selling Author and award winning Travel Writer, a popular figure in Irish Journalism she brings her own style and flair to the platform. Muriel has written an impressive line up of 8 top 10 best selling novels.


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Did You Know That Doing Nothing Can Get You Things Done?

Hello SCG,

you might be surprised by a title of this shipment, especially when it is written in a place, where doers meet. How the heck can it be good for you to do nothing? How can you get something done, while being idle? Are you not suppose to sweat and ship and work hard, day in day out? Yes and no. Please allow me to share with you, why it is damn important to do nothing and what a hard and important work it is. [Read more…]

3-2-1- Go: 168 Hours Long Detox 2.0 On #IS Starts Now

Hiya SCG,

in next 168 hours or let’s call it -> 7 days; I am cutting myself off from intense soaking of online world. I just feel in my bones that I need to put down pen on paper & focus on shipping, which is cooking in my head & heart. Don’t worry #IS will have its shipments delivered to you, because I have scheduled 2 shipments for next week, so please come in, leave your comments & spread the word. In the meantime you can also “consume” tons of hand-picked inspiring videos on my IS2 Posterous blog, which is roaring with traffic and visitors. [Read more…]

5 Songs, Which Will Make Your (Mon)day Kick

Hello SCG,

I believe you have had a super cool weekend. Just in case, you have got stuck today with Monday blues, here are 5 “mood saving” tunes for you;-)

Kick off your shoes and DANCE with me!

[Read more…]

I Am “Tapped”. Who Is With Me?

Ahoj* SCG! [*pronounce as “ahoy” & it means hello in Slovak language]

Couple of weeks ago, SCG-er Devgon Vishal shared with me link for the video which made me think & forced me to do  some research BUT the most importantly I did take an action and changed my habit afterward.

[Read more…]

[Video] Are you ready for spring?

Hi folks!

Today, I have decided to talk about a “new” topic. Which one? Just watch and see.

Who will join me at ” 100km super cool walking challenge” ?

My grandfather would…

My Grand Father. Extraordinary man. We miss you.

My Grandfather, who was walking his talk. 100km before each spring

Let’s kick it.


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Press Hits

NYT She-cession

May 9, 2020 by Alisha Haridasani Gupta

Why Some Women Call This Recession a ‘Shecession’

A majority of the jobs lost in April were held by women, a sharp reversal of gains in the labor market.

The Lily Op-Ed

May 9, 2020 by C. Nicole Mason

The system was never designed for working moms

We understand the system is broken and that it’s not our fault. It was never made for us. It was made for working men.

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Report: Wyoming Receives F for Women’s Employment, Earnings

By Ellen Fake A nonpartisan research organization recently gave Wyoming a grade of “F” when it came to employment opportunities and earning potential for women in the state. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research published [...]

To Stop “She-Cession”, Employers Need to Better Meet Women’s Work Needs, Advocates Say

By Kim Glovas Women have been hit with unemployment and job insecurity much harder than men during the pandemic. That was the focus of a Women 100 conference last week hosted by Drexel University's Institute [...]

June 20, 2021|Tags: , , , , |

Open Society Foundations Announce 2021 New Executives Fund Recipients

NEW YORK—Fourteen new leaders of nonprofit organizations have been awarded New Executives Fund grants to help implement their organizational leadership visions during a time of unprecedented global change, the Open Society Foundations announced today. Based [...]

June 15, 2021|Tags: , , |

‘Care Is Infrastructure’: Sen. Warren Calls for HCBS Support Following New Bipartisan Proposal

By Robert Holly A bipartisan group of 10 senators announced Thursday that they have reached a tentative agreement on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package, a major update in one of the main storylines coming out [...]

Another Next Big Thing: Double Talent Pool by Easing South Dakota’s Abortion Restrictions

By Cory Allen Heidelberger Our Governor has given up on looking for South Dakota’s Next Big Thing in favor of making herself MAGA Nation‘s next big thing, but hey, for you South Dakota officials still [...]

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