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The International Law Association Helsinki Rules: Contribution to International Water Law

The following essay by Professor Slavko Bogdanović is a summary of his recently published monograph (under the same title), which appears in Vol. 3(4) 2018 of Brill Research Perspectives in International Water Law.  Professor Bogdanović was on the Law Faculty of the University Business Academy in Novi Sada in Serbia and now is a consultant on water law and policy. He can be reached at

The International Law Association (ILA) started in 1954 its study of the principles and rules of international law applicable to the rivers making or being intersected by state boundaries. It was a moment after WWII when the enhanced harnessing of hydropower potential of international rivers was seen as a necessity. The rising development needs of nations in parallel with growth of populations resulted in enlarging demand for electric energy production. Engineering aspects of harnessing rivers were not the problem; the challenge was the applicable law. The lack of accepted and pertinent international law rules was a major obstacle not only for the economic development of nations, but also to the economy of the world in general.

Early in the last century, the Geneva Convention relating to Development of Hydraulic Power affecting more than one State (1923) and other (scarce) sources of international water law had shown their limits and inadequacy not only for resolving pending developmental problems, but also for addressing serious interstate disputes concerning the rights of upstream and downstream states to the waters of international rivers (some of the more well-known disputes included the Helmand, Indus, Nile, Jordan and Yarmouk, and Columbia rivers). At the time, the U.N. International Law Commission was not willing to deal with the issue of codification of the applicable law considering it to be premature.

In the United Nations system, the problem was identified and investigated beginning in the late 1940s, and addressed continually through the 1990s when long-lasting efforts by different bodies and agencies finally resulted in the adoption of the UN Convention on the Law of Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses in 1997.

This monograph is the result of research aimed at highlighting the details of the initial period of the ILA’s efforts to respond to the situation. Its Rivers Committee was assigned in 1954 “to study the various legal, economic and technical aspects of rights and obligations between states as to the inland waters, […] with the purpose of elaborating practical recommendations for international arrangement”. Besides a review of the broader context in which the ILA efforts and activities were situated, the monograph is focused on detailed elaboration and analysis of the documents drafted by the Rivers Committee, which, under the strong supervision and precise guidelines of the management bodies of the ILA, led step-by-step to the approval of the famous Helsinki Rules on the Uses of the Waters of International Rivers in 1966. This is followed by a discussion about the Helsinki Conference and its resolution, and then a detailed analysis of each chapter of the Helsinki Rules. The concluding part of the monograph highlights the global acceptance and wide influence exerted by the Helsinki Rules on shared water resources and related disputes, in particular the UN Watercourses Convention.

The monograph points out that the Helsinki Rules were neither ideal nor complete. As a “delicate balance between widely divergent views”, the Helsinki Rules were subject to the scrutiny of two subsequent ILA committees, which were active until 2004. Those committees studied various topics and formulated a series of articles supplementary and complementary to the Helsinki Rules with the aim of updating, upgrading and revising certain details. In that way, the Helsinki Rules served as reliable ground for further exhaustive study in this field, what eventually resulted in the comprehensive and consistent set of ILA rules compiled in the Campione Consolidation of the Rules on International Water Resources, 1996 – 1999 (2000).

The monograph also briefly indicated the attempt of the ILA to revise its entire body of international water law compiled in the Campione Consolidation, through approval of the Berlin Rules on Water Resources (2004), which diverge substantially from the key principles as set out in the Helsinki Rules and all other ILA rules subsequently approved, and from the final output of the International Law Commission on the law of non-navigational uses of international watercourses (1996), the UN Watercourses Convention (1997), and from the ICJ judgment in the Case concerning the Gabčikovo – Nagymaros Project (1997) (see Berlin Rules Dissenting Opinion).

Finally, the monograph calls for further investigation and critical analysis and evaluation of the entire body of work by the ILA in the field of international water law, including the outputs of two later ILA committees and the background leading to the approval of the Berlin Rules. The author argued that such research might show that the Helsinki Rules, in the advanced, revised and enriched form, expressed in the Campione Consolidation, are a safe pivot, marking the way out from the confusion caused by emerging proliferation of wishful concepts and ideas in this still young branch of international law.

The monograph is dedicated to the memory of Dr Dante Caponera (1921-2003), and the other members and officers of the ILA Rivers Committee.

The entire article is available here.

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For ages webmasters used to have sites with affiliate banners on them, and wait patiently for a user to sign up to a service they had advertised on their site before they could receive their commission.

That was, at least until Google came around and made the job of a webmaster a little bit more interesting. They branded the pay per click idea worldwide and got advertisers to part with their cash by bidding on keywords that would be entered into their search engines, or by having sites that was relevant to that service. Cashing in on this innovation where webmasters, and would be webmasters, (well basically anyone who could buy a domain and grab a template).

Websites everywhere started showing up, aggressively marketing themselves just so that, a user would click on one of their adverts. Google only paid for the click and not a percentage of the sale, like the more traditional affiliate sites.

The same practice carries on till this day. Webmasters try and predict future trends by driving traffic to their sites in hope that users will click through on their adverts.

Having pay per click adverts on your site is as easy as signing up to a whole host of companies, Google being the most popular. Get your website accepted, and complete a payment method. Payment can vary from bank transfers to a cheque sent to you in your name.

Just note that under normal terms and conditions you would have to choose one advertiser for a site page, for providing pay per click adverts. So make sure before you sign up if you intend to have more than one on any given page.

Popular Pay per Click sites are:

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Corporate Social Responsibility

Intrec Management is committed to the integration of socially responsible values into their operations and business culture.

Developing careers:

Intrec aims to attract and nurture the best people. Staff retention is high and internal promotion is preferred. Individuals have an annual allowance allocated to training to promote professional development. Intrec is a member of the Green Building Council of Australia and has 2 Green Star Accredited Professionals in employment and a further four staff have recently completed the Green Star Foundation Course. Monthly safety training is completed by all employees via Vocam Safety TV. The Intrec Annual Conference brings the whole company (NSW, QLD, VIC & Canberra) together for a weekend of group bonding, development and training. Intrec recently welcomed a young female Construction Cadet from the Netherlands for 6 months.

Intrec is a member of a number of professional groups convened to improve the quality of the design and construction industry including Design Institute of Australia.

Work-life balance:

Intrec promote a healthy and active work-life balance. Intrec enter a staff team in the local mixed touch football competition, host an annual industry golf day, initiate regular after work tennis games and cricket matches. All donations from the golf day and cricket match are given to Bear Cottage (an initiative of the Children’s Hospital at Westmead).

At INTREC we hold an annual Golf Day to celebrate our achievements and success throughout the year. With the support from our clients and sponsors, INTREC encouraged donations to the Bear Cottage Charity. Collectively, we managed to raise an outstanding $5,000.

Bear cottage is a charity that is there for every Australian child, parent, or family who is in need. In the last year alone, Bear Cottage has treated over 57, 847 emergency cases, cared for 32,188 inpatients, supported 886, 725 outpatient appointments and performed 14,486 surgical procedures. INTREC are proud to be supporting such a serviceable organisation.

Additionally, INTREC has donated Christmas trees and display boards to the Holy Family School in Lindfield and to the Acre Woods Childcare in Roseville.

For the last three years, Intrec has provided the Intrec Scholarship in Construction Management and Property at the University of NSW. This annual scholarship was established to encourage and assist a student to undertake education in construction management and property at the UNSW Faculty of the Built Environment.

Intrec also donates to a number of local charities including Bear Cottage and Royal Flying Doctors Service.

Supporting Local Communities: The QLD office regularly employs local resources for regional projects. Example projects include James Cook University and Dysart State High School mechanical/electrical upgrade project.

Intrec supports employees to volunteer within the community and employees are entitled to take Community Service and Defence Leave. INTREC recently won a “Defence Reserves Support Council Supportive Employer Award 2014” in NSW and goes on to represent NSW in the National Awards to be held later in 2014. Current staff receive additional leave entitlements to work in the Australian Army Reserve & SES.  One of our staff members has also volunteered in Kenya to help build schools.

Dealing with the aftermath of flood waters caused by ex-cyclone Oswald (February 2013), Intrec offered assistance to Logan city council and donated labour and costs to remove silt and debris.

Recycling and sustainability in the community is encouraged by Intrec management. Intrec donated a redundant kitchen earmarked for the tip on a commercial project to the First Sailors Bay Sea Scouts (July 2013). Intrec donated all labour involved to transport, modify and reinstall it into the Scout Hall.


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Home to proud tribes steeped in tradition, herds of rare desert-dwelling elephants, wild horses and massive colonies of seals, Namibia showcases the very best of Africa's raw landscapes.

From quaint German-inspired towns to uninhabitable deserts, bushland filled with wildlife and a rocky coastline littered with shipwrecks, Namibia's untamed charm is compelling, captivating and camera-worthy.

Top Namibia travel deals

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12 May 2019
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Intrepid believes half the fun of experiencing a new country is getting there, and getting around once there! Where possible, Intrepid uses local transport options and traditional modes of transport - which usually carry less of an environmental impact, support small local operators and are heaps more fun.

Depending on which trip you're on while in Namibia, you may find yourself travelling by:

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Accommodation in Namibia

Travelling with Intrepid is a little bit different. We endeavour to provide travellers with an authentic experience to remember, so we try to keep accommodation as unique and traditional as possible.

When travelling with us in Namibia you may find yourself staying in a:

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Intrepid prefers smaller character-filled guesthouses to hotel chains. When staying in Namibia, enjoy staying in small guesthouses owned and run by friendly locals.

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Australia: No visa required
Belgium: No visa required
Canada: No visa required
Germany: No visa required
Ireland: No visa required
Netherlands: No visa required
New Zealand: No visa required
South Africa: No visa required
Switzerland: No visa required
United Kingdom: No visa required
USA: No visa required

Nationals from the countries listed above are not required to obtain visa, when traveling to Namibia as tourists for a maximum period of 90 days. For any other other nationalities, please contact the local consulate or embassy for visa requirements. Please check with the relevant visa office before departure to make sure there has been no change.

While not mandatory, a tip of 10% is considered standard when dining in Namibia. With the typical Namibian earning a modest wage, a small tip to porters, housemaids and other service workers would be appreciated.

Travellers will be able to access the internet quite easily in the cyber cafes of Namibia’s large cities, but limited to no access should be expected in regional and rural areas.

Mobile phone coverage is good in Namibia's large cities and towns, but less so in rural and mountainous areas. Ensure you have global roaming activated before leaving home if you wish to use your mobile phone.

Depending on which areas of Namibia you are travelling in, expect to encounter a combination of squat toilets and flushable toilets. Carry your own supply of soap and toilet paper as these aren't always provided.

1 hour in a cyber cafe = 8-10 NAD
A bottle of local beer = 15 NAD
Budget lunch = 36 NAD
Sit-down dinner in a nice restaurant = 100 NAD

While tap water is considered safe in Namibia's cities, drinking tap water isn't generally recommended in Namibia. For environmental reasons, try to avoid buying bottled water. Fill a reusable water bottle or canteen with filtered water instead. Ask your leader where filtered water can be found; some hotels we stay in may have drinking water available. It's also advisable to avoid ice in drinks and peel fruit and vegetables before eating.

Credit cards are usually accepted by large hotels and western-style restaurants but not by smaller vendors. Ensure you have adequate cash to cover purchases not able to be made on credit.

ATMs are easily found in large cities and urban centres, but are rarer in small towns, rural areas and villages. Be sure to have other payment methods available when venturing out of the big cities, as ATMs aren't always an option.

Absolutely. All passengers travelling with Intrepid are required to purchase travel insurance before the start of their trip. Your travel insurance details will be recorded by your leader on the first day of the trip. Due to the varying nature, availability and cost of health care around the world, travel insurance is very much an essential and necessary part of every journey.

For more information on insurance, please go to: Travel Insurance

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1 May Workers' Day
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25 May Africa Day
26 Aug Heroes' Day
10 Dec Human Rights Day / Namibian Women's Day
11 Dec Human Rights Day / Namibian Women's Day Holiday
25 Dec Christmas Day
26 Dec Family Day

Please note these dates are for 2017. For a current list of public holidays in Namibia go to: http://www.worldtravelguide.net/namibia/public-holidays

Responsible Travel

Intrepid is committed to travelling in a way that is respectful of local people, their culture, local economies and the environment. It's important to remember that what may be acceptable behaviour, dress and language in your own country, may not be appropriate in another. Please keep this in mind while travelling.

Responsible travel in Namibia

Top responsible travel tips for Namibia

1. Be considerate of Namibia’s customs, traditions, religion and culture.

2. Dress modestly and respectfully. Shoulders to knees should be covered, especially when entering places of worship.

3. For environmental reasons, try to avoid buying bottled water. Instead, fill a reusable water bottle or canteen with filtered water.

4. Always dispose of litter thoughtfully, including cigarette butts.

5. When bargaining at markets, stay calm, be reasonable and keep a smile on your face. It's meant to be fun!

6. Learn some local language and don't be afraid to use it - simple greetings will help break the ice.

7. Shop for locally made products. Supporting local artisans helps keep traditional crafts alive.

8. Refrain from supporting businesses that exploit or abuse endangered animals.

9. Please ask and receive permission before taking photos of people, including children.

10. When on community visits or homestays, refrain from giving gifts or money to locals.


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Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre

an 18 km chain between Levanto and La Spezia covering jagged cliffs, cinque terre is the collective term for five beautiful towns which more than deserve their UNESCO world heritage status.

On the seafront and surrounded by lush vineyard-covered hills, Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore are postcard-perfect Italian villages that offer visitors a dreamy atmosphere thanks to its precipitous cliffs, its delicious cuisine and lively locals.

Five villages

Cinque Terre is made up of five pretty villages, hence its name “Cinque Terre”, meaning Five Lands in English:

  • Monterosso: Situated in the centre of a small natural gulf, it is the furthest west of the quintet and is also the most populated village of the Cinque Terre. It is the only village to have its proper beach.
  • Vernazza: Located to the north of the Cinque Terre, Vernazza is probably the most beautiful and picturesque fishing village of Cinque Terre, where its colourful houses hang above the sea level on rugged cliffs. It has a charming natural port and an old castle, built to protect the area from pirates. The church of Santa Margherita d’Antiochia is also worthwhile visiting.
  • Corniglia: Located on top of a 100-meter promontory, Corniglia is the highest of the five villages and is surrounded by a sea of olive trees and vineyards.
  • Manarola: Manarola is the oldest of the five towns. Its colourful houses contrast with the vivid green of the hillside it is perched on and the grey coloured rocks of the cliffs. The village’s main industries are tourism, fishing and wine-making.
  • Riomaggiore: Riomaggiore is a peaceful, picturesque fisherman’s village where visitors will love exploring its steep cheerful streets.

An unforgettable visit

Cinque Terre is one of the best-kept treasures of Italy. The five hamlets are set amongst a rocky coastline, which are sure to leave visitors breathless. The area still maintains its former charm and farmers continue to work on their steep plots of land like they did centuries ago.

The Cinque Terre are located approximately 99 miles (160 km) from Florence, which make them a great destination for a one-day excursion from Florence.

Getting to Cinque Terre

There are various options to get to Cinque Terre from Florence:

  • Book an English-speaking tour: The best way to visit the Cinque Terre is to book a one-day day trip from Florence. For €89 per person, the tour includes hotel pick-up and travel to all five beautiful villages.
  • Rent a car: If you prefer to visit the Cinque Terre on your own accord, hiring a car is the best option. Nevertheless, you will have to park the car on the outskirts and will need to catch a train to move from one village to another. Click here if you would like to rent a car.


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How to manufacture desire

4 min read
Nir Eyal  •  Mar 17, 2015
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Type the name of almost any successful consumer web company into your search bar and add the word “addict.” Go ahead, I’ll wait. Try “Facebook addict” or “Twitter addict” or even “Pinterest addict” and you’ll get a slew of results from hooked users and observers deriding the addictive properties of these websites.

How can these companies seemingly control users’ minds with little more than bits of code displayed on a screen? Why are these sites so addictive and what does their power mean for the future of the web?

We’re on the precipice of a new era of the web. As infinite distractions compete for our attention, companies adopt new tactics to stay relevant. Today, just amassing millions of users isn’t good enough.

Companies increasingly find that their economic value is a function of the strength of the habits they create.Twitter Logo But as some companies are just waking up to this new reality, others are already cashing in.

First-to-mind wins

A company that forms strong user habits enjoys several benefits to its bottom line. For one, this type of company creates associations with “internal triggers” in users’ minds. That is to say, users come to the site without any external prompting.

Instead of relying on expensive marketing or worrying about differentiation, habit-forming companies get users to cue themselves to action by attaching their services to the users’ daily routines and emotions, forming “cemented habits.” A cemented habit is when users subconsciously think, “I’m bored,” and Facebook comes instantly to mind. They think, “I wonder what’s going on in the world?” and before rational thought occurs, Twitter is the answer. The first-to-mind solution wins.

Manufacturing desire

But how do companies connect with the internal cues that are the foundations of habits? The answer: they manufacture desire.

Madison Avenue’s golden era, when the ad industry literally created consumer desire, is long gone. A multiscreen world, with ad-wary consumers and a lack of ROI metrics, has rendered Don Draper’s big-budget brainwashing useless to all but the biggest brands.

Instead, startups manufacture desire by guiding users through a series of experiences designed to create habits. I call these experiences “Hooks,” and the more often users experience them, the more likely they are to self-trigger.

I wrote Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products to help others understand what is at the heart of habit-forming technology. The book highlights common patterns I observed in my career in the video gaming and online advertising industries. While my model is generic enough for a broad explanation of habit formation, I’ll focus on consumer internet applications for this post.

The trigger is the spark plug in the engine of habit. Triggers come in 2 forms: external and internal. Habit-forming technologies start by alerting users with external triggers like an email, a link on a website, or the notification on your smartphone. By cycling continuously through successive desire engines, users begin to form associations with internal triggers, which become attached to existing behaviors and emotions. Soon users are internally triggered every time they feel a certain way. The internal trigger becomes part of their routine behaviorTwitter Logo, forming a habit.

For example, suppose Barbra, a young lady in Pennsylvania, happens to see a photo in her Facebook newsfeed taken by a family member from a rural part of the state. It’s a lovely photo and since she’s planning a trip there with her brother Johnny, the trigger intrigues her.

After the trigger comes the intended action. Here, companies leverage two pulleys of human behavior—motivation and ability. To increase the odds of a user taking the intended action, the behavior designer makes the action as easy as possible, while simultaneously boosting the user’s motivation. This phase of the Hook draws upon the art and science of usability design to ensure that the user acts the way the designer intends.

Using the example of Barbra, with a click on the interesting picture in her newsfeed, she’s taken to a website she’s never been to before called Pinterest. Once she’s done the intended action (in this case, clicking on the photo), she’s dazzled by what she sees next.

Variable reward

What separates Hooks from a plain vanilla feedback loop is their ability to create desire. Feedback loops are all around us, but predictable ones don’t create desire.Twitter Logo The predictable response of your fridge light turning on when you open the door doesn’t drive you to keep opening it again and again. However, add some variability to the mix—say, a different treat magically appears in your fridge every time you open it—and voila, intrigue is created. You’ll be opening that door like a lab animal in a Skinner box.

Variable reward schedules constitute one of the most powerful tools companies can use to hook users. Research shows that levels of dopamine surge when the brain is expecting a reward. Introducing variability multiplies the effect, activating the parts of the brain associated with wanting and desire. Although classic examples include slot machines and lotteries, variable rewards are prevalent in habit-forming technologies as well.

When Barbra lands on Pinterest, she sees not only the image she expected, but a multitude of other glittering objects. Most relate to her current interest—namely, things to see during a trip to rural Pennsylvania—but some others catch her eye also. The exciting juxtaposition of relevant and irrelevant, tantalizing and plain, beautiful and common sets her brain’s dopamine system aflutter with the promise of reward. Now she’s spending more time on the site, hunting for the next wonderful thing to find. Before she knows it, she’s spent 45 minutes scrolling in search of her next hit.

The last phase of the Hook is where the user is asked to do bit of work. This phase has 2 goals for the behavior designer:

  1. Increase the odds that the user will make another pass through the Hook when presented with the next trigger
  2. Asking the user to give some combination of time, data, effort, social capital or money. Now that the user’s brain is swimming in dopamine from the anticipation of reward in the previous phase, they’re much more likely to make such a contribution.

But unlike a sales funnel, which has a set endpoint, the investment phase isn’t about consumers opening up their wallets and moving on with their day. The investment implies an action that improves the service for the next go-around.

Inviting friends, stating preferences, building virtual assets, and learning to use new features are all commitments that improve the service for the user. These investments can be leveraged to make the trigger more engaging, the action easier, and the reward more exciting with every pass through the Hook.

As Barbra enjoys endlessly scrolling the Pinterest cornucopia, she builds a desire to keep the things that delight her. By collecting items, she’ll be giving the site data about her preferences. Soon she will follow, pin, re-pin, and make other investments, which increase her ties to the site and prime her for future loops through the Hook.

A reader recently wrote to me, “If it can’t be used for evil, it’s not a superpower.” He’s right. And under this definition, habit design is indeed a superpower. If used for good, habits can enhance people’s lives with entertaining and even healthy routines. If used to exploit, habits can turn into wasteful addictions.

But, like it or not, habit-forming technology is already here. The increased access to the web our devices give us also gives companies greater access to us.Twitter Logo As companies combine this greater access with the ability to collect and process our data at higher speeds than ever before, we’re faced with a future where everything becomes more addictive. This trinity of access, data, and speed creates new opportunities for habit-forming technologies to hook users. Companies need to know how to harness the power of Hooks to improve peoples’ lives, while consumers need to understand the mechanics of behavior engineering to protect themselves from unwanted manipulation.

What do you think? Hooks are all around us.Twitter Logo Where do you see them manufacturing desire in your life?

The increased access to the web our devices give us also gives companies greater access to us.

Here’s the tl;dr

  • The degree to which a company can utilize habit-forming technologies will increasingly decide which products and services succeed or fail.
  • Habit-forming technology creates associations with “internal triggers,” which cue users without the need for marketing, messaging or other external stimuli.
  • Creating associations with internal triggers comes from building the four components of a “Hook”: a trigger, action, variable reward, and investment.
  • Consumers must understand how habit-forming technology works to prevent unwanted manipulation while still enjoying the benefits of these innovations.
  • Companies must understand the mechanics of habit-formation to increase engagement with their products and services and ultimately help users create beneficial routines.

This post was adapted from Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal.


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These days, the internet is all pervasive with just about any nation in the face of the earth being linked to the World Broad Net. Automobile to Vehicle connectivity commonly referred to as V2V know-how permits vehicles on the street sharing information and keeping in contact with each other. The temporary description of VOIP attributes offers a transparent image as to what benefits small and medium companies can reap from the communication expertise.future technology

All these units are known as hi expertise and hi pace devices. If you happen to examine future know-how news, you will find that there are newly launched merchandise and technical accessories which have multifunctional features. It may be a little scary to suppose that computers will analyze our each communication and make choices based on that evaluation, however it is the future.

Scalability: VOIP telephone programs with IP at core offer flexibility so as to add or take away the variety of users as per the requirement of businesses. In response to future technology information nature shall be fully protected against pollution using these new applied sciences because it is not going to produce any lethal or hazardous chemical solvents or gasoline products into the air.

In comparison to standard gadgets and gear, future expertise news states that ultramodern units are extra workable and powerful in their functionality. The AI-powered digital assistants will rule the future automotive infotainment systems of the automobiles to answer passengers and driver in additional responsive ways.future technology

Future technology lately not concentrated solely on the advantage of people. Future merchandise made out of green expertise would comprise of super computer systems, good appliances, taller buildings, safer living and travelling standards. These days there’s a big demand for embedded system in varied sectors comparable to vehicle, telecommunications, medical, shopper electronics, aviation, house exploration and plenty more.future technology


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275 MW Truscott-Gilliland East Wind Project in Knox County

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The scope of the project involves the development of a 275 MW wind farm in Knox County, Texas. It will consist of  58 Senvion 4.2M140 turbines with a hub height of 110 meters as we...

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IBC would not ordinarily issue a press release essentially reiterating issues we raised five years earlier, but republishes the item further below as a reminder that belatedness is not the main shortcoming of the Chilcot Inquiry to have become apparent.

For Chilcot and the Iraq War Inquiry, Iraq remains one giant unmarked grave of unknown size

When will the UK take a real interest in Iraqi casualties?

Exactly six years ago Iraq Body Count (IBC) wrote to Sir John Chilcot expressing alarm at how his Iraq War Inquiry showed no sign of pursuing any detailed investigation of the war’s principal casualties. If lessons were to be learned from an inquiry into the UK’s close involvement in the war, then its casualties (Iraqi civilian and combatant, British, coalition and all others) would need to be taken unflinchingly into account. Acknowledging his “entirely appropriate” concern to hear from and respect the wishes of bereaved British families, we argued that this thoughtful logic applied with even more force to Iraq, where the war’s impact was far more pervasive and, for many, “as close as their doorstep” (as it still is in 2015). Notwithstanding any such contrasts, we added that:

“Even with the undeniable disparity between the deadly imprint of the war on this country and on Iraq, there is a broader view in which its death toll is simply one that has been exacted on humanity. From that perspective, there is only a single death toll of the war in Iraq: the complete one that includes all nationalities and all demographics. Only by carefully attending to this larger death toll will we understand the war’s full consequences, and place ourselves in a position where the broadest and deepest lessons can be learned.”

Sir John responded to our letter by emphasising that his Inquiry’s terms of reference were broad and acknowledging IBC’s “useful” contribution to the store of knowledge on which the Inquiry could draw. But it appears that the latter was merely another way of stating that his Inquiry would itself do no new work on the question of Iraqi casualties.

Five years ago, and exactly a year after first writing Sir John, we made our letter public, adding the comments we republish below. All our criticisms of the Inquiry's narrow focus still stand. We were, of course, mistaken to describe it as nearing completion. The delay to the Inquiry’s publication has become something of a national scandal, rightly so. But what remains unexamined is that despite the freedom that should have been afforded it by a broad remit, Chilcot's Inquiry cleaves to the tradition of “a history of kings and queens,” taking scant interest in the ordinary people the war affected the most. Is such narrow focus really necessary in the 21st century?

Its inordinate delay might have been understandable had the Inquiry indeed resolved to take pains to understand the war’s full human consequences, including the suffering of the Iraqi people. This certainly would have required formidable effort, even if it did not attempt (as IBC now is in its Iraq Digital Memorial initiative) to pursue this goal at the appropriate level of individual lives lost.1a But there is nothing to indicate that the Inquiry has made an attempt of any kind in this direction, whether with regard to the killed or injured. So despite the name, the Iraq War Inquiry is unlikely to reveal anything new about casualties suffered by the country in which it took – is taking – place, no matter when its report is finally published.

We may still hope that the UK and others will learn lessons – real lessons, such as can be acted upon – from Chilcot’s Inquiry. But based on the vanishingly small attention the Inquiry afforded them, we should not expect Iraqi deaths to figure significantly in its findings, nor the views of Iraqi families, nor their needs, nor how their suffering may be alleviated.

1a "Casualty recording in conflict involves the continuous and systematic collection of detailed information surrounding violent deaths; at its best, it sets out to establish not only how many have been killed, but who died and how, when and where they were killed." Stolen Futures: The hidden toll of child casualties in Syria (PDF, page 3). Every Casualty, November 2013.

Almost a year after it was announced, and as it nears its completion, we ask how carefully the UK's official Iraq Inquiry has considered the deadly effects of the war on those affected most pervasively and in the greatest number - ordinary Iraqis.

As if they were of little importance, is the short answer.

The Uninquiring Iraq Inquiry

An ‘Iraq War Inquest’ may be needed to focus attention where it belongs

26 August 2010

On June 15, 2009, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced an official Inquiry “to identify lessons that can be learned from the Iraq conflict.”1 The Iraq Inquiry was “to establish as accurately and reliably as possible what happened” during the period from two years before the 2003 invasion to July 30, 2009, covering “the run-up to the conflict in Iraq, the military action and its aftermath.” Describing his brief, the Inquiry’s Chair Sir John Chilcot declared his terms of reference “very broad.” Yet one subject was conspicuous by its absence from any number of promising statements about the Inquiry’s remit and aims. Noticing this to our alarm, we wrote exactly one year ago to the Inquiry’s Chair as follows:

Sir John Chilcot
Chairman, The Iraq Inquiry

26 August 2009

Iraqi casualties must form part of Britain’s Iraq Inquiry

Dear Sir John,

We write to you from the Iraq Body Count (IBC) project, a UK-based non-governmental organisation that has been tracking and analysing Iraqi civilian deaths from violence since the military intervention of 2003.

We urgently request that your Inquiry take full and proper account of Iraqi casualties resulting from the conflict, and the subsequent breakdown in civil security, and that you permit us to submit evidence to the Inquiry on this most crucial question.

We note with growing concern that, in the several months that have passed since the announcement of this Inquiry, official discussion to date has failed to make even passing reference to the matter of Iraqi casualties, whether dead or injured, let alone acknowledge its centrality to any objective assessment of the conflict. We hope that this does not indicate that this critical issue will continue to be relegated to a question of secondary importance. The British government’s very restricted interest in the accumulation and publishing of data on Iraqi casualties has long been a source of widespread dismay, as well as understandable anger, leading such distinguished persons as the 52 former British Diplomats, who wrote an open letter in April 2004 critical of former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Middle East policies, to reserve their strongest language for “the disgrace” of Coalition forces’ failure to track Iraqi deaths. The Iraq Inquiry offers a unique if belated opportunity to investigate Iraqi deaths comprehensively and in appropriate detail, and to critically assess the nature and extent of the damage resulting from our government’s persistent neglect of this issue.

In our view, the “very broad” terms of reference of the Inquiry provide you with more than an opportunity to fully and properly investigate Iraqi casualties: they in effect mandate you to do so.

In his statement to the House of Commons announcing the Iraq Inquiry, Prime Minister Gordon Brown presented the Inquiry with both the reason and means to carry out a first thoroughgoing, official investigation of Iraqi casualties. He referred no fewer than eight times to the principle of “lesson-learning”, stating bluntly that, “the objective is to learn the lessons from the events surrounding the conflict”, and that he was giving the Inquiry “unprecedented” scope to include events “in the full period of conflict”.

This scope includes “the run-up to the conflict..., the military action and its aftermath...the way...actions were establish...what happened and identify the lessons to be learned.” One of the most important questions in situations of armed conflict and in the laws of war is whether the use of force has been a proportionate response to the threat that prompted it. It is impossible to establish the wisdom of actions taken - even if in hindsight and without a view to apportioning direct blame – if the full consequences in human welfare are not taken into account. Casualty data are perhaps the most glaring indication of the full costs of war.

It is entirely appropriate that, as you stated, one of your “first priorities is to hear from the families of those who died during the conflict and others who were seriously affected, including veterans’ groups”, that you have “already written” to many of them, and “will be sensitive to and respect their wishes”. However, the context in which this statement was made suggests that you have solely British, and not Iraqi families in mind. Yet the logic of these thoughtful measures applies to Iraq with even more force than it does to Britain. Notwithstanding the profound losses suffered by friends and families of British military personnel, relief workers and correspondents killed in Iraq, the fact is that for most of us in Britain, our involvement in the conflict has meant neither bereavement nor personal loss. By contrast, the connection between war and death is all too clear and intimate throughout large swathes of Iraq, where conflict remains as close as the doorstep. Britain’s bereaved can at least be certain that not anyone they know or love might on any given day become part of the conflict’s death toll; again, this is in contrast to Iraq.

Even with the undeniable disparity between the deadly imprint of the war on this country and on Iraq, there is a broader view in which its death toll is simply one that has been exacted on humanity. From that perspective, there is only a single death toll of the war in Iraq: the complete one that includes all nationalities and all demographics. Only by carefully attending to this larger death toll will we understand the war’s full consequences, and place ourselves in a position where the broadest and deepest lessons can be learned.

Collecting all available facts about Iraqi deaths has been IBC’s main activity these past six years. In the absence of comparably fine-grained, reliably sourced information detailing the nature, extent and distribution of casualties in Iraq, IBC’s data on civilian deaths have regularly been drawn upon in various public contexts by independent institutions including relief agencies, the WHO, UNHCR, World Bank and IMF, major Universities, the BBC, Economist, and major press and news agencies in the UK and throughout the world. Most relevant to the Iraq Inquiry, perhaps, is that IBC’s data has also been used in the “lesson-learning” report of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction to the US Congress (Hard Lessons, p 319). We mention the uptake of IBC’s work by others not merely to assert our bona fides, but to emphasise how conventional it is for agencies seriously interested in the facts of a conflict to inquire into its toll on human life which, after all, is central to the whole sorry business of war.

The Iraq Inquiry now has before it a simple choice. On the one hand, it can allow the dead to inform the lessons Britain draws from its military intervention in Iraq. On the other, it can deem them irrelevant. If, as we believe, the latter course is unthinkable for a civilised society, then the facts of Iraqi deaths must first be established, as best they possibly can be. How we respond to this knowledge is a matter for the future. But we must begin by facing all the relevant facts, including (and probably more so) the uncomfortable ones, or risk repeating our errors rather than learning from them.

IBC is ready to assist the Inquiry in such endeavours in any way it can.

Hamit Dardagan, John Sloboda, for Iraq Body Count

In November 2009 Chilcot wrote to us and said:

“The Inquiry Team were already aware of the work of the Iraq Body Count and we have studied some of the information produced by the IBC. The Inquiry’s terms of reference are broad and require us to focus on the lessons that can be learned from the UK’s involvement in Iraq during 2001-9. The information you have collated will be very useful to help us in this task.”

Despite this statement, the amount of attention paid by the Inquiry to Iraqi casualties, whether killed or injured, civilian or combatant, has been derisory. One rare instance was during the questioning of Tony Blair, where committee member Sir Lawrence Freedman confronted the former Prime Minister with statistics showing the recorded monthly civilian death toll due to violence at the start of each year following the the invasion.2

Though raised, the issue wasn’t dwelt upon or examined closely, nor has it been treated at any point in the Inquiry as a matter for serious investigation. Throughout the Inquiry most of the attention has remained firmly fixed, fixated even, upon the interplay between political and military actors here and in the USA, and the ramifications of the war as felt by them, while the subject that is of greatest concern to the greatest number of people, here as in Iraq, gets only brief mentions.

Only once was there a brief exchange dealing with the Iraqi death toll as a subject worthy of attention in its own right, when Adam Ingram, former Armed Forces Minister and spokesperson on Defence, was being questioned by Inquiry committee member Roderick Lyne.

Ingram justified government silence thus:

“I don’t think we were saying at any point there weren’t mass casualties taking place. What we were not doing was putting a precise or an approximate figure on that.”

A little later Lyne said, “You say it wasn’t MoD’s job. Should it have been somebody else’s job to deal with this?”

Ingram responded:

“Unquestionably. Is it something that DFiD [UK Department for International Development] could have funded? Is it something the FCO [Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Britain’s Foreign Ministry] should have taken ownership care of? The UN had become engaged -- it was still engaged, but not in terms of presence on the ground -- is it a role that they should have played? Yes. Of course the answer to that is yes. But what -- the very establishment of the facts would not have changed what was happening. It would have confirmed what everyone knew, but it wouldn’t have led to a solution, would have been the hard logic I would have had to have applied to that. If I had been asked, as the Minister of the Armed Forces, “Are you prepared to put units in every one of the hospitals to count the bodies in and the bodies out?” and it was my choice, “No”, would have been my answer.”3

And then the conversation moved on to other matters. This is the sum of focused attention to Iraqi casualties in the entire Iraq Inquiry to date.

Given that there has been no official UK attempt to put “a precise or an approximate figure” on mass Iraqi casualties, even this exchange with Ingram couldn’t shed light on the substantive matter of the destroyed lives themselves, or their scale and extent. Rather it only touched on - albeit far too fleetingly - this very lack of recording and reporting by the Government.

In sharing this reluctance to inquire too deeply into the human consequences of the war (when these humans happen not to be British officials, bureaucrats and politicians, but ordinary Iraqis), the Iraq Inquiry is taking its cue from the Government that appointed it. But while Ingram may have thought that casualty recording was not a priority for Britain’s armed forces, senior military voices are now thinking otherwise.

On August 20th a paper co-authored by IBC’s two founders and a senior serving Army Officer was published in the British Army Review.4 In this paper it is argued that not only is the recording and publishing of casualty figures technically feasible for the armed forces, it is actually in their interests, and the interests of the politicians they serve, to do so.

4 [Published 2010] Available for public access via Oxford Research Group

In this respect the evidence presented by Ingram to Chilcot has not kept up with the most recent military thinking, but then nor did Chilcot take pains to investigate the question fully.

Chilcot's 30 July 2010 “closing statement” on the Inquiry’s public hearings, which indicated that these are effectively ended and emphasised that further hearings would be held “if - and only ‘if’” there are “conflicts or gaps” within the existing evidence, added in the very same breath that:

The Inquiry also hopes to visit Iraq. We want to see for ourselves the consequences of UK involvement, to hear Iraqi perspectives and to understand the prospects for Iraq today. For the security of both the Inquiry team and those whom we wish to meet, we shall not publish any further details in advance of a visit. If we are able to visit Iraq, we shall provide a summary afterwards, as with our other overseas visits.5

5 "Public hearings: Sir John Chilcot’s closing statement" (30 July 2010)

6 Among those who might have been allowed to speak of their war experience early in the Inquiry is an Iraqi refugee community within the UK.

We also hope the Inquiry is able to visit Iraq, to do so safely, and to gather evidence from Iraqis, in particular those who have been most profoundly and tragically affected by this war. But is this not far too late? The evidence heard by the Inquiry should from the outset have been taken in the context of the full human consequences of the war, allowing this to inform both the questioning and direction of the Inquiry itself. Now appearing as little more than an afterthought, this Iraqi perspective comes last of all when by any just measure it should have come first.6

Earlier official Inquiries into the war have been criticised for having too narrow a remit. In contrast, the Chilcot Inquiry has evidently been given one so broad and indeterminate that it has been able to obsess minutely over the ‘war at home’ to the detriment of everything else. Indeed one would almost think that the Iraq war largely took place in Britain.

There are certainly a few instances of so-called “home-grown terrorism” on British soil which may well be inextricably linked to events in Iraq. But in the main, this war’s largest and most irrevocable effects are on Iraqis, not on British (or American) citizens.

Since untimely and violent death on a massive scale is the central fact of this war, perhaps only an ‘Iraq War Inquest’ can bring a sustained focus on that subject, and make it as unavoidable a lesson of this war for the UK as it has been for Iraqis. The form that this might take is a full judicial inquiry into all casualties in Iraq, whether dead or injured. As a matter of international and domestic law, the UK bears equal responsibility if it aided and assisted any of its allies in causing disproportionate civilian casualties or other breaches of law.

If we cannot engage with the bitter experience of the Iraqi people, if we cannot reach out with empathy to understand even the simple facts of their losses, then that says something about a different kind of damage within our mind-set in Britain and the West. And this in itself is a salutary if uncomfortable lesson we can indirectly learn from the flawed Chilcot Inquiry to date.


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Iris Stats for: "Luscious Lace"
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Help us educate and assist insurance and risk management professionals so that ultimately they can protect their customers from uninsured losses.

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Our office is professional and comfortable. We have an up-to-date technology infrastructure on which we use the latest software and programs.

At IRMI, we've got some folks who have been here for over 30 years, and we have some folks who just started and everyone in between. We're a team. And as a team, we work hard to achieve our goals and we have fun doing it. That's why IRMI has been named one of the Top 100 Places To Work in Dallas by the Dallas Morning News!

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IRMI offers competitive salaries and excellent benefits. Some of our benefits include the following.

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Peabody’s Arigo, Nelson ink NLI’s

Jillian Arigo (left) will play soccer at Franklin Pierce. Emily Nelson (right) will play soccer at UMass Lowell. Center is Peabody girls soccer coach Dennis Desroches. (Photo by Anne Marie Tobin )

PEABODY — Peabody girls soccer coach Dennis Desroches has seen a lot of his players go on to play soccer in college. Be it Division I, II, or III, the Peabody girls soccer tradition continues to thrive long after graduation.

Two more Tanners made it official last week at Peabody High by signing their NCAA letters of intent to play collegiate soccer.

Emily Nelson, who verbally committed two years as a sophomore, will play at Division I UMass Lowell, while fellow midfielder and Aztec teammate Jillian Arigo will play at Division II Franklin Pierce.

“Over the last 11 years, I’ve been very fortunate to have super athletes, over 30 kids who have continued at the next level,” said Desroches.  “Nelson’s one of the top players we have ever had here. And Jillian was a great defensive specialist who did all the little things. They were invaluable this past year.

“They came in together as freshmen and as the only two returning starters really, they were just a dynamic duo in the midfield, who played so much bigger than their size.  They were the best tandem in the midfield in the league and their leadership as captains allowed us to be successful despite being so young.”

During the pair’s four years on varsity, the Tanners were 60-10-11 and made the state tournament every year.

This past year was one of the most challenging ever faced by Desroches, but thanks to Nelson and Arigo, the Tanners never skipped a beat.

“We had an entirely new lineup with only Nelson and Arigo returning as full-time starters, but they took it upon themselves to help us get these kids to where they needed to be,” said Desroches. “We relied on them to carry and lead this team. They led by example which allowed us to keep up that level of play. They brought everyone’s games up.  Without them, we don’t get to where we did.”

Nelson finished her career third all-time in scoring with 140 points. A four-year starter and three-year NEC all-star, she was named the NEC’s  Most Valuable Player last fall. She also was named to the Eastern Mass and All-State all-star team.

“From end line to end line, sideline to sideline, in terms of playing both sides of the ball, she is probably the best player I have ever coached,” said Desroches. “Yes, she could score, but she had the field vision and monster endurance who never gave up on a ball.  UMass Lowell is getting an incredible student-athlete and an incredible person.”

Nelson, who plans to major in engineering, said the decision to attend UMass was based in large part by her academic commitment.

“Their engineering department is so strong,” she said. “I have a lot of friends who are there for engineering and they’ve said what a strong program it is and their soccer program is also very strong. So combined, it was a great fit for me.”

Nelson said she knows playing Division I soccer will be a challenge, but is ready to tackle it head on.

“I’m not running track to focus on lifting and training. Being small I have to play against all those big girls at the Division I level,” she said. “I’ll have to prove myself to get playing time, but I’m ready for it.”

Arigo’s decision to play at Franklin Pierce was also influenced by academics.

“I knew I wanted to play college soccer, but didn’t want to go Division I because it would be too much of a commitment, so Division II was right for me,” she said. “I plan to major in nursing and I couldn’t do that and play Division I, so Franklin Pierce just fell into place.  The coach showed a lot of interest in me and, combined with my major, it is a perfect fit for me.”

Arigo also played five years (since 7th grade) on the Peabody/Lynnfield girls hockey team, but elected not to play this year to focus on club soccer.

Desroches said Arigo’s contributions could not be understated.

“This is a kid, like Nelson, who played bigger than what she was and she was so key winning those 50-50s which dictated the pace of games for us,” he said. “She was more of a defensive specialist who just did all those things that allow us to create offense and her ability to recover on defense and apply relentless defensive pressure meant she was doing all those little things and also had that supplemental scoring that we needed as well.”

Arigo, who finished her Peabody career with 44 points, said she is looking forward to the fall when she will be out on her own.

“I will have an opportunity to prove myself,” she said. “I have been lucky to play alongside some great players, but this is the first time I will on my own and that is something I am really looking forward to.”

More Stories From Peabody


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Hackers launch DDoS attacks in Pirate Bay rage

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Hackers launch DDoS attacks in Pirate Bay rage

"Heinous crime against freedom".

The Anonymous hacking group has reacted to a court decision to send the Pirate Bay founders to jail by hacking a number of company websites.

Last week, three of the file-sharing website’s founders had their jail sentences reduced but their fines were increased to US$6.5 million.

Subsequently, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which helped bring the initial case on behalf of a number of the rights owners, welcomed the court’s decision and called for the Pirate Bay to be closed down.

Incensed by the outcome of the case, Anonymous hit the IFPI’s website with a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack.

“Today marked perhaps one of the most heinous of crimes against freedom,” Anonymous said in a blog.

“Anonymous strongly opposes this decision and the far reaching implications. No single court should be able to decide what the rest of the world can or cannot do.”

According to reports, the organisation’s main website did go down, but it is now up and running again.

“We will continue to attack websites of those who are a danger to freedom on the internet. We will continue to attack those who embrace censorship,” the group added.

Anonymous also chose to launch a DDoS against Warner Brothers, one of the organisations represented by IFPI. The Warner website is also now operational.

“Let it be known that this is only the tip of the iceberg and only the beginning of our statement of displeasure against the actions of these corporations,” the hackers added.

“We are Anonymous, we shall never forgive, we shall never forget.”

This article originally appeared at itpro.co.uk

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AMNews: T-Mobile Vivacity, Max Mosley Sues Google, UK Cyber Security Strategy, Thunderbolt Docking Station

T-Mobile recently introduced the Vivacity Android 2.3 device as its own branded budget smartphone. The device, available for under £100, runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, has a 5MP camera and a modest 3.5 inch touch screen.

Max Mosley, former president of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), has sued Google over embarrassing search results, which the popular search engine generates when someone does a Google search by Mosley's name. As a former barrister, the ex Formula One boss, is well aware of the court procedures.

Ofcom, the telecom regulator in UK, recently said that a research on landline providers proved that 22 percent Virgin Media customers are dissatisfied with the services provided to them taking Virgin Media to the bottom of the list in customer satisfaction.

On Friday government revealed the new cyber security strategy, according to which GCHQ, the intelligence agency of UK, is the "main port of call" for those businesses which are dealing with cyber attacks. The Cheltenham-based GCHQ agency will receive huge amount of fund for its larger contribution to UK's cyber-defence, as announced by Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude in the The UK Cyber Security Strategy

It is a well known fact that Apple and Intel collaborated to develop bright Thunderbolt for the Mac line of notebooks. The interface of Thunderbolt is real fast and provides all types of connectivity options. Now, according to rumours, chip maker Intel is working to bring the Thunderbolt port to their Ultrabook platform to be used with a docking station.


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June 17, 2017

This week in TV Guide: June 13, 1959

Do you remember what you were doing when you were 25? Besides watching TV, that is? I was three years out of college, working a job that didn't provide me with anything more than an income, making plans that never came true for a life that turned out far more gratifying than I could have imagined. I suspect most of you have lived some variation on that theme.

Now imagine you're Pat Boone, and you're 25. You're the host of one of the most successful television programs on ABC. You've sold nearly 21 million records, and you have long-term contracts for both TV and movies. You wrote a book, Twixt Twelve and Twenty, which has had a run of 350,000 copies. You own a company that not only handles your music business, it also has a branch that deals in merchandising your brand. You work 10 hours a day, five or six days a week, but by all accounts you love what you do. And on Sundays you teach Sunday School  Your income in 1958 was nearly $1,000,000. Did I mention that you're only 25? This is where the rest of us deal with our inferiority complexes.

I've always admired the poise with which Pat Boone has handled his career; watching him on that ABC series, when he was the youngest individual ever to host his own variety show, he had every appearance of being an old pro, interacting with established stars not as a starry-eyed youngster, but as an equal. And yet it wasn't always this way, according to Pat himself. He'd dealt with stardom before, singing on the Arthur Godfrey show, but fronting a show of his own was different. "I felt I was responsible for a lot of people - people working for me and people looking at me. That made me nervous. And that made me stiff and awkward." The result was a show that "looked better in rehearsal than it did on the air," and he hated it. "Well, I decided this wouldn't do at all. It wasn't fun any more. I had to stop getting nervous. I'd force myself to spend 10 minutes before every show calming myself down. And gradually it began to work."

It surprises me not at all that Boone could will himself to change this way. "Maybe that's why I don't worry much. I take my work seriously and I work hard at it - but I don't worry about it." I wish I could do that. But while he's not exactly worried about his future, he does know that when he moves West, to Hollywood, that things could go South as well, and the success that now seems preordained could dry up overnight. "I used to think that it would be foolish to plan a long career in show business," he says. "But now I don't know. They say that if you've been successful for four or five years you can look forward to being successful for a good many more."

He does say that there are days that he could imagine a "20- or 30-year career in entertainment," and other times that he can envision himself teaching English in a high school in 25 years. Well, at last count, that career has lasted for 63 years. He's produced hit records, he's made hit movies. He's owned a professional basketball team. His daughter has made hit records. He's been a friend of presidents. He's outlived most of the people who appear in the pages of this TV Guide.

When asked about the future - entertainer or high school teacher - he says "Either way would suit me just fine." One can imagine that his long and successful career has, indeed, suited him just fine.

◊ ◊ ◊

In sports, twin events compete for this week's honors. On Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET, CBS covers the last of the Triple Crown races, the Belmont Stakes, live from New York. Sword Dancer, ridden by the great Willie Shoemaker, but the win is overshadowed by a spectacular accident in the far turn at the head of the stretch involving Eddie Arcaro, another of the sport's greatest jockeys; Arcaro spends the night in the hospital but escapes serious injury, while the horse on which is riding, Black Hills, suffers a fractured shinbone and is destroyed.

The other major event is the U.S. Open golf championship (or as it was frequently known, including in TV Guide, the National Open) from Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, suburban New York City.* According to the tradition of the time, the tournament culminated in "Open Saturday," in which 36 holes were played, 18 in the morning and 18 in the afternoon. However, this year tradition was to be upset; heavy rain in the morning (the same rain that created the sloppy track that claimed Black Hills) forced the final round to Sunday for the first time in the tournament's history. NBC was scheduled to carry the final three holes of the final round on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.; I suspect they were back on Sunday to see Billy Casper defeat Bob Rosburg by a single stroke.

*Big week in the Big Apple, wouldn't you say?

◊ ◊ ◊

On Monday, ABC has a special 90 minute tour of Disneyland on its 4th anniversary, hosted by Walt himself with Art Linkletter. Among the attractions of the show are looks at the park's three new attractions: a 14-story-high replica of the Matterhorn, a fleet of eight submarines, each over 50 feet long, and the iconic monorail. Must have been an amazing thing for people to see then, when the future was able to amaze us. This is not from that show (it's in color, for one thing), but it gives you an idea of those new attractions, and what the park was like almost 60 years ago.

Also on Monday, there's this terrific ad for Ed McMahon's half-hour variety/interview show, McMahon & Co. which follows Jack Paar's Tonight on WRCV, the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia. One tends to forget that before Ed became Johnny Carson's sidekick, he was a local TV host in Philadelphia, and in fact he had a pretty high profile himself. This ad celebrates Ed's show expanding to a full 30 minutes, and reminds us that his lovely co-stars, Moona and Yelty, "help Ed make staying up that late worth-while."

◊ ◊ ◊

Maurice Evans is billed in this week's issue as "one of the world's most brilliant stars," and that's not an exaggeration. He's one of television's true pioneers; his six Shakespearean performances on Hallmark Hall of Fame are the first full-length productions of the plays ever seen on American television.*

*He was also a Shakespearean star on Broadway;

There's more to Evans than Shakespeare, though, as we see this week in his starring turn on The U.S. Steel Hour's "No Leave for the Captain" (10:00 p.m. Wednesday, CBS), in which he plays a perpetually drunk commander of a World War II British mine-disposal unit - a really bad combination, if you ask me. His co-star, playing his son and fellow officer, is Nicolas Coster*, whom I'll always remember from one of my mother's favorite soaps, Another World. (He also did a very funny turn on the late, lamented Police Squad.) Geraldine Brooks also stars in what looks to be a pretty strong story - not of war, but of men in a war.

*Fun fact: Nicolas Coster's first wife was Candace Hilligoss, star of the cult classic Carnival of Souls.

I don't want to leave the impression that Maurice Evans is little more than a highbrow actor, though. He'll go on to appear as Samantha's father in Bewitched, and as Dr. Zaius in the original movie version of Planet of the Apes.

◊ ◊ ◊

Dr. Joyce Brothers, who legitimately won $134,000 on The $64,000 Question and The $64,000 Challenge by displaying her knowledge of boxing, is back on television as host of her own daily advice show on New York's WRCA, with prospects that the show might be syndicated nationally next fall. The psychologist receives hundreds of letters each week; here's a representative sampling of what people are concerned about in 1959:

"If a girl has a good figure, should she hide it?"

Says Dr. Brothers: "If a girl has a good figure it's almost impossible to hide it. My advice is this; A girl should wear her clothes just tight enough to show that she is a woman, and just loose enough to show that she is a lady." Pretty good advice, if you ask me.

"My parents carp about the way I'm raising my grandchildren."

"Grandparents are accustomed to exercising their authority over their child (you) through criticism. It gives them a sense of superiority, a chance to blow off steam. But you should use your own judgment in raising your children."

"I suspect the woman next door is after my husband. She wears such scanty costumes."

"What your neighbor wears is her business, not yours. Take a look at yourself and make sure you haven't slipped a little since your marriage. Have you gained weight or become careless in your appearance? Have you stopped trying to be alluring? Don't put on a neighbor the blame that may be yours."

"Does a woman drive a man to drink?"

"A study made some years ago determined that there are definite types of women who are found to be the wives of alcoholics. [Women who choose weak husbands, women who need to be miserable, aggressive women with the need to punish herself.] But don't be a wife who is going to punish herself by making a drinker of her husband. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a couple of fifths of cure."

◊ ◊ ◊

By the way, if any of you happened to be in Philadelphia on Thursday, June 18, the great Fred Astaire will be at Gimbels to autograph copies of his new autobiography Steps in Time. We have that book - not autographed, alas.

◊ ◊ ◊

Finally, this week's starlet is Arlene Howell, Miss U.S.A. 1958, who was "discovered" by Roy Huggins' daughter Kathy, who'd overheard her father complaining about how hard it was to get an actress with a real Southern accent. She'd seen and heard Arlene at the Miss Universe contest (where she was third runner-up), and the rest is history - so let this be a lesson to you that you never know what doors will be opened to you once you've appeared on TV. She guested on Huggins' Maverick, as well as 77 Sunset Strip and Cheyenne, and this fall, at the age of 19, she'll be a regular on ABC's Bourbon Street Beat (Warner Brothers series all).

Bourbon Street Beat ran for only one series, 1959-60, and beyond that Arlene Howell's record goes dry. IMDb gives her last credit as a 1966 appearance on Gomer Pyle, but other than a few guest gigs following the end of her series, nothing. Oh well. The article does mention that she's to be married to building contractor Paul LaCava Jr., so perhaps they lived happily ever after. There is more to life, after all, than television.

  1. As Cindy Lou Brown, Arlene Howell was another of the wonderful recurring characters encountered by the Maverick brothers during the first two (Roy Huggins produced) seasons. She guest starred on consecutive episodes at one point, one being the legendary "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres" (and as a different character, "Island in the Swamp", set in Howell's native Louisiana, the following week).

    Two things I will always think of when I think of Pat Boone: the wonderfully weird NIGHT GALLERY episode "The Academy", in which Boone played perhaps the worst father ever, and the wonderful, bizarre 1997 CD "In a Metal Mood", with Boone giving us big-band arrangements of heavy-metal classics.

  2. Hey, how about another quiz?

    I'm working from a Chicago edition on Central Time, so you'll have to adjust for Philadelphia's Eastern Time.

    The Rules, once again:
    I'll name the time, the network, and the show.
    You find them, and tell me what the listing says to you.
    Here we go:

    Sunday, 6:30, CBS: Jack Benny.

    Sunday, 8:00, NBC: The Chevy Show.

    Monday, 8:00, CBS: Danny Thomas.

    Tuesday, 8:00, CBS: Peck's Bad Girl.
    8:30, ABC: Naked City.
    These two are linked; see if you can spot how.

    Tuesday, 8:30, CBS: Red Skelton.

    Wednesday, 8:00, ABC: Accused.

    Thursday, 7:30, ABC: The Real McCoys.

    Friday, 9:00, CBS: The Lineup.

    That ought to hold you for now.

    What I remember about Pat Boone is that he got actor Jeff Corey off the Blacklist.
    Boone had been taking acting classes at Corey's school (actually, it was his garage). At the same time, Boone was making a movie called The Yellow Canary, and saw a part that he thought Corey was right for.
    Being The Star, he used a lot of pull with his studio, 20th Century Fox, to bypass protocol and hire Corey, the List notwithstanding.
    Years afterward, Jeff Corey, whose politics were as far to the Left as Boone's were to the Right, was asked about this; he laughed and said, "Oh, Pat and I like each other."

    At some point, Nicolas Coster turned up on just about every dramatic TV show, day or night.
    I remember when he joined All My Children, short term, as a "handsome stranger" who romanced Erica Kane (Susan Lucci); he turned out to be a hired killer who was out to get Erica, but was stopped just in time.
    Them's the breaks, I guess ...

    In the color section, you seemed to have missed the feature on how jazz was starting to assert its presence as part of TV dramatic scores, with testimony by Henry Mancini, Stanley Wilson, and Jack Webb.
    Interesting, how there's a lot of "purism" as to what is and isn't really jazz ...

    It was in the mid-60s that Maurice Evans made his major move into Hollywood TV, playing "Basil Of The Jungle" on Tarzan; this was just after he began appearing on Bewitched.
    This was followed by guest shots on Batman (as The Puzzler), The Man From UNCLE (in which he appeared alongside Ann Elder *hi there, David Hofstede*), Mod Squad, and several Quinn Martin shows, where we learned that 'Maurice' is supposed to be pronounced 'Morris'.
    Merv Griffin once asked Mr. Evans whether he answered to 'Maureese' or 'Morris'; he replied with a smile: "On the set, they usually call me 'Moishe"!"

    And on that cheery note ...

  3. I suspect that since videotape had been perfected by 1959 that Ed McMahon's local show in Philadelphia had been taped ahead of time.

    On the other hand, since I thought McMahon was already working with Johnny Carson (on "Who Do You trust?") in New York, that he might have commuted two hours each way from Philly to New York. If "Trust" were being done live in the afternoon, then his own local Philadelphia show might have been taped earlier in the evening for showing at 1 A.M.

    1. I just checked in my copy of Ed's book When Television Was Young - about Who Do You Trust?, he says that the show was live Tuesday through Friday, and on Friday they did two shows, taping one for use on Monday. And for McMahon & Co., he writes that "A lot of stage plays opened in Philly on the way to Broadway, and by the time my show went on the air, those performances were done for the night," which suggests that his show was done live as well.

      As I recall, he took the train into New York to do Who Do You Trust? and then took the train back for McMahon & Co. What a schedule!

  4. Dr. Brothers is paraphrasing something the legendary Hollywood costume designer Edith Head said about clothing...

Thanks for writing! Drive safely!


text:
1. ITV Report

Jersey duo called up to England C squad

Midfielder Miley (left) and goalkeeper Van der Vliet (right). Credit: ITV

Jersey's Cavagn Miley and Euan Van der Vliet, who both featured in the 2017 Muratti Vase final, have been called up to the England C squad for a friendly next month.

They are part of a 16-man group selected by manager Paul Fairclough to face the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on Sunday 27 May.

Van der Vliet plays for local side St Paul's, while Miley - who captained Jersey against Guernsey last year - also came through at the Channel Island Champions before joining National League Eastleigh.

England C is made up of players aged 23 and under from non-league clubs.


text:
Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) Migration Challenges

A top challenge for service providers is transitioning network devices to software functions. A recent survey shows top issues are software maturity and performance, integration with existing network infrastructure, and lack of software experts.

Ixia’s NFV test solution helps carriers significantly boost the performance of virtualized functions. Our test tools and automated methodologies validate and quantify the deterministic behavior of NFV ecosystems throughout the VNF service lifecycle.

NVF Migration Challenges
Virtual Network Function (VNF) Benchmarking

NFV Benchmarking

The first step of NFV migration is to characterize the performance bottleneck and scaling limit of VNFs within the confined compute/network/storage environment. This can be achieved by testing VNFs with Ixia traffic and service emulators.

To fully quantify VNF performance, the test system must be physically connected to both the network interface card (NIC) and the VNF compute environment. VNF behavior can be measured while under traffic load conditions and then compared to the VNF behavior with other NFV implementations under the exact same conditions. This provides a comprehensive view for making informed decisions about the VNF and the underlying infrastructure.

Ixia Solutions

Virtual testers: IxNetwork VE, IxLoad VE, BreakingPoint VE
Physical testers: IxNetwork, IxLoad, BreakingPoint

Onboarding and Lifecycle Management

By integrating with automated test cases to validate package contents and functionality, new VNFs can be instantiated, scaled, and updated throughout the network service lifecycle. How can service providers integrate test cases with the CI/CD pipeline and monitor the efficiency of lifecycle management?

Ixia’s service emulation with data-model-driven API provides the toolsets for seamless integration. Furthermore, Ixia’s professional services and partnership with top lifecycle management platforms simplify tasks and reduce time to market.

Ixia Solutions

IxLoad VE
Breaking Point VE
Professional Services

Lifecycle management
Service Chain Validation

Throughout the network service lifecycle, new VNFs can be instantiated, chained, and scale up/down based on customer demand. Service providers must ensure the provisioned VNFs are chained properly and placed most efficiently for best performance.

Ixia’s test solution can validate services provisioning and characterize performance and scale throughout the network service lifecycle.

Ixia Solutions

IxLoad VE
Breaking Point VE

Edge Computing

To support services like connected cars, IoT, and augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR), service providers are extending NFVI to the edge of the network—reducing latency and mitigating unreliable low-bandwidth connections. Validating the improvement in latency/performance and optimizing the distribution of resources between edge and central data centers is a critical component.

Ixia’s unique tool sets can evaluate performance prior to deployment and during operation. Network emulators can further simulate the distance between edge and core data centers—crucial to mimicking realistic placement.

Ixia Solutions

IxLoad VE
Breaking Point VE
Network Emulators

Ixia SDN/NFV Product Blueprint

Comprehensive test coverage for the future of networking

ETSI hosted its third NFV Plugtest for its NFV ISG work, with the added bonus of it being co-located with the OPNFV Fraser release Plugfest. While there has always been collaboration between the two communities, and a growing number of supporting open source communities actively involved in Plugtests, the event co-location provided additional opportunities for cross-community synergies. It also led to the creation of a new benchmarking initiative involving ETSI NFV, OPNFV, and Open Source MANO (OSM).

Featuring Pierre Lynch, Lead Technologist, Keysight Technologies

Filmed at: OpenStack Summit, Berlin, November 2018


text:
The Ice Co Europe
The Ice Co Storage and Logistics
J Marr Property
Vessel History

J Marr has always been a leading light in the shipping world from the early days with the first UK factory freezer trawler the Junella

Management services and charters of note have included:

Charter of the Northella to the MOD for navigational training purposes 1983-1998

Supply and management of Farnella, to the USGS which surveyed the Western American seaboard on behalf of the USA

Other notable periods included support craft during the Falklands conflict and later Fisheries Patrol for the Falkland Island Government and fisheries patrol duties in the British Indian Ocean Territory

Supply and management of the vessel chartered to esteemed explorer Dr. R. Ballard which surveyed the Black Sea looking for evidence of Noah’s flood

Supply and management of the vessel Northern Horizon which discovered the World War II wreck HMS Hood and Resurveyed the German warship Bismarck with Mr David Mearns of Blue Water Recoveries as seen on Channel 4 Television

Marr Vessel Management also successfully managed the highly sophisticated and modern Diesel Electric Fisheries Research Vessel “Scotia” and “Alba-Na-Mara” on behalf of the Scottish Ministers for twenty years until 2010 when Scottish Government policy was changed and the vessels went back under in house management

On going at present Management of the Odyssey Explorer the vessel associated with the major discovery of the location of Admiral Sir John Balchin’s HMS. Victory lost in a storm in 1744, the Black Swan project, recovery of coins and artefacts from the American Civil War wreck SS Republic and the discovery of two war time wrecks SS Gairsoppa and SS Mantola

Vera Grace, built 1912. Northella and Cordella transferring troops during the Falklands Islands conflict of 1982.
Scotia managed for the Scottish Ministers by Marr Vessel Management Ltd Scotia Managed for the Scottish Ministers by Marr Vessel Management Ltd


text:
Platinum Sportsbooks has been fined $400k

Platinum Sportsbooks has been fined $400k

The technical guru who was behind Hells Angels and controlled the online gambling site get caught and fined C$400k by the Canadian court.

Canadian Police raided a super bowl party which was organized in Markham, Ontario for the Platinum sportsbook customers on February 2013. Actually Platinum sportsbook is a Costa Rica based website which used the toll free phone lines for online credit betting purposes. According to the investigation made by the police, they found that the ring was regulated by the Hells Angels motorcycle gang in Ontario.

Hearing for the case was called on this Monday and Justice John McMahon has handed $400k fine for Gordon Baird since he had an important role in managing the website which belongs to the Hells Motorcycle gang. Gordon Baird is 59 years old and he is found guilty for getting involved in bookmaking and for contributing the processes of an illegal organization.

It is expected that Gordon Baird will get lengthy prison for his activity but due to the lack of convictions Justice John McMahon convinced and gave the punishment of 12 months probation and 18 months house arrest. Actually Gordon Baird has already given the fine amount $50k but still he has to pay the remaining amount. If he fails to pay the amount within the 12 months of time period, he will get the punishment of three years prison. This is order given by the justice John McMahon.

Actually PlatinumSB ring was a setup of classic credit betting and it has number of agents and sub agents. Those agents are having around thousands of clients as sports bettors. Around 3k of those sports bettors has been invited for the party which was held in Markham, Ontario. According the reports given by the police department, the PlatinumSB ring has earned around $103 million in the years 2009 to 2013.

When police arrested the officials of the ring, it was found that $4.6 million has been grossed through illegal betting. The has been blocked by the authorities but within a hour the members in the ring has created a new website. According to the documents submitted in the court, Gordon Baird is considered as the responsible perform for registering the domains which are belongs to the website.

However, Gordon Baird has been punished and the other two important officials of the ring Andrew Bielli and Rob Barletta are also in the same case and they are also included in this crime and the punishment for those people has not been decided.

Due to the arrest of the officials and the prohibition of PlatinumSB the Canadian sports bettors are not able to place any bets in the recent days and the government is very strict in this case. But many of the sports bettors have started to use international online gambling site for place bets and continue their activities.

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