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The Duke of Edinburgh signs off first International Award online

Published: 12 Mar 2014

HM The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and HRH The Earl of Wessex visit staff at The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation

HRH The Duke of Edinburgh has signed off the first Gold Award on The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Online Record Book (ORB).

Observed by HM The Queen, HRH signed off young New Zealander Amanda Lawson's online record for her Gold Award activities. This marks a significant milestone for the Award globally and comes on the day the internet marks its 25th Birthday.

HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh were visiting staff at The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation and The Royal Commonwealth Society to find out more about how the two organisations are providing non-formal education programmes to help empower young people worldwide.

The Award online

HRH The Duke of Edinburgh signing off the first international Gold Award onlineOn HM's first visit to the Foundation, The Queen had the opportunity to learn more about the Award and how the development of digital tools is enabling the Foundation to reach more young people from diverse backgrounds. The Online Record Book (ORB) is a new global digital platform, which replaces the paper Record Book, designed to help participants, leaders and assessors doing, delivering and assessing the Award.

Now a Gold Award holder, thanks to The Duke signing off her Award, Amanda says taking part in the Award helped her to overcome many challenges. Having been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes as a child, Amanda was determined not to let her condition define her or her capabilities. “Participating in the Award has taken me out of my comfort zone. My boundaries were certainly pushed to their limits during a number of my challenges but I was determined to complete my Gold Award. Giving up was not an option.” Her success in completing her Gold is a testament to the adaptability of the Award framework and its accessibility to all, no matter their background or ability.

HRH The Duke of Edinburgh founded The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award in 1956; the Award has since spread to more than 140 countries and territories with more than 8 million young people having participated in the Award.

“The Foundation works to grow the Award worldwide and to increase the diversity of its participants, particularly reaching out to those who are often on the margins of society,” explains Secretary General of the Foundation, John May. “Work that we are doing now will ensure that more young people have access to this tried and tested framework of non-formal education that has time and time again proven to transform the lives of individuals and their communities. This is all of course thanks to the vision of our Foundation.”

Commonwealth connections

The RCS recently moved into Award House, premises that the Foundation has occupied since 1996. Michael Lake CBE, Director of The RCS says, “The Royal Commonwealth Society has undergone a transformative twelve months. As we embark upon this exciting new stage in the life of our organisation, we are delighted to be sharing the newly refurbished Award House with The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation. Like them, the focus of our work is very much on young people and on offering them the inspiration and confidence to fulfil their dreams. As compatible organisations with complementary remits, it is my firm belief that we can live together with greater efficiency than apart.

“The Society plays an important role in championing the values that underpin the Commonwealth and that lend the association its unique purpose in the contemporary world. And HM The Queen, in her role as Head of the Commonwealth and as the Patron of our Society, is a lasting inspiration.”

Major milestones

The visit to Award House formed part of a momentous week for The Queen and The Duke as their youngest son celebrated his 50th birthday on 10 March. Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex, a Gold Award holder himself, is a trustee of the Foundation and is actively involved in ensuring it is inclusive to all.

The Queen was also in attendance at the annual Commonwealth Day Observance at Westminster Abbey on 10 March.

Huge thanks to our kind supporters By Word of Mouth for providing complimentary food and drink for this momentus ocassion.

Further information:


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Bracket Finder

HDMI Cables

Fitting flush flat TV brackets

Introduction to fitting flat and flush brackets

This type of TV bracket is just about the simplest to fit being very straightforward and easy to install. Fixing it to the wall and to the TV is well within the capability of any DIY-er.

We have produced this short guide to help our customers understand before they buy and to give help if anyone is stuck.

Fitting to a brick or block wall

First gather together the tools you are going to need to fit the TV bracket

- a dust sheet

- spirit level

- drill with appropriate masonry drill

- screwdriver

- a pipe and cable finder to ensure you don't drill into them!

When you're got the tools together open up the TV wall bracket box and take out the longer horizontal wall plate(s) and holding them up to the wall mark through the fixing points with a pencil for the 6 drill holes you are going to make to fit the back plate(s) to the wall. Ensure this is level.

When you have successfully marked the drill hole positions ensuring of course that there are no pipes or cables running where you want to drill, drill into the wall to the required distance to hold the supplied wall plugs and fixing bolts.

Next insert the 6 wall plugs and screw up the back plate(s) to the wall ensuring everything is level and securely tightened.

You should now position your TV face down on a soft surface and fix the two "arms" to the back of the TV using the supplied washers, spacers and bolts to best suit your model of TV. When secure lift the TV up and hook the arms over the wall plate and do up the securing Allen bolts using the key provided.

You are now ready to connect the cables to the TV and once done you have successfully and safely installed your TV bracket.

Tip: If you the space is too tight to fit the cables you may find it preferable to do this stage before you hook the TV over the wall plates.

Fitting to a stud or plasterboard wall

When fitting your TV bracket in these circumstances it is vital to ensure your secure the wall back plate(s) to at least two of the upright wooden studs behind the plasterboard.

You can locate these either by using an electronic stud-finder or trial and error using a small nail.

If your studs are widely spaced or the TV bracket is narrow as often is the case when fittings involve small screen sized TVs, you will need to install an extra stud attached to the existing ones or use a TV wall bracket for the next bigger size of TV that will span the required gap.

All our TV wall brackets and wall mounts give the full product specifications so you can be certain you are ordering the correct item.

Back to FAQs

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Get the Network Administrators tool pack

Subscribe to our newsletter and get 11 free network administrator tools, plus a 30 page user guide so you can get the most out of them.

Click Here to get your free tools

Recent Posts

From the monthly archives:

February 2009

I have almost 4 years worth of emails in a Gmail account. I have tried using other services, and even ran my own email server – but I always find Google calling me back with their top notch spam protection. The problem with that is…well I have 4 years worth of emails. Many of them […]

In the battle for dominance over virtualization VMWare has made another shot towards Microsoft. Today they have announced that an open source client will be released for VMWare servers. This is big news since it will now allow third parties to port their client to other platforms such as thin clients, phones, and special purpose […]

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Category Links - Windows Forum - Exchange Forum


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Mechanical Components

Linear Actuator Manufacturers

A listing of Linear Actuator Manufacturers; back to the main Motor Manufacturers page.
The products the companies produced are listed under the company name which are indexed in alphabetic order.

Actuator Vendors:
{Linear Incremental Encoder}

Allied Motion
{Linear Encoders}

Haydon Switch and Instrument, Inc.
{Hybrid stepper motor based linear actuators, Can-stack stepper motor based linear actuators}

Nippon Pulse Motor Co., Ltd.
{Linear Shaft Motor}

Binkelman Corp.
{Coatings for Linear Systems}

Johnson Electric
{Linear synchronous motors, Linear stepper motors}

Sanyo Denki
{AC Linear Servo}

As an indexed listing of companies which produce or manufacturer AC Motor Control ICs
Or an indexed listing of companies which produce or manufacturer DC Motor Control ICs

Description of Electronic Motor types

DC Motor Types

Types of DC Motors:
General data: DC Motors are used in variable speed applications.
Homopolar DC Motor: A direct-current (dc) generator whose poles have the same polarity, with respect to the armature. Thus, no commutator is necessary.
Commutator DC Motor: In a direct-current (dc) motor, generator, or rotating selector, an arrangement of parallel metal bars or strips on a rotating drum. As the drum turns, the bars contact one or more brushes that are in sliding contact with the commutator.
PM DC Motor: [Permanent Magnet] motor uses a permanent magnet instead of armature windings are mounted on the rotor.Permanent Magnet [PM] motors are normally small and produce little horsepower.
Series DC Motor: connect the field windings in series with the armature, used for high-torque loads.
Shunt DC Motor: use high-resistance field winding connected in parallel with the armature.
Compound DC Motor: combine the series and shunt types.

AC Motor types are listed below

AC Motor Types

Types of AC Motors:
Induction AC Motor: the induction motor is a three-phase AC motor
Synchronous AC Motor: are Synchronized with the power line frequency.

This is a general listing of Electrical Motor manufacturers and vendors. The types of products or devices the manufacturer produces are listed under the company name, in alphabetic order. Additional electronic component manufacturers may be found by selecting the Components icon below, or Electronic Equipment manufacturers may be found by selecting the OEM Equipment icon.

Larry's Web Page

Electronic Parts and Equipment Distributors Electronic Component Manufacturers OEM Electronic Equipment Manufacturers EDA Software Producers CAD/CAE Software Engineering Standards, EE Publications Interface/Embedded Computer Bus Electronic Engineering Design Data Engineering Reference Information.
DistributorsComponents Equipment Software Standards Buses Design Reference

Modified 1/23/12
Copyright © 1998 - 2016 All rights reserved Larry Davis


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Citizens and the state in the government-controlled territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions

Problems, challenges and visions of the future

The demarcation line (the line of contact) and the ‘grey zone’ between the government-controlled and uncontrolled territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions separates the parties to the conflict in the east of Ukraine. The areas controlled by the Ukrainian authorities and bordering the ‘grey zone’ are very politically sensitive, highly militarised, and fall under a special governance regime that is different from the rest of the country.

In the absence of a comprehensive political settlement and amid uncertain prospects, it is unclear how long this situation will remain. It is highly likely that over the next few years, Ukrainians in areas adjacent to the contact line will live under very particular and unusual governance structures, and in varying degrees of danger. These vulnerable areas are therefore the focus of this study.

The study aimed to identify the main concerns, views, and practical ideas of Ukrainian citizens living in key vulnerable cities in government-controlled territories near the line of contact, possible areas for improving the relationship between citizens and the government, and practical local measures needed to translate these ideas into reality.

The potential and readiness for a dialogue between civil society and local authorities, as well as within communities, was also assessed. The main efforts and problems faced by authorities in the formation and implementation of policies in the government-controlled territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions have also been analysed.

The study was conducted by the Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research (UCIPR) with the assistance of International Alert, and funding from the European Union.


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Activeman Elite Jockstrap Black/White

Activeman Elite Jockstrap Black/White

Elite Jockstrap Black/White

Was $15 Now $7.50 (50% off)

This product is currently not available.
An innovative take on a classic jockstrap, the leg straps of Activeman jock are attached to the hips and the pouch, providing an unparalleled level of comfort and support. The waistband fits snug with the perfect amount of stretch while the contoured pouch provides a super masculine silhouette.
  • Designer Features: Contrast striping adds a pop of color to this jockstrap; Activeman logo tag on left side of pouch
  • Pouch: Single-ply contoured pouch with reinforced center support seam
  • Waistband: 1-3/8-inch
  • Leg-straps: 1-inch
  • Side Seam: 2-inches
  • Fabric Content: 95% cotton, 5% elastane
  • Care Instructions: Machine wash cold, line dry, do not bleach.
  • Made in USA
  • ActiveMan style A126B
  • Item No. 58899


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Road, Traffic and Safety Signs | Barricades | Construction Signs
  Home » Catalog » Personal Safety » Eye Protection Contact Us  |  Cart Contents  |  Checkout
Traffic, Parking, Construction
and More!

All signs are in stock for fast shipping.
> Click Here <
Eye Protection

Result Pages:  1
Customer Service
Need Help?
Call us toll free at:

Our customer service department will assist you with pricing and all information required to facilitate your order.

Customer Service Hours
8 am to 5 pm
Mountain Time

We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover cards.  This is a Secure Site.

Interwest Safety Supply, Inc., Safety Equipment & Clothing, Provo, UT

US Federal Contractor Registration
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Copyright © 2000-2018 Interwest Safety Supply, LLC


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Road, Traffic and Safety Signs | Barricades | Construction Signs
  Home » Catalog » Clothing » Jackets and Parkas Contact Us  |  Cart Contents  |  Checkout
Traffic, Parking, Construction
and More!

All signs are in stock for fast shipping.
> Click Here <
Jackets and Parkas

 Storm Jacket
 Storm Jacket
Result Pages:  1
Customer Service
Need Help?
Call us toll free at:

Our customer service department will assist you with pricing and all information required to facilitate your order.

Customer Service Hours
8 am to 5 pm
Mountain Time

We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover cards.  This is a Secure Site.

Interwest Safety Supply, Inc., Safety Equipment & Clothing, Provo, UT

US Federal Contractor Registration
Shopping Cart
0 items
Privacy Policy
Contact Us

Copyright © 2000-2018 Interwest Safety Supply, LLC


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Banking behavior

27/07/2015 0:00

Global banks are characterized in their search for more ways of evolution aimed at attracting customers and attract within a structured program for this purpose by providing various banking products and services carried out by the aim of enduring success and development, which will inevitably be reflected on their profits.

The profession of banking globally or working banks of Almanmn prestigious as the case in the professions of medicine, engineering, etc., as calculated by the bank in developed societies that it is relevant figures.

Where are we in this assessment?.

a dialogue between me and one of specialists and stakeholders in the banking issue, content exceeded Questions routine Vanhsr assessment of the banking behavior we have compared with the countries of the world Advanced Vetosalna a consensus that we need to develop this behavior is important.

My source specialist pointed out that fast our audience response are common and easy to slip into the public especially under the circumstance that the country islivinga fact to wear them, and went on to say: that any act of working in the banking sector with customers will reflect negatively on his performance.

This Gleam ledme to look at this vital issue because of the importance of the banking behavior in the reputation and performance of the banking sector, and when he had the goal of any win customers bank or attract customers .. "calling pioneers and's customers banks," what is required of workers in the machine banking deal with these slides Aulfiat of all citizens in all transparency and fitness literary should also employees of the banks gain experience in negotiating art to convince the public of all what is happening in the bank of positive Aomah conditions without disturbing the mood reviewers Why?

any bank seeks to achieve profits derived from the size dealers with him, so any incorrect behavior with the customer Hoadaah opportunity precious difficult to compensate, this behavior undiagnosed for many workers in the banks, whether government or private, is required to address it?

When you search into the causes of decline in the banking behavior in banks and incidents and semantics many find it back to mismanagement First, choice is the conciliator for workers in this behavior career prestigious, widespread ugly corruption flag administrations and overlooked, Macad to shift usually need to in bribes and disable transactions and to harm the public, unless required to do about this situation?

Certainly repair departments of banks and selection of efficient workers, trained and immunized to return to the profession and reputation


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Louis Masai solo show - AfroFabRicatiOn

Louis Masai has an incredible love and respect for nature and his place in the world and that passion shines through in his work. Louis is famed for his large-scale street pieces depicting animals adorned with human attributes.

His work currently focuses on African fabric patterns and animals, this concept has crept seamlessly into this exciting new collection in the form of the Pencil Case Thieves.

 Louis recently told Slanted Mansion “I paint for people to see it. That’s why I go and paint on the street. I want people to see it.”

Come along and meet Louis Masai and all his creepy friends and crawl home with painting or a print on 15th November from 6pm at Nancy Victor Gallery. RSVP.(RSVP to ruthpenfold@me.com)
Private View: Thursday 15th November 2012, 6pm to 8pm
Dates: 16th November to 7th December 2012

Nancy Victor Gallery - Charlotte Place - London - W1T 1SG

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Packaged for Success

12 Aug 2015

The shortlist for the Starpack Industry Awards 2015 has been announced. This year, in contrast to long-standing tradition, gold, silver and bronze winners will be announced on the night of the awards ceremony on 10 September, to add a real sense of occasion and keep everyone guessing right up until the names are called.

As ever, the Starpack Industry entries surpass expectations and exhibit the innovative ideas in the world of packaging that are taking shape and making it to market. Judge, David Harding Technical Director and Head of Sustainability at 1HQ said, “I’d like to think that Starpack is a celebration of everything that’s good about our business. It’s a sense-check on where the industry is in terms of innovation, creative flair and technical expertise.”

The coveted Best in Show Award once again has three shortlisted entries, spanning diverse industries, showcasing the versatility of the awards.

The three that made the final cut are - Waddington Europe's Hydrozorb (H-PET), a low-carbon lightweight rPET material with fillers demonstrating altered characteristics. Next up, Mondelēz International with the Cadbury Glow packaging design, a treasure chest of chocolates - and finally, DS Smith’s Toolspec Shipper for CNH Tractor Components.

All will be revealed on 10 September at the National Space Centre in Leicester.

View shortlisted winners

Details of awards ceremony


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IowaWatch Connection Podcast: Understanding And Reducing Gun Violence In Iowa

Print More

President Barack Obama’s recent executive orders on gun access and control reignited debates over how to rein in gun violence. There’s a perception that gun violence in Iowa is worse than ever. The number of shootings in Iowa’s major cities is increasing, but law enforcement says it’s due to a small number of people.

“Too many people assume that there is some sort of organized gun violence or that there’s an epidemic of gun violence,” said Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Roxann Ryan.

“With each incident, people are assuming that it is someone different. When we talk about local crime, it may be a localized problem. And it may be the same small group of people that are responsible for many of the incidents.”

Dan Trelka, public safety director and police chief in Waterloo, said law enforcement generally knows who is responsible for the gun shots.

“The problem is our information is coming secondhand from individuals,” he said. “It doesn’t give us solid facts to establish probable cause for an arrest.

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Irish Life websites
Irish Life Health
Welcome to Ireland’s newest health Insurer, Irish Life Health. Bringing fresh options and innovation to the health insurance market.
Irish Life
Irish Life the largest life and pensions group and fund manager in Ireland, employing 2,000 people and servicing one million customers.
Irish Life Investment Managers
Managing assets in excess 39bn, ILIM manages money on behalf of multinational corporations, charities and domestics.

President of the Irish Exporters Association Nicola Byrne talks about Brexit - Irish Times Business Podcast

President of the Irish Exporters Association Nicola Byrne explains why Ireland is “way ahead of the posse” in preparing for Brexit.

There is still a lot to do, but there is also a “huge amount that can happen in the right direction” for Ireland after Britain leaves the European Union, she tells presenter Cliff Taylor.

They are joined by associate research professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute Martina Lawless, who outlines what the worst-case scenario could be when it comes to tariffs and barriers, and why paperwork may be a bigger concern for many Irish exporters post-Brexit.

In the second half of the show, Irish Times business journalist Fiona Reddan takes us through some of the ideas being mooted by the department of finance’s tax strategy group, including the prospect of abolishing relief on family homes from capital gains tax when they are sold.

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Irish Life uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience and to create a secure and effective website for our customers. By using this site you agree that we may store and access cookies on your device, unless you have disabled your cookies.
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Healthy Eating Restaurants in Belfast City, Antrim

Browse our directory of Healthy Eating Restaurants in Belfast City, Antrim by selecting from the links below:

Map showing Healthy Eating Restaurants in Belfast City, Antrim

Click on an icon to see full details of that listing, or scroll down to view all listings.

Hill St Brasserie

Hill St Brasserie38 Hill Street, Belfast, BT1 2LB, Co. Antrim
Hill St Brasserie is your base in the centre of
Read more about Hill St Brasserie | View Map of Area | Photos

1 Victoria Square, Belfast, BT1 4QG, Co. Antrim
With its relaxed atmosphere and sleek contemporary decor, Prezzo Belfast is a great place to escape the crowds in this busy shopping and entertainment complex.
Read more about Prezzo | View Map of Area | Photos

The Barking Dog

The Barking Dog35 Malone Road, Belfast, BT9 6RU, Co. Antrim
The Barking Dog prides itself on its unique offering, combining first-class cuisine with a relaxed atmosphere. Their rustic setting and vintage décor provides the perfect backdrop for their fabulous menu.
Read more about The Barking Dog | View Map of Area | Photos

Shed Bistro

Shed Bistro467 Ormeau Road, Belfast, BT7 3GR, Co. Antrim
Shed Bistro opened in November 2012. With the passionate and innovative genius of its creative Chef, Gilles Willaume (formerly of City Centre restaurant, COCO), it is already gaining a reputation as the favorite restaurant for locals and others who v
Read more about Shed Bistro | View Map of Area | Photos

Hadskis33 Donegall Street / Commercial Court, Belfast, BT1 2NB, Co. Antrim
Hadskis has been borne out of one man's love for making pots and pans, and another man's love for cooking great food.
Read more about Hadskis | View Map of Area | Photos

Slims Healthy Kitchen

429-431 Lisburn road, Belfast, Co. Antrim
A Healthy alternative to fast food (No Seriously)
Read more about Slims Healthy Kitchen | View Map of Area | Photos

The Bar and Grill at James Street South

The Bar and Grill at James Street South21 James Street South, Belfast, BT2 7GA, Co. Antrim
The Bar + Grill serves an exciting, seasonal and local menu with something to suit all palates. They are renowned for our beef which is from local farms, and cooked on our Josper Grill, a charcoal grill which gives the meat a unique texture and taste
Read more about The Bar and Grill at James Street South | View Map of Area | Photos

Canteen at the MAC

Canteen at the MACExchange St, Belfast, Co. Antrim
Pop in for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, pre-show dinner or post-show light bites. Or even just a drink.
Read more about Canteen at the MAC | View Map of Area | Photos

Avoca Belfast

Avoca Belfast41 Arthur Street, Belfast, BT1 4GB, Co. Antrim
Located right in the heart of the city on Arthur Street, it brings Avoca's eclectic product range to Belfast in a spacious ready-to-explore store, with favourites such as our Anthology and Origin designer women's wear collections, as well as exciting
Read more about Avoca Belfast | View Map of Area | Photos

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Dissertation Abstracts

Many Voices of the Artist Discussion: A Study of the Formation of Artist Discussion in the Media and Among (Visual) Artists

Author: Logrén, Anna , ilvesoksa@gmail.com
Department: School of Humanities
University: University of Eastern Finland, Finland
Supervisor: Professor Risto Turunen
Year of completion: 2015
Language of dissertation: Finnish

Keywords: Visual artist , Self-definition , Articulation , Media
Areas of Research: Arts , Professional Groups , Communication, Knowledge and Culture

The study examines the discussions and negotiations concerning artists during the first decade of the 21st century in Finland. The study sheds light on the discussions of the (local) art world and artist discussion practices from two different directions. The research material consists of 1) newspaper sources, i.e. the regional newspaper and the national newspaper, and 2) interviews of 24 artists living in Eastern Finland. The study examines the characteristics of the artist discussion in the media based on the artistry-related notions, values, and ideals. A similar analysis has been made on the basis of artist-originated discussions. This is a multidisciplinary study as it applies the theoretical concepts and views of not only the discourse and articulation theories but also for example traditions of sociology of art, literary criticism, and identity studies.

The study shows that in the newspapers the artist discussion is defined as an institutionally accepted professionalism that is affected by the criterions based on the institutional and administrative practices of the art world. The professionalism includes the ideal of artistic autonomy. The newsworthy artistry typically occurs as art exhibitions in the institutional centres of the art world. Artists’ international agency is highlighted. Local newspaper also writes about the artistry that is committed to local communities and contributes to their cultural participation. Exhibition news emphasise coherent exhibition, mastery of material and instrument and their appropriate, use-based expectations. Art criticisms emphasise the expectations of multidimensionality, communicativeness, and topicality. The ideals of professional success and activity are emphasised on the news.

The news concerning artists was based on assumptions of an creative artist with a personal style. The position of an individual artist remains relatively stable in spite of the postmodernist debate and discussions during the past decades that could be seen in the theoretical discourse of the art world for example as criticism of modern ideas of art and artists. The focus is on the relatively conventional forms of producers and productions.

The artist-originated discussion is more complex than the discussion in the media, although the discussions are to some extent overlapping. The comparison reveals that the media coverage around the person makes the artists and their attempts to express the spectre of artistry more one-sided. Artists are negotiating about their own artistry in the conjuncture where they confront different kinds of expectations. According to self-definitions, the ideals adopted from previously dominant ideas of artistry are intertwined with the expectations adopted from the contemporary public discussion. In the spirit of modernistic art conceptions, artists recreate for example ideals of artistic talent, visual creativity, integrity, authenticity, and individuality. The (postmodernistic) practices such as deliberate image building, productization, and financial success cannot be found among the practices. Professionalism is created by art-related knowledge, skills, training, education, and knowledge of the practices of the art world (for example exhibitions and scholarships). Artists also challenge the individualistic conception of an artist by detaching themselves from exhibition conventions and by committing themselves to working in pairs and teams, and acting in collective artistic practices in local communities.

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Easy E Sunday

 Posted by
May 152011
Easy E Sunday

Oh hi!  I’m just checking out our Cat Blogosphere calendar.  I love this calendar ‘cuz I can see our furiends every day.  Look at who I can see this month!  There’s Bennette and Sister Dolly and those cuties, Hannah and Lucy, and Samantha and Herman and Sukki and Ichiro and Neytiri and even that nice woofie, Grete, just to [read more]

Oct 072009
What's That Wally & BJ Doing?

 Everyone wants to know… What’s That Wally & BJ Doing? Hey, we gotta special visitor here on our island!! It’s BJ…one of the Sherwood Seven!! He came all the way from Houston, Texas to visit!!! (BJ kinda looks like Ernie, dontcha think…’cept he’s dark gray…) Me and BJ are gonna hang out today and do some mancat [read more]

Mar 122009
Thankful Thursday

Thanks to everybuddy that came by yesterday and celebrated Ernie’s Gotcha Day!  It was a fun party!! Yay!  We recently were honored with 2 more awards!! We received the Honest Scrap Award from both Derby and Grrreta!  Thanks so much!! This award comes with these rules: “When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, [read more]

Dec 292008
It's Our Blogoversary!

It’s our 1st Blogoversary! Mom always wanted a website for us…and for Christmas last year, dad gave this blog to mom… In the beginning, mom thought this was gonna be her blog…and she began posting stories about us Island Cats and cats in general and stuff.  But then she let us do a couple of posts and we discovered we [read more]

Sep 072008
Easy Like Sunday

Hey, Ernie, it’s raining.  Let’s just hang out here today. Have a Happy Sunday!    Also, Laila and Minchie gave us this award about a week ago.  Thanks!!  We’re  honored to receive it!  We want to pass this on to everyone in the Cat Blogosphere ‘cuz we really like everyone’s blog and we’re so happy [read more]

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Tourism News from Israel

Israel tourist arrivals continue to rise

Share |
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Tourist entries in January-July up 4% to 1.9 Million

Figures released last Thursday, covering the first half of 2011 show that 1.9 million tourists entered Israel in January-July 2011, a 4% increase on the corresponding months of 2010.

As 2010 was considered a record year in the number of tourist arrivals to Israel (3.45 Million), the figures for the first half of 2011 are promising.

The number of day-tourists in January-July fell 25% to 251,000, due to the slump in tourism to Egypt this year. This slump was partially balanced by 102,000 visits by cruise ship passengers, 42% more than in the corresponding months of last year.

Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov attributed the stability in the tourism industry to “increased budgets and intensive marketing activities.”

An incoming tourism survey conducted by the Ministry for 2010 shows that high marks were given by tourists to the archeological sites, night life, personal security and accomodation.
The average stay was 11 nights, and the average spending per tourist was $1,100, a relatively low figure due to the high proportion of pilgrims. 68% of visitors were Christians and 43% of the tourists were repeat visitors.

 77% of the tourists visited Jerusalem, 56% visited Tel Aviv, 51% visited the Dead Sea, 35% visited Tiberias, and 33% visited Nazareth.

To read the full article, please go to port2port


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www ISR
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International Socialist Review Issue 36, July–August 2004

45 years after the Cuban Revolution

Castro’s Cuba in Perspective

SAM FARBER was born and raised in Cuba. He is the author of numerous works on Cuba, and is currently writing a book on the origins of the Cuban Revolution to be published by the University of North Carolina Press. He is also a member of the editorial board of the socialist journal Against the Current. He was interviewed by the ISR’s ANTHONY ARNOVE and AHMED SHAWKI. This web version is a longer, more complete version of the interview than what appears in the print edition of the ISR.

Can you say something about the developing dollar-based economy in Cuba?

Farber: There was always, to one degree or another, a dollar underground economy in Cuba. And it was seriously illegal. If you were a significant trafficker in dollars, you could get into heavy trouble. This changed in 1993, as the economic crisis that originated in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the collapse of the Soviet bloc led to a critical situation in the country, with a dramatic drop in economic activity and even the outbreak of illnesses due to serious malnutrition. At that point, the government decided to liberalize the economy. One of the aspects of this liberalization was the legalization of the holding of dollars. This led to the government setting up exchange booths all over Cuba at which the government would pay the going rate of exchange, thereby liquidating the black market. Since it is now legal to hold dollars and the government will pay the going rate, you don’t have speculators out on the streets, as you used to see in Eastern European countries before the fall of Communism.

This change, in turn, stimulated Cubans abroad to send greater amounts of money to their relatives in Cuba. This was anticipated by the government’s strategy. But at the same time, on the downside, it helped to sharpen inequalities in Cuba. And inequalities sharpened along very peculiar lines. Working-class people in the interior of the country, and especially Blacks, are less likely to have relatives abroad. But if you are a working-class person who is able to provide certain kind of services, such as plumbing, carpentry, fixing automobiles, or driving a taxi, then you may be able to earn dollars in return for your services. By the same token, professional people, whether doctors, researchers in the humanities and social sciences, or school teachers and professors, by definition work for the state, are paid in pesos, and have no access to dollars. So a Havana taxi driver will make a lot more money than a medical doctor. Unless that doctor has relatives in South Florida, she will live poorly.

So there are many discontented people in Cuba spread across the class and racial spectrum, although again if you are a sugar worker, and particularly, if you are Black, you are likely to be doing worse than a white professional who is more likely to have relatives abroad.

And in the tourism industry, how does it work? Are people paid in pesos or dollars, and who pays them?

Joint ventures have developed in Cuba, and joint ventures means roughly the Cuban state and foreign investors go 50-50. The law also allows for other forms of foreign investment, but there are few examples of those. By far, the typical form of investment in Cuba is 50-50. An important part of the joint ventures, like those operating in tourism, is that the government maintains the monopoly of employment, with unions totally controlled by the state. That is, if you are, for example, the Tryp company, a Catalonian tourist enterprise that administers the Habana Libre Hotel (originally built as the Havana Hilton in the late 1950s with capital provided by the restaurant workers’ retirement funds), you have a contract with the Cuban government to administer that hotel. Tryp has to hire its Cuban workers through the government. Tryp pays the government for those workers in hard currency–dollars, pounds sterling, or what have you–and then the government pays the workers in pesos. The government has liberalized a little bit, allowing people in some hard-currency-earning industries to be paid a certain proportion of their salaries in those currencies. But the bulk of the payment, if not the entire payment, is in pesos.

However, many of the workers in tourism have direct contact with foreigners, and of course get tips. Essentially the government doesn’t try to control that. It would be very stupid if it did. So that is one source of the entry of foreign currency into the Cuban economy. And there are people in Havana that rent out rooms to tourists. These are better off people who have the kinds of houses that are suitable for those purposes. A growing number of these activities are illegal. As the government increasingly harasses people renting homes, tiny restaurants called paladares (taste buds), and other petty enterprises with taxes and enormously detailed regulations, these people stop registering with the government and go clandestine. These petty enterprises find it easier and cheaper to bribe government inspectors than to comply with government rules and taxes. In any case, this is another source of entry for foreign currency. Nobody knows for sure, but the estimates are that anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of the Cuban population has access to foreign currency. And again, very disproportionately white people are more likely to receive it than Black people, people in the big cities more likely than people in the countryside, and so on.

That raises a question about the division between city and country, and the restrictions on mobility in terms of people finding employment.

The government is still by far the principal employer in Cuba, although there is now a private employment sector that was virtually non-existent until the early 1990s and is regulated in a different way. Nonetheless, the great majority of the people still find employment through the government, and this of course constitutes a powerful tool of social and political control. There is also government control of the movement of people into Havana. That has been going on for several years on the grounds that the Havana metropolitan area (approximately 2 million out of the 11 million Cubans) is overstretched in terms of space, water, electricity, transportation, and other elements of the urban infrastructure. This situation of decay is real and is not invented by the government. However, this measure demonstrates the enormous power of a government that can establish, and on the whole make it stick, formal population control into Havana. You cannot just pick up and move into Havana unless you can show the government that you have a job, and a certain number of square meters of space that somebody is providing you for your housing.

To what extent, however, the law is observed, to what extent it gets bypassed–that’s another question, because for many years before and I suspect since the establishment of controls into Havana, there is a population of a lot of internal immigrants. Interestingly, they use the term "Palestinian"–Palestinos–for this migrant population. By the way, Palestino has some overlap with race because the Palestinos tend to come mostly from Oriente, the easternmost province of Cuba, which is also the province with the highest proportion of Black people. And the migration tends to be from Oriente to the West, and more likely than not–although not completely–to be Black people.

It’s been over 45 years since the Cuban revolution. How would you characterize the main periods and themes of the era from the revolution to the imposition of the embargo?

The periodization, of course, can go by very different criteria. And, of course, the revolutionary struggle against Batista was very brief. And this is the remarkable thing about the Cuban revolution. Fidel Castro landed in early December,1956 with his 82 people in the boat Granma–meaning grandmother–an American boat. Not much progress was made for the first six months or so. Then, after May 1957, the rebels began to make progress in the Sierra Maestra mountains. An important step in the evolution of the struggle was the failure of the general strike in April 1958. At that point, a sharp turn was made to subordinate the urban and working-class struggle to the guerrilla struggle in the hills. Ché Guevara had a lot to do with that turn. This is an aspect of Ché Guevara’s trajectory that has been, in my opinion, underestimated. And there are political issues of interest that could be explored regarding Ché. For example, his having been an uncritical supporter of the USSR at least through the crucially important first two years of the Cuban revolution, and then his turn against the USSR, but not on issues related to the questions of democracy and workers’ control.

Within a very short period of time, after the failure of the April 1958 strike, there was a turning point in the summer of that year, when Batista’s army organized a major offensive to defeat the rebels in the hills of eastern Cuba. The offensive failed, and it was downhill for the Batista regime after that. Batista fled on December 31, 1958, and the U.S. tried to organize a military coup, but the existing political relation of forces made that impossible. So the rebels came to power on January 1, 1959. Castro put a civilian government–more liberal than radical in composition–in office for a short period of time. This government never really had power; contrary to what some people claim, there was never dual power in Cuba. That’s a bad joke. That is just some Trotskyists trying to impose mechanically the model of the Russian Revolution in Cuba, which doesn’t fit at all.

So Castro always had the power. He chose to step back for tactical reasons. It didn’t last long. He became prime minister in February 1959. And in May 1959 the government took a very major step, the approval of the Agrarian Reform Law. That was a very important point in terms of internal dynamics and the hostile position of the upper class and some middle-class elements in Cuba, and their corresponding liberal elements in the revolutionary government, almost all of which were out of office by the end of 1959. The agrarian reform also marked a major turning point in terms of U.S. attitudes to the Cuban government. From January to May 1959–I am writing a book and have a chapter dealing with this–the attitude of the U.S. government could be described as "worried vigilance," putting pressure on the Cuban government. After May 1959, it became open hostility, deciding that the Cuban government was not reformable and had to be replaced, although not yet by violent means. By the fall of 1959, the U.S. had begun to prepare for the armed overthrow of the Cuban government. The American empire simply could not tolerate an anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist government, least of all in the Western hemisphere, the U.S.’s "backyard." Of course, the ruling circles in the U.S. hypocritically spoke about the violation of civil liberties and democracy in Cuba, but that was ideological window dressing for the benefit of liberal opinion in the U.S., not their real concern, which was the "loss" of Cuba. How dare they challenge us, and right on our doorstep?

So there was a period of rapid radicalization, but under the influence of the "old" pro-Moscow Communist Party and, even more important, the influence of non-party Communists such as Ché Guevara and Raúl Castro. Soon, the prevailing model of what the "good society" should look like was that of the USSR and Eastern Europe, notwithstanding all the mostly stylistic innovations that the Cuban revolution introduced. When I talk about the Soviet model, I am referring to the one-party state reigning over an almost totally nationalized economy, state-controlled unions, secret police, and so on. Make no mistake, however, this was a government that had widespread popular support; but decisions were always made from the top. It was always top down. That, again, doesn’t mean it was unpopular.

Many people confuse popular support with democracy. One thing is when the mass of the people support something, as distinct from when they support something that they also control, when they are making their own history. People in Cuba were not running institutions, taking initiatives, and so on. The system was very much of a caudillo-led system, where the leader knows best. Fidel Castro claims to be an expert in practically everything, whether it’s cattle and agricultural science, sports, or biotechnology and military strategy and tactics. In this system, "democracy" meant people applauding and cheering in the plaza at gigantic demonstrations. I think that is farcical to call that democracy in the absence of discussion, the right to independent organization, the threat of prison if you politically and ideologically stepped far out of line, and with a press totally controlled by the ruling party.

The radicalization toward an Eastern European model of socialism advanced quite rapidly. And by the summer of 1960, U.S.-owned industry had been nationalized. These U.S. investments were worth from $800 million to $1 billion in 1960 prices. Before the end of the year, most Cuban-owned industry had been nationalized, as well. In other words, by the end of 1960, two years after victory, the economy was essentially in the hands of the Cuban state. So, we are talking about a very rapid process.

The U.S. blockade of the Cuban economy actually began with the first measures against the importation of Cuban sugar in the summer of 1960. Diplomatic relations were severed in January 1961, a few days before John F. Kennedy took office. The U.S.-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion happened shortly after that in April of 1961. Kennedy could have stopped the invasion, but chose not to. In fact, during the presidential campaign in the fall of 1960, Kennedy was even more insistent in overthrowing Castro’s government than Nixon himself. All the current wishful thinking by Oliver Stone and others about Kennedy changing U.S. policy toward Cuba hides the reality that Kennedy as well as Nixon, Democrats as well as Republicans, all supported the same ugly imperialist policies toward Cuba. Even the great liberal hero Adlai Stevenson defended U.S. policy toward Cuba as Kennedy’s ambassador to the United Nations.

After the failed April 1961 invasion, you had the missile crisis of October 1962. In terms of the Cuban economy, there was the "revolutionary offensive" in 1968, when even the tiniest businesses were nationalized. I mean we are now talking about the nationalization of the small shops at the bus stops in the corners, what people in Cuba, the rest of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, and New York City call bodegas. So by the late 1960s, we had an almost completely nationalized economy.

In terms of what is called the institutionalization of the revolution–the first Communist Party Congress and the adoption of a constitution did not happen until the mid-1970s. The Communist Party was not actually formed until the mid-1960s, after the major social and economic changes had already taken place. The period of the 1970s is probably when the greatest prosperity existed during the revolutionary period. I don’t think there is a causal relation here. It was just a coincidence that the price of sugar, given conditions in the world economy, was at an all time high. It rose to more than 60 cents a pound, whereas it is currently around eight cents a pound. And so the "fat cows," a term used in Cuba for good economic times, were in the 1970s.

By 1979, a bad year, economic problems began to surface. It is important to underline this, since serious economic problems began to appear before the collapse of the Soviet bloc in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Thus, for example, Cuba stopped payment of its foreign debt in 1986, and has had to borrow money since then at exorbitant credit rates to finance the sugar crop and other activities. The 1970s and early 1980s were the time when Cuba adopted the Soviet methods of economic planning, after the earlier, highly centralized, "moral incentives," and Guevaraist methods had failed to achieve their grandiose ambitions and, in any case, were anathema to the Soviet planners.

By 1986, the Soviet model had also run into serious problems, so Fidel Castro got rid of it and tried to implement his neo-Guevaraist "rectification campaign," but that did not last very long, because, of course, there was the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the USSR, and the beginning of what the Cuban government called "the special period in times of peace," which is really the 1990s. I suppose we are still in the "special period in times of peace."

Many supporters of the revolution would point to the gains on education and health care as reasons to support the Cuban government. Critics point to the fact that before Batista’s downfall Cuba was already in advance of other Latin American countries in these fields. How would you describe the gains that were made in Cuba in those two fields, relative to the rest of Latin America?

Let me preface this by saying that, since the 1990s, those systems are in great crisis. With full respect to the facts, if that crisis had occurred in some other Latin American country, it would probably be worse than it is in Cuba today. The fact that it is a bureaucratic centralized system has made it possible for some minimal level of coverage to be maintained in spite of the severity of the crisis. I was in Cuba in January 2000. I visited the public high school I attended before the revolution, and it was a mess. When I visited in December 1979, the school was in much better shape–it had even been freshly painted. But by the year 2000, it was in terrible physical shape. In the hospitals, there are serious shortages of medicine, and the patients have to bring their own bedding. Here it is not primarily a question of assigning blame, but of being objective. If we are going to talk about blame, you could attribute part of it to the criminal U.S. blockade and another part to the waste and inefficiency inherent in a centralized and dictatorial bureaucratic system.

It is certainly true that the point of departure in Cuba was much, much higher than it was in other less developed countries. Take literacy, for example. Cuba was in the 70 percent range of people who could read and write before the revolution. However, and this is important, there was a big difference between the country and the city. This is common in less developed countries, but it took a particularly sharp form in Cuba. If you look at the last pre-revolutionary 1953 census, the population was 57 to 43 per cent in terms of an urban to rural ratio. So we are not talking about pre-revolutionary Russia or China, nothing like that. It is true that the criteria for urban was a little too liberal, any town with more than 2,000 people. Even so, about a third of the population was in Havana and other big cities. So we are still talking about a very large urban population, unlike China or even Russia, which was about 20 percent urban on the eve of the 1917 revolutions.

So when you look at the 70 percent literacy rate, it hides the fact that illiteracy was massive in the countryside and much smaller in urban areas. So when the revolution occurred, illiteracy was overwhelmingly a rural problem. And, in fact, the literacy campaign for the most part consisted of urban volunteers going to the countryside. You didn’t hear very much about urban volunteers going to the slums of Havana to teach literacy, although there were illiterate people in the slums, as well. The image of the early years of the revolution was of people going to the countryside to teach the peasants to read and write, because illiteracy was a major problem there.

So you have this phenomenon of uneven development that Leon Trotsky discussed so brilliantly in his History of the Russian Revolution. It was extremely severe in Cuba. You look at the media. Cuba was among the first countries in the Western Hemisphere to introduce television on a massive scale. When I hear Gil Scott Heron sing about how "the revolution will not be televised," well, the Cuban revolution was televised. And it wasn’t televised just to a middle-class audience. It was televised to the population at large, particularly in the cities.

Similarly, with health care, the doctors and medical facilities were heavily concentrated in Havana and the other big cities. So a lot of the revolution in health care had to do with extending health care facilities to the countryside, making Cuba a more integrated society, diminishing the gap between country and town, as well as addressing class inequalities in access. But there was a very big gap between the country and the city–and there still is–in Cuba. Of course, the distribution of the population has changed, since we are now talking about an even larger urban population, more than 70 percent of the total population.

In terms of comparison with other Latin American countries, Carmelo Mesa-Lago, the most important Cuban economist in exile, recently wrote a book comparing Cuba, Costa Rica, and Chile. He shows that Chile and Costa Rica are very similar to Cuba in levels of literacy, enrollment in higher education, infant mortality, and life expectancy, although Cuba does better in terms of equality of income and wealth. Of course, the question is, what kind of societies are Chile and Costa Rica? For example, they don’t have a similar racial composition to Cuba’s. So there is more than meets the eye here. What is striking about Cuba is that it extended literacy in the countryside over a much shorter period of time–there was massive campaigning on this. And similarly with health care. But a lot of it has come under tremendous stress in the 1990s–tremendous stress. And health care in particular has suffered even more than education, because it’s much more capital-intensive.

Among the supporters of the revolution are people who claim that the improvements in health and education are indicators of a move toward a more equal society–a socialist society perhaps.

Clearly the changes I just described have to be welcomed. It would be ludicrous to deny this simply because I am an opponent of the party and government now in power in Cuba. By the way, we are not talking about the revolution as an abstraction, but about a man who has been in power for well over 45 years. I fail to see what is democratic, collectivist, or socialist about that. Because, you know, there is another cop out. The regime and its supporters, particularly abroad, talk about a revolution, but the revolution is an abstract entity at this point. Instead, we are talking about a tiny group of people who are making all the important decisions in Cuba. I am an opponent of those people, not of the revolution as an abstract and general proposition. But I think it is important to be objective and fair, particularly when there are distortions and outright falsehoods for the purpose of justifying the economic blockade and other U.S. policies, you know, which obviously have to be combated. And it seems to me that in other societies, a crisis similar to the one that Cuba is going through would have even worse effects, if for no other reason than the existence of a bureaucratic, central authority that distributes resources with a modicum of effectiveness, even after discounting the enormous waste and inefficiency that goes along with bureaucracy.

Now, there is a big problem with comparing inequality in the capitalist countries with the kind of societies that the Communist states represent. As long as we use a class analysis for those societies I don’t care if you call them state capitalist or bureaucratic collectivist; that is a third-rate issue to me. As long as we understand that the people in power create new ruling classes, the remainder of the argument is of distinctively much less importance. (In fact, in terms of predictive quality of what happened in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, I think that neither the state capitalist nor bureaucratic collectivist theory were anywhere near what happened.) But if you happen to think Cuba is some kind of progressive society, and there is no class in power, then we have an argument. We will have an even greater argument if you approach the Cuban rulers in an apologetic, uncritical manner regardless of whether or not you think there is a ruling class there.

But the problem with comparing inequality in the capitalist countries and in the Communist states is that inequality in this kind of society is not only expressed through amount of income and wealth, but through access–your right of access. The mass of the population doesn’t have access to certain critical goods that are distributed in an administrative, political, and extra-economic fashion. The ability to travel, for example, is not at all equally available to most Cubans. And before the dollar economy developed in the 1990s, to get certain goods, it was a question of political access to those goods. Now the dollar economy introduces a new dimension of inequality in Cuba, while at the same time reducing the political monopoly of the regime over access to many goods. So it is in fact a very mixed picture.

Are there specialized stores for party officials, as there were in Eastern Europe and Russia?

Definitely, and also specialized clinics for the political elite. Also, practically all the foreign investment in Cuba is in the form of joint ventures. And that means that there are people on the Cuban side who are joint executives with the foreign investors. Most important in this regard is the army, which is involved in substantial joint ventures in the tourist sector.

A very important development just took place recently, which, to me, is a bellwether of future developments. The Cuban Minister of Tourism, who was a civilian, was recently replaced by the army officer who was at the head of Gaviota. So the man who headed the Army tourist enterprise now runs the whole tourist section of the economy. The same thing happened a few years ago in the sugar industry when a general was appointed to run that important sector of the economy.

There are other semi-private, semi-public enterprises that are managed on the Cuban side by a number of managers who, in my view, will play a critical role in any future transition in Cuba. There’s Cubacel, Etecsa, Cubalse, and many others. There are a whole bunch of acronyms that are the names of the joint enterprises. One of the biggest citrus plantations in the world is located in central Cuba and is owned by a Cuban-Israeli joint venture, the same company that also owns the Miramar Trade Center in Havana, the biggest office complex in the island. This is paradoxical since Israel has had no diplomatic relations with Cuba since the 1970s and is one of the two or three countries still supporting the U.S. at the annual United Nations vote condemning the blockade of Cuba. I think that Fidel Castro, in order to survive, has created a Pandora’s Box, since the Cuban executives supposedly working for the Cuban state are meanwhile creating links with big international capital. And some American businesses would definitely like to go in. That brings up another issue about the massive export of agricultural and processed food to Cuba in the last three years or so. We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars during the last three years, particularly of Midwestern origin and shipped through the Port of New Orleans. So, again, the joint venture sector is already creating a group of people who will be major players once Fidel Castro passes from the scene. Meanwhile, Fidel Castro does not allow these people, nor anybody else for that matter, to openly push for their own views and perspectives. In other words, differences are being suppressed, but that doesn’t mean they are being eliminated. I don’t believe that Raúl Castro will be in a position to have his older brother’s power, influence, and prestige to stop interest groups from organizing themselves politically. Besides, there are reasons to believe that Raúl Castro himself is strongly oriented to what could be called the Chinese model–that is, political repression combined with a greater opening to capitalist enterprise.

Can you say something about political rights in Cuba?

If you stand up for your independent ideas, you are going to get into trouble in Cuba. I personally know people who were sent in academic exchange programs abroad and got into trouble when they returned to Cuba for things they said in public that were not in keeping with the party line. And these people were in no sense opponents of the regime, just independent-minded people. So it is a politically oppressive regime. If you are not a political person and just keep your head low in order to survive from one day to the next, then it is unlikely that you will have any serious trouble in Cuba. But a politically conscious but independent thinker–I am not even talking about being an oppositionist–will sooner or later get into trouble in Cuba, unless of course they accept the limitations imposed by the regime.

What does "trouble" mean?

Trouble can mean a whole range of things, ranging from a prohibition of traveling abroad–typically a five-year prohibition imposed by the party, not judicial authorities–to being demoted and losing your job, or at the very least not being able to be promoted because of holding the "wrong" political attitudes, which until 1991 also included engaging in religious activities. Keep in mind the very serious consequence of being fired by the state, the country’s main employer, and practically the only employer until a little over a decade ago. If you become an active opponent or dissident, then you run a number of other risks, including of course imprisonment. A few years ago, the government also used to organize actos de repudio–repudiation acts–where people would "spontaneously" gather and throw stones at the homes of dissidents. If you look at political groups in Cuba, there is also a very long history of government suppression of those groups. I wrote an article for Against the Current in 1983 in which I listed some of the groups that had been suppressed throughout the years. This ranged from Black Power supporters to pro-Soviet, pro-Moscow Communists. The tiny group of Cuban Trotskyists (Posadistas) were in prison for several years after their literature and printing press were seized by the government. They were eventually released on condition that they cease independent political activity. This is a telling example. They were told something like, "We know you are not counterrevolutionaries, but we cannot permit you to operate independently. So we’ll let you out if you promise to restrict your activities to the existing official organizations approved by the state." They had no choice but to fulfill their part of the bargain, and they have been left alone since then. But they cannot organize independently. That is the issue, which is of course far more important when it comes to the ability of workers, women, Blacks, gays, and others to create their own organizations.

What has bothered me for many decades is that progressive people abroad who would never tolerate such prohibitions in their own societies are quite willing to look the other way–if not applaud–when it comes to Cuba. I find that attitude to be either cynical or morally and politically cowardly and irresponsible.

Could you discuss the status of Blacks, women, and gays in Cuba?

Let’s take the issue of race first. Since the 1990s, Black Cubans have had particular problems because they tend to be, of course, much poorer, and are less likely to have access to dollars. So Blacks as a group have suffered more in the period since the collapse of the Soviet bloc.

The Cuban government’s policy can be defined, in U.S. terms, as color blindness, real color blindness and not fake color blindness. They don’t have a policy of affirmative action. Blacks have benefited from the color blind policy to the extent that segregation in certain types of employment and access to beaches and other private and public facilities were eliminated in the first years of the revolution. Since Blacks have been a disproportionately large part of the Cuban poor, they have benefited from measures of benefit to poor people, particularly in terms of health, access to higher education, and so on. As a result, there are, proportionately speaking, many more Blacks in positions of influence and power that there were before the revolution.

At the same time, however, the absence of an affirmative action policy since the very beginning of the revolution has had a very significant and negative effect. The highest levels of government are still predominantly white, well above the white percentage of the population at large. A recent article by Henley C. Adams in the Latin American Research Review (February 2004) painstakingly documents the relatively small proportion of Blacks in the Political Bureau and Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, as well as in the Council of Ministers and among top officers of the Armed Forces. I keep an eye for the photographs that appear in Granma and when they report on Cuban scientific congresses, and I see relatively few Black faces. Yet when I see the pictures of baseball players and boxers, they are practically all Black. Yet other sports such as swimming are heavily white. So it begins to feel somewhat like the U.S.

Is this racism, as many supporters of the Cuban regime maintain, a merely attitudinal and educational problem? No, it is much more than that, since it is rooted in the unequal and inferior position that Blacks still occupy in Cuban society.

The issue of gay oppression is an area where there has been some improvement in the last several years, because of the liberalization–not political, but cultural liberalization–that has taken place in Cuba. And there are some interesting magazines that come out of Cuba–La Gaceta de Cuba published by UNEAC, the writer’s and artist’s union, and Temas, published by a research center. Unfortunately, these are magazines only for an elite readership of intellectuals, social scientists, and artists, but they have published articles and even covers that convey gay themes in a sympathetic and favorable light.

There has also been some relaxation on the treatment of people with AIDS. As you know, the Cuban government had previously established the compulsory quarantining of AIDS patients.

Does that mean that Cuban gays as a whole can come out of the closet and function freely? No. Again, the most important issue is that neither gays, nor Blacks, nor women, and certainly not workers, can organize independently from the official state organizations.

I just read a couple of days ago that Raúl Castro’s daughter had proposed an amendment to the Cuban Constitution granting equal rights to gays. Don’t hold your breath, but we will see.

There is unfortunately much less to report on the issue of women. The official Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) headed by Vilma Espín–Raúl Castro’s former wife–continues to monopolize the organization of women. As a result, Cuban women have unfortunately fallen far behind the organizational and political development of the women’s movement in Latin America and practically everywhere else in the world.

To what extent was the Cuban economy dependent upon a subsidy from the USSR? And what happened with the cost of that subsidy?

In my New Politics interview on Cuba (Summer 2003), I pointed out that the world market is not a natural phenomenon, but rather it is a social arrangement based on objective realities–the law of value and all its implications. It is a very powerful and crushing arrangement, but still a social arrangement for which there is a potential alternative social arrangement–that is, a democratically planned international socialism. So when we talk about subsidies, we are speaking in terms of the really existing world market. By the criteria of the world market, obviously there was a massive subsidy by the USSR to the Cuban economy. And there are two issues here. One is the issue of equity–what people should be paid for agricultural processed products such as sugar, and there is the issue of the world market, which is not about equity and morality.

By the criteria of the world market, the Cuban economy was heavily subsidized. In the years preceding the collapse of the Soviet bloc, this often took the form of the USSR exchanging oil for Cuban sugar. This oil was more than Cuba could use, and was resold for hard currency in the international market. In other words, this was an indirect subsidy through the exchange of oil for sugar, with Cuba reselling the surplus oil to other customers. Going back to the 1960s, there were several ways in which the USSR subsidized the Cuban economy, although it must be noted that the USSR and the Eastern European satellites also unloaded a lot of pretty worthless stuff on Cuba, as well.

But you understand the problem with using this vocabulary. Because in what context are we talking about subsidy? We are obviously talking in the obvious context of the unplanned capitalist chaos of the world economy. And, of course, once that "subsidy" disappeared, then there was a massive economic crisis in Cuba, with a descent of the GDP by more than 35 percent in a very short period of time. The Cuban economy hit bottom in the years 1992 to 1994. When I was in Cuba in January 2000, one of the striking and somewhat unexpected things I encountered was that everybody, regardless of their attitude to the Cuban government, spoke about the period from 1992 to 1994 as a traumatic period for them, with incredible hardship. That’s when things really hit bottom and people sometimes had nothing to eat for dinner. People told me awful stories. One friend told me that there were times when all he had for dinner was a piece of coleslaw. And there were illnesses, even an epidemic, resulting from malnutrition.

The Cuban economy emerged somewhat from that, but there has certainly been no breakthrough since then in terms of economic performance. I communicate with people in Cuba and it is still a big thing to get enough food–not like 1992 to 1994–but it is still a major investment of time and resources to stay adequately fed. And particularly for people I know who live outside of Havana, there are constant blackouts. There are also frequent water shortages. It is a very difficult life. And one thing that I’m particularly impressed by, and is very relevant to the issue of transition, is the tremendous frustrations, especially of young people, who see no change happening. And they see–I am quoting them–"my life is being wasted away because I see no prospect for change in the future. And I don’t want to continue living like this forever"– continued shortages, hardships, blackouts, deterioration of housing, and tremendous efforts to feed yourself adequately, shortages of water, repeatedly going to the hospital to get promised medical supplies, and so on. So for young people, the crisis has had a particular impact that could demagogically be used in the future in all sorts of terribly manipulative ways. I’m generally concerned about that as one particularly important aspect of the future transition after Fidel Castro dies. I frankly have a pessimistic outlook.

Are you pessimistic because you don’t see any possibility for a left-wing or working-class alternative to Castro’s regime?

The center of gravity of the political spectrum among the dissidents in Cuba is very much right of center, although it must be emphasized that they are a small and marginal group. This is no different from the USSR and Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s. There are a couple of small, social democratic groups. And there are individuals here and there who are independent leftists and literally a handful of Trotskyists. But the shift is going to be in a pro-market direction. By the way, the main pro-market push is not going to come from the dissidents who have been unjustly sent to prison, but from the still invisible Boris Yeltsins and Vladimir Putins inside the Cuban government. And of course, the obviously pessimistic scenario I see is that the powerful sections of the army that are involved in the joint ventures with foreign capital will come to terms with at least sections of Cuban capitalism in Miami. We have certain precedents such as Nicaragua. If in Nicaragua, President Chamorro and the other pro-capitalist elements had to come to terms with the Sandinista army headed by Humberto Ortega, that will be the case even more so in Cuba, since the Cuban army is a far more developed and powerful an institution than the Sandinista army ever was.

So there will likely be some kind of deal between at least some of the important Cuban capitalists in Miami and the armed forces in Cuba. And the form is going to take is that the people in the armed forces in Cuba are going to say to them: "You are welcome to come to Cuba and make every dollar you can, but we run the show." And I think that a good chunk of the Cuban-American capitalists in Miami, who have no roots in Cuba, since many of them were born in the United States, are going to go for it.

Of course, I don’t know when exactly that will happen. And I sure hope something better happens in Cuba.

Why won’t Miami dominate Havana when Castro is gone?

In order for the Miami Cubans to take over Cuba, there would have to be a U.S. invasion of the island, which would necessarily have to involve hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops. The only time that a U.S. invasion of Cuba was ever seriously considered was during the missile crisis of October 1962. It is important to point out that at the time the Pentagon prepared an estimate for the White House indicating that there would be 18,484 U.S. casualties (killed, missing, and wounded), 4,462 of which would come the first day of the invasion. Of course, current technological and political conditions would probably alter that estimate, but it does give you a ballpark idea of what might be involved. I don’t rule out such a possibility, but I think it is unlikely unless a major civil war and chaos were to break out in Cuba, and the U.S. government felt that there might be a major refugee crisis unless they intervened militarily in the island.

What many in the U.S. left fail to understand is that ever since the collapse of the Soviet bloc, Cuba’s importance has dramatically declined in the eyes of Washington. What keeps the issue alive is the electoral weight of the evenly divided state of Florida. As far as the U.S. ruling class is concerned they would end the blockade tomorrow and rush to invest in the island before the Europeans and Canadians had left nothing to invest in.

What do you make of Bush’s recent measures to restrict travel to the island by Cuban-Americans and the inflow of dollars? Is this just politicking for right-wing Cuban votes in Florida, or is there something more to it? What do you make of Castro’s response?

First of all, the recent measures adopted by the Bush administration are outrageous and must be unconditionally denounced. The fact that they were primarily, although not exclusively, motivated by electoral considerations do not make these measures any less an example of imperialist arrogance. I have been arguing for some time that the issue of remittances and visits to Cuba is where the Bush administration would hit Cuba and not the supposed invasion that many supporters of Castro abroad have been raising as a way of politically blackmailing and silencing critics of the Cuban government. Along the same lines, Castro is entirely correct in denouncing these measures but is using the threat of a supposed invasion to justify repression at home. The fact that an invasion is not in the cards doesn’t mean that the U.S. left should be complacent. We must be vigilant and quick to protest the continuing efforts by this and other administrations to violate Cuba’s right to national self-determination.

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642-055 Questions & Answers

Vendor: Cisco

Certifications: Access Routing and LAN Switching

Exam Name: ARSFE Advanced Routing and Switching for Field Engineers

Exam Code: 642-055

Total Questions: 83 Q&As

Last Updated: Jan 15,2018

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Disloyal Mothers and Scurrilous Citizens

Disloyal Mothers and Scurrilous Citizens

Women and Subversion during World War I
Kennedy, Kathleen
Distribution: World
Publication date: 09/22/1999
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 978-0-253-33565-4
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Kennedy's unique study explores the arrests, trials, and defenses of women charged under the Wartime Emergency Laws passed soon after the U.S. entered WWI. These trials became important arenas in which women's relationships and obligations to national security were contested and defined.

Author Bio

Kathleen Kennedy is Assistant Professor of History and Director of Women's Studies at Western Washington University. She has published in the Journal of Women's History, Mid America, and Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies.

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Table of Contents

Chapter One: Loyal Mothers and Virtuous Citizens: Woman’s Citizenship on the Eve of the Armageddon

Chapter Two: Motherhood and Subversion: The Case of Kate Richards O’Hare

Chapter Three: Liberty with Strings: The Case of Emma Goldman

Chapter Four: The Venom of a Bolshevik Woman: The Case of Rose Pastor Stokes

Chapter Five: Disorderly Conduct: Subversion and the Political Woman

Chapter Six: "Conduct Unbecoming": Subversion and the Professional Woman


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The IWCA is looking for volunteers to step up for the important positions of Treasurer and Membership Chair for the organization. Job descriptions and duties are outlined at the following link....

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Featured: Hometahn Photos Blog

In an effort to get back into blogging, I wanted to share an interview I did with Amy Pischke of Hometown Photos last week! It was so great to have Amy over to my home office to discuss all things Pittsburgh wedding vendor! She had sent along a questionnaire and I feel like I was finally able to put into words what I want for my clients:
I want jack+bean to reflect a laid-back and comfortable brand that exists to make my clients’ wedding and event planning easier and at the end of the day, cooler.
She also took some super cute photos of a few of my designs from the 2014-2015 wedding season and I even scored a few pics with my best assistant, baby Georgia. Click here to view the rest of the blog post and to learn more about Amy at Hometahn Photos.

For those wondering, Georgia's headband can be found here.

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Jackpot Friday 13th: Generous Divine Fortune with a win of 331,168€

Jackpot Friday 13th: Generous Divine Fortune with a win of 331,168€

Wild Sultan, one of the favorite online casinos of French speakers, witnessed a few days ago a notable fact: a progressive jackpot of €331,168 was won. But what makes the event really special is that this jackpot was hit last Friday 13th. Amazing no?

Mobile Jackpot on Friday the 13th, what else?

Wild Sultan is a casino that offers a large number of games, supplied by developers such as Quickspin, Play’n Go, Betsoft or Netent. It is thanks to this last one that the life of a player changed last week.

The mysterious unknown, which we still had some information, decided to bet on the slot machine Divine Fortune to occupy the end of its Friday 13. After a few spins launched on the beast of Netent, the miracle blow occurred little after 22h and offered him the progressive jackpot for €331,168.

The player was on the mobile version of Wild Sultan and was betting €6 spin. We do not know if this is the seed of the VIP or if it had gradually increased its bets compared to the beginning of session. Still, the slot made him a divine surprise and confirmed the fact that everything is special on a Friday the 13th!

Wild Sultan regales, not Netent

Divine Fortune is one of Netent’s progressive jackpots but is different from Mega Fortune and Hall of Gods. Indeed, it is what is called a local progressive jackpot that is to say that the charge of the payment of the jackpot is the casino that allowed this jackpot, in this case Wild Sultan.

This is a different system from Mega Fortune for example because it is Netent who adjusts the bill when a jackpot is won by a player, not the casino on which the jackpot took place. It’s a progressive jackpot (a percentage of each player’s stakes feeds the jackpot) but it’s not local.

So we can say, given the characteristics of Divine Fortune, that the payment of 331,168€ will be provided by Wild Sultan, even if it is a painful very important. Given the success and the seriousness of this platform, we have no doubt that the sum will be paid. On the other hand, there is no doubt either that this sum represents a good package of money to pay for an online casino.

NB: Divine Fortune is in great shape lately because it allowed a jackpot of 457,000€ last month.

Authored by: Admin


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The Trusts Arena, Auckland
30 November 2017

New Zealand music legends pay tribute to the legend of Bob Marley this November in a very special one-off show at The Trusts Arena, Auckland.

We are honoured to be endorsed by Bob Marley’s family and the NZ All-Stars stay true to the sound and positive energy of a Bob Marley show.

The band is made up of 20 artists, with vocalists Che Fu, Tiki Taane, Annie Crummer, Laughton Kora, Joel Shadbolt, Boh Runga, Fran Kora, Anna Coddington, Logan Bell and Ria Hall backed by members of Katchafire, The Black Seeds, I AM Giant, Supergroove, Kora and L.A.B. This powerhouse supergroup fires up over 30 massive hits and will keep you dancing all night!

Don’t miss it! Grab your ticket now!

The next best thing to seeing Bob himself, epic show! Northland fan, Feb 2017

A totally mind-blowing show, I would definitely see that again and again!  Hawkes Bay fan, Dec 2016

Click here to read more ABOUT THE NZ ALL-STARS

Book at or 0800 TICKETEK

VIP Packages are $189 +BF and include:

  • Show Ticket
  • Meet and Greet
  • VIP lanyard
  • Gourmet Christmas-themed buffet
  • Drinks vouchers and dedicated bar
  • Tour T-shirt
  • Tour water bottle
  • Flashing foam light stick
  • Drawstring tote bag
  • VIP Parking
  • $189 per person, incl. GST + $2 booking fee

Book online or contact Daniel Richardson directly on 09 336 5243
or the Ticketek Hospitality team on 09 336 4118


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pretty poster.

Take a look at Allan Peter’s incredibly sweet silk screened art. When he found out his wife was pregnant, he designed these posters. What a wonderful gift idea (for future reference, of course. My friends aren’t quite there yet. No rush ladies.) So cute!

 found via Twig & Thistle via Allan Peters

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SP-20000M-USB / SP-20000C-USB

SP-20000-USB 20-megapixel CMOS camera with CMOSIS CMV20000 imager
  • Spark Series
  • Large 41mm diagonal CMOS imager with global shutter
  • 16 fps at full 20-megapixel resolution (5120 x 3840)
  • 6.4 µm square pixels provide excellent sensitivity
  • Imager includes correlated double sampling (CDS) function for improved uniformity
  • In-camera CMOS pattern correction
  • Flat-field and pixel blemish correction
  • 8/10/12-bit USB3 Vision output
  • Accepts power via 12-pin connector
  • F-mount lens mount
  • Automatic Level Control (ALC) for dynamic lighting conditions

The SP-20000M-USB and SP-20000C-USB are versions of JAI's high performance Spark 20-megapixel CMOS camera providing a direct connection to PCs via a USB3 Vision interface.

Built around the CMOSIS CMV20000 imager, these Spark Series cameras offer full frame resolution of 5120 x 3840 pixels at a up to 16 frames per second. This combination of speed and resolution makes them ideal for examining flat panel displays, printed circuit boards, and many other applications where detailed inspections are required across a wide area.

In addition, the Spark SP-20000 cameras are well-suited to persistent surveillance, border security, aerial mapping, and other outdoor applications, thanks to such features as automatic level control (ALC) linking shutter and gain for best exposures under changing light conditions; and an optional high dynamic range mode.

The monochrome model (SP-20000M-USB) offers horizontal and vertical binning plus excellent NIR response while the color model (SP-20000C-USB) provides raw Bayer output for host-based interpolation.

Both monochrome and color models leverage CMOSIS' 8-transistor (8T) pixel architecture to implement true correlated double sampling (CDS) for outstanding image quality with the highest degree of pixel uniformity. An industry-leading 1:50000 parasitic light rejection ratio minimizes global shutter leakage for clean images with sharp contrast.

A high-speed USB 3.0 interface supports the USB3 Vision standard.

Uses F-mount lenses.

Dimensions (HxWxL): 62 x 62 x 84.5 mm

Note: these cameras are also available with Power-over-Mini-Camera Link (PMCL) or CoaXPress interfaces. Contact JAI for more information.

PD-12U series power supply
2-meter power cable
MP-42 tripod mounting plate
Hirose 12-pin connector

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Weather Forecast

Netflix representative confirms cancellation of hit show 'House of Cards'

Kevin Spacey at the Juilliard School in New York, May 29, 2017. Spacey, a two-time Oscar winner, apologized on Oct. 29, 2017 for what he said “would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior” after the actor Anthony Rapp accused him of making a sexual advance on him 31 years ago, when Rapp was 14 years old. Spacey also disclosed that he chooses now to live as a gay man. (Ryan Pfluger/Copyright 2017 The New York Times)

For a few hours after a bombshell BuzzFeed interview in which actor Anthony Rapp alleged Kevin Spacey had made a sexual advance toward him more than 30 years ago, when Rapp was just 14, Spacey remained silent.

Then, at precisely midnight, the veteran actor posted a two-paragraph statement on Twitter.

In the first, Spacey said he was "beyond horrified" to hear Rapp's story but did not remember the encounter, which would have taken place when Spacey was 26. However, he apologized "if I did behave then as [Rapp] describes . . . for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior."

Then, in the second paragraph, Spacey came out as gay.

"This story has encouraged me to address other things about my life," he wrote. "I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man. I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behavior."

His late-night statement outraged many, particularly in the LGBT community, who accused Spacey of trying to deflect from a serious accusation - making a sexual advance on a minor - by coming out and implying that it was his choice to be gay. For years, the actor has danced around rumors he had relationships with other men.

"Coming out stories should not be used to deflect from allegations of sexual assault," GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. "This is not a coming out story about Kevin Spacey, but a story of survivorship by Anthony Rapp and all those who bravely speak out against unwanted sexual advances."

Even worse, they said, was the implication that the two paragraphs in his statement might be related in any way.

"Kevin Spacey has set gay rights back fifty years by a) conflating homosexuality with" Rapp's allegations, one Twitter user said, "and b) Saying that being gay is a 'choice.' "

Soon, Twitter was flooded with memes from people who were equally dumbfounded and angered by Spacey's approach to the allegations.

People also criticized Spacey for seeming to qualify his apology with the fact that he was drunk at the time of the alleged encounter with Rapp.

Rapp told BuzzFeed he was in Spacey's apartment for a party in 1986, and that at the end of the night, Spacey picked him up, placed him on a bed and climbed on top of him.

The two had known each other for their Broadway work; Rapp, a child actor at the time, was 14, and Spacey was 26, BuzzFeed reported.

Reports detailing allegations of ongoing sexual harassment and abuse by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein prompted Rapp to speak publicly about Spacey; he had told close friends about the encounter throughout the 1990s and 2000s, BuzzFeed reported.

"I came forward with my story, standing on the shoulders of the many courageous women and men who have been speaking out, to shine a light and hopefully make a difference, as they have done for me," Rapp said on Twitter after Spacey's statement. "Everything I wanted to say about my experience is in that article, and I have no further comment about it at this time."

On Monday, the actor Zachary Quinto blasted Spacey's coming out as "a calculated manipulation to deflect attention" from Rapp's allegations.

"I am sorry to that Kevin only saw fit to acknowledge his truth when he thought it would serve him - just as his denial served him for so many years," Quinto said in a statement. "May Anthony Rapp's voice be the one which is amplified here. Victim's voices are the ones that deserve to be heard."

In an essay for the Daily Beast, reporter Ira Madison III called Spacey's decision to come out of the closet "all the more cold and calculated," seeing as he must know it could change the subject in the wake of Rapp's allegations.

"There's never truly a wrong time to come out and I'd never begrudge anyone for accepting their sexuality," Madison wrote. "But the seediness of using your coming out to deflect from a sexual assault allegation is something else entirely."

A Netflix representative confirmed Monday the upcoming sixth season of "House of Cards," which starred Spacey, would be the show's last, but said its cancellation was decided months ago, not in response to Rapp's allegations.

Beau Willimon, the creator "House of Cards," released a statement Monday calling Rapp's story "deeply troubling."

"During the time I worked with Kevin Spacey on 'House of Cards' I neither witnessed nor was aware of any inappropriate behavior on set or off," Willimon said. "That said, I take reports of such behavior seriously, and this is no exception. I feel for Mr. Rapp and I support his courage."