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Protein identification and characterization is one of the important parts of recombinant protein expression. Protein quality assessment technology platform of BIC (BiologicsCorp)is aimed at offering technical support for identifying and characterizing our final protein products. By strict protein production process and various protein identification techniques, we are committed to manufacture and develop high-quality protein products.
SDS-PAGE (Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophores): the most widely used technique to separate proteins from complicated samples of mixture, used in protein identification including estimations of proteins molecular weight, identification of purificationand assessment of purity.
Western Blot (also known as immunoblot or protein blot): a widely used analytical technique used to detect specific protein in a complex mixture extracted from cells while giving you information about the size of target protein, dependent on the use of a high-quality antibody directed against the protein.The capability to clearly show the presence of a specific protein both by size and through the binding of an antibody makes it well-suited for evaluating levels of protein expression in cells, and for monitoring fractions during protein purification. Likewise, itis helpful for comparing expression of a target protein from various tissues, or seeing how a particular protein responds to disease or drug treatment.
SDS-PAGE a commonly used protein identification technique, based on the difference between protein molecular weight to assess protein purity.
HPLC (High-Performance Liquid Chromatography):a form of column chromatography that pumps a sample mixture or analyte in a solvent (known as the mobile phase) at high pressure through a column with chromatographic packing material (stationary phase). HPLC has the capability to separate, identify, and quantify each components that are present in any sample that can be dissolved in a liquid in trace concentrations as low as parts per trillion. Because of this versatility, HPLC is used in a variety of industrial and scientific applications, such as pharmaceutical industry, environmental monitoring and chemical industry.
Bradford assay: Bradford assay is a colorimetric assay based on the interaction between Coomassie brilliant blue and arginine and aromatic residues in your protein, resulting in a shift of the absorption maximum of the dye from 465 to 595 nm.In general, the absorbance of a series of known concentrations of a standard protein, generally BSA, is measured to create a standard curve, which can be used to calculate the concentration of your protein sample based on its absorbance.
BCA assay: BCA, another protein analysis assay, makes use of biuret reaction, in which protein backbone chelates Cu2+ ions and reduces them to Cu1+ ions. The Cu1+ ions then react with bicinchoninic acid (BCA) to form a purple-colored product that absorbs at 562 nm. The procedure is similar to that of the Bradford assay, in which you create a standard curve based on a series of known protein standards.
ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay): also known as an enzyme immunoassay (EIA), is a common laboratory technique designed for detecting and quantifying an analyte (usually antibodies or antigens). In an ELISA test, an antigen is immobilized to a solid surface and then the antigen combineswith an antibody that is linked to an enzyme. Detection is accomplished by assessing conjugated enzyme activity via incubation with a substrate to produce a measureable product. ELISA is quick and simple to carry out, and since it is designed to rapidly handle a large numbers of samples in parallel, it is a very popular choice for evaluation of various research and diagnostic targets.
Mass spectrometry is an important emerging method for protein identification and characterization. Electrospray ionization (ESI) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) are two primary methods for ionization of whole proteins. In keeping with the performance and mass range of available mass spectrometers, two approaches are used for characterizing proteins including "top-down" strategy and "bottom-up"strategy. In "top-down" strategy of protein analysis, intact proteins are ionized by either of the two techniques described above, and then introduced to a mass analyzer. In "bottom-up" proteomics, identification of the existence of proteins is at the peptide level. A common procedure of "bottom-up" strategy of protein analysis involves using tryptic digestion to obtain masses of individual peptides derived from the protein. Subsequently these peptides are introduced into the mass spectrometer and identified by peptide mass fingerprinting or tandem mass spectrometry.Then the masses are compared against an online database, and probability-based scoring systems are used to determine the closest protein matches.
Amino-terminal (N-terminal) sequence analysis is used to identify the order of amino acids of proteins or peptides, starting at their N-terminal end. The composition of N-terminal sequence has a huge impact on the biological functions and stability of proteins, for example the half-life, subcellular localization, post-translational modification of proteins. Analysis of N-terminal sequence contributes to protein senior structure analysis, further revealing biological function of proteins. BIC provides N-terminal sequence analysis by both Edman degradation and mass spectrometry.
Protein stability evaluation is often considered as an important component of protein production since protein targets can be challenging to work with due to their susceptibility to degradation and aggregation.Protein freezing and thawing assay can be performed to examine proteinstability in the process of transport, storage and applications under the condition of special circumstances.
Endotoxin is a major contaminant found in biologically active substancesaffecting both in vitro and in vivo cell growth and function. Thorough cleanliness in labware, raw materials, and in lab technique is required to substantially reduce endotoxin levels. Besides, BIC protein production team ensures low endotoxin of every outgoing product by doing a final LAL gel clot assay before product deliver.
Circular Dichroism (CD) is based on measuring the differential absorption of left- and right-handed circularly polarised light by optical active compounds at different wave lengths. CD spectroscopy is a sensitive tool to study secondary structure changes and provides the basis for the conformational analysis of macromolecules.The method can be used for the determination of the protein secondary structure (α-helix, β-structure, β-turns) and nucleic acid conformation. Another application of CD spectroscopy is the examination of protein/nucleic acid stability (folding, unfolding and refolding) under the effect of different factors (pH, denaturants, temperature) and the calculation of thermodynamic parameters related to these processes.

domain: chemistry


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domain: economics


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In part two of our series of three articles focusing on M&A we turn our attention to the value of embedded technology in prospective business acquisitions.
As the fallout from the pandemic continues, growth wholesale and distribution businesses are increasingly turning their attentions to opportunities to acquire competitors who may be looking to sell. Acquisitions present a compelling and well-trodden opportunity for businesses to make major strides in terms of size, market, geography, technology and profitability relatively quickly and typically less riskily than through long term organic internal investment. But once a business has determined that acquisition is the right approach to help deliver its business objectives, what do buyers look for in a potential target and why are the benefits of acquiring a business where technology is already strongly embedded across the organization so compelling?
The stand-out attributes buyers look for
Undertaking a successful acquisition is as much of an art as it is a science and different companies will of course adapt different strategies to identifying potential targets and assessing their suitability. That said, there are a typical number of attributes that buyers will look for in any potential target. When analyzing the key financial measures that make companies attractive acquisition prospects, researchers from London’s respected Cass Business School found that private companies are more likely to become acquisition targets if they are large, fast growing, and have high profitability, high leverage, and low liquidity.
What’s more, there are a number of further obvious measures that indicate a target merits strong consideration, such as being able to demonstrate a steady growth rate and history of profitability, having a strong, diversified product portfolio and a pedigree in innovation. Businesses with a strong management team also make eye-catching prospects as do those who serve niche or specialist markets and can robustly demonstrate market leadership in certain product or service offerings.
Ensuring acquistions are compatible
While some element of ‘gut feel’ will be inevitable within boardrooms when weighing different target businesses, particularly when assessing potential synergies between organizations, they will typically ask themselves a number of key questions to arrive at a slimmed down list of potential buys. Firstly, buyers must consider how effectively and deeply the target will contribute to the company’s overall business strategy and what its genuine prospects are for long term growth. Naturally, a buyer will always also want to know that the target has the right technology, products and services to complement their own existing offerings. The company will also need to be the right size and in the right geographic location/s to be easily assimilated into the acquiring business and its culture. Importantly, with so much at stake, acquirers also need to be sure that the timing is right to pursue the business in question
Technology and data talks
Given the march of technology within distribution businesses over recent years, most notably during the Covid crisis, which has seen tech uptake significantly increase as businesses have sought to mitigate the worst effects of the pandemic, more than ever buyers are also on the lookout for robustly data-enabled targets that can demonstrate they know their customers inside out – and have the metrics to prove it. With good reason. There can be myriad benefits for buyers when bringing on board an acquisition where sales enablement software is embedded.
Fundamentally, having access to a business’ key customer metrics can help busy execs understand untapped revenue potential when considering a new customer base and help them accelerate payback on their overall investment. In any acquisition there is usually a pressing need for the buying company to quickly get up to speed with new accounts and customer relationships and where this detail is immediately accessible via a platform like sales-i, it can make this process so much easier, particularly if the acquisition entails sales territories being merged or sales professionals taking on new accounts. What’s more, deploying sales enablement tech during the due diligence process can quickly and easily help buyers understand what the potential revenue uplift might arise through bringing on board a potential target.
Looking more broadly, the acquisition process can also present a compelling opportunity for buyers to re-evaluate, adapt and re-invest in their overall sales strategies, especially when it comes to investigating the benefits of standardizing the sales tools in use across the organization with a simplified front end solution like sales-i. Getting employees fully on board with any new acquisition is always a considerable challenge so pushing ahead with investment in new technology to smooth the process can be great for team morale.
Ultimately, buyers look for many attributes in potential acquisition targets with different weightings and importance applied to different operational capabilities, depending on the size of the organizations involved, which market sector they serve and where they’re located. In the acquisition hungry distribution sector right now we’re seeing more and more deals get over the line involving businesses where technology solutions and robust data management are built-in to their day-to-day operations, bringing significant benefits for buyers and sellers alike.
Preparing to selI?
In the final instalment of our series on M&A opportunities in the wholesale distribution market, we look at the perspective of seller businesses and what they can do to maximise both their attractiveness to potential suitors and the overall value of their companies.
Not read part one in our mergers an acquisition article series?
Catch up now:
Part one - Distributors, is your sales data deal-ready for the coming M&A wave?

domain: finance


ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., April 24 (UPI) -- Tanyon Sturtze pitched six innings Thursday night to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Sturtze (3-1), who was 4-18 last season with Tampa Bay and did not earn his first win until Aug. 23, allowed two runs and six hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked one.
The Blue Jays, meanwhile, did not get a hit against Jorge Sosa (1-2) until two were away in the fifth inning. When they did, they rallied to take the lead.
Jayson Werth doubled and Chris Woodward walked and both scored on a single by Orlando Hudson to tie the game at 2-2. Hudson advanced to second on the throw to the plate, then scored when Shannon Stewart delivered an RBI single.
Toronto added insurance runs in the sixth against Al Levine when Tampa Bay failed to turn a double play. On a grounder to shortstop by Eric Hinske, Rey Ordonez failed to touch second base before throwing to first for the out and Vernon Wells came home from third.
Woodward drove home another run with a double along the right field line that evaded a diving George Lombard.
Tampa Bay got a run back in the seventh inning when Marlon Anderson grounded into a fielder's choice to score Chris Truby.


Meanwhile, Sen. Dan Sullivan voted against proceeding.
Murkowski said Trump’s actions were “shameful and wrong” but that voters should ultimately decide if it was shameful and wrong.
Alaska’s U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski will vote against any efforts to call witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial, she announced in a prepared statement today….
Would she like to hear what Bolton has to say? Yes, but she’ll wait ’til later in the impeachment process to decide if it’s needed.
“If it means that I’m viewed as one who looks openly and critically at every issue in front of me rather than acting as a rubber stamp for my party or my president, I’m good with that. I’m totally good with that.”
Young’s words from 1998 gained traction on social media today, leading a few to believe the 86-year-old Young had made a surprising turn.
Their split is a matter of degrees because both agree the House should hold a formal vote on the impeachment.
Alaska’s lone U.S. Rep. Don Young is unhappy about the news that the Democrat-led U.S. House of Representatives has finally launched an impeachment inquiry into…


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Former Hollywood director Roman Polanski will attend a court hearing next week in Poland where a request for his extradition to the United States will be examined.
Polanski, who has been avoiding such proceedings for nearly four decades, has voluntarily agreed to attend the meeting in Krakow. “In line with the declaration that was made before, Mr. Roman Polanski will appear in the court,” said Jan Olszewski, one of Polanski’s attorneys.
The Feb. 25 hearing stems from a 1977 case in which the director was convicted for having unlawful sex with an underage girl in Los Angeles, Calif. Polanski pleaded guilty to having sex with 13-year-old Samantha Geimer in 1977 but fled the country before he could be sentenced in 1978.
If a Polish court rules in favor of a U.S. request, the justice minister will make a decision on whether to approve it, according to Variety.
The director spoke with Vanity Fair in September of 2013, wherein he explained why he fled the country after spending 42 days behind bars as part of a plea bargain:
It was such a shock to learn that it’s not finished, after they let you out of prison. Free! With your bundle under your arm, with the lawyer waiting for you outside; standing there, in your mind it’s all over, it’s finished, and then the judge changed his mind. And I have to go back to prison, and nobody knows how long. I just could not go through that.
Polanski will be in Poland, where he is scheduled to begin work on an upcoming film project.

domain: news


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New York Elder Law Attorney
As life expectancies increase, so do one’s chances of requiring skilled nursing care in the future. To serve the unique needs of the growing New York elderly population, a concentration in New York elder law has developed.
An experienced lawyer can help you implement a plan to protect your assets and prepare for any anticipated long-term care expenses.
A New York elder law attorney can assist you with:
- Long-term care planning
- Medicaid applications
- Advance directives
- Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts
- Preventing elder abuse
- Selection of a long-term care facility
Long-Term Care Insurance in New York
As the cost of long-term care continues to rise, it is important to know what options are available to finance the skilled care a person may need. The cost of nursing homes in New York can easily exceed $10,000 per month which can be an enormous financial burden.
Long-term care insurance (LTCI) may be a helpful resource to cover some care costs, however, some individuals may not be able to qualify for LTCI if they have certain health conditions.
If a person is able to purchase an LTCI policy, the terms of person’s policy could determine the amount and duration of their coverage. A skilled New York elder law attorney can educate individuals about the advantages and disadvantages of LTCI and how much insurance a person may need.
If a person is unable to qualify for long-term care insurance, they can finance the cost of nursing home care with Medicaid benefits or private pay. Medicaid benefits are available to in New York residents who cannot afford to pay for medical care. Medicaid benefits for nursing home care are available to persons over the age of 65 who are disabled or blind and who require nursing home care. There are also the strict asset and income guidelines that must be met in order to qualify.
The Medicaid application process can be time-consuming and requires the disclosure of extensive financial information. An attorney can reduce the stress involved in the application process by organizing information and communicating with Medicaid representatives.
Long-Term Care Planning
Similar to an estate plan, a long-term care plan includes documents like wills, trusts and advance directives, but it will also contemplate the potential need to qualify for Medicaid benefits in the future.
Whether a person is needed to qualify benefits immediately or would like to protect their assets from possible Medicaid costs, an attorney can tailor their long-term care plan to meet their needs.
A trust can protect a person’s assets in the event they become incapacitated by appointing a trustee to manage trust assets from them. Trusts such as Medicaid asset protection trusts can also potentially shield them assets from Medicaid costs or help them qualify for Medicaid benefits. These types of trusts are carefully scrutinized and should be drafted by a knowledgeable New York elder law attorney.
Guardianships for the Elderly
A guardianship may be necessary for elderly persons suffering from dementia who have not designated an agent or trustee to make medical or financial decisions on their behalf. A guardianship is also a safeguard to help protect elderly persons from abuse or financial exploitation.
It is always beneficial to have a plan in place before you are faced with an emergency. New York elder law attorneys understand the many challenges faced by the aging population in New York and can help you prepare for them.
If you would like to set up a consultation with a New York elder law attorney, please call today.

domain: medical


Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Back to T2
I should call this 'Terminator', with emphasis on the 'T'. Anyway, here a view with a body sort of resting on the chassis. I say 'sort of' because the back of the body is actually sitting on the rear axle.
The car is going to be much lower the A-bone I built --thanks in part to fewer spring leaves, smaller front tires, the bigger kick-up, and the lower 1940 spring perches on the rear axle.
You can see the better body I will be using behind the red one, I plan to change the paint.


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Most photographers believe stock photo prices are declining everywhere. But not at Shutterstock
where they have seen a 27% increase in 3 years from $1.91 per download in Q4 2010 to $2.43 in Q4 2013. RM and traditional RF photographers are thinking, “This is not a story for me. I’ll never go near any distributor with prices that low.” Please don’t give up. Let me walk you through some numbers that you may find useful and interesting.
See the previous story
. It looks like a high percentage of the RM and RF images in the Creative Stock Images of the www.gettyimages.com cannot be accessed
using the Embed Tool
. This may not be the slam dunk Getty is hoping for.
has made it possible for anyone to easily embed and share its imagery – at no cost – for non-commercial use on websites, blogs and social media channels through a new embed tool
. Free Pictures For Anyone Who Blogs.
has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire WebDAM
, a leading provider of web-based digital asset management software.
has announced that it will award a prize of $5,000 USD for the best selling image in 2014 that was uploaded to its new Instant Collection for iPhones. In addition, every image accepted in the Instant Collection before the end of April, will instantly earn $1. Now everyone has a chance to sell smartphone images, regardless of technical ability or expensive equipment. Contest details here: http://us.fotolia.com/instantcontest
has announced that in April it will launch a subscription product based on the Thinkstock
subscription product. The low priced Thinkstock product has been the fastest growing part Getty Images’ business.
If you couldn’t make it to the Microstock Expo (MExpo) in Berlin last November now from the comfort of your home or office you can see and hear all the discussions
that took place during the two-day conference. Of course, this material will be particular interest to microstock shooters and distributors, but even if you are licensing your work at RM or traditional RF prices you will find that many of the discussions provide important insights into where the stock photo industry is headed.
Over 9,000 iStock
photographers have received notices that they were overpaid for sales made through the Partner Program (PP). Getty plans to reclaim the overpayments by deducting the amount from the future royalty payments owed the contributors over the next six months. It is unclear exactly how much the total overpayment was, but based on what some photographers are being told will be deducted from their accounts it could have been millions of dollars.
Earlier this week I wrote about the average price per image licensed at Getty
. This article will examine some of the publicly available and widely reported numbers related to the number of images licensed.
On March 10, 1014 Getty Images plans to close down Photos.com
and move virtually all the content and operations to Thinkstock
. Thinkstock currently offers more than 14 million images. Added to Photo.com’s 5.5 million image that will put Thinkstock in the 20 million image range.
Shutterstock has reported a record 28 million downloads and $68 million in revenue for Q4 2013. The company’s revenue for all of 2013 was $235.5 million, up from $169.6 in 2012. About 28% of th...Read More
Stockphotosecrets.com contacted 10 microstock agencies to determine what they believe will be visual trends in 2014. The agencies contacted were: Stocksy, PeopleImages, Fotolia, PantherMedia, Ph...Read More
Vital Imagery Ltd., a leader in the online graphics subscription services, announced today that it has acquired Clipart.com and AnimationFactory.com from Getty Images. These pioneering websites offer...Read More
Recently, I had the opportunity to examine the 2013 sales of a few of Getty Images’ major contributors. They licensed images as both RM and RF. While these contributors represent a very small s...Read More
Alamy has jumped into the mobile photography business with Stockimo, a new iPhone app that lets photographers upload pictures taken from their iPhone. Stockimo is open to anyone. Alamy contributors w...Read More
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook executive and author of Lean In, has worked with Getty Images to try to identify 2,500 images that portray woman in more empowering ways than many of the stock images of old...Read More
In January Pearson provided a regular trading update and on February 28, 2014 it will announce preliminary results for 2013. While overall the company expects an operating profit of approximately &p...Read More
If there is something related to photography or illustration that you want to learn more about, chances are that Shutterstock’s Skillfeed (www.skillfeed.com) has a video tutorial on the subject...Read More
Educational publishers are telling stock agencies and image creators that they need more and “better quality” still images. Despite declining prices many still photographers are continuin...Read More


MINA, S.D. — Repairs were made to the air pressurization system of pro golfer Payne Stewart's business jet two days before the plane crashed, a federal investigator said Wednesday.
The revelation that an air input modulator valve was replaced last week suggests another possible decompression scenario in Monday's crash of the Learjet 35 that killed six people.
Investigators believe the plane depressurized about 39,000 feet over Gainesville, Fla., incapacitating the two pilots and four passengers aboard. The jet--likely on autopilot--flew on another 1,400 miles before apparently running out of fuel and spiraling nose-first into a muddy pasture about a mile from this tiny rural town.
The National Transportation Safety Board said all those aboard the plane probably died of asphyxiation long before the crash.
Investigators said Wednesday that it was still too early to say what caused the apparent depressurization, but several possibilities have been suggested.
The latest to emerge involves the plane's two modulator valves, which control the flow of air pumped by the engines into the cabin to maintain adequate pressurization at high altitudes.
Bob Benzon, the investigator in charge at the crash site, said records show that one of these valves was replaced Saturday. If the replacement valve was defective, or installed improperly, that might have affected pressurization.
However, Benzon was quick to point out, the plane has a modulator valve on each engine. Should one fail, he said, the other should be adequate to maintain pressurization.
Other scenarios involve the possible failure of an interior pressure bulkhead on the plane, failure of the pilots to turn the pressurization system on and failure of the plane's outflow valve--which bleeds off excessive air pressure.
Aviation experts say that in most plane crashes, more than one thing has gone wrong.
Like all pressurized planes, the Learjet 35 has an emergency oxygen system for the pilots and passengers to use in the event of unexpected depressurization.
Assuming depressurization occurred on Stewart's plane, the experts wonder why the pilots apparently were unable to swiftly utilize emergency oxygen masks, stowed in their headrests, to avoid incapacitation and enable them to maintain control of the aircraft.
The experts say there could be several reasons--failure of the emergency oxygen system to work properly, failure of the pilots to turn it on and failure of the pilots to recognize an emergency situation before it was too late.
The oxygen masks for the passengers were among the items investigators recovered Wednesday. Benzon said investigators want to determine whether the masks had dropped from the ceiling as they are designed to do during a loss of cabin pressure. The pilots' oxygen masks had not been found.
At about 5 p.m., the plane's severely damaged cockpit voice recorder also was recovered from the 10-foot-deep debris crater. Officials said that despite the damage, they hoped to obtain useful information from the device--such as possible wind sounds that might indicate the source of the depressurization.
The recorder has a 30-minute loop that usually records over itself. Officials do not expect to hear anything about what happened when radio contact was lost and the plan veered off course, which happened hours before the crash.


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Still adjusting to working with offshore developers. There definitely is a pattern of setting up a request, expecting it to be all done in the morning, and having to answer a few questions or concerns the next morning. If you don’t get to those questions immediately, you miss another day cycle.
Speaking of cycling – I took a day off of biking to work on Monday. Tuesday I went again and hit tons of personal bests! I’ve given in and started using Strava and it’s interesting to see how there is a an actual trend of improvement. For example, here’s my times on the Manhattan Bridge.
It is cheesy, but all these personal records and gold medals against myself are very rewarding.
Another takeaway: maybe rested legs are stronger! Due to rain and hangovers, I’ve only done 24 miles this week . Hope for more next week!
Also at work, we’ve whipped up some backpacks for kids that can’t afford school supplies.
I did some virtual phone banking at lunch on Thursday and Friday for Danny O’Connor. Mostly leaving messages, but every bit helps. There’s a special election on Tuesday in Ohio and I want to make sure I do what I can for it. I invite you to join me – these things are easy, they don’t take time and they make a difference.
On twitter, I really like the #InvisibleNetworks tag. @ctrlcreep is running 30 days of story prompts and people are replying with weird imaginative little stories.
Max is writing a book. He’s done 2 chapters about a bunch of robots in space. Cute Bun, AVX and their pals are all fighting and using lasers and it’s awesome.
Zelda is still working on her walking. 3 or 4 steps at a time now.
This week I got to dig in a bit on some performance profiling.
While doing some performance testing I found I needed to put in a bunch of temp log statements, but ugh… So I just created a decorator that will log the docstring of any python function and voila!
It’s hard to know exactly where your performance hits happen – so Robert Kern’s line_profiler is a great help.
I set up a terminator session with a few open terminals (different terminals allow you to take advantage of multiple processes and cpus). Then I used entr in each one to run profilers and timers and linters on the scripts.
ls *.py | entr -cs 'kernprof -l ProfileDriver.py ; python -m line_profiler ProfileDriver.py.lprof
This tells entr that whenever any python file changes
- clear the screen “-c”
- profile the code: “kernprof -l ProfileDriver.py;”
- then display the saved profile of the code: “python -m line_profiler ProfileDriver.py.lprof’
In other terminals I put in
ls *.py | entr -cs 'flake8 *.py' ls *.py | entr -cs 'pylint *.py'
This way I keep my code clean – with a dash of autopep8 -a -a -i to solve the easiest pep8 errors automatically. It’s also really something how much easier it is to reason about the code as I break it down into smaller chunks.
I’ve installed PyCharm in the linux workspace, and it is definitely a step up. Comes with vim emulation built in and it’s got some nice refactoring tools.

domain: hobby


text:
Most frequently used in:
House Auto Maintenance
What's a poor credit score rating mortgage?
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Understanding a credit score?
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Add your favorites stores for easy shopping and personalized deals. When you see a click it and the store will be added to your favorites here. Get started by searching above for the stores you already love.
About BestOfVegas US Cash Back, Promo Codes, Discounts, and Coupons
BestofVegas.com, part of Entertainment Benefits Group, LLC (EBG), combined is one of the leading online travel reservations agencies in the United States with 8 Million admissions sold annually and reaching over 60 million visitors via the Internet from both leisure and corporate program markets worldwide. Established in 2001, EBG launched BestofVegas.com to offer competitive rates for the best Las Vegas shows, tours nightclubs, as well as a special selection of hotel properties, ranging from small independent hotels to five star luxury properties. The site offers the best hotels, the best shows and the best prices.

domain: travel


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Massage and Relaxation Sessions provide an opportunity for you to take some time out from your busy schedule and to prioritise a bit of 'me-time' in the comfort of your own home.
Massage and Relaxation Sessions last 75 mins and cost £45.
Sessions can be booked as a one off treatment or as a regular session (weekly or fortnightly) and are available for both my antenatal and postnatal clients.
What could be better than having some dedicated time to focus on your wellbeing; leaving you feeling relaxed, rested and rejuvenated?
Sessions start with a 10-15 minute debrief to talk about your week, how things are going, any concerns you may have etc.
Then you have 25 minutes of pampering with some massage for relaxation, during which you can choose between face, back and shoulder or foot massage.
Finally, we finish with a guided relaxation snuggled up in bed or on the sofa.
There is no need to wake when we are finished, if you prefer you can simply drift off to sleep and continue the relaxation after the session ends.

domain: health


PRWeek Awards announce Cramer-Krasselt as Outstanding Non-Traditional Agency.
PRWeek Awards – March 18, 2021
Cramer-Krasselt (C-K) was named Outstanding Non-Traditional Agency by the 2021 PRWeek Awards.
One of the country’s largest independent agencies, Cramer-Krasselt prides itself on its expertise and breadth. In addition to a wide range of services, which include branding, media, creative, analytics, UX and influencer marketing, the agency’s long-term accounts span industries. Clients include Corona Extra, Porsche and Cedar Fair Amusement Parks, to name just a few.
But what makes Cramer-Krasselt really stand out from the competition is a suite of proprietary tools, such as Identity, a data-driven product that analyzes consumer choices at scale, and Performance Center, which provides clients with direct, real-time access to marketing performance data.
“Very well-rounded,” one judge noted about the firm. “Innovative work and great IP measurement tools using AI to help benefit the client.”
Last year was a banner year for the agency as it added numerous new clients to its roster, including notable food and beverage brands such as Quaker Lite Snacks and Saputo Cheese. In addition to its commitment to working tirelessly on behalf of its clients, the agency recognized the importance of taking care of its people, particularly during the pandemic.
To maintain a sense of camaraderie and culture during a year when in-person office gatherings were impossible, the company held a series of virtual events, including those in honor of Black History Month and Hispanic Heritage, as well as social events such as bingo, trivia and cheese board making.
Throughout the year, employees were also encouraged to step up and share their knowledge and passions with their colleagues. As a result, staffers taught classes on everything from gardening to cooking to crafting.
See the winners at the 2021 PRWeek Awards.


Puffy mattress is one of the most popular online mattress brand names in the industry, and for great factor! Puffy Mattress Google Reviews
With countless 5 star evaluations, top quality products and terrific customer support, it’s no surprise Puffy is drawing in so much attention.
With a variety of models to pick from, the Puffy, Puffy Lux, Puffy Royal, the Puffy Hybrid and the Puffy Lux hybrid, there’s a model here to suit everybody.
Whether you’re aiming to upgrade your mattress for a boosted sleep experience, of if you require a more supportive mattress to help alleviate discomforts and aches, you can’t go far wrong with a Puffy mattress.
Comfort is the concern when it pertains to all kinds of Puffy mattresses. Advanced cooling properties are one key to comfort, and the Puffy brand name works its magic while still going simple on your wallet. Puffy mattresses are created to provide the type of whole-body assistance needed for a great night’s sleep.
Puffy Promotion – $300 Off
Puffy currently has a special seasonal deal. Clients get $300 off their purchase, but that’s not all. They likewise get a complimentary pillow with their purchase.
The track record of this brand name has actually been built on quality products and excellent customer care. The promo practically sounds too great to be true, does not it?
Upon deciding to purchase a Puffy mattress, you need to familiarize yourself with the various types of mattresses the company provides. You wish to take advantage of the promotion prior to it expires!
The Puffy Satisfaction Guarantee
The Puffy brand name prides itself in bringing the best items to market. They want to make sure the very best experience for consumers all the method around.
Puffy allows brand-new clients a complimentary 101-day trial or test drive, too. Not just that, but the Puffy brand’s score with the BBB is an A+.
Certified by CertiPUR-US, Puffy bed mattress are among the most safe in the industry.
When any problems do emerge, they appear to be quickly resolved. The Puffy brand name, as mentioned, positions a top priority on customer care.
Puffy Mattress ModelsPuffy Mattress Google Reviews
Now let’s take a better look at each of the different mattress designs that are on offer with Puffy.
The Puffy Mattress (Standard Model)
Here is a breakdown of the Puffy mattress design. This is the entry level mattress which carries with it the most affordable price of all the Puffy mattress types.
Puffy mattresses are created using an unique type of memory foam. This adjustable memory foam warranties your body gets the sleep support it requires.
Puffy is a prominent brand within the industry it runs, and its boxed mattresses are hassle-free, included high rankings, and are chosen by customers. They are hitting the marketplace by storm.
Puffy mattresses come geared up with memory foam that is separated into three specific layers. They supply a medium firmness, which is ideal for the very best comfort.
Cooling Memory Foam
The cooling memory foam layer is made from gel and is 4 inches thick. This gel layer takes in heat from the mattress. This assists preserve a much better temperature, keeping you comfy and cool while you sleep.
Cooling memory foam likewise helps relieve joint pain and pressure. You need a mattress that is going to assist reduce neck, shoulder, and back pain.
Ideal For Everyone
Individuals sleep differently than each other. There are different sleeping positions, and people have various bedtime practices. No matter what sleeping position you prefer or whatever else you are dealing with at bedtime, a Puffy mattress is going to keep you comfortable.
Puffy mattresses are likewise ranked highly in terms of comfort when comparing them to other brand names and their products.
If you are going to rest well, a mattress must be kept cool. The climate control layer of Puffy mattresses transcends to other items. This layer assists stabilize the temperature of your mattress, avoiding you from experiencing sleep disturbances due to overheating.
The gel layer of a Puffy mattress helps in regards to breathability, additional enhancing the benefits of climate control. Remaining cool while sleeping is a big offer.
Clients are provided 101 days to attempt the mattress out without any commitment. The sleep trial is one method for the company to show with confidence just just how much they think in their own product. You can exchange it for a various type if for some factor you do not like your mattress.
That is also an alternative if for some reason you want your money back. The business is confident you will discover the ideal mattress.
Puffy Lux is among your alternatives. This mattress is created to supply any person quality sleep every night.
The Puffy Lux model functions climate control innovation that assists to ensure a good night’s sleep even with extreme temperature modifications in play. These mattresses are highly breathable, which assists to control your body temperature.
Related article: puffy mattress giveaway
You can position a Puffy mattress on any surface area. You are going to be comfy no matter where you position your mattress.
Introducing The Puffy Lux Hybrid
Presenting one of Puffy’s newest designs, the Puffy Lux Hybrid. This mattress is remarkably comfy, highly helpful, and is currently Puffy’s most popular mattress.
See the video below to discover more about the Puffy Lux Hybrid.
The Royal mattress is the most recent item offered from the Puffy business.
The mattress includes a thickness of 14 inches, and the leading layer is developed to provide cooling capabilities to help mediate your body temperature when sleeping. This top layer is 1.5 inches thick.
Cooling beads have actually been instilled into this mattress to remove heat accumulation. It is clear that heat can quickly get caught in certain mattresses. These cooling beads make the Royal Mattress unique and a leading seller for the Puffy brand name.
The Royal Mattress is both flexible and firm. Mattresses of inferior quality fail to provide the extra support needed to reduce pain from pressure points.
The Royal Mattress is likewise highly breathable. It is the extra 3rd layer of this mattress that promotes much better breathability and assists promote much better air circulation.
There are a total of five layers to the Royal Mattress by Puffy. You can count on remarkable support for your spine and soft cushioning for your head and neck. Upon taking a more detailed look at the 5 layers of the Royal Mattress, you will see they are described as cloud zones.
Are you ready to sleep on a cloud?
Many customers have actually experienced the high-end of the Royal Mattress by Puffy.
Puffy Mattress Rates Overview Summary
Bear in mind that the rates revealed are going to be what you would pay with no relevant promos.
What are the prices for the different kinds of Puffy mattresses?
- The average rate for a Puffy mattress is just under $900
- The typical cost for a Puffy Lux mattress is just under $1000
- The average rate for the Puffy Royal mattress is just under $1300
For more in-depth pricing please see the prices boxes in this post that relate to each mattress model.
Remember to apply that advertising code to get an even much better deal!
Puffy Mattress Pros & Cons
Pros Of Puffy Mattresses
- Features anti-stain covers and are adaptable to various climates
- Eases pressure points and is suitable for everyone
- Built for breathability
- Assists support better spinal alignment
- Life time warranty and 101-night sleep trial
Cons of Puffy Mattresses
- Some people state these mattresses are too soft
- These mattresses cost somewhat more than the competitors
The sleep trial is rather generous of the business. Customers are offered more than 3 months to test drive a mattress. After 101 days, if you are not pleased, you can go with a various mattress. It is as easy as that. The company desires you to be delighted and well-rested.
Puffy mattresses are known for superior sleep quality. It is important to understand what to look for, and now you have a good idea of what to expect from a Puffy mattress.
This thorough, objective evaluation ideally helps you determine which mattress is best for your bedroom. It is very important to make note of crucial features you can’t do without. When acquiring a mattress, the Puffy brand name does an excellent job of highlighting functions that clients are looking for.
The Puffy company makes it their mission to assist you get a good night’s sleep. Hopefully, this extensive evaluation saves you time and helps you pick the ideal mattress. If you choose to offer a Puffy mattress a test drive, the 101-night sleep trial should certainly provide you extra peace of mind.
Which model is it going to be?
Each of the Puffy brand name mattresses has its pros and cons, and you can see much better now how the company’s mattresses stack up against other brand names. Puffy Mattress Google Reviews


1963 Daimler SP250 ‘Dart’
Oldtimer Australia is delighted to offer for sale a lovely 1963 Daimler SP250. This is a UK delivered, factory right hand drive, early model ‘C’ spec example.
According to the documentation on file, this car was ordered on the 17th April 1963 and delivered on the 23rd or 28th of April (the date is not clear in order book) to Jaguar House (Oxford) Ltd. The exact delivery date and first owner is not known. It is documented that in 1964 the car was registered in Birmingham with the registration number 6798PP. It is understood the car was owned by Allan Lupton in the UK from 1973 through until 1977. It was then sold to Timothy Farr from Hitchin, UK. Farr kept the car for about 7 years before selling it to Tim Jeffrey in 1984. When Jeffrey moved to Australia, he brought the car with him. It arrived on the ship Resolution Bay on the 21st January 1987. At that time the car was still wearing its original colour scheme of green with a beige interior.
Jeffrey intended to restore the car so decided not to register it. He dismantled the car and started working on the chassis. Unfortunately, the purchase of a house and the arrival of children resulted in the project grinding to a halt.
The current owner acquired the car from Jeffrey in June 2005. It was completely disassembled and generally in poor condition. He then embarked on a comprehensive nut and bolt restoration. For most of the work he engaged the services of Sydney Vintage Car Restoration in Crookwell, NSW.
At the start of the restoration, a decision was made to sympathetically upgrade the car to make it a safer and more usable usable classic. A Mazda RX7 gearbox was sourced and installed, the seats were replaced with more modern seats from a Mazda MX5, the steering was upgraded to a rack & pinion set up, the rear shock absorbers were upgraded, the cooling system was upgraded (which included fitting a large aluminium radiator) and electronic ignition was installed. A removable roll bar was also installed. Importantly, a correct, but not the original gearbox and the original seats will accompany the car.
The final decision was to choose the colour to finish the car. As you will see from the photos, the car has been finished in red and the interior trimmed in magnolia leather.
All the work was completed around 2008 and the end result is stunning.
Despite being an older restoration, the car has been used sparingly since and as a result it still presents beautifully. The paint work on the car is vibrant with a high gloss and strong depth of colour. Overall, it is still in very good condition, though there is a small stone chip on the bonnet. Upon closer inspection there are also a few minor imperfections visible in the paint, which are consistent with an older repaint on a fiberglass body. The chrome work on a Daimler SP 250 is a feature and it is all in very good condition. The lights and lenses are also in very good condition with no chips are cracks evident. The glass is likely original and whilst in good condition, there are signs of wear consistent with age. There is some delamination in the lower right corner.
A new soft top was fitted when the car was restored and it has hardly been used if at all. It is an excellent fit and essentially presents like new. There is also an ‘as new’ hood cover that fits snuggly over the soft top when folded down.
The car is fitted with Performance Minilite wheels which are shod with Continental Premium 195/65R15 tyres on all four corners. The tyres are date stamped 4017 (week 40, 2017). The wheels are in excellent condition with no sign of any kurb rash.
The interior of this car has been beautifully upholstered. Everything presents like new and is very well done. The timber steering wheel and Smiths instruments delicately placed in the upholstered dash are a real feature. The brown carpets, which are also in excellent condition are a perfect colour choice to compliment the magnolia upholstery.
Both the engine bay and boot are extremely well presented. The boot has been carpeted identically to the interior of the car and looks to have never been used. In the boot you will find the spare wheel, which is an original steel wheel.
We have a real soft spot for these cars and have been fortunate to sell quite a few of them over the journey. It was immediately obvious that this is a really good car and it was with great anticipation that we were able to take it out for a test drive.
The Mazda MX5 seats are extremely comfortable and supportive. You immediately feel right at home behind the steering wheel. On a warm Spring morning in Brisbane the car did not require the choke to start. The engine burst into life at the first turn of the key and almost immediately settles into a smooth idle. The small V8 in this car produces a great sound that lets you know this car means business. You just know this is going to be a great car to drive! After patiently giving the engine a little bit of time to warm up, you engage first gear and hit the open road. First impressions are good . . . in fact, they are really good! The car feels solid on the road and it handles steers and stops as you would expect. This particular example has disc brakes fitted all around which provides ample stopping power, pulling the car up efficiently and in a straight line. The engine feels strong and the gearbox is smooth with a very precise shift. The Mazda RX7 gearbox really suits the car and the short shift makes it an absolute pleasure to use. During our test drive all the gauges looked to be in working order and all the vital signs were healthy.
Accompanying this car are the original seats, an unrestored hard top, a set of new rubbers for the hard top, a correct but not the original gearbox, the removable roll bar, a good history file, an owner’s manual and a parts manual.
This car is ready for its next owner to use and enjoy.
The Daimler SP250 is very unique, it is quirky and it is very cool! These cars are highly sought after by collectors and enthusiasts alike. They are also tightly held and cars of this caliber seldom come to the open market.
- UK delivered, factory right-hand drive, ‘matching numbers’
- Presents as a freshly restored car.
- Rare factory hard top (unrestored).
- Beautifully presented car in a stunning colour scheme.
- Ready to show, use and enjoy.
The history of Daimler dates back to the late 1800’s. In 1893 the British businessman Frederick Simms established the Daimler Motor Syndicate Ltd in London, however, at that time the company neither manufactured vehicles nor engines. In 1895, Henry Lawson provided an investment capital and Daimler Motor Syndicate Ltd became British Motor Syndicate Ltd, as a subsidiary of the Great Horseless Carriage Company, a company founded to promote the new vehicle industry and acquire licenses and patents. Next the company acquired the British Daimler and Maybach patents. The following year, on 14th January 1896, Henry Lawson founded the Daimler Motor Company Limited which acquired the rights to the Daimler patents from the British Motor Syndicate Ltd. In 1897 the Daimler Motor Company Ltd. started production in Coventry (UK) making it the oldest British automobile factory.
For the foreseeable future Daimler remained the only automotive brand operating throughout the British Empire. As a side note, Henry Lawson and Frederick Simms also founded the Motor Car Club of Britain in 1895, which held its first London to Brighton car run, the ‘Emancipation Run’ on 14th November 1896. This event is still being held today.
The early years were not easy. The first Daimler engined cars left the factory in March 1897. By mid 1897 Daimler in Germany were in financial difficulty. They began asking for accounts to be settled and refused to send working drawings of their new engine. These financial difficulties led to a reorganisation of the company in 1898 and again in 1904. A new company was founded with a new board of directors which acquired the old company and paid for its debts and wind up costs.
In 1900 Daimler sold its first car to a member of the British Royal family, Edward VII. The car was a 6hp, 2 cylinder, 1527cc fitted with a ‘mail phaeton’ body. When King Edward bought his second Daimler, he granted Daimler a Royal Warrant to provide cars to the British monarch, a privilege it kept until the 1950’s.
Like most manufacturing companies, Daimler was significantly impacted by both the first and second World Wars. In 1937 Daimler introduced new saloons with a fresh new design. These cars were quite successful and they continued to produce limousines for the royal families of Europe as well as various embassies and consulates. The public however slowly started to turn away from Daimler. Its cars were perceived as boring and expensive compared to some of the other manufacturers like Jaguar for example which seemed to know exactly what the public wanted. Daimler continued to struggle through difficult times right through until the late 1950’s
As a last attempt to save the company, Daimler decided they needed something different. They had many talented engineers, one of them being the group automotive managing director, Edward Turner. He, together with Jack Wickes, were given the task to come up with a radical new design. In addition to designing a new car they ended up designing two legendary new V8 engines, a 2.5 litre and a 4.5 litre. The latter was used in the Daimler Majestic and called the Majestic Major, which was an interesting car in its own right. The second smaller engine was to be used in an all new Daimler V8 sports car.
Daimler’s new sports car made its world debut at the International Automobile Exhibition in New York on 4th April 1959. The car was christened the ‘Dart’, however, Chrysler objected to Daimler using the name as they had previously registered this name for one of their own cars. Daimler then decided on a new name and in line with the company tradition, named their car the SP250. Surprisingly its new car was built with an all fiberglass body. The Daimler SP250 was built from 1959 until 1964 and a total of 2,654 cars were built. As it turned out, the SP250 became the last car produced by Daimler before the company was acquired by Jaguar.
- Daimler SP250 'Dart'
- 5,044 miles


Building Bridges CEA seeks to strengthen U.S. industry ties to
For a second consecutive year, Best Buy, which operates a sourcing office in Shanghai, had a big presence at SINOCES "with many representatives on the show floor and meetings during the event," Thibodeaux said. Thibodeaux encourages any U.S. vendor or retailer interested in the China market to use SINOCES. "The show is a good venue for understanding the market, its people and dynamics," he says. "It will be and already is a gigantic opportunity all kinds of companies.
"The Chinese are very welcoming; they want to see U.S. companies come into their markets and sell them products," he says. "China has a huge domestic market that will provide lots of opportunities for everybody."
For his part, Cole was impressed during the trade mission to China. "This is a country [that's] not fooling around. They've got it together—you can feel it in the air."


Action against cop who gave rose to Raj Thackeray
Pramod Tawde, the police constable who grabbed headlines and invited much criticism after he offered a rose to MNS leader Raj Thackeray the August 21 rally to protest the violence at Azad Maidan, is set to face disciplinary action.mumbai Updated: Sep 26, 2012 09:28 IST
Pramod Tawde, the police constable who grabbed headlines and invited much criticism after he offered a rose to MNS leader Raj Thackeray the August 21 rally to protest the violence at Azad Maidan, is set to face disciplinary action.
A departmental inquiry into his conduct has indicted him for indiscipline. Deputy commissioner of police (DCP), wireless, BM Yadav, who conducted the inquiry, has submitted a report to the commissioner of police.
“I have submitted the report on the basis of the findings and recommended disciplinary action against Tawde for his conduct,” Yadav told Hindustan Times, adding that the action would be initiated by higher authorities.
During the August 21 MNS-led rally, held to protest the violence at Azad Maidan on August 11, Tawde had offered a yellow rose to Thackeray after the latter’s address. He also shook hands with the MNS chief and saluted him.
Following this, he gave several media interviews alleging injustice against him and inaction by seniors in his department over the same. The police administration conducted a DCP-level inquiry into the incident.
According to sources in the commissioner’s office, Tawde, who is attached to the police wireless division at Byculla, has been found guilty on three counts. Firstly, he was missing from his workplace without notifying or seeking permission of his superiors.
Secondly, he participated in a political process by offering a flower to a political leader on stage, while in uniform — a clear violation of the service rules.
Thirdly, he gave long media bytes in which he spoke against the department, deemed to be an act of indiscipline the a uniformed force, sources added.
However, sources said recommendation for disciplinary action might save Tawde from suspension from duty.
“Higher ups in the department might take a considerate decision and refrain from punitive actions such as suspension. This will be done keeping in mind his record of psychiatric problems and rumoured sentiments among the constabulary following the violence at Azad Maidan on August 11. At best, the administration might stop a few of his increments as part of the recommended disciplinary action,” a source said.
First Published: Sep 26, 2012 09:24 IST


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Podcast Episode #39: The man with the moves, Choreographer Spencer Liff.
Spencer Liff has skyrocketed to success in the last couple of years, having amassed Broadway credits like Hedwig and the Angry Inch, TV credits like So You Think You Can Dance (hello Emmy nomination), and a whole bunch more . . . and he just turned 30.
Yep, 30. When other artists are wondering what they are going to do with their careers, Spencer has already had the career of at least two successful artists put together.
With all that work (including the brand new Neil Patrick Harris variety show Best Time Ever), you wonder why he’d want the insane challenge of choreographing a revival of Spring Awakening that fuses dance and American Sign Language.
But as you’ll hear, that insane challenge is exactly why Spencer did it . . . and boy are we lucky he did.
Listen to Spencer talk about Spring and a whole lot more, including:
- What a whole bunch of rocks had to do with his career choice.
- Why being an actor and dancer was the best education he could have had as a choreographer.
- The difference between choreographing for television and choreographing for the stage.
- How life for choreographers in 2015 is different than in 1995.
- Just how the heck did he teach actors that can’t hear the music how to dance in Spring Awakening (and hear him reveal some of the secret cues in the show that help cue the actors)?
Click below to listen and learn!Click here to listen.
Listen to it on iTunes here. (And give me a rating, while you’re there!)
Download it here.
And a head’s up . . . next week is the last week of Spring Awakening month on the podcast, and we’re ending with the Artistic Director of Deaf West, Mr. DJ Kurs, and a very unique podcast that features audio, video, and sign language, not to mention incredible insights from the head of the premiere Deaf Theater Company in the world. Next week!
(Got a comment? I love ‘em, so comment below! Email Subscribers, click here then scroll down to say what’s on your mind!)
– – – – –
– Looking for a job, or want to tell the world about your upcoming show? Do it in our forum! Click here.
– Win 2 tickets to see Allegiance on Broadway! Click here.
– Like the blog? Like me on Facebook! Click here.
So much has changed in our industry . . ….
I get it. No one likes to select a seat…
Ken created one of the first Broadway podcasts, recording over 250 episodes over 7 years. It features interviews with A-listers in the theater about how they “made it”, including 2 Pulitzer Prize Winners, 7 Academy Award Winners and 76 Tony Award winners. Notable guests include Pasek & Paul, Kenny Leon, Lynn Ahrens and more.

domain: entertainment


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We are happy to call you during the auction and place bids on your behalf. To arrange phone bidding, please call Swann's bid department during business hours.
(212) 254-4710 ext. 0
Mon - Fri 10AM - 6PM
Or, e-mail a list of lots with the sale number and your contact information to firstname.lastname@example.org. Be sure to include a phone number where we can reach you.
Bids may also be submitted via fax. Send a list of lots with the sale number and your contact information to (212) 979-1017. You will receive a confirmation before the sale.Sale 2433 | Lot 2
Price Realized: $423 With Buyer's Premium Show Hammer Price
Click Image To Enlarge
Sale 2433 Lot 2
(ARION PRESS.) O'Hara, Frank; and Jim Dine. Biotherm (For Bill Berkson). Essay and glossary by Bill Berkson. 42 lithographs by Jim Dine. 575x402 mm; 22 5/8x15 inches (sheets), full margins. Folio, contents loose as issued in red cloth portfolio box, two faint stains on cover; minor soft crease to lower title-page. San Francisco, 1964
Estimate $600 - 900
number 36 of 150 copies signed by dine from a total edition of 180. Biotherm is the last long poem by O'Hara, written shortly before his accidental death in 1966 at age 40. The poet and critic Bill Berkson, who died in June of this year and to whom the poem is addressed, provided the essay and compiled a glossary to explicate the references in the poem and to recount the circumstances of its writing. The text was printed on English mouldmade paper on a hot-press finish and the lithographic work was done by Phelps-Schaefer, Brisbane, California.Price Realized (with Buyer's Premium) $423

domain: artistic


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Author: Paul McGeough
Publication: Sydney Morning Herald Section: Good Weekend Magazine
They were a motley crew of
cash‐strapped activists, mainly women
and some on the wrong side of
65. Together they would secretly
cobble together a flotilla that would challenge Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip. By Paul McGeough.
May 31, 2010: in the pre‐dawn darkness, three cargo ships and three passenger ships, together called the Freedom Flotilla, motored south from Cyprus across the Mediterranean, their destination
a narrow, 40‐kilometre‐long coastal plain wedged between Israel and Egypt known
as the Gaza Strip. Their mission: to break
an Israeli‐imposed blockade that effectively makes 1.5 million people prisoners in their own homes.
Some hours earlier, from the deck of Challenger I, a 25‐metre cruiser in the flotilla from
which I was observing events, a dozen
or more Israeli vessels had
revealed themselves, first as mere pinpricks
of light, appearing and disappearing as allowed by the
ocean swell. The Israelis had announced their
presence by the reading of a terse radio
message to each of the ships' captains in
the flotilla. "Challenger I, you are
hereby ordered to change course," the crackle‐trimmed
voice had begun. "If you ignore this order
and attempt to visit the blockaded area, the
Israeli Navy will be forced to take all the necessary measures in order to enforce this blockade."
Huwaida Arraf, the 34‐year‐old
US‐born, Ramallah‐based lawyer and leader of the Free Gaza Movement (FGM), the humanitarian organisation behind the flotilla, had been cool in her response. "Israeli Navy, this is Challenger I.
We are unarmed civilians making our
way to the Gaza
port. We do not constitute
a threat to the state of Israel or
to its armed forces. You are not justified in
using force against us."
Now, almost six hours later,
tensions were running dangerously high
as the Israeli vessels began inexorably to move in around the flotilla. Suddenly the noose tightened: 30‐odd Zodiac craft, sleek and black
in the water with their bullet‐shaped hulls, trailing phosphorescent ribbons in their wake, came
sneaking up around us. First, they came alongside the Mavi Marmara, a five‐deck ferry travelling just 150 metres to our starboard side carrying about 700
mostly Muslim Turkish activists. Most of them, by this stage, had gathered around the ship's rails, all wearing life vests, some
wearing gas masks. As the masked Israeli commandos tried to hook metal
ladders to the sides of the ferry for the purpose of boarding the vessel, they felt the
full force of its fire hoses and an avalanche of whatever its passengers found on deck
or could break from the ship's fittings to throw at them.
Then ... chaos. Sound bombs
and tear‐gas canisters began to explode on the ferry's main aft
deck. Those passengers who'd been issued
with asbestos gloves now attempted to grab the
devices as they lay on the deck and to
hurl them back into the Israeli Zodiacs ‐ hopefully before they erupted.
Having failed to secure their grappling irons,
the Israelis abandoned their plan
to board from the water and opted for
Plan B: to drop in from above. As the helicopters moved in,
activists on the upper decks rushed to the top level of the ship. By sunrise, nine activists were dead and 50
Seven hundred more were
under arrest, and being hauled to prison in Israel.
Over the coming days, newspapers around the world would print stories of
heroism and tragedy, of geopolitical overreach and of
military and diplomatic brinkmanship. Lost
in the media maelstrom, however, was
the story of a small but very determined band of women who had dictated the course of
these events thus far.
Back in 2006, membership of an entirely different group was
almost a rite of passage for those who would be
drawn to the FGM. This was a period that came to be known as the Second Intifada ‐ more than four years of intense Palestinian‐Israeli conflict that began in September 2000. As violence raged across the Occupied Territories, the
International Solidarity Movement (ISM), the
edgy brainchild of the young Huwaida Arraf, was born. She figured that the presence of foreign and Israeli Jewish
protesters might act as a break on Israeli
military and settler violence against
Her original idea was that the internationals ‐ or
"ISMers" ‐ would act as human shields for Palestinian families attempting to
get their children to school or for villagers harvesting their olive crops. But as
the Intifada violence ratcheted up,
the young internationals took to
jumping into ambulances and riding into the
crossfire to collect the dead and
the desperate: women in the early stages of childbirth; a kidney patient
needing dialysis; wounded Palestinian fighters.
It was dangerous work. By
positioning themselves between Israeli troops and Palestinian protesters, a
good number of the ISMers came to serious harm. In
2003, Rachel Corrie, a 23‐year‐old
crushed to death under an Israeli military bulldozer as she protested against the demolition of
home in Gaza.
Arraf's fearlessness in the face of Israeli weapons and her lawyerly ability to crunch each crisis into manageable bits are legendary in the activist movement ‐ along with a sense
that she is untouchable. There is
a hint of this
in the Emiliano Zapata quote at
the foot of the emails she
sends: "It's better to die on
your feet than to live on your knees."
"I am stronger than some soldier turning his tank
barrel at me," says Arraf of the
protests that ignited the
West Bank. "When
I stand in front of him, unarmed and at peace as I walk
around [Jerusalem or Ramallah], I know that he's
the weak one. Non‐violence is much more threatening to the
occupation because it shows we are morally strong."
Within the FGM,
Arraf stands shoulder to shoulder with a number of women of equally powerful conviction. They include two of
the movement's founding members,
Mary Hughes‐Thompson, the
76‐year‐old British‐born TV producer and long‐time resident
of Los Angeles, and
her close friend, American Greta Berlin, 69. After the start of the Second Intifada, Hughes‐Thompson started paying regular visits to the West Bank. As one of
Arraf's ISMers, she was badly
injured when she was set upon by a group of illegal Jewish settlers in the village of
Yanoun in 2002 as she helped Palestinian farmers harvest their olives. "It
was October," she tells me. "I discovered I could never
really leave Palestine ‐ I needed to keep going
back to witness the situation first‐hand."
for Greta Berlin, the connection to Palestine was
more visceral. She is the mother of two Palestinian‐ American
children whose father was born and raised in Safad and
who became a refugee in 1948. She
has been an outspoken advocate for the
rights of Palestinians since the '60s.
Then there is the 35‐year‐old Australian Renee Jaouadi, better known to her
former pupils at the Newcastle Waldorf School by her maiden name, Renee Bowyer. She made a first brief foray into relief work in the wilds of
Pakistan's border country where she worked with refugees
in the aftermath of the US‐led invasion of Afghanistan in
the weeks after the September 11, 2001, attacks. When next she
ventured abroad, it was to the West Bank, teaching at a school in Ramallah and, at the same time, doing volunteer work in villages and refugee camps. She was
there for almost a year when she
was refused entry to Israel after spending time away with friends
late in 2006.
As a history teacher, Bowyer thought she had a grasp of
the never‐ending crisis in the region, but working in village communities during an initial three‐month stint in 2003 horrified her. "I was
shocked by the extent of daily violence in Palestinian lives," she begins, remembering how, one day
in Ramallah, a group of fully kitted Israeli soldiers raced past her. Then she heard
gunfire and soon came upon a family‐friendly ice‐cream parlour where two Palestinians lay dead.
As mothers shielded their children,
the shooters made their getaway.
Figuring she could be more effective as an activist if she lived permanently in the West
Bank, Bowyer returned to Australia and set about shutting down her life in Newcastle. "I
was surprised by the different response by
Israeli forces when internationals were
present," she says.
As foreigners such as Bowyer built their activist profiles in the region, they were
soon targeted for deportation by the Israeli authorities. Israel was clamping
down on Palestinian protests and, at
the same time, building the wall ‐ or barrier ‐ that would separate the West Bank from Israel. Both made it increasingly difficult for internationals to move into and out
of the Occupied Territories. It followed that to continue
their activism, the deportees would be drawn
to the search for a new kind of
protest that would be driven
from beyond Israel and the Occupied Territories.
In November 2006, Berlin sent a circular email to
a handful of deportees and others who felt that their days as activists in the
West Bank were numbered, informing them of a possible new venture.
The idea was for 20 or more international activists, arriving at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport over a few days, to refuse to
recognise Israel's right to rule on
The group's email traffic ‐ some of which was read by Good
Weekend ‐ reveals initial enthusiasm
for this proposed airport sit‐in. But then 36‐year‐old
Michael Shaik weighed in from Canberra, where he worked full‐time as a
Palestinian activist. In late November, Shaik outlined a "pipe dream" he'd been nurturing since
being detained in an Israeli prison in 2003, pending deportation because of his ISM activities in the West Bank. "I'm just going
to say an idea I've had for some
time and I don't mind if anyone says it's ridiculous," his email began tentatively. "But the way I see
it is that the focus of any such action should
be Gaza. What
I've always thought might be a goer would be
to charter a ship [to] break the siege of
Gaza. My view is we could even get some
very high‐profile people to
support it as a non‐violent humanitarian intervention and put Israel in a lose/lose situation."
On the same day Israel thwarted her attempt to return to the
West Bank, Bowyer received an email
from Shaik filling her in on the boat idea and offering to introduce her to the
"I jumped at it," she tells me.
"It was a brilliant idea."
The women of the nascent FGM went underground to plan the venture and, in
a bid to avoid Israeli surveillance, they gave their group email list the name of a non‐existent troupe, the Lieder Krantz Singers.
But they were soon confronted by the towering reality of their ambition. In hurling themselves into patriarchal Middle Eastern politics, they had given
little thought to the fact that boats had to be bought and registered; they needed to be fuelled and
provisioned; they had to be
kept seaworthy and needed professional crews. In the eyes
of many whom they approached for funding, they
were a bunch of hippies, wading into
the notorious shallows of
the Palestinian donor pool, with their hands out for
$US350,000. "We were never sent packing
from a big man's office," Bowyer recalls. "But that was only because we
could never get past the secretaries."
As about 40 activists around the world signed on to
the Lieder Krantz Singers email list, Greta Berlin used the system of circular emails to introduce a 36‐year‐old Australian community worker, Sharyn Lock, to the plan. Now based in the
UK, where she is studying midwifery, Lock admits that she was hooked instantly by
the "big‐picture vision" of
the plan. "I knew none of [the other women], but we were all the kind
of people who aren't put
off by the blokey dimensions of life."
Just four days after arriving in the West
Bank in 2002 to join
the ISM, Lock had been hit by a
fragmenting bullet, metal shards from which remain encased
in scar tissue on her stomach. "I've just got a big
scar to startle people with, and a
tiny glimpse of what it's like to
be a Palestinian" is her bush philosopher's way of explaining the wound she suffered as Israeli forces opened fire while
she was attempting to deliver medicine
and food to Palestinians whose homes, near Bethlehem in the West Bank, had been occupied by Israeli
forces during the Second Intifada.
As the FGM gathered momentum, big
humanitarian names began to pledge support, among them
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Irish Nobel peace laureate Mairead Corrigan‐Maguire. But by the spring of 2008, the project was in dire need of cash. So the women began to empty their own pockets. When they set up a website, Berlin
bought the FGM internet domain. Hughes‐ Thompson found herself in charge of the
PayPal account through which funds raised were received. "I was the only one who knew how to operate it," she
says, recalling, with affection, a donation for
#139 that came in from a cake stall in the UK. "It was heart‐warming, grassroots stuff," adds Arraf.
In June 2008, against the odds, the
women managed to locate two decrepit boats in Greece and secretly set about
making them seaworthy. These were simple 20‐metre‐long fishing boats, little more
than open‐decked hulks adorned with one
small wheelhouse. More money was needed, but there was nothing in the kitty. Many in the group emptied their bank accounts to fund them, Arraf tells me.
With security still paramount, the FGM split into three groups, none
of which was informed of
the location or make‐up of the
other two. The boats were repaired at separate, undisclosed locations in Greece. The third group underwent training
in the techniques of non‐violent resistance in
Cyprus. The vessels were given false names, lest Israeli agents attempt to track them
channels: in all FGM publicity, the
Demitris Kapa was referred to as Free Gaza and the Agios Nikolaos
became Liberty. The Liberty alone cost $US45,000 to buy; almost twice as much again went on repairs, maintenance, fuel
Berlin describes the days before their departure from Cyprus as scary:
"We started getting anonymous calls
on our cell phones: 'There's a bomb on board'; 'Do you know
how to swim?' " An especially disturbing
series of messages was left on the unlisted home number in France of Lauren Booth who, as sister‐in‐law to
then‐British PM Tony Blair, was very
much a celebrity activist. She tells
me via email, "The caller told my husband I was
in danger ... and there was a chilling threat that included the words, 'We know where you and your
children live.' "
‐ aged 21 to 81 and representing 17 countries ‐ were aboard the first‐ever FGM protest flotilla, which set sail from Larnaca, Cyprus, on August 22, 2008. As they embarked on what
would be a 600‐kilometre voyage,
carrying a symbolic cargo of
200 hearing aids and 5000 balloons
the children of Gaza, Israel issued an ominous warning for
all shipping to stay clear of Gaza waters due to an unspecified "security situation". Foreign Ministry spokesman Aviv Shiron described the protest as
a "provocation", warning that "all options" were being considered to prevent the two boats from reaching Gaza. Seasoned Jerusalem correspondents predicted a stand‐off at sea.
Lock, who'd been blacklisted by
the Israeli authorities in 2005, helped train all who
sailed on the inaugural voyage in techniques of
Hughes‐Thompson had little hope the flotilla would reach its destination as she
boarded Free Gaza: "We planned to stay at sea for as long as we
had food and water, hoping that, in that time, the
international community would
pressure Israel to let us through. But we figured the Israelis would block us." She remembers a "scary
voyage" and "a long dark night". All on board
scanned the seas for signs of an
Israeli interception as Israeli activist Jeff
Halper warned them of the likelihood of Israeli frogmen emerging from the water to come
over the sides of each boat. "We said to
ourselves we'd stand
on deck and simply refuse
to move if they boarded ‐ but the truth is we
all were seasick!"
Hughes‐Thompson says. "Then we saw land ‐ my God, it
was Gaza! We
got closer and closer and we started to believe for the first time that Israel was letting us in."
After 33 hours at sea, Liberty and Free Gaza became the first non‐Israeli vessels to sail into Gaza in
41 years. They received a raucous welcome from tens of thousands of cheering, flag‐waving locals
who eagerly ‐ and prematurely, as it turned out ‐ declared the siege had been broken. "We were ecstatic," Bowyer recalls. "I mean,
there we were in Gaza. It was utterly unbelievable ‐ everyone on the boats was in tears, even before we saw the local reception. Two years of grinding work had disappeared and suddenly every second had been worth it."
Despite the "all options" threat from the
Israeli Foreign Ministry, it seemed that wiser heads had prevailed in Jerusalem as the
boats neared Gaza.
The ministry spokesman, Aviv Shiron, said now, "They wanted provocation at
sea, but they won't get it. We know
who the passengers are and what they are bringing with them,
and so we have no problem letting them through."
The fgm immediately set about planning its
next voyages. First it had to sell the
two boats to clear its debts. Then, using a donated 20‐metre yacht named Dignity, it would make another four successful voyages. But on
December 30, 2008, as it tried to land doctors and
medical supplies during
Operation Cast Lead, a massive Israeli incursion into Gaza over
the 2008‐09 New Year period, Dignity
not only found its passage blocked by the Israeli Navy, it was rammed by warships and forced to limp to Lebanon for
The women retreated into
a series of workshops to discuss how best to mount effective missions
in the face of Israel's new‐found determination to
block the boats. Finally, they decided to up
the ante, opting to apply a force‐multiplier to Michael Shaik's
original idea: instead of dozens of activists, they would send hundreds;
instead of a solo FGM venture, they would pull together a
global coalition of Palestinian support
groups and sympathetic NGOs.
"More boats would mean more media, so
we fixed on a minimum of one cargo ship and two passenger boats," says Arraf. "And this time, the cargo would have to be real."
Arraf panhandled in 12 countries in late 2009, striking gold far away in Muslim Kuala Lumpur. Former prime
minister Mahathir bin Mohammad became an enthusiastic supporter, releasing a cascade of Malaysian money
that was enough for the FGM to buy Arraf's bottom‐line requirement of three boats: two 25‐metre ocean cruisers, Challenger I and Challenger II,
and a clapped‐out, 1200‐ tonne
freighter that would be renamed the Rachel Corrie as a tribute to the group's young ISM
colleague who'd died beneath an Israeli bulldozer.
Meanwhile, Renee Bowyer's new Tunisian
husband, Fathi Jaouadi ‐
the pair had met during the FGM's first triumphant
voyage ‐ had been dispatched to find other groups that might form a
coalition with the FGM. His first success, after more than
12 months of negotiation, was to bring
on board the Turkish humanitarian group IHH, which at that
time was having difficulty getting supplies for its aid projects in Gaza through the Israeli blockade. Bowyer outlines the snowball effect of the
Turks' decision. "Suddenly
we were believable to other groups in the Middle East and
in Europe," she says. Gradually, support grew
in Britain and Ireland, Greece and Sweden. NGOs in Algeria
and Kuwait put up
the funds for some of the relief cargo that would be transported to Gaza.
Bowyer hoped a flotilla might overwhelm the Israeli system, overstretch the capacity of its navy and, in the event of mass arrests, the capacity of its prisons. As the plan finally came together, it had
an impressive $US3.6‐million price tag.
Apart from 10,000 tonnes of building, medical, educational and
other supplies, on board would be dozens of
parliamentarians from around the world and professionals planning
to offer their services in Gaza.
All up there would be about 700
the bulk of whom would be Turkish Muslims on
board the big passenger ferry Mavi Marmara.
Again, there was a sense of being watched. An email Bowyer received might
have been nothing out of
the ordinary: "I'm on my way to Victoria Station. Will you meet me
there at such‐and‐such a time?" is how she paraphrased it. It came from her husband's email address and its
Arabic terms of endearment were his ‐ but Fathi Jaouadi had not sent it.
On May 28 this year, challenger i
and challenger ii eased away from Crete bound for an undisclosed point south of Cyprus, where the flotilla was to
assemble before setting a southerly course for Gaza. With the exception of Bowyer, who was now six months pregnant with her second
child, all five of the women working in the Cyprus office of the FGM as the flotilla began the last leg of its journey were 65‐plus. There were the diehards, Berlin and Hughes‐Thompson, and 65‐year‐old Audrey Bomse,
who does most of FGM's legal work. The group had also
enlisted the help of 86‐year‐old Jewish activist Hedy Epstein.
Using their own satellite phones
and the bigger boats' communications systems, they chatted regularly with their FGM
colleagues aboard the flotilla
and relied on email and internet
telephony to stay in touch with colleagues and supporters around the world.
"We were chatting about the Israelis shadowing the boats, but not harassing them,"
recalls Hughes‐Thompson, who was
on the office's phones shortly after 4am on
May 31. "The contact person on each boat reported the presence
of the navy ships, choppers and what
seemed to be a drone overhead."
During the next hour, the women learnt that the Israeli commandos who'd rappelled down from the helicopters above the Mavi Marmara had killed nine Turkish activists on board the
ferry and wounded more than 50, before arresting almost 700 on
all six boats in the flotilla. As
the news trickled into the FGM office in Cyprus ‐ most of it sourced to Israeli outlets, but at times relayed by Shaik in Australia and
by others in the US ‐ the women
were devastated. "The reports
were horrifying," says Hughes‐Thompson. Adds
Berlin, "We had
expected violence like we
had had in [past encounters
with Israeli forces], but nine dead and 50 wounded just hadn't crossed our minds." Arraf was incredulous: "[Something as] violent as this? We didn't expect it. After the success of the early voyages, we became confident in what
we were doing ‐ and in how we were doing it. We tried as much as we could
to make it too costly for Israel to open fire. If they behaved aggressively, it would be horrible PR for Israel. I just didn't think they would do it."
It needs to be stated here that precisely what
happened on the Mavi Marmara is highly contested. There is footage of metal bars being cut by activists and seemingly wielded as weapons, of chairs
and other objects being hurled over the sides at Israeli
Zodiacs and of fire hoses being used as crude water cannons. But there is no visual evidence to support Israeli claims that the activists on the Mavi Marmara had their own guns or that they captured Israeli weapons and used them
against the boarding parties. All such
Israeli charges are flatly denied by flotilla organisers and by activists who were close to the action.
There is, on the other hand, footage of what appears to be Israeli commandos shooting an activist at
near point‐blank range and, later, autopsy accounts of head and other high‐on‐the‐body woundings
‐ the result of a resort to live
ammunition that Israel justified on the grounds there was a genuine threat
to the lives of its commandos.
Smarting from international condemnation as the wounded, dead and hundreds of pro‐Palestinian activists and other prisoners, including myself and Sydney Morning Herald photographer Kate Geraghty, were airlifted from Ben Gurion Airport by an enraged Turkish government, some in the Israeli establishment acknowledged the flotilla as a trap that
a wiser regime might have avoided. "Perhaps it was a mistake to storm the ships," deputy foreign minister
Danny Ayalon told the German magazine Der Spiegel.
How did the women deal with the
reality of nine freshly dug graves in Turkey and more than 50 families around the world preparing to receive flotilla
casualties in the days after the drama? "I think
..." Here Arraf pauses uncertainly. "A human life
is one of the most precious things ...
it is hard to say the loss of
any life for any cause is 'worth it'. But
so many more people are suffering and
dying [in Gaza] and nobody
says a thing. We know non‐ violent direct action is not safe. And we knew
we were exposing ourselves,
but this is a struggle for something bigger, without which there will be more and more death and suffering."
She makes no effort to dodge the uncomfortable
point she has made, fully understanding that it raises questions about the FGM's strategic foresight as
the flotilla was prepared. "There were a lot
of people on that boat," she begins. "FGM took
basic responsibility for providing training for all the other boats
in Athens and Crete, but we didn't do the Turkish boats. We
talked with IHH about the need to train people, but they said they would
handle it themselves ... The people on the Marmara did not get direct training like that received by people
on the other boats ... but I
reject the notion of pre‐planned violence."
She pauses. "The loss of
nine lives is not going to stop us,"
she says. "What Israel has done has made the flotilla a success. People in the
West Bank and elsewhere keep telling me that what we
achieved has not been done before in
Palestinian history. There
are floods of calls from people wanting to send boats and to
be on boats and we're still
trying to access this new energy
as we study our next moves. We'll be back."
Name: Greta Berlin
Home: Cote d'Azur, France
Work: Owns a consultancy, teaching scientists how to design and deliver technical presentations. First awareness: "I married a Palestinian and have two Palestinian/American kids."
Became hooked: "When my daughter was
refused entry to Gaza in 1997,
and the death of
Mohammed Al‐Dura in front of news
cameras on September 30, 2000."
died at Netzarim Junction, Gaza,
in his father's arms after being shot by the Israel Defence Forces.)
Name: Mary Hughes‐Thompson
Home: Los Angeles, California Nationality: British‐American dual
citizen Work: TV production and
First awareness: Researching "Nasser v
Ben Gurion", an episode of the 1960s documentary TV
series Men in Crisis.
Became hooked: After the death of Mohammed
Al‐Dura, "I decided I should go to Palestine to witness the situation
I met Huwaida Arraf and was greatly
inspired by her youth and courage."
Name: Sharyn Lock
Home: West Yorkshire, UK Nationality: Australian
Work: Community worker and student midwife
"A Jewish friend first sent me
to Palestine after
she and other mates returned with good reports of volunteering with the
Became hooked: "When I was shot
in the West Bank. Apart from me, the hospital
ICU was virtually empty because
after an incursion the Israeli army would not let ambulances collect wounded Palestinians." Name: Renee Bowyer
(now Jaouadi) Age: 35
Home: Hertfordshire, UK Nationality: Australian Work: Teacher
First awareness: "The Arab/Israeli conflict is taught
in high schools and universities [and] the Israeli
side of the story is in front of you all
the time. The Palestinian story was a mystery but, to me,
Became hooked: "During a
week I spent living in a West Bank village
in 2004, the house next door was attacked. I witnessed the killing of three
men, the escape of one and the demolition of the family home."
FGM movers & shakers
Name: Huwaida Arraf
Home: Ramallah, West Bank Nationality: American and Palestinian with Israeli citizenship"
First awareness: Life‐long
Became hooked: "It's part of me."
Name: Michael Shaik
Home: Melbourne, Australia
Work: Department of Defence public servant turned full‐time advocate for Australians for Palestine. First awareness: "My mother read a lot of Leon Uris and was very pro‐Israel, and I absorbed many of
But then I watched a documentary on ABC TV: it seemed obvious
why the Palestinians were fighting back."
Became hooked: "It was gradual. Working in the West Bank in 2003 as the ISM media co‐ordinator, it began to sink in that real people were
being killed and having their houses demolished. The real turning point was the death of Rachel Corrie."