Join us as we take you through what it means to work for Salford City Council
Salford as a city has changed dramatically in recent years and now is Salford’s time!
Salford is growing and it’s an exciting time to join us. More people than ever are choosing Salford as a place to live, work, invest and visit and we really are transforming into a modern, global city. Unprecedented private and public investment over the last ten years, including internationally recognised regeneration around MediaCityUK, has transformed Salford from its post-industrial roots. Salford’s economy is growing well above regional and national averages and is outperforming both London and Manchester to become the UK’s hot spot for new business in district sectors, with a digital and creative hub.
We know that we will have 40,000 new jobs and 40,000 new homes by 2040 and we already have one of the youngest and fastest growing populations in Greater Manchester. Salford is the home of MediaCityUK and the BBC and also the site of the fifth National RHS garden, Bridgewater. With a developing strong cultural and visitor offer, a rich heritage, waterside attractions and huge swathes of beautiful green spaces, the city truly has an impressive offer.
Here at Salford we are people focused and values based. Our people are at the heart of delivering the council’s priorities for the city. I’m passionate about putting our people first and giving all colleagues the skills and support they need to develop and succeed within our values based, diverse and inclusive organisation.
The Spirit of Salford is tangible and our values of pride, passion, people and personal responsibility capture this spirit and expectations of the city and they inform the way we operate. These values also underpin our leadership framework which sets out the skills and behaviours required of our leaders in Salford.
Here you’ll find an overview of what we offer as an organisation in recognition of the brilliant work our people do and for their commitment to our city and it’s people.
Chief Executive, Salford City Council
Although every day is different we all come to work for the same thing, to achieve our vision ‘to create a better and fairer Salford and provide the best possible quality of life for the people of the city.”
Our City Mayor has set out this vision with a clear set of priorities called the ‘Great Eight’. Whatever role we have, we’re all here to make that vision a reality. This vision gives our people direction and a shared sense of purpose.
Salford is a place for everyone to thrive – a place where everyone cares and everyone counts.
We have eight priorities.
Here at Salford we are people focused and values based. The Spirit of Salford is tangible and our values of pride, passion, people and personal responsibility capture this spirit and expectations of the city and they inform the way we operate. They influence our choices, behaviours and how we make decisions and transform services.
Living the values day in and day out creates a supportive environment which allows us 'to be the best we can be' and achieve our vision.
The Spirit of Salford represents our culture, our social conscience and pride – our organisation is about people and the communities that we serve.
We are renowned for our resilience and coping positively with change, we make the most of opportunities.
We live and breathe our values in everything we do.
Our annual employee awards recognise our people for living our values day in and day out, we also recognise our manager, team and employee of the year.
We also recognise our colleagues who’ve been with us for 25 years.
Our people are at the heart of delivering our vision for ‘a better and fairer Salford for all’.
Salford is a place for everyone to thrive – a place where everyone cares and everyone counts and we are committed to creating 'a great place to work.
Every person is different but equal, and everyone’s unique talent should be recognised and encouraged.
We are committed to developing a culture which respects individuals, appreciates difference and allows everyone regardless of background to reach their full potential.
We work closely with our established employee network groups (BME, Equal in Salford and LGBT) to make positive changes. We are proud to be an accredited disability confident employer and we are working with Stonewall, Europe’s largest, lesbian, gay, bi and trans charity to create a truly inclusive workplace.
We are also prioritising engagement with our working carers and are in the process of setting up a carers network and piloting a carers passport to support our employees to balance work and caring responsibilities.
We have also committed to the Greater Manchester Workforce Race Equality Standard which is a collaboration of public sector employers across the Greater Manchester working together to tackle race inequality in the workplace.
At Salford, we believe in paying a fair wage, not a minimum wage. That’s why we were the first council in Greater Manchester to pay the full foundation living wage and to be accredited as a foundation living wage employer.
Jobs are graded based on the requirements of the role. Each grade has a number of levels which you will move up each April until you reach the top.
When you join you will be enrolled into the Local Government Pension scheme, some people will be eligible for different schemes. This has some great benefits including tax relief on the contributions you pay, the option to exchange part of your pension for a tax free cash lump sum, and immediate valuable lump sum life cover. The amount you contribute depends on how much you are paid. For more information go to the Greater Manchester Pension Fund website.
We have lots of different types of job at Salford – some require fixed start and finish times, some with different shift patterns to cover 24/7 services and some where there is more flexibility in how you work.
We offer flexible working depending on the role that you do, we understand the importance of flexing to meet the needs of our people who can’t work a traditional nine to five. We are happy to talk flexible working with you and support you where we can.
know how hard it is to juggle caring for a loved one with work so we aim to provide support and flexibility to balance caring responsibilities with work.
With the introduction of our [My]Work programme we are working ‘to empower and enable our people to be smarter in how we work whilst maintaining a healthy work life balance’.
How we work is changing with a shift from traditional office based working, work is no longer just somewhere we go, it’s about what we do, what we achieve and the outcomes we deliver. We want to be able to provide quicker, easier and better services to our residents and support our people to be efficient, productive and effective in their role.
Working here you’ll get up to 33 days holiday a year (plus bank holidays).
You can carry annual leave forward from one year to the next, or alternatively you can bank up to five days a year from your entitlement so you can save your holidays for that extra special trip.
You can also buy additional leave and spread the costs throughout the financial year.
To support you to deal with family related matters or emergencies we offer a whole range of support such as parental leave, maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, carers leave and special leave.
As an environmentally responsible organisation we are a bronze carbon literate organisation and, through our carbon management programme, have made an overall CO2 reduction in our operations of 42% (2007-2017). We encourage all of our people to make green travel choices and are striving to transition all of our business travel over to sustainable travel options.
Rather than using your own vehicle to travel on council business, you’ll be automatically registered to join our car club scheme.
We have a fleet of low-emission cars through Co-Wheels, a community interest company. Cars can be booked online or through a smartphone and each has a fuel card, so you just get in and drive. You automatically become a Co-Wheels member for personal use as well as business use, so you can take advantage of some really cheap car hire rates over the weekend or in the evening. Cars are available across Salford so there should always be one near you. Just hire it when you need it and return it when you’re done.
The council has teamed up with Tusker who offer new cars in exchange for some of your salary. The way it works is similar to the Cycle to Work scheme where employees swap some of their salary in return for being given the keys to a new car. It’s a great way for anyone to afford and run a new car and save some money at the same time. The car benefit scheme is all inclusive – the monthly amount you pay includes replacement tyres, car insurance, servicing, MOT, road tax, repair bills and breakdown cover, so there’s absolutely nothing for you to worry about, other than adding fuel.
At Salford, we want to do what we can to help reduce pollution. We also want our workforce to be happy and healthy. That’s why we encourage cycling to work. You can use our salary sacrifice, cycle to work scheme to choose a bike from one of over 2,000 retailers nationwide, making big savings on the original cost. We have showers and drying cabinets for your clothes, lockers and covered bike racks.
We believe that learning and development is really important so we offer opportunities from as soon as you start your journey with us to support you to learn, grow and develop. Talk to your manager to create your own personal development plan.
If you are joining us in a leadership role we will support you to develop the skills, knowledge, and confidence to lead highly committed, motivated teams and be a values based leader.
We understand how important continuous leadership development is, as soon as you join us you will work with your manager who will support you to create a development plan which will enable you to succeed.
In Salford we want all individuals and teams to benefit from excellent leadership. This is where our leadership behaviours and our #Leading Salford development programme comes into play. The framework sets out what great leadership looks like in Salford and the learning you can access to develop the skills and behaviours to successfully lead our people.
When you join us you will be supported to attend:
Our management essentials programme to help you develop the practical knowledge you will need to lead in our organisation, understand how we do things and help with the ‘I don’t know, what I don’t know‘ feeling when you first start.
The #LeadingSalford leadership development programme which is based on our leadership behaviours. The four master classes will help you develop the skills, knowledge, and confidence to meet the expectations that we have of our Salford leaders.
You will also be offered the opportunity to gain a relevant leadership qualification (at either level 3, 5, 6 or 7). This qualification will be delivered through an apprenticeship programme.
Apprenticeships have changed a great deal over recent years they’re now for people of any age and at any stage of their career who want to further develop their skills and knowledge and gain a qualification which go all the way up to postgraduate level.
We don’t believe in traditional annual appraisals – instead we have something called a PDR (Professional Development Review) to help you and your manager to talk about you, your achievements, your challenges, and most importantly, your future career aspirations and development needs.
This isn’t a one off it’s part of a continuing conversation with your manager. We place equal value on how our people behave as well as technical ability this discuss is also about making sure that how you approach your work aligns with our values of Pride, Passion, People and Personal Responsibility.
Apprenticeships have changed a great deal over recent years they’re now for people of any age and at any stage of their career who want to further develop their skills and knowledge and gain a qualification! These qualifications go all the way up to postgraduate qualifications.
An apprenticeship is a work-based learning programme which enables you to develop the valuable skills, knowledge and behaviours you need for a specific job role and to progress in your chosen career.
Our Me Learning e-learning site contains over 180 topics, which are available to all Salford City Council employees. It is easy to use and you can access it anytime, anywhere; you can even complete it at home if you wish! The site also contains resources such as user guides and information sheets on a wider range of topics.
24 Hours to Make a Difference is our employer supported volunteering scheme which allows our people to take up to 24 hours out of work time to give something back to Salford through volunteering. You can take up to 24 hours paid time off during your normal working week to volunteer.
Our commitment is to increase volunteering in Salford, give you the opportunity to inspire, be inspired and learn, grow and develop as a result.
Salford is aiming to become a Digital City, an ambition which forms part of our wider vision for a better, fairer Salford to improve resident’s lives.
We are strongly committed to digital inclusion - making sure that residents have the capability to use the internet to do things that benefit them day to day.
We have developed various innovative initiatives to ensure everyone gets the most out of digital technology, one of which is Digital You, an ambitious plan to get almost 8,000 of the most vulnerable and digitally excluded residents online by 2020.
We also want to ensure that we have a digitally inclusive workplace where all of our people have the skills and capabilities to thrive. In partnership with Barclays Bank, we are supporting a good cross section of our workforce to become Salford Digital Eagles to help fellow colleagues and residents become comfortable and confident operating online.
This approach has established itself as one of the most successful mechanisms to grow digital skills capabilities across the organisation. Over 300 active Eagles are blazing a trail to support their colleagues and residents to become comfortable and confident online.
The Eagle role has constantly evolved and we are now aligning our Digital Eagles programme and our Eagles as a key enabler to support our new Digital Skills Academy.
The Academy is bringing key partners and digital programmes together to develop a digital skills development pathway for our whole workforce to develop their essential workplace digital skills and then move beyond this to develop more comprehensive workplace skills.
We recognise and positively support the principles of collective engagement, consultation and bargaining and promote trade union membership. We believe that a truly representative and effective trade union relationship supports employee engagement and enhances workforce employee relations. We enjoy a positive & constructive working relationship with the recognised trade unions, in which all parties are committed to working together and our trade union stewards are also part of our Salford 100!
There is an established framework within which council officers and trade unions can make a positive contribution and establish good working relationships to support good employee relations, encourage workforce development and facilitate local resolution of potential disagreements. Trade union support is also available to individual members including representation as required.
Our approach to change is built around the principles of co-design with our people and our local stewards are encouraged to be actively involved throughout all stages from planning through to implementation.
The council works with the trade unions on collective matters via a joint secretary arrangement; the current joint trade union side secretary is the UNISON branch secretary.
As an organisation we foster a spirit of trust, empowerment, openness and co-operation with all of our employees putting people at the heart of everything we do. We aim to give a voice to and listen to our people by effectively communicating and engaging with all of our employees.
The Salford 100 is a key element of our approach to employee engagement with the purpose of providing a platform to engage employees in early and creative dialogue to co-design workforce initiatives to make Salford an even greater place to work. An approach that reflects our organisational approach to co-design.
Wellbeing is really important to us and we strive to support the health and wellbeing of our people, by:
We offer reduced membership at Salford Community Leisure centres. With our partners we organise hundreds of events, activities and benefits for you every year.
We run a number of events such as free guided walks, support national focus weeks and provide advice online always focusing on your health and wellbeing supporting you to move more, talk more and live well.


May 3, 2017
What can be done in a single 24 hour period? According to
movies, quite a bit! That's the theme behind this latest
episode of The Deucecast Movie Show, where Mikey, Pinky and Dave
take on movies that take place in a day.
And who else would be in the pretentious corner but Brie Lover
(both the cheese, Alison and Larsen)
, Wit Stillman Fan,
Terrance Malick Apologist, Film Historian and (insert medical
ologist, Dr Earl!
First, the birthday movies for May, not only celebrating five years
since Pinky's graduation, but also movies like The Avengers, Star
Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Smokey & the Bandit and of
course, American Ninja 2: The Confrontation. And, of course,
The War Wagon.
The IMDb game makes a return with several actors & actresses and
their film listings. Can you guess before the guys do?
Then, single day films, all with limited storytelling... everything
from a classic western to a classic courtroom drama to going to see
a dead body to a Samuel L. Jackson monologue for the ages to a
group of detention students to a terrorizing truck to Tom Hardy's
face for 90 minutes to a September 11th narrative to a Manhattan
prison to the Nakatomi Plaza... and more.
A discussion on the Stephen King Universe... in-depth look at the
New Brat Pack masterpiece Flatliners... a look at Northern
Exposure... Dave rails on Ferris Bueller again (sigh) and a glance
at the film career of Lumi Cavazos and a look at the films of


text:
Jeff Sagarin has been crunching sports numbers for USA Today since 1985 — or two years after he last entered an NCAA tournament pool. Yet the memory of that last busted bracket remains fresh for Mr. Sagarin — a reminder that luck bedevils any statistical sports prediction.
For four straight years, Mr. Sagarin used his personal team ratings to fill out brackets in a contest at a watering hole (the now-defunct Peanut Barrel bar) in his hometown of Bloomington, Ind. And for four straight years, he finished second and out of the money. In the second year, a 49-foot buzzer-beater to upset the defending champs proved Mr. Sagarin’s undoing. But the final straw came two years later, when he needed heavily favored Houston to beat North Carolina State in the final to clinch the pool. Before the game, his competitor for the prize offered to split the $650 pot so they could enjoy the game. He declined. “At halftime I was crying in my beer,” he told me. N.C. State won, 54-52, a game that 25 years later is still commonly considered one of the biggest upsets in tournament history.
Mr. Sagarin related that story in response to my request for him to participate in a Numbers Guy NCAA contest. I’ve asked several prominent college-basketball number-crunchers to submit their brackets, based entirely on their algorithm of choice. These are analysts who eschew rooting interest, anecdotal evidence, uniform colors and mascots in favor of statistical measures such as points per possession and strength of schedule. After the first two rounds end Sunday, with 48 of the tournament’s 63 games played, I’ll compare their brackets for accuracy, and also stack them up against the consensus judgments of the millions of bracket pickers on sites such as ESPN and SportsLine.
Several people I approached agreed to participate even while lodging reservations about the sample size of a single tournament, when luck can derail the best formula. “We’re staking our reputation on a sample size of 48 games here,” Tom Federico, who helps run TeamRankings.com, told me. “Luck could crown or skewer us in the public eye… That said, we are in, I can’t resist a competition of nerds.” As for Mr. Sagarin, he also agreed to participate, despite that painful memory.
What do you think? What’s the best algorithm for picking a bracket? Who will win, the number crunchers or the supposedly wise crowds? Is this an adequate test, or do we need a bigger sample size to sort out luck? Please let me know in the comments.
Further reading: Mr. Sagarin was the subject of a front-page Wall Street Journal article in 2005 for his campaign to bring Indiana into Central Time. I wrote about Accuscore, another entrant in the contest, before the Super Bowl. Want to see how various numerical prediction schemes do? This Web site tracks their accuracy. Such formulas didn’t figure in two of the most accurate brackets on popular sports sites last year. If you want to try your hand at NCAA forecasting, enter WSJ.com’s Daily Fix contest.

domain: news


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The father of a Pace University football star shot and killed by police is calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct its own investigation, saying the probe launched by state and local police is flawed.
“We have to make sure we get the truth,” Danroy Henry Sr. of Easton, Mass., said in an interview with MyFoxBoston.com
A lawyer for the Henry family fired off a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday, saying it has “become painfully clear that the investigation is fatally flawed and that an independent investigation is required to insure that the truth about what happened is determined and revealed.”
Danroy Henry Jr., who played wide receiver and defensive back for the Pace University football team, was shot and killed by police more than a week ago outside Finnegan’s Grill in Thornwood, N.Y.
Police were reportedly called to the bar at around 1:20 a.m. on Oct. 17 after an unruly crowd had gathered outside.
Police said that when they knocked on the window of Henry’s vehicle, which was parked in a fire lane, the 20-year-old student accelerated, striking a police officer. Henry struck a second officer who tried to stop it, police have alleged.
Both officers then reportedly fired at the car, killing Henry and wounding a passenger.
The Mount Pleasant Police Department and New York State police have since investigated the incident, interviewing numerous witnesses who provided more than one version of the deadly confrontation.

domain: law


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760 828 4287
San Diego International: 20M
Villa L'Auberge is located on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean in the beautiful village of Del Mar. Private balconies offer an expansive view from every suite. Located on the grounds on the Inn L'Auberge Hotel, the Villas enjoy use of the Inn's many amenities such as the health club, pool, lap pool, spa and tennis courts.
Your vacation home features all the subdued luxury of Del Mar in a plush, one-bedroom suite. All you have to do is step onto your private balcony to enjoy the ocean views. There's no need for air conditioning here - simply open the French doors to welcome the gentle breeze. Each rental comes with a fireplace, perfect for winter nights and all units are non-smoking. Come experience the tranquility and exclusive ambiance of this beloved Del Mar resort neighboring the village. The property is just a block from the beach, offering breathtaking views of the sun setting over the ocean each night.
From the sparkling pool to the sun-drenched rooms, everything at Villa L'Auberge reflects the tranquility of the California coast. Retreat to this seaside haven to enjoy sunbathing and swimming complemented by sweeping ocean views. The racetrack and many of San Diego's finest restaurants are nearby. One of the best features of Villa L'Auberge is its location. Walk west for sandy beaches and east for village shops and restaurants. Del Mar is almost exactly halfway in between downtown San Diego and Carlsbad, making the resort an ideal home base for exploring.
Villa L'Auberge awaits your visit - serene, comfortable and very laid-back, California style.n
No Air Conditioning
Balcony or Patio
Fully Equipped Kitchen
Tea/Coffee Making Facilities
King Sized Bed in Master Bedroom
Sofa Sleeper in Living Room
One assigned parking space per villa
No Elevators- must be able to climb stairs
Coffee & Gift Shop
Heated Swimming Pool - Outdoor
Restaurant and Lounge
Outdoor Tennis Courts
No Daily Maid Service
Non Smoking Property
5 Minute Walk to Beach
3 Miles from Torrey Pines State Reserve
Nearby Del Mar Fairgrounds
Beginning 12/23/20 :
There is a $30 resort fee charge per night upon checkout, plus any applicable taxes.
No Smoking and no pets are allowed
Guests must check-in at the main Hotel check-in area to receive keys and a parking pass to Villa L'Auberge.
There is an age requirement of at least 21 years of age to book and check-in at the resort.
Minimum 1 Guest Over 21 for Check-In, No Pets Allowed*, No Smoking Allowed*, Parking Available*
Pets are not permitted at the resort or in any unit or common area. Emotional support or comfort animals are considered pets, and are not permitted on resort property. A fee of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) may be charged by the resort for each night in violation of this policy. Failure to comply may also result in the owner, renter, or guest being required to vacate the resort with no refund.
Common Area Accessibility Features
Accessible Public Restroom (in Lobby of L’Auberge Hotel)
Accessible Registration Transaction Counter (in L’Auberge Hotel)
Accessible Fitness Center by Elevator (in L’Auberge Hotel)
Accessible Outdoor Pool and Spa With Lifts for Access (in L’Auberge Hotel)
Outdoor Patio Areas With Accessible Routes and Surfaces (in L’Auberge Hotel)
Guest Room Accessibility Features
Closed Captioning Television

domain: travel


15 years of Facebook
Facebook celebrates its 15th birthday this year.
The social media platform has changed the way that many people interact and use the Internet in general. But could there be a successor to Facebook?
The video and subsequent research by students into different forms of new media could be used within the Media unit.


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Then there is his notoriously garbled syntax. Yet undaunted by his questionable communication skills, Prescott set out this week to argue for regional devolution across the north of England.
There could hardly be a worse time to launch this charm offensive. The government's first problem is that it is pushing for a "yes" vote on the new regional assemblies without being clear what powers they will have.
Prescott suggests that the advisory role envisaged in an earlier white paper should be extended to real powers over transport and jobs, but details are sketchy at this stage.
However, his further difficulty is that many residents already fear that the assemblies will undermine local democracy by removing strategic decisions to a remote regional tier. He will also struggle to overcome the impression that these bodies will be little more than expensive talking shops as long as the Treasury retains a tight grip on finances. If governments, whether local or regional, lack tax-raising powers they also lack credibility.
That said, the case for an assembly becomes much more persuasive when you consider that Greater Manchester, for example, has a bigger economy than Greece or Portugal. Yet financial rigour matters more than size.
Opponents of devolution need only point to the own goal of the Scottish parliament, which went disastrously over budget on a new building by 1,000 per cent, to cause irreparable damage to the concept.


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The two levels here can carry you from an early dinner through the wee hours. Go downstairs for a fine meal of local standbys such as salmon, steak, venison or lamb, with homemade bread. Franz Josef is small enough to walk from most accommodations to dinner, but if you did want a courtesy car, these people have a stretch hummer available. Upstairs there's a bar where you can order a pizza and a beer and rack up at the free pool table. This place goes late, and thus becomes the town's late-night party spot during the tourist season.
South end of Main Rd., Franz Josef, West Coast, 7856, New Zealand

domain: food


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I was a wee 5 year old lassie when I plopped into my sister’s room and announced with all the fervor a little kid can muster- “I’m borrrrrreeedd!”
Huge thanks to my sister for not kicking me out the door on sight. I woulda done that to me if I was 5, so there must surely be a big vault of patience that you have. Somewhere. It’s hidden with your stash of hazelnut coffee creamer.
So, like any good bookdragon studying for dear life older sister, mine grabbed an old Abeka Book literature reader- those thin fourth grade ones- and told me to finish them off.
And thus, I was drawn into the wonderful, beautiful world of stories.
Man, that last sentence was really poetic. 😛
I soon discovered that if I read for too long, I would get something akin to a headache slash high. I became addicted to books. 😛 That particular reader would be devoured over, and over, and over, and over, and over again for months to come. And then another reader. And another. In fact, I snatched every single Abeka Book reader and ended up stashing them on my bunk so I could read it at well. The internet was unknown at that time. 😛 Mom didn’t like that I was reading outta my grade level.. which I can’t really blame for, because I got ahold of the BJU Literature books and was trying to figure my way through Treasure Island.
Also happened to be eight at the time. 😛
Around my 150th time re-reading the Abeka reads- lo, and behold, the stories are actually snippets from BOOKS.
I had to know more.
I think in the process, my sister’s library card had fees ranking in the $5s… hehe. But if she had a problem with it, she never mentioned it- always bringing out other stories for me to devour when I was done one.
It was through my sister I discovered the beautiful world of Narnia (note: Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe will keep kids entertained for HOURS. Hence how me and one of my best irl friends are still in the Narnia fandom- when you’ve started at the tender age of 3, you’re in for life!) I found myself enamored with Little Women and Little House On The Prarie- I could and would and have and will read those books so many times until the covers fell apart- they were portals to worlds, and my imagination was the sweetest ride there. I practically squealed when I found out the Avengers first came from comic books- “IT’S A BOOK IT’S A BOOK”. But that’s for another post.
The point of all this?
Sometimes we forget the people who start us off on paths that kinda really do change our lives, and books.. stories.. for all the hype they get, they’re kinda underrated.
So thanks Ates. 🙂
Also this is the rather long intro the video below which explains everything I’m too lazy to type. 😛
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a book to read.
And you should go read one too, y’know. 😉

domain: literature


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The documents containing suspicious activity reports (SARs) which filed by banks and other financial institutions with the United States (US) Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) were leaked to media on Sunday (20 Sept), revealing how some of the biggest banks in the world facilitated the movement of “dirty money” from country to country.
The SARs, known as the FinCEN files, contained information about transactions that worth more than US$2 trillion (S$2.7 trillion) dated between 1999 and 2017 which were flagged by internal compliance departments of financial institutions as suspicious.
FinCEN is a bureau of the US Department of the Treasury that collects and analyses information on financial transactions to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes.
The files were said to have more than 2,100 suspicious activity reports, which are not necessarily proof of wrongdoing. BuzzFeed News obtained the SARs and shared with the International Consortium of Investigate Journalists (ICIJ) and other media organisations.
ICIJ highlighted that the US$2 trillion in suspicious transactions filed in the documents “is just a drop in a far larger flood of dirty money gushing through banks around the world”.
“The FinCEN Files represent less than 0.02% of the more than 12 million suspicious activity reports that financial institutions filed with FinCEN between 2011 and 2017.”
According to the report, five global banks that appeared most in the documents were HSBC, JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered and Bank of New York Mellon.
Other banks include United Overseas Bank (UOB), CIMB Bank, and DBS Bank.
The SARs also revealed that JPMorgan, which based in the US, moved money for individuals and companies tied to “massive looting of public funds” in Malaysia, Venezuela and Ukraine, said ICIJ.
“The bank moved more than $1 billion for the fugitive financier behind Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal, the records show, and more than $2 million for a young energy mogul’s company that has been accused of cheating Venezuela’s government and helping cause electrical blackouts that crippled large parts of the country.”
ICIJ also reported that banks in the FinCEN files often processed transactions to companies registered “in so-called secrecy jurisdictions” without knowing the ultimate owner of the account.
“At least 20% of the reports contained a client with an address in one of the world’s top offshore financial havens, the British Virgin Islands, while many others provided addresses in the UK, the US, Cyprus, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Switzerland,” it said.
HSBC declined to comment on suspicious activity reporting, saying that ICIJ’s information is “historic and predates” the end of its five-year deferred prosecution deal.
“Since 2012, HSBC has embarked on a multi-year journey to overhaul its ability to combat financial crime across more than 60 jurisdictions,” it said in a statement to CNBC.
While Standard Chartered noted that it takes responsibility to fight financial crime “extremely seriously” and have invested substantially in its compliance programmes.
HSBC shares in Hong Kong dropped by 4.4 per cent to HK$29.60 this morning, while Standard Chartered tumbled 3.8 per cent to HK$35.80.


The L-1 (Ë-1) or UR500K-L1 (ÓÐ500K-Ë1) program was intended for manned flyaround of the moon. The program took place in 1965-1970. The main purpose of the program was to ensure the priority of the Soviet Union by the first manned mission to the moon. But the goal was not achieved. The lunar spacecraft was developed on basis of Soyuz 7K-OK and was designated as 7K-L1, the designation 11F91 (11Ô91) was used for it as well. An unmanned version of the space vehicle, which was officially called Zond (with Zond-4 spacecraft), was designed to perform flight tests.
The 7K-L1 vehicle was designed to perform manned flyaround of the moon by two cosmonauts. Development of 7K-Ë1 vehicle began at construction department-1 in the 2nd half of 1965 under the leadership of S.P. Korolev, in 1966 it was carried out under the leadership of V.P. Mishin. The spacecraft had to be launched on the moon flyaround trajectory using Proton four-stage rocket. Initial mass of the spacecraft was strictly limited by 5,2 tons because of constraints imposed on Proton launch vehicle. Therefore, the spacecraft did not have habitation module and consisted of descent module and instrument-assembly compartment. Cosmonauts had to perform spaceflight onboard vehicle without spacesuits, but wearing flight suits.
Launch of 7K-L1 manned spacecraft and flyaround of the moon was initially planned to be performed in June, 1967 at a year of 50-th anniversary of Soviet power. Before that it was planned to perform 2-3 unmanned successful spaceflights. Launch of manned spacecraft was continually postponed (last time is was planned to be performed in April, 1970, by 100-th anniversary of V.I. Lenin) due to large number of failures of the launch vehicle and malfunctions occurred in the systems of the vehicles during test flights in unmanned mode.
Three crews were completely trained to accomplish the mission:
1 - Leonov-Makarov,
2 - Bykovskiy – Rukavishnikov,
3 - Popovich-Sevastyanov.
However, in January, 1970, the program was closed. The main reason was the fact that the priority of the first flight to the moon by the Soviet Union had been lost (in December, 1968, U.S. astronauts on board Apollo 8 performed the first flight to the moon in the world). In total, 11 7K-L1 unmanned vehicles were launched in terms of flight development test program. 4 of them did not reach the Earth orbit due to failure of the launch vehicle, 4 spacecrafts performed flyaround of the moon. One spacecraft was not launched in July, 1968 due to failure of D unit during prelaunch preparation of the booster.


text:
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domain: artistic


text:
Whilst Dee and Jules play videogames downstairs, I sit in a beanbag in my makerspace and contemplate the various hardware projects that I would like to complete over the next couple of years.
On Tuesday night we finished our Real Ale Trail cruise and got a t-shirt each, woo-hoo!
It all started because a guy that Dee works with is stranded in London thanks to volcanic ash — Ivan, from the Ukraine, who is here with his girlfriend Natalie. We met them after work at a nearby place called “The Ship”, thinking we could get at least one more stamp on our Ale Trail map thing. Ivan and Natalie are lovely, friendly and funny (although I feel sorry for them trying to understand our Aussie accents).
After one relaxing ale at “The Ship”, we headed to “The Walrus And Carpenter” near the Monument (and my old office). One more ale to try, one more stamp and we had our t-shirts!! Sure, size XL (all they claimed they had left), fairly thin and crappy but that’s not the point! Unfortunately “The Walrus” was a bit more “tourist” so after our final drinks we left — I wanted to show our Ukrainian friends the boat…
…which was gone! Some time in the past months it had unmoored and sailed off into the distance — I want to believe it is now off the coast of France, serving ice-cold beer to locals and francophiles alike. We wandered around, ate some dinner near Tower Hill, and said goodbye to Ivan and Natalie. Happy travels, guys!
Of course, somewhere in the whole evening (a school night, no less!) I’d signed us up for our second mission: 7 cocktails at a Gothic club near Marble Arch would get us more tourist swag … how could I say no?
We started our Saturday sharing a nice lunch at Northbank on the Thames with Chris and Tina. I had a so-called “fish pie”, which turned out to be a whole bunch of seafood in a delicious, thick broth served in a little clay pot. Great food, great company, a bright sunny day — time to break out the champagne! A couple of glasses and we’d convinced Chris and Tina to come along to the Gothic club (it was only 3 in the afternoon, mind you). I figured we could have two cocktails each and share whatever goodies we “won”.
I’d half-assed organised a few others for the Gothic place, too, including Troy and his friends (it was Troy’s idea in the first place, as I recall) so you can imagine my disappointment when we arrived to find that the Marlborough Arms was now a G.E.P. — Generic English Pub. So boring! So tame! So lame! With a fading champagne-buzz I ordered Jagerbombs for Chris and I, at which the bartender giggled, “Bit early for that innit??” No, madam, it’s not too early if you plan to be in bed by 9 o’clock at night. We’re old, we are.
Luckily they served Innis & Gunn, brewed in Edinburgh and a particular favourite of mine when we lived up that way. We chatted, argued, laughed and blamed Troy for the lameness of the venue as more and more people turned up. Research is key, I think.
As the afternoon became evening, our crowd dissipated and disappeared back towards their own homes. Dee and I said our fond farewells and I headed with the few “hardcore party people” (ha!) towards a birthday party at The Porterhouse. Jon was turning, er, thirty maybe? Ken and I had a (big blue) cocktail each — the Goth-turned-GEP bar didn’t even have a menu — before switching to a NZ beer called Speights. Many hours flew by and I meet a whole bunch of new people, none of whom I can now remember.
It was a long walk back from Covent Garden. I didn’t make it to bed by 9pm after all.
(Edit: I’ve “back-posted” this, as I haven’t actually written anything for over a month. But hey, only 15 working days left until we’re on the long way home!)

domain: geography


text:
We are seeking a Process Engineer – Linear Programming (LP) Engineer to join Operation Engineering Division of Jazan Refinery Complex.
The operation engineering division is responsible provide high value engineering support for Jazan Refinery Complex targeting safe, optimum, efficient, and reliable performance and maximizing profitability
The LP Engineer primary role is to provide engineering technical support to Jazan Utility facilities.
As the successful candidate you will have the following:
Bachelor degree in chemical engineering from a recognized and approved program.
9 years’ experience in all aspects of the operations value chain – through refinery processing facilities to the final blended product sales and distribution and feedstock imports and logistics.
Familiarity with production planning & optimization engineering roles.
Thorough knowledge of engineering practices and economic principles, calculation methods, design details and international Standards and Specifications.
Experience in refinery business analysis, economics & scheduling and well familiar with linear programming. A background in petrochemicals, such as aromatic process, is preferred.
Ability to handle the production budget, production plans and production schedules with feedstock, intermediate and final product inventory planning and forecasting.
Ability to lead & develop the Production Planner and Scheduler to perform their duties & deliver their required outputs to deliver economic optimum plans for the refinery operations
Understanding of the Refinery facilities; their physical and operational constraints and identifying and leveraging the main economic drivers to maximize to gross refinery margin across the whole value chain.
Duties & Responsibilities:
You will be required to perform the following:
Report on weekly & monthly basis production/business performance and measurements.
Ensure adherence to production schedules, plans & budget to derive actual vs planned and deviations and highlight recommendations to address/mitigate the associated gaps.
Update/upgrade the LP model and implement MBO (Multi Blend Optimiser) for blend and product movement scheduling.
Lead determination of production incident losses for insurance.
Ensure and maintain a planning and optimization focus and presence within production, process and maintenance activities.

domain: economics


Archive for the ‘Non-fiction’ Category
The launch of Penny Siopis: Time and Again at The Book Lounge offered fans of the internationally acclaimed artist some rare insight into her work.
Siopis was in conversation with Ernestine White, the curator of her most recent retrospective exhibition at the Iziko’s South African National Gallery, and the audience was held spellbound.
Penny Siopis: Time and Again, edited by Gerrit Olivier, is a collection of essays by leading artists, academics and cultural commentators on the artist and her contribution to South African art. Contributors include Achille Mbembe, Alessandra de Angelis, Colin Richards, Gerrit Olivier, Griselda Pollock, Jennifer Law, Njabulo S Ndebele, Penny Siopis, Sarah Nuttall, TJ Demos and William Kentridge.
The conversation ranged across many fascinating topics, covering the practical process of making art with an icing nozzle (Siopis’ parents owned a bakery when she was a child), an encounter with an overly enthusiastic bedding attendant (while travelling with oil canvasses by train to save money), and the gallery curator’s displeasure as flakes of oil paint fell from her paintings at her first exhibition.
Additionally, the aesthetic issues of representation, the technical challenges of different mediums, and the tricky territory of curating art that evokes powerful (and sometimes traumatic) experiences for the viewer – who may be a child – were part of the evening’s dialogue.
White spoke of the challenge of selecting works from over 35 years of Siopis’ enormously productive career, as well as her intention to make the retrospective exhibition a journey through the six allocated spaces, and not simply a smorgasbord of images.
White said the first room’s focus was on oils, offering viewers an insight into how Siopis began exploring the techniques that became significant trademarks. Siopis perceived her real start as an artist – the point at which she began a critical and in-depth engagement – commenced with the emergence of the “cake paintings”, well after she had completed her MA in Fine Art in the early ’80s.
“They emerged from a crisis,” she said. “I already knew how to paint properly, but I wasn’t satisfied with the painting I’d experienced at Rhodes.”
At Portsmouth Polytechnic Siopis encountered a critical context that prompted her to question what it meant to be a painter, and she spoke about her outsider status in England in 1979 as a white South African. “Portsmouth was a very left-wing institution, very foreign to me. I realised I wasn’t familiar enough with issues of gender and class in an art context,” she said. “When I came back to South Africa all these ideas were bubbling around in my head. I still wanted to paint with the sensuousness that I had in my student years, with an emphasis on the self as a material object. I started concentrating on the idea of the paint as an object, quite literally. That literal treatment of the paint as an object became a concept.”
Oil paint, Siopis explained, needs to be built on the surface of the canvas. “I was able to use that as an idea, building up the layers in high relief, so that is was almost like an object, casting its own shadows,” she said. She built up an object on the canvas that suggested the feminine form. “The paint dries to the surface, forming a skin. It takes forever. I mean forever. It’s still drying, now as we speak!”
Siopis explained how as the oil paint hardens, it cracks, revealing what is underneath. “The oil dries up, just like human skin. We show the process of what’s happening in our bodies on the canvas. This enabled me to start asking feminist questions in a new way,” she said.
For more on the significance of this talented artist, and for the a well curated selection of exquisite images from her oeuvre, acquiring this book is essential. It provides a fascinating illustration of the ways in which Siopis was able to find, create and sustain meaning through her remarkable career.
* * * * * * * *
Liesl Jobson (@LieslJobson) tweeted live from the event using the hashtag #livebooks:
» read article
Wits University Press has become the first African scholarly press to be included on the Thomson Reuters Book Citation Index of the prestigious Web of Science. This means our African scholarship will be more widely available to a global audience, and more likely to be included in wider debates. We asked Wits University Press digital publisher Andrew Joseph to tell us more about the process.
The Thomson Reuters Book Citation Index of the Web of Science: it’s a mouthful – what is it, exactly?
The Book Citation Index is a list of books that are rigorously tested by Thomson Reuters for their scholarly relevance and to ensure they adhere to the highest production and editorial standards. It’s a sort of post-publication review and once a book is included on the list it is an indication of its importance to scholarship.
The Web of Science is a much larger index, including journal articles, conference proceedings and reviews, and the Book Citation Index is included in this. In total the Web of Science includes approximately 25 000 books, 12 000 peer reviewed journals and 150 000 conference proceedings. This means that our books can now be “found” in the index along with articles and other types of content which are relevant to the subject or topic being investigated.
Who uses the index?
Researchers, librarians, scholars and, wider afield, Google Scholar and other search/aggregator engines use the index, as a way of ensuring the quality of content. It means that the books are more likely to be discovered by researchers and then cited, or included in further research. In this way our publications are valuable not only because they make important and necessary claims, but also because they add to ongoing debates and writing. The lack of discoverability of African produced publications has meant a distinct lack of inclusion in wider debates, and we hope this is a step towards redressing that imbalance.
What does it mean for Wits Press to be included in this index?
The inclusion of our titles validates our publications as valuable to scholarship and research. It raises the profile of our authors and our books by making them more discoverable. Perhaps most importantly it allows research produced in Africa, and particularly in the humanities and social sciences, to have a wider reach than it currently does. As the first scholarly press in Africa to have our books indexed, we’re pleased that the efforts of Wits University Press over the years are being acknowledged, but more so that the value of African scholarship will have a chance to interact with and contribute to the wider scholarly community. This really is the sort of reach we feel our authors deserve and we will continue to develop relationships like this.
What kinds of books and publications have been included?
Wits University Press publishes largely in the humanities and social sciences but, like most scholarly publishers around the world, we are finding that our titles often cover a broader range of topics and subjects. This move to interdisciplinarity also means that a wider range of people are interested in our books; from scholars and researchers to policy-makers, journalists and activists. The inclusion on the Book Citation Index extends the reach we will have, hopefully to a much broader, international readership. We’re almost done with having our books available electronically (within the next few weeks) too. Soon these titles (and others) will be available electronically to libraries, universities and retailers around the world.
For more info about the Thomson Reuters Book Citation Index, go to www.thomsonreuters.com.
For more info about the Wits Press titles included on this list, contact Corina van der Spoel, firstname.lastname@example.org.
* * * * *
List of titles included (with more being considered)
Accented Futures: Language Activism and the Ending of Apartheid
African National Congress and the Regeneration of Political Power
African-Language Literatures: New Perspectives on IsiZulu Fiction and Popular Black Television Series
Baragwanath Hospital, Soweto: A History of Medical Care 1941-1990
Becoming Worthy Ancestors: Archive, Public Deliberation and Identity in South Africa
Bushman Letters: Interpreting
Conversations with Bourdieu: The Johannesburg Moment
Disorder of Things: A Foucauldian Approach to the Work of Nuruddin Farah
Eating from One Pot: The Dynamics of Survival in Poor South African Households
Ekurhuleni: The Making of an Urban Region
Exorcising the Demons Within: Xenophobia, Violence and Statecraft in Contemporary South Africa
Fight for Democracy: The ANC and the Media in South Africa
Lover of his People: A Biography of Sol Plaatje
Marxisms in the 21st Century: Crisis, Critique & Struggle
Metal that Will Not Bend: National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa 1980-1995
Musical Instruments of the Indigenous People of South Africa: Third Edition of the Musical Instruments of the Native Races of South Africa
New South Africa Review 1: 2010: Development or Decline?
New South African Review 2: New Paths, Old Compromises?
New South African Review 3: The Second Phase – Tragedy or Farce?
New South African Review 4: A Fragile Democracy – Twenty Years On
One Hundred Years of the ANC: Debating Liberation Histories Today
Origins of Non-Racialism: White Opposition to Apartheid in the 1950s
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy in South Africa: Contexts, Theories and Applications
Radio in Africa: Publics, Cultures, Communities
Regarding Muslims: From Slavery to Post-Apartheid
Richard Rive: A Partial Biography
Riding High: Horse, Humans and History of South Africa
Seeing and Knowing: Understanding Rock Art With and Without Ethnography
Traumatic Stress in South Africa
Working with Rock Art: Recording, Presenting and Understanding Rock Art Using Indigenous Knowledge
Wits University Press the first African scholarly press to be included on the Thomson Reuters Book Citation Index of the prestigious Web of Science™
Wits University Press is pleased to announce the inclusion of Wits University Press titles on the Thomson Reuters Book Citation Index of the Web of Science™. We are the first scholarly press from Africa to be included on this prestigious index. It is an achievement that will significantly increase the visibility of the titles and of authors making meaningful contributions to their fields. Researchers will now have a richer, expanded view of research within the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities and help ensure correct and increased citations.
The Web of Science represents one of the one the most comprehensive indexes of published scholarship. The Index helps users search across scholarly digital and print books, journals and conference proceedings, to discover potential collaborators and find useful information across more than 25 000 books, 12 000 peer reviewed journals and 150 000 conference proceedings already included on the Web of Knowledge.
The inclusion of the 30 titles published by Wits University Press, with further ongoing submissions, is an important step towards expanding the research agenda of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, as well as of South Africa and the continent more broadly, to be discovered by an international research audience.
Wits University Press and Thomson Reuters look forward to a long and successful partnership.
- New South African Review: 2010: Development or Decline? edited by John Daniel, Prishani Naidoo, Devan Pillay, Roger Southall
Find this book with BOOK Finder!
» read article
- Seeing and Knowing: Understanding Rock Art with and without Ethnography by Geoffrey Blundell, Christopher Chippindale, Benjamin Smith
Find this book with BOOK Finder!
Achille Mbembe, professor of philosophy and political science based at WiSER, is regarded one of the country’s most respected public intellectuals. His landmark book On the Postcolony contests diehard Africanist and nativist perspectives as well as some of the key assumptions of postcolonial theory.
This book is considered one of the most important texts in the contemporary African context, addressing the way Africa is imagined not only by itself, but by those who relate to it.
The Mail and Guardian has shared an excerpt from the recently released updated edition of this 2001 publication, which includes a foreword by Professor of African Literature Isabel Hofmeyr.
The excerpt, a preface by Mbembe himself added to the new edition, is entitled “The value of Africa’s aesthetics”. In it, Mbembe writes about his process in creating this seminal text, what and who inspired him and his experiences after its publication.
Read the excerpt:
I wrote most of On the Postcolony at night. It was in the early 1990s, as the deep shadow of Afro-Marxism was receding. Then, it seemed as if the study of Africa was caught in a dramatic analytical gridlock. Many scholars were peddling increasingly unhelpful maps of the present at the very moment that new dramas were taking shape.
As the crisis in the social sciences was intensifying, innovative trends, even a new kind of thinking, were emerging in fields as disparate as design, fiction, fashion, painting, dance and the domain of aesthetics in general. In all these disciplines of the imagination, something of a reconciliation between so-called African identity and a certain idea of worldliness, if not cosmopolitanism, was in the making.
But a proper biography of On the Postcolony would be impossible without a direct reference to African music. I discovered Congolese music in the late 1980s – a time of structural adjustment programmes, wars of predation, cruelty and stupidity parading as leadership, military coups and deferred social revolutions. The emotional sublimity of the Congolese musical imagination taught me how indispensable it was to think with the bodily senses, to write with the musicality of one’s own flesh.
» read article
Photo courtesy of PEN American Centre
Wits Press is proud to announce that Termites of the Gods: San Cosmology in Southern African Rock Art by Siyakha Mguni will be published this month:
In Termites of the Gods, Siyakha Mguni narrates his personal journey, over many years, to discover the significance of a hitherto enigmatic theme in San rock paintings known as ‘formlings’. Formlings are a painting category found across the southern African region, including South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, with its densest concentration in the Matopo Hills, Zimbabwe.
Generations of archaeologists and anthropologists have wrestled with the meaning of this painting theme in San cosmology without reaching consensus or a plausible explanation. Drawing on San ethnography published over the past 150 years, Mguni argues that formlings are, in fact, representations of flying termites and their underground nests, and are associated with botantical subjects and a range of larger animals considered by the San to have great power and spiritual significance.
This book fills a gap in rock art studies around the interpretation and meaning of formlings. It offers an innovative methodological approach for understanding subject matter in San rock art that is not easily recognisable, and will be an invaluable reference book to students and scholars in rock art studies and archaeology.
“This book has the potential to change the public perception of San rock art as a relatively trivial pastime and replace it with convincing evidence that many images and themes are in fact based on sophisticated religious symbolism that permeated all aspects of San life over thousands of years.”
- Janette Deacon
About the author
Siyakha Mguni is project manager of the International Rock Art Collaboration coordinated from the Rock Art Research Institute, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He holds a PhD from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
» read article
Wits University Press and the Goethe-Institut South Africa would like to invite you to the launch of Gaze Regimes: Film and Feminisms in Africa edited by Antje Schuhmann and Jyoti Mistry.
The editors will be speaking about the book, a collection of essays and interviews about women involved in film in various ways in Africa, with Lindiwe Dovey of the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.
The event will be at the Noswal Hall in Braamfontein on Tuesday, 19 May at 6 for 6:30 PM.
Don’t miss it!
- Date: Tuesday, 19 May 2015
- Time: 6 PM for 6:30 PM
- Venue: Noswal Hall
Student Housing Centre
Corner Jan Smuts Avenue and Siemans Street
Braamfontein | Map
- Interviewer: Lindiwe Dovey
- RSVP: email@example.com
» read article
Achille Mbembe recently presented a public lecture at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WiSER) entitled “Decolonising the University Now: Five New Directions”.
Mbembe’s seminal postcolonial text On the Postcolony was recently rereleased in an updated edition, with a foreword by Isabel Hofmeyr, and a preface by the author.
WiSER director Sarah Nuttall, who is also Mbembe’s wife, introduced the event to a packed audience, explaining that it is the first in a planned series of conversations about transformation in South African universities.
Mbembe begins his talk by explaining that despite not having been born in South Africa, it is the country in which he feels most comfortable, and adds “no African is a foreigner in Africa”.
Watch the video:
* * * * *
Read Mbembe’s paper:
Twenty one years after freedom, we have now fully entered what looks like a negative moment. This is a moment most African postcolonial societies have experienced. Like theirs in the late 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, ours is gray and almost murky. It lacks clarity.
Today many want to finally bring white supremacy to its knees. But the same seem to go missing when it comes to publically condemning the extra-judicial executions of fellow Africans on the streets of our cities and in our townships. As Fanon intimated, they see no contradiction between wanting to topple white supremacy and being anti-racist while succumbing to the sirens of isolationism and national-chauvinism.
Many still consider whites as “settlers” who, once in a while, will attempt to masquerade as “natives”. And yet, with the advent of democracy and the new constitutional State, there are no longer settlers or natives. There are only citizens. If we repudiate democracy, what will we replace it with?
Our white compatriots might be fencing off their privileges. They might be “enclaving” them and “off-shoring” them but they are certainly going nowhere.
And yet they cannot keep living in our midst with whiteness’ old clothes. Fencing off one’s privileges, off-shoring them, living in enclaves does not
in itself secure full recognition and survival.
Meanwhile, “blackness” is fracturing. “Black consciousness” today is more and more thought of in fractions.
A negative moment is a moment when new antagonisms emerge while old ones remain unresolved.
It is a moment when contradictory forces – inchoate, fractured, fragmented – are at work but what might come out of their interaction is anything but certain.
It is also a moment when multiple old and recent unresolved crises seem to be on the path towards a collision.
Such a collision might happen – or maybe not. It might take the form of outbursts that end up petering out. Whether the collision actually happens or not, the age of innocence and complacency is over.
When it comes to questions concerning the decolonisation of the university – and of knowledge – in South Africa now, there are a number of clear-cut political and moral issues – which are also issues of fairness and decency – many of us can easily agree upon.
Mbembe also took part in a conversation with the Rhodes Must Fall movement at the University of Cape Town recently. That dialogue is available to watch on YouTube:
» read article
Wits Press is proud to present Gaze Regimes: Film and Feminisms in Africa edited by Antje Schuhmann and Jyoti Mistry:
Gaze Regimes is a bricolage of essays and interviews showcasing the experiences of women working in film, either directly as practitioners or in other areas such as curators, festival programme directors or fundraisers. It does not shy away from questioning the relations of power in the practice of filmmaking and the power invested in the gaze itself. Who is looking and who is being looked at, who is telling women’s stories in Africa and what governs the mechanics of making those films on the continent?
The interviews with film practitioners such as Tsitsi Dangarembga, Taghreed Elsanhouri, Jihan El-Tahri, Anita Khanna, Isabel Noronhe, Arya Lalloo and Shannon Walsh demonstrate the contradictory points of departure of women in film – from their understanding of feminisms in relation to lived-experiences and the realpolitik of women working as cultural practitioners.
The disciplines of gender studies, postcolonial theory, and film theory provide the framework for the book’s essays. Jyoti Mistry, Antje Schuhmann, Nobunye Levin, Dorothee Wenner and Christina von Braun are some of the contributors who provide valuable context, analysis and insight into, among other things, the politics of representation, the role of film festivals and the collective and individual experiences of trauma and marginality which contribute to the layered and complex filmic responses of Africa’s film practitioners.
“From the north to the south of the African continent, this intricately woven collection presents nuanced images of the contemporary state of women’s representation, roles and engagements in the film world.” – Lindiwe Dovey, Senior Lecturer in African Film, SOAS, University of London and Honorary Associate Professor, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Foreword by Katharina von Ruckteschell, Goethe-Institut sub-Saharan Africa
Introduction: By Way of Context and Content
Jyoti Mistry and Antje Schuhmann
1 African Women in Cinema: An overview
2 ‘I am a feminist only in secret’
Interview with Taghreed Elsanhouri and Christina von Braun by Ines Kappert
3 Staged Authenticity: Femininity in photography and film
Christina von Braun
4 ‘Power is in your own hands’: Why Jihan El-Tahri does not like movements
Interview with Jihan El-Tahri by Jyoti Mistry and Antje Schuhmann
5 Aftermath – A focus on collective trauma
Interview with Djo Tunda wa Munga and Rumbi Katedza by Antje Schuhmann and Jyoti Mistry
6 Shooting Violence and Trauma: Traversing visual and social topographies in Zanele Muholi’s work
7 Puk Nini – A Filmic Instruction in Seduction: Exploring class and sexuality in gender relations
Antje Schuhmann and Jyoti Mistry
8 I am Saartjie Baartman
9 Filmmaking at the Margins of a Community: On co-producing Elelwani
10 On Collective Practice and Collected Reflections
Interview with Shannon Walsh and Arya Lalloo by Jyoti Mistry
11 ‘Cinema of resistance’
Interview with Isabel Noronha by Max Annas and Henriette Gunkel
12 Dark and Personal
13 ‘Change? This might mean to shove a few men out’
Interview with Anita Khanna by Antje Schuhmann and Jyoti Mistry
14 Barakat! means Enough!
15 ‘Women, use the gaze to change reality’
Interview with Katarina Hedrén by Antje Schuhmann and Jyoti Mistry
16 Post-colonial Film Collaboration and Festival Politics
17 Tsitsi Dangarembga: A Manifesto
Interview with Tsitsi Dangarembga by Jyoti Mistry and Antje Schuhmann
Acronyms and Abbreviations
List of Contributors
» read article
Wits University Vice-Chancellor Adam Habib says the institution’s commitment to the United Nations HeForShe solidarity movement is a fight it “must be part of”.
Wits is one of 10 universities around the world committing to take action through HeForShe to achieve gender equality within and beyond their institutions.
This work will be done in partnership with UN Women‚ the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Executive Director of UN Women is South Africa’s Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
Wits has committed to develop and implement a gender sensitisation curriculum for students‚ faculty and staff‚ including a mandatory orientation for all new students‚ along with programmes that will address gender-based violence.
Habib says: “South Africa’s legacy of gender discrimination and violence is a reality that we fight daily. This is not a fight for women only.
“It is a fight for every person who abhors the abuse of power and the trauma of violence. It is a fight to ensure that the role of men in ending gender-based harm is as active participants and not passive observers; it is to ensure that patriarchy and inequality are uprooted; and to ensure that those who benefit from inequitable hierarchies are an equal part of their deconstruction. It is a fight that universities generally‚ and Wits University specifically‚ must be part of.”
Professor Jackie Dugard‚ Director of the Wits Gender Equity Office‚ said: “The UN HeForShe campaign is an important international platform for highlighting and addressing gender based harm including sexism‚ sexual violence and gender equity gaps through regular reporting and monitoring of the stated commitments of key universities‚ companies and statespersons”.
Additionally Wits’ commitments to gender equality include:
- Develop a comprehensive system to report‚ predict‚ prevent‚ and address gender-based harm on Wits’ campus.
- Use non-traditional supporters to mainstream gender equality on the Wits campus.
- Increase the representation of women staff in the context of South Africa’s complex ‘dual diversity’ mandate.
The global HeForShe initiative is described as “a solidarity movement that calls upon men and boys to stand up against the persisting inequalities faced by women and girls globally. The campaign strengthens the support for women’s rights as human rights by enlisting the support of men and exhorting them to put themselves forward as advocates for gender equality”.
The HeForShe initiative has also been joined by vice-chancellors from the universities of Hong Kong‚ Leicester and Nagoya.
Since January‚ leaders from around the world have made personal and institutional commitments to the advancement and achievement of gender equality. UN Women said these include: Sébastien Bazin‚ Chair & CEO of Accor; Rick Goings‚ Chair & CEO of Tupperware Brands; Dennis Nally‚ chairperson of PricewaterhouseCoopers International and Paul Polman‚ CEO of Unilever.
Source: RDM News Wire
» read article
Wits Press is proud to present a new edition of Achille Mbembe’s On the Postcolony:
First published in 2001, Mbembe’s landmark book continues to renew our understanding of power and subjectivity in Africa. This edition has been updated with a foreword by Professor of African Literature Isabel Hofmeyr, and a preface by the author.
In a series of provocative essays, Mbembe contests diehard Africanist and nativist perspectives as well as some of the key assumptions of postcolonial theory. Through his provocation, the “banality of power”, Mbembe reinterprets the meanings of death, utopia and the divine libido as part of the new theoretical perspectives he offers on the constitution of power in Africa. He works with the complex registers of bodily subjectivity — violence, wonder and laughter — to contest categories of oppression and resistance, autonomy and subjection, and state and civil society that marked the social theory of the late twentieth century.
On the Postcolony, like Frantz Fanon’s Black Skins, White Masks, will remain a text of profound importance in the discourse of anti-colonial and anti-imperial struggles.
About the author
Achille Mbembe is a philosopher, political scientist, and public intellectual based at WiSER (Wits Institute of Social and Economic Research), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
His previous works include: Johannesburg: the elusive metropolis, which he co-edited with Sarah Nuttall, and Sortir de la grande nuit.
» read article
Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor of Wits University and author of South Africa’s Suspended Revolution, has issued a statement regarding the dismissal of Mcebo Dlamini from the position of SRC president.
In a previous statement he made last week, Habib censured Dlamini for his “racist and offensive” comments about Adolf Hitler. The new statement comes after the announcement that the Dlamini will no longer be president.
There are some lessons, Habib believes, that all South African’s should learn from this instance of bad behaviour by a democratically elected leader.
Habib emphasises that the decision to remove Dlamini was not taken lightly, and was in any case the result of previous disciplinary misconduct. However, Dlamini’s comments are being treated seriously and the matter is under investigation by the legal office.
Read the article:
I want to say that this has been a difficult decision, even if some do not want to believe it. However, it has brought two principles to the fore. Firstly, it is important to realise that we live in a constitutional democracy. Even if one is elected by popular vote, one’s behaviour must be in accordance with the values of the collective. Secondly, it is important for the full student community to participate in the SRC elections. The vast majority of our students do not participate in the elections and too many subsequently complain about their leadership and their responsiveness to student concerns. If you truly want a responsive leadership, then it is incumbent on you to take the initiative and participate in the democratic act of choosing your own leadership.
» read article


Pianist Fabian Müller receives the GENUIN Special Prize in Munich
16.9.2017: Yesterday evening marked the successful conclusion of the International ARD Music Competition in Munich. GENUIN was there on location during the different rounds of the competition, and among the finalists, selected 26-year-old pianist Fabian Müller for the GENUIN Special Prize. Following soprano Emalie Savoy in 2015 and the Aris Quartet last year, Fabian Müller has been awarded the 2017 GENUIN Special Prize, which entails a CD production to be released with GENUIN classics in the ARD Music Competition Edition. The young pianist won over the jury in the final round with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor.
Born in Bonn, Fabian Müller began playing the piano at the age of four. The young pianist’s exceptional talent was recognized early on and confirmed with numerous first prizes at Germany’s national “Jugend Musiziert” competition, followed soon afterward by further awards, including the Ibach Award and special awards of the German Foundation for Musical Life and Jürgen Ponto Foundation.
Müller began his studies at the age of fifteen at the Cologne University of Music with Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich. After winning further awards at competitions including the Prix amadéo de piano in Aachen, he drew international acclaim as a prizewinner at the 2013 Ferrucio Busoni International Piano Competition, where he was honored with the International Press Award, Special Prize for the best interpretation of a work by Ferrucio Busoni, and Special Prize for an interpretation of contemporary piano music.
Since then he has performed solo recitals at many renowned festivals, including the Musikwoche Hitzacker, Musikfestspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schwetzinger Festspiele, Heiderger Frühling, and Aldeburgh Festival in England. Concert engagements have brought him to the Philharmonie Köln, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Berlin Konzerthaus, Glocke Bremen, and Herkulessaal in Munich. He gave his debut with the Deutsche Streicher-Philharmonie under Michael Sanderling and has performed with the hr-Sinfonieorchester, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, and other ensembles.


text:
The working principle of the flat die granulator is relatively simple. When working, the reduction motor is the power system of the granulation machine. The power is transmitted to the main shaft through belt and gear reduction. The main shaft drives the scraper, cutter, and pressure roller to work.
The roller shaft of the flat die granulator rotates with its main shaft during operation. At the same time, the material is squeezed by friction to form particles in the die hole. With the continuous movement of the pressure roller, the fertilizer particles are continuously formed and extruded from the bottom of the die roller. When the material is extruded to a certain length, the cutter at the bottom of the die cuts the pellets. When falling on the bottom plate of the scraper, the fertilizer granules are conveyed out of the flat die granulator by the scraper.
The Features of Fertilizer Pellets Produced from Flat Die Granulation Machine
Smooth appearance and moderate hardness.
High nutrients and quality
Low water content and long storage time.
The Advantages of FPC Flat Die Granulator
FPC flat die granulator has low resistance during operation and low kinetic energy loss, which can prolong the service life of the mold and reduce production costs.
The flat die granulator produced by FPC adopts the screw center pressure regulating structure. Therefore, die gap can be adjusted. It is suitable for different materials and can ensure the granulation effect.
The flat die granulator manufactured from FPC is equipped with Φ1.5-Φ20mm molds with various apertures. It can meet customers’ different production requirements.

domain: agronomy


Among the many at Monday’s Barbara Boxer/Bernie Sanders noontime bash at City Hall in Burlap was State Sen. Matt Dunne, the Democrat in the Lite-Gov race. His and Bernie’s were the two alternating ads that ran on this blog page when we started up.
Well, Young Dunne (left), beat Rep. John Tracy, the well-known House Health Care Committee chairman from Burlington, in the primary. He's got a November 7 toughie with Republican incumbent Brian Dubie to his right and Prog physician Marvin Malek to his left.
Meanwhile, the only question in the Sanders-Tarrant U.S. Senate race is whether the Bernie Landslide will cross the 70 percent line.
Matt dropped his Lite-Gov blog ad, but the spot quickly found a replacement. Not a politician - but “A safe place to ask the hard questions.” Yep, a church. Christ Church Presbyterian on UVM’s Redstone campus.
As many of you “Freyne Land” readers now know, I was on the road to the Catholic priesthood as a teenager back in the mid-1960s. Was going to be a Maryknoll Missionary and see the world. Save it, too. It was a nine-year training program after high-school, but I and most of my class of 120 were gone after three years (1966-69). Only four of my original classmates eventually made it to ordination.
The world has changed and the Catholic Church’s role has diminished greatly in our society. I haven’t been a Mass-goer since 1969. What filled the gap?
Siddhartha and Eastern religions. LSD and marijuana. Gestalt and “Primal Scream” psychotherapy. The normal things of those days. Why even the Vermont House voted to decriminalize marijuana in the 1970s and the young GOP leader from Middlebury - Jim Douglas - supported it!
That’s right. Rep. Jim Douglas voted to decriminalize an ounce of pot on March 17, 1978. The bill passed the Vermont House with 75 votes but died in the state senate.
Twenty-five years passed and Jim Douglas became Vermont’s governor. A medical marijuana bill (lead sponsor Progressive Rep. David Zuckerman) passed the House in 2003 on a 79-48 vote. It passed the Senate 20-7.
But Gov. Jim Douglas didn’t want to go near it with a 10-foot pole. Didn’t want to appear “soft” on drugs. He refused to sign the medical pot bill, allowing it to become law without his signature.
Meanwhile, this posting all began with our noticing the new church ad adjacent. I don’t know about you, but lately, the times have felt heavy. Very heavy. Big picture-wise, a lot of things relating to the current bankrupt, inept leadership at the White House and on Capitol Hill are in flux. But the necessary investigations do not happen unless the Democrats take a majority in one chamber or...just imagine...both!
I want my country back, don’t you?


text:
Library of Congress
Authorities & Vocabularies
Exact Matching Concepts from Other Schemes
found: His Aram Saroyan, 1968.
found: Wikipedia, Mar. 25, 2008 (Aram Saroyan; b. Sept. 25, 1943, New York City; son of playwright and author William Saroyan and actress Carol Grace (a.k.a. Carol Marcus, Carol Matthau); American poet, novelist, biographer, memoirist and playwright)
found: Info. converted from 678, 2012-10-02 (b. 1943)


text:
My name is Lori Rardin. I have been with the school system since 2002. I started at Maury City Elementary, then Friendship Elementary and now I am at the Middle School getting to see some of my former students all grown up! I am an assistant to Valerie Hughes in RTI and I love it!
I am also one of the coordinators for Red Ribbon Week. Red Ribbon week started in 1985 after the murder of a DEA agent in Texas. Parents and youth in communities across the country started wearing red ribbons to show their commitment to raise awareness of the destruction caused by drugs in America. In 1988, the National Family Partnership sponsored the first National Red Ribbon Celebration.
I have been coordinating Red Ribbon Week since my first year at Friendship Elementary. I am extremely grateful to be a part of such an important message to our youth.
A few statistics:
Over 20 million people in America over the age of 12 have an addiction, out of that 4 million are adolescents.
9 out of 10 people with an addiction began drinking, smoking, or using illicit drugs before the age of 18.
More than 4 in 10 teens who begin drinking before age 15 eventually become alcoholics.
Now putting statistics aside, Red Ribbon Week is more personal to me because I am one of the 4 million, the 9 out of 10, the 4 in 10. I am a recovering addict. It all started in my middle/high school years. I come from a stable family, good home, and every advantage an upper middle class kid would have and yet I still became an addict. I say that to say that addiction doesn't discriminate. It can happen to anyone. I have been homeless, jobless, and hopeless. Thank God there were people willing to share their hope, strength and experience with me. I have been in recovery now since October of 2000, one day at a time.
So, you see Red Ribbon Week is more than just dressing up. It is sharing the truth, the hope and the solution with our young people because they need to hear it. Trust me! I hope that you will encourage your child to participate in October when the times comes.

domain: sociology


text:
You might want to think twice before deciding to indulge in that supper, everyone!
A recent study published in the International Journal of Cancer on July 17 has warned that eating after 10pm or going to bed on a full stomach can actually increase the risk of the two most common cancers in the world.
According to CNN, the study says it is advisable for people to eat their dinners before 9pm or taking their suppers at least two hours before going to sleep as this can reduce breast and prostate cancer risk by 20%. This study is the first to analyse the connection between cancer risk and the timing of meals and sleep.
Dr. Manolis Kogevinas, a research professor at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health in Spain and lead author of a new study on the topic said, “The mechanisms are not clear. What we know from experimental studies is that we are conditioned to function in different parts of the day. We — not only humans but all living organisms — have developed throughout time functioning differently in day and night.”
In the study, the scientists followed 621 people who were diagnosed with prostate cancer and 1,205 who had breast cancer, while 872 male and 1,321 female patients without cancer identified as the control group were chosen randomly from primary health centres throughout Spain.
These two cancers are reportedly the most common and are also strongly associated with night-shift work, circadian disruption and alteration of biological rhythms. Researchers at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) decided to determine whether meal timing influenced the risk of breast and prostate cancer. They noted down each participant’s lifestyle and chronotype – an individual attribute linked to a preference for morning or evening activity.
Some of the points that were of note included meal timing, sleep habits, and chronotype as well as completing a questionnaire on their eating habits and adherence to cancer prevention recommendations.
“Previous research has shown that breast and prostate cancer risks are associated with night-shift work and the disruption of circadian rhythm, or a person’s sleep-wake cycle,” Kogevinas said.
Before this, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer said that people doing shift work had disrupted circadian rhythms that could be a health hazard that could probably lead to cancer in humans. However, this new study did not include people who had done night-shift work.
Although the data is still new and will need further research in other populations, these findings are definitely something to note. Guess we should start following that age-old advice of not eating dinner too late!
It’s time to kick that supper habit, guys! No more suppers at the mamak!
Najib: “Malaysia is the only country in the world to use Covid-19 as an excuse to suspend the parliament”
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Thank you so much Crawley Heating and Air Conditioning.It was the hottest weekend in Ottawa and I left a message on Saturday,April called me Monday morning and Eric was here on Tuesday.
They are so professional! From April in the office to their techs in the field.
Eric was so knowledgeable, he had our heater diagnosed and fixed in no time.
If you have pool heater problems I would recommend Crawley in a heartbeat.
Thanks so much for the great service again this year!
- Company Response
Thank YOU Diane for your review!
Crowley Heating & Air Conditioning


text:
22 Sep 11 Cruising the ATV trails.
Yes we both had a very nice cruise on the trails as this was our 1st time in this area. We drove 94 miles in 2 days, and would have driven more on Thursday–but it rained–These trails are different than in NH as many are dirt roads used by logging trucks.
We did both have a beer and food and both were great. The 1 beer I had was enough-WHOA–felt like 3 beers—what was in that Porter???
We stayed in a Cozy Cabin and the accomodations were excellent–though more shelving would be great in the kitchen area to the left of the stove/frig, as well as some hooks to hang towels as well as in the bathroom. And the outside light facing the parking spot needs to be replaced…Looking forward to returning in 2012, when the weather is warmer for us. For more ATVing and rafting next time.
We were the only ones there for 4 nights and enjoyed the quiet sounds of the darkness, along with using the fire ring….it was eerie but also serene.
Thanks for the relaxation.

domain: hobby


Unusual protest named ‘Palestine… You are not alone’ brings together networks with radically different views.
To salute people of Gaza, and its children
BEIRUT – All of Lebanon’s main television channels are to broadcast simultaneously on Monday a bulletin in support of Gazans in the face of an Israeli military offensive that has killed hundreds.
The unusual protest named “Palestine… You are not alone” brings together networks with radically different views, including the official TeleLiban, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar, LBC, MTV and NBN.
They will broadcast at 8:10 pm (1710 GMT) an identical report on the humanitarian dimension of Israel’s two-week assault on the Gaza Strip, which has cost the lives of more than 500 Palestinians.
Lara Zaaloum, executive director of LBC’s news show, said 30-minute programme was “the fruit of a shared effort” that aims to “salute the people of Gaza, and its children”.
View original post 938 more words


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Rumors crashed into reality at Dow Chemical Co. on April 12, when the plastics and chemicals giant fired two longtime executives - including plastics veteran Romeo Kreinberg.
Kreinberg was let go by Midland, Mich.-based Dow - along with board member and former executive J. Pedro Reinhard - for what the firm described as ``business activity that was highly inappropriate and a clear violation of Dow's code of business conduct.''
Kreinberg and Reinhard ``were involved in unauthorized discussions with third parties about the potential acquisition of the company,'' Dow officials said in an April 12 news release.
``I think I speak for all employees when I say we are greatly saddened by the disrespect shown by our former colleagues,'' Dow Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Liveris said in the release.
In an April 13 phone interview, Dow spokesman Chris Huntley said actions taken by Kreinberg and Reinhard ``were not in the best interest of the company, but were done to further their own personal positions.''
In reports published by Bloomberg News and the Associated Press, Kreinberg denied any wrongdoing and said he was seeking legal counsel. Calls placed to Kreinberg's home in Midland were not returned in time for this story.
Kreinberg was in his 30th year with Dow, while Reinhard had been with the firm for 37 years. Just last month, Kreinberg was one of four Dow officials named to serve on a new executive leadership committee with Liveris.
Reinhard is Dow's second-largest individual shareholder - behind Liveris - with more than 530,000 shares, while Kreinberg ranks third with almost 460,000 shares. Huntley said those totals may include stock options. Based on recent prices, Reinhard's stake in Dow would be worth about $24 million, while Kreinberg's shares would be worth almost $21 million.
Dow - one of the world's largest plastics and chemicals firms with 2006 sales of $49.1 billion - has been the subject of takeover and spinoff rumors for several months. At various times, these rumors have involved Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic) of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Reliance Industries Ltd. of Mumbai, India; and New York private equity firms, including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Blackstone Group.
Dow was contacted early April 10 by ``an exceptionally reliable contact'' who informed the company of Kreinberg's and Reinhard's actions, Huntley said. An April 13 Wall Street Journal story identified that person as an employee of financial firm J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., but Huntley declined to confirm that information.
The April 10 call came a day after Dow issued a news release saying the firm ``has had no discussion about a leveraged buyout.''
Huntley said the firm took that somewhat unusual step after being the subject of public rumors for the third time in recent months. That occurred April 9 when a British news report mentioned a possible deal.
``The first time it happened, we said, `We're a big company, so people will talk about us,' '' Huntley said. ``The second time, we said, `Where is this coming from?' but there was no segment of truth to it.
``But by the third time, it had become disruptive to employees in a number of communities in which we operate, and it also was affecting our share price. Volatility in share price is not good for our long-term shareholders.''
The British press rumor sent Dow's per-share stock price up almost 5 percent to near $47 on April 9. During the next two days, it fell back to $45, but went back up to $46 on April 12 - when the firings were announced - and was near $45.90 in midday trading April 13. Dow stock began the year at around $40 per share.
Huntley declined to say specifically what information Kreinberg and Reinhard shared with parties interested in Dow, but he did say that meetings and conversations took place ``a number of times with a number of different parties at multiple locations.''
Huntley also declined to confirm part of the April 13 Wall Street Journal story that said investors contacted by Kreinberg and Reinhard were from the Middle Eastern nation of Oman.
Kreinberg, who was executive vice president of performance plastics and chemicals, has an extensive history with Dow's plastics unit, which generates about half of the firm's sales. Previous assignments had him working closely with Dow's polyethylene unit and with other commodity plastics.
Reinhard retired from his roles as Dow's chief financial officer and an executive vice president in late 2005, but is still a member of the board, which he joined in 1995. If he doesn't resign before Dow's annual meeting May 10, spokesman Huntley said company officials will ask that he not be re-elected. All 12 Dow directors are up for re-election at the meeting.
Huntley added that Dow had not been contacted by Kreinberg's legal counsel, but ``if that's the route [Kreinberg] chooses to take, we'll address it when it happens.''
Liveris and Dow management have been promoting an ``asset-light'' strategy for the company, in which it would leverage its high level of integration while pursuing joint ventures or other options for commodity products such as polypropylene and polystyrene.
The firm recently announced a joint venture with Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LP for its styrenics business in the Americas. (See related story, Page 4.)
Dow employees have received ``an internal gag order'' about the takeover rumors, according to an industry contact who previously worked for the firm.
``These are still just rumors, but they've put the fear of God into their employees,'' the source said.
The source added that he did not think Dow would retain its value if parts of it were spun off or sold separately.
``Dow is one of the most integrated chemical companies in the world, and that's where its value is,'' he said.
``Dow's size makes it difficult to do any kind of deal for the whole company, but its pieces don't work as well independent of each other.''
In an April 12 note to investors, Bank of America Securities analyst Kevin McCarthy said Dow's level of willingness also could affect any deal for Dow.
``Complex petrochemical companies are difficult to acquire without management's consent, and it is clear that [Liveris] has not been inclined to explore a sale, although the company does have a fiduciary duty to maximize shareholder value if a hostile bid were made,'' McCarthy said.
Although Dow's 2006 sales were up 6 percent vs. the year before, its profit fell from $4.5 billion to $3.7 billion. Dow is one of the world's largest producers of polyethylene and polystyrene.
In North America, the firm ranks first in linear low and low density PE and PS, and fifth in high density PE, in terms of estimated annual sales.


GALVESTON - Terry Scott Lowe blames an on-the-job fall on his employer, a lawsuit filed Oct. 25 in the Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas says.
Recent court documents show Lowe worked for TETRA Applied Technologies LLC and TETRA Technologies Inc. as a floorhand and a member of one of their vessels when he fell off a metal grating during vessel operations on April 12.
Lowe, a Mississippi resident, alleges he was instructed to run a hose from the wellhead being serviced by the rig to mud pits and to control a valve at the direction of the driller while fluid was bled off the wellhead.
According to the complaint, Lowe claims he had to stand on a metal grate that had no railing around it in order to follow the hand signals of the driller and the derrick hand.
"Due to the absence of a railing, the plaintiff fell off the metal grating, bounced off a nearby piling and landing on metal grating located approximately four feet below the grating from which he fell, causing him to sustain severe and disabling personal injuries due to the negligence of TETRA and the unseaworthiness of the vessel," the original petition says.
The suit faults the defendants for failing to maintain the vessel and its appurtenances and equipment in a safe and reasonable state of repair, failing to take reasonable precautions for the plaintiff's safety, failing to provide employees with a reasonably safe place to work and failing to warn the plaintiff of known and existing hazards.
Consequently, Lowe seeks unspecified monetary damages.
He is represented by Spagnoletti & Co.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt.
Case No. 3:11-cv-486