April 17, 2020 - Albany, NY - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo provides a coronavirus update during a press conference in the Red Room at the State Capitol. (Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)

1936 Lancia Astura Cabriolet Series III 'Tipo Bocca' by Pinin Farina

$1,380,000 USD | Sold

From Sotheby's:

LANCIA: TECHNOLOGY MEETS ARTISTRY

As might be expected for an automaker founded by an engineer and racing driver, Lancia, established by Vincenzo Lancia in 1906, prioritized technological innovation, performance, and quality from its earliest days. This approach bore bountiful fruit in motorsport, with Lancia’s epic history of competition success needing little introduction here.

Naturally, when Lancia applied this same uncompromising formula to larger and more luxurious cars, the results were no less spectacular—and this breathtaking 1936 Lancia Astura Cabriolet Series III “Tipo Bocca,” with its unique bodywork by Pinin Farina, represents the very best of the marque’s ample pre-war capabilities.

The Lancia Astura was introduced in in November 1931 as a replacement for the flagship Dilambda, and it would be built in four series before production ceased in 1939. Reflecting a new Italian nationalism, Lancia broke their precedent of assigning their cars the letters of the Greek alphabet and instead named the new model Astura, after an ancient island castle south of Rome. The Astura was packed with innovations, including an independent front suspension with self-lubricating sliding pillars; the live rear axle was controlled by friction dampers that could be adjusted to suit with dashboard-mounted controls, and a Bijur central lubrication system was fitted. The third series also received a Dewandre brake servo for the four-wheel drum brakes and a 78-liter fuel tank.

The centerpiece, however, was Lancia’s V-8 engine. Although Lancia was not the first automaker to bring a V-8 to market, it had its own distinctive approach to the formula, creating its famous narrow-angle engines. By employing a vee angle much narrower than that of the typical V-8, Lancia was able to build an engine that had some of the casting and production advantages of a traditional inline-eight while offering many of the packaging benefits of the more compact V-8 configuration. Starting with the second series, the Astura’s engine was mounted on rubber isolators, further improving powertrain refinement.

The Astura’s third series, known as the Tipo 233 and arriving for 1933, is of particular note. In addition to a larger, 2,973-cubic-centimeter V-8 rated at 82 horsepower, the Astura was for the first time offered in two wheelbase lengths. Nine hundred and eight were built as Lungo, with a wheelbase of 131 inches as the Tipo 233L, while 328 were constructed to Corto specification on a wheelbase of 122 inches as Tipo 233C. When the Astura’s fourth series arrived, only a long-wheelbase version was offered, denying coachbuilders the choice afforded by the previous iteration.

THE PREMIERE ‘TIPO BOCCA’

The present car, Tipo 233C chassis number 33-5313, is one of the 328 Corto Asturas produced on the short-wheelbase 122-inch platform. Fitted with engine number 91-1171, it was delivered as a bare chassis to Pinin Farina in the summer of 1936 and clothed in a body designed by Mario Revelli di Beaumont, who took full advantage of the narrow-angle V-8 to create a rakish yet restrained cabriolet design. The design would come to be known as “Tipo Bocca” in reference to Vittorio Bocca, an important Lancia dealer at the time who would eventually commission a number of cars in this style.

The aerodynamic profile features a sloping, rounded grille, whose horizontal bars are interrupted by a dramatic “waterfall” of chrome strakes running from the slim, elegant bumper to the base of a vee’d windshield. The peaked front fenders are separated from the body by rounded fairings that feature individually integrated headlights and driving lights, while the rear fender spats also contribute to the clean, smooth lines. The open car’s streamlined horizontal emphasis is reinforced by a chrome strake running the entire length of the body as well as horizontal engine compartment vents, features that are accentuated when the halves of the split windshield are folded flat. Gently curving body sides feature an early use of curved side windows. Highlighting the car’s restrained elegance was its subtle, pale grey paint with blue upholstery and power-actuated convertible top, the latter a great novelty for 1936.

The newly completed cabriolet was displayed on the Pinin Farina stand at the 1936 Salone del l’Automobile, Milano, where it received the President’s Cup from the Royal Automobile Club of Italy (R.A.C.I.). Following the show, chassis number 33-5313 was acquired by Ghiara & C., Lancia’s main agent in Genoa. Ghiara sold the car to Cav. Piero Sanguineti, a local industrialist, for about 75,000 Lire (the equivalent of about $4,200 at the time). In May 1937, Sanguineti showed the car in the inaugural Concorso d’Eleganza per Automobili, San Remo, where it received a class award.

The car was subsequently purchased by Emil Uebel, Lancia’s German distributor, who apparently kept it in his main facility in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Wartime records no longer exist, offering no explanation of whether Uebel sold the car or retained it for himself, or how and where the car survived the conflict. But survive, it certainly did, and in early 1947 it was acquired by American collector Barney Pollard, as part of a package deal with two steam locomotives.

Pollard shipped number 33-5313 to the United States and kept the car until 1980, when it was sold to Armand Giglio, former President of the American Lancia Club. Giglio held the car a further two decades, selling it in 2004 to an owner in Connecticut. Other than an older repaint, the car was in largely original condition, but with some deterioration of the body’s wood framing. The new owner undertook restoration of the wood framing, as well as some body preparation work.

A RETURN TO CONCOURS-WORTHY GLORY

In late 2011, the Astura was acquired by collector Orin Smith. He would commission Vantage Motorworks of Miami to complete the restoration to international concours standards. Refinished in pale grey over blue—a livery replicating its original show-stand appearance—the car easily achieved Best in Class at the Classic Sports Sunday at Mar-a-Lago, and People’s Choice at Amelia Island, both in 2013. The Lancia subsequently journeyed back to Italy, where it was judged Most Sympathetic Restoration at the 2014 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, in the company of a thrilled Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

The car was subsequently exhibited at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, as part of their “Rolling Sculpture” exhibit of advanced streamlined design. Notably, a sister car to this lovely Astura, in long-wheelbase form, was awarded Best of Show at the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, cementing its importance to design and elegance for the era.

Oscar Davis acquired this Lancia in 2017, becoming the latest in a series of notable collectors to serve as its caretaker. Undeniably more luxurious than many of Davis’ sport and racing-focused machines, the Astura is nevertheless a true thoroughbred; its style, advanced technology, and remarkable pedigree made it a natural fit for his curated stable.

Now offered from the Oscar Davis Collection, this Lancia Astura “Corto” cabriolet perfectly epitomizes Pinin Farina’s design of the pre-war period: restrained elegance with simple but precise details. As such, it represents an opportunity to acquire one of the most important and beautiful examples of Italian engineering and coachbuilding—a show car par excellence, now as then.

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Kristina and I headed over to RM Sotheby's at the Monterey Conference Center to view some glorious cars at their auction preview.

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Had a blast with our auto-enthusiast friend and neighbor, Fred, at Monterey Car Week 2022.

"Rosslyn is renowned for its many carvings of the 'Green Man'. ... Traditionally the Green Man is a pagan figure most commonly shown as a male human head surrounded by foliage or with foliage emerging from its mouth." (a plaque)

- "Whilst they're not very common in buildings in Scotland, there are over 100 here at Rosslyn. There are many theories about the origins of Green men. Some say they are old pagan symbols representing nature and rebirth. Others say they are Christian images that represented man's sinful origins in nature." www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU7Xbm1aWkU (from the 00:25 second pt.)

- "Why there are so many here remains a mystery. Perhaps they are connected with the St. Clair family's sympathy for the Gypsies or Egyptians, sometimes described as men of the 'green wood'. [?]" (a plaque)

- "It's the abundance of sculptures and designs [here] that really sets Rosslyn chapel apart from almost any other building [in Europe]. Everywhere you look inside and out are carved images upon carved images." www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lh_sBhQsFo (from the 13:37 pt.)

- Warning, more geneology ahead. (The following is only of interest to close family or those on my Dad's Mom's side of my tree.)

- Cont. from the last write-up for the last photo of the exterior of Rosslyn chapel near Edinburgh.:

- When Babs and Min said "Oh, we don't talk about THAT side of the family", they'd just declined to talk about most of it: 3/4s or 2/3rds of their ancestry, depending on your point of view. For they and my great great grandmother had 4 grandparents but only 3 pairs of great grandparents, and 2 of those 3 had some roots on Islandhall.

- One thing that might have helped to mitigate any relative isolation in and @ Durness, Eriboll and 'Cape Wrath' is the surprising level of variety in Scottish DNA, discovered in a study in 2012. One theory ascribes this to Scotland's position in the far NW of Eurasia, as far NW as peripatetic migrants could move over the centuries or millenia from points East and South in Eurasia and Africa. www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-17740638 And clan chieftainship would be, or was supposed to be, denied to any claimant who married his 1st cousin, a tradition inconsistently held across the Highlands where first cousin marriage would've carried at least some stigma. But a one-off isn't such a big deal. The natural risk of mutation doubles, but from 3% to only 6% for children born to 1st cousins (provided their parents and grandparents et al. weren't first or 2nd cousins as well).

- Btw, the 1st cousin adopted as a sibling (or a bachelor brother?) who'd been living with Babs and Min was found dead in a local swamp or bog. My 2nd cousin twice removed, old Harold MacLeod, told me that "everything was all fine on the surface, but at night their tongues would start to cluck" and they'd be at him, and the two drove him mad old Harold said, and he wandered off one night, the last that he was seen alive. Old Harold was a great source of family lore. He told me that another of the MacLeod sisters (another of my great great grandmother's sisters, there were 5 in total) had a son who drowned in a mill-pond. Her other son or her daughter, the drowned boy's sibling, later named one of his or her own sons after that boy, the brother who drowned, and that son then went and drowned in that same mill pond.

- 'Babs' and 'Min' were of course nick-names, 'Babs' for Barbara and 'Min' was Margaret. I recently came across a reference to Babs' full maiden name as 'Barbara Allen MacLeod'. I mention above that she was almost certainly named after her father's legendary aunt Barbara, she who would swim across Malpeque Bay to deliver babies and died with her own in her arms in a snowstorm (and whose name and significance to my own family I only discovered just recently). I don't know if that earlier Barbara had a middle name (she might've been named 'Barbara Allen MacKay', although no middle name appears in her baptismal record nor on her tombstone), but Allen isn't a woman's name. 'Barbara Allen' however is one of the most beloved folk-songs in the English language, if not THE most, described by ethno-musicologists as "far and away the most widely collected song in the English language". Babs and Min were of entirely Highlander-Scots heritage. 'Barbara Allen's such a lovely song that I hope it wouldn't matter to the MacLeods where it was from, but I've just read that it "began as a Scottish ballad in the 17th cent. before quickly spreading (both orally and in print) throughout the British Isles and later North America" (Wikipedia). The fact that Babs was named after a folk song doesn't make it any less than very likely that she was named after her great aunt whose legendary exploits so impressed my Dad. Of course you can name a child after more than one person or thing or for more than one reason. But I like that 2 of my ancestors named one of their kids after a folk song or a character in a folk song, at least in part. On many a Christmas from when I was a kid until I was a teen, and on many since then too, I'd hear the 1st 3 verses of 'Barbara Allen' with interest for exactly 1 min. and 10 sec.s.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_FLHkHNaHI (There's an old American Appalachian version sung by such luminaries as the Everly brothers, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Dolly Parton, but it lacks the lovely minor-key sadness of the original Scottish or British version, sung in this video by John Denver.: youtu.be/pH7O-0XUxnw?si=rkez8rGL9UxZ5bKg )

- One last story about Babs and Min is more personal. The topic of family history would come up on occasion at family dinners on Sunday nights at our home in Scarborough when I was a teen. My grandmother told me after one supper once that her great aunt Babs had lost her only child, a lovely young girl who resembled my grandmother when she was a girl with her long black curls. She said that when Babs would look at her when she was a child, on at least one occasion she stared and became visibly moved and tears welled up in her eyes. And as my grandmother told me this tears began to well up in her eyes as well. It was the only time I'd ever seen her cry.

- I can't find it online, but we watched a production of what I thought was one of L.M. Montgomery's books (or so I thought?) on TV one Sunday evening after supper in the early to mid 80s. It featured a girl living in the home of 2 elderly sisters who my grandmother claimed with confidence were inspired by or based on her great aunts Babs and Min, a mistake I think. ('Elizabeth and Laura Murray' from 'Emily of New Moon'? But that was filmed in '98, so no, and the book was written in 1923. Were Babs and Min both widowed and living back together by then? What was that TV show?) My grandmother and my Dad would often remark that their Aunt Janie would say "We knew Lucy Maud" who would summer with her maternal aunt Annie (nee MacNeill) and uncle John Campbell, neighbours to my great grandmother and her family in the small community of Park Corner where my great great grandfather was both a farmer and the postmaster and where my great great grandmother succeeded him as postmistress. The Campbell home and farm is now a museum, very popular and crowded in summer with tour-groups and guides, walking trails, buggy rides, etc. (I toured it in 2018 when I took my Mom out to the island; photos to come.) It's been misleadingly renamed 'The Anne of Green Gables museum' since. (Ka-ching.) It features spots said to have inspired locations in the novel, incl. 'the Lake of Shining Waters' (a pond), the 'Whispering Lane' (a path through the woods), etc. Some Filipinos stop by and talk and learn about "Anne of Gables" or "Anne Green of Gables" in this vlog. (Everyone should say 'P.E.I.' like this one guy does at the 13 sec. pt.): youtu.be/44fu4-rZy6c?si=4cNMKQIV0fAHYpzC

- My great grandmother is mentioned in Lucy Maud's journals, but only in passing. On April 9, 1892 she was 16 yr.s old (Lucy Maud was 17) and one of 12 young women who gathered in Park Corner for "a hooking" (no, not that kind of hooking! a party where women worked together to create rugs). On Sunday, May 1, 1893, Lucy Maud fell asleep in the Long River church (my great grandmother's family's church) during the service and "dreamed that [her] Uncle John C. [Campbell] was having family worship in the kitchen and that Albert Stewart [my great great grandfather] was singing those words to a psalm tune!" archive.org/details/completejournals0000mont/page/154/mod... My Dad took me to see that church, shuttered up and abandoned at the time, in 1998. (It's been restored since then and was moved to the 'Avonlea village' cheese-fest near Cavendish. I toured it there in 2016 when the interior was intact, pews and all. Two yr.s later the interior of that historic church had been gutted to accommodate, incredibly and hilariously, a 'Boom Burger' outlet. See it and cringe at the 4:25 min pt. in this vlog.: youtu.be/Jq_gr-_PY3Q?si=Akm0Y9T1GlCzUnye ) It's likely that 5 references to a "Will Stewart" in those journals were to my great great uncle Bill, who was @ one year older than Lucy Maud. He gave her "a lively drive" in his buggy once, and was seen in the company of Mac MacNeill, "the biggest muff in Cavendish or out of it". There are also 3 references in her journals to "Stewarts'', my great grandmother's family's home, as a location.

1. "... Bounce through the pitches we went until just by Stewart's gate the other girls slipped off the sleigh and took to their heels. Lem and I, thus deserted, consoled ourselves by remembering that two were company and drove on as far as the forge before we turned back. ..."

2. "... After breakfast he simply turned them out, for he told them to go on up to Stewarts’ and they might sell their organ there. ..." ('Them' = "James McIntyre and a Mr. Mytton from town on their way to Uncle John's [in Park Corner] with a 'trial' organ," a "pump organ, sold on trial door-to-door for home entertainment", per a footnote.)

3. "... [S]o we turned back and drove to Uncle John’s where we let Lu off. Of course I supposed we'd go home then too, especially as it was now pouring cats and dogs, but Alec [MacNeill] had other views. He drove clear up to Stewarts and then walked that horse every inch of the way back. He gave me several hints about my cool behavior recently but I took no notice of them. ..."

- Btw, Babs' and Min's and my great great grandmother's grandfather George MacLeod (my great x 4 grand-dad) was a carpenter by trade and helped to build the Geddie Memorial Church (1836-'37, Presbyterian), "a maritime vernacular meeting house style church with neo-classical details" which is more atmospheric than you can tell from this video. (It has that old church smell.): www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plnb1AfmFfc My great great grandparents and my great great grandmother's parents (as well as my great great uncle Bill, the 'Will Stewart' in L. M. Montgomery's journals, a bachelor who lost one of his eyes to a cat), are all buried in the churchyard there. (I was often warned as a boy never to bring the cat too close to my face as Dad's Uncle Bill lost an eye to a cat.)

- My great-grandmother, a Stewart (Dad's Mom's Mom), had royal pretensions, or I should say the pretensions of one who claims to be of royal descent. (Or you could say that she was just generally pretentious.) Once at our home in Scarborough when I was young I found an old, disintegrating photo album in the 'crawl-space' in the basement that she'd put together. It was the type with a velvet cover and an iron clasp with room for just one old photo-card per each side of the page or sleeve with oval holes to view the photo. Of the 25 photo-cards (which I kept, but not the album, the spine was gone) 20-21 are of British and European royalty (of the other 4, 2 are of composers Rossini and Verdi, 1 of an actress and 1 of soprano Adelina Patti youtu.be/w2LY6YLHn7U?si=pyi9cj1peMJW6Qdw ). She was a royalist and this was a collection she'd built up. (I safely assume those cards were sold in the stores back then, like copies of 'Majesty' on the magazine racks today.) I don't know if she'd heard of the claims to descent from clan chieftains and Scots nobility on the MacKay side of her tree (her Mom's Dad's Mom's Dad's side), which I analyze in the write-up for the last photo in this stream (an exterior shot of this chapel). All the information set out in therein is coincidental if she hadn't. I was never told that Babs and Min made any claims to descent from clan chieftains. But again my great-grandmother's own maiden-surname was Stewart and she told my Mom on that occasion when Mom was taking notes in the early 60s that she descended from the Royal Stewarts. (Mom told me that she said to her "I think those Royals spelled their surname 'S-t-u-a-r-t'", to which the old lady responded "yes, that's how we spelled our name", which doesn't reflect well on her credibility. In fact the name in the Scots royal line had been Stewart for @ 200 yr.s from 1371 when Robert II, grandson of Robert the Bruce by his daughter Marjorie, took the throne, until a young Mary Stewart, 'Queen of Scots', was betrothed to Henri II and her surname was changed in @ 1548 to Stuart to suit French conventional spelling.) It's possible that the pretentious old lady was right, even though she was almost certainly just guessing. But just how far up the tree on the Stewart branch would one have to go to find historical types with Wikipedia entries? Consider the following. Her great grandfather, her Dad's Dad's Dad (of course), my great x 4 grandfather, was one 'Anthony Stewart of Scotland', and the story of his passing was famous in my great grandmother's family. He settled in the town of St. John's, Newfoundland in @ 1778 where he lived for @ 33 yr.s, working as a carpenter and a shipwright. (He'd been living in St. John's for 16 yr.s as of 1794, per the census of that year.) I've read that he received a commission to build ships for the British crown or the colonial government. A document shown to me in a frame in the early 90s at the home of my 1st cousin (twice removed) Arthur Dickieson in Garson, ON was an 'ordnance' of the city of St. John's stamped with 3 seals, incl. one from the 'Office of Ordnance', "granting an allowance of 54 [pounds] 15 [shillings] per annum ... [with the] Allowance to commence Nov. 29, 1806 - Dated May 1, 1801" (a pension). The primary role of that office was “to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defense of the realm and its overseas possessions, and as the supplier of munitions and equipment to both the Army and the Navy”. armorial.library.utoronto.ca/stamp-owners/ORD002#:~:text=... There's a good chance that a 'Stewart's cove', a docking space /b/ piers in St. John's harbour, was named after him. He and his wife were married June 9, 1783 (the earliest marriage in the 'new world' that I know of [for certain] in my family tree), ngb.chebucto.org/Vstats/pre-1891-st-john-ang-mar-1783-180... "Anthony Stewart" and "Susanna Scarbrook" (sic, Scarsbrook; her name is spelled Susannah in more recent, less reliable family records) by one Edward Langman (Anglican clergyman and local official, 1716-1784 www.biographi.ca/en/bio/langman_edward_4E.html ) in the 'Cathedral of St. John the Baptist' there, which served the oldest Anglican or Protestant parish in what is today Canada, founded in 1699. ourcathedral.ca/history/ The surname is listed as Stuart 4 yr.s later in a baptismal record for their son Nicholas (the only baptismal record I could find), and as Steward in the 1794 census. I consider the marriage record to be more reliable and I'm almost certain the said pension document is for an Anthony Stewart, and of course his children all went by Stewart. Their 4th child, George, great x 3 granddad, was born in St. John's on June 13, 1791, and was also the first ancestor in my tree who I'm certain was born on this side of the pond.

- I received information recently that Anthony's wife, Susanna Cowans Scarsbrook, was born in the ancient town of 'St. Marychurch', in Torquay today, in Devonshire (most English fishing activity off Newfoundland's so-called 'English shore' in the 17th cent. was based in 'West Country' ports in Somerset, Dorset, Hampshire, and in Devon in particular), that her father, John Scarsbrook, owned and rented out a 'Boat room' or 'Fishing room' (a shore property) in Newfoundland (I've read that this was in Torbay, @ 10 clicks north of St. John's; I've also read that it was in Trinity Bay, much further NW), and that he was buried at St. Marychurch. He might have been living there when he died, or his body might have been shipped back to Devonshire in its coffin. It seems he was devout as arrangements were made that proceeds from the leasehold of the said property were to be paid to the parish of 'St. Mary Church' c/o his account following the death of his son, 7 yr.s before his own death when great x 4 grandma was @ 15 yrs. of age. But I don't know how reliable much of this is. Some of the information received as to Susanna's father and family is contradicted by other more reliable primary source material. And how to account for the reference to Susanna's surname as Cowans or Cowns as well as Scarsbrook in some more reliable sources? (This is a compound or so-called 'double-barrelled' surname, often joined by a hyphen. "In British tradition, a double surname is heritable, usually taken to preserve a family name that would have become extinct due to the absence of male descendants bearing the name, connected to the inheritance of a family estate. Examples include Harding-Rolls, Stopford-Sackville, and Spencer-Churchill." [Wikipedia]) I haven't found any reference (yet) to a Cowans, Cowns, Cowans-Scarsbrook nor Cowns-Scarsbrook in records from St. Marychurch online.

- In any event, a Mary Scarsbrook, who must have been Susanna's sister, was living in St. John's and was married in the same cathedral 6 yr.s earlier in 1777 to a William Bunnet or Bennet or Bennett (according to reliable church records), and per the (much less reliable) information received, their uncle was living in St. John's as well. (The best evidence is that Susanna was 19 at the time.) It might be interesting that a William and Mary Bennett sired a son who was baptized on Christmas eve, 1779 as "Richard Scarsbrook Bennett", another compound or 'double-barrelled' surname, one of only @ 10 in the list of transcribed baptismal records from that parish from 1775 to 1780.

- The said information received is supported by some records available online, incl. one extant for the burial of a John Scarsbrook in the cemetery at St. Marychurch, Torquay on Dec. 4, 1773. A John Scarsbrook, who might've been my ancestor, was sired by a William Scarsbrook and was baptized in St. Marychurch on Dec. 16, 1710. William married a 'Susana Hore' at St. Marychurch on Feb. 21, 1709. Susana was sired by a Thomas Hore at St. Marychurch (my great x 7 grandfather?) and was baptized on Oct. 21, 1686. ('Hore', from 'Hoare', is an old Devonshire name which originally meant grey or white-haired.) Another John Scarsbrook was sired by a John sr. and was baptized at St. Marychurch on Oct. 3, 1717. A John Scarsbrook married a Grace Jeffery at St. Marychurch on Feb, 27, 1709. AND a Susanna Scalbrook [sic?] was sired by a John Scalbrook [sic?] and was baptized at St. Marychurch in March, 1758 (!). (So the info. received is consistent with and supported by the relative abundance of Scarsbrooks, incl. at least 2 John Scarsbrooks in my great x 5 granddad's generation, in the records from St. Marychurch, and by this record of a baptism there of a Susanna Scalbrook [sic?] in 1758 [age 25 in 1783], which appears to have been that of my great x 4 grandmother.) Btw, Scarsbrook derives from Scarisbrick, the early medieval name of a hill in Lancashire which itself derives "from the Old Danish personal name 'Skar', of uncertain etymology, and the Old Norse 'brekka, brekk', meaning slope or hill, hence 'Skar's hillside or slope'." (NW England was the destination of the Norse denizens of Dublin for resettlement following their expulsion from that city in 902 "by Mael Finnia, son of Flannacan, with the men of Brega and by Cerball, son of Muirecan, with the Leinster men".)

- An infamous moment in the history of St. Marychurch, on Sunday, May 30, 1943, is discussed here.: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDSg8VgUhpQ youtu.be/HRiPSf7Q5AA?si=Q25HkXPUMP7-2CHj

- Susanna and her sister, and then the young Stewart family, were living in St. John's in perilous times. The French had attacked and besieged, sacked or destroyed St. John's on at least 4 occasions /b/ 1696 (with the disastrous conquest by D'Iberville) and 1762. A margin note in the baptismal records from the Anglican Cathedral reads: "2 years [of] records [from Nov. 4, 1760 to June 27, 1762] lost when the French took the place and the clergyman [Rev. Langman] was confined." ! The construction of Fort Townshend was completed in 1779, only 4 yr.s before the Stewarts were married. And the city would be attacked again by a fleet of the French Republic under 'Admiral Citizen Richery' 13 yr.s later in 1796 while Anthony was in the midst of his ship-building career. (St. John's was spared but it was close. The appearance of the garrison was augmented by the marching of sailors manning the batteries around and around Fort Amherst and Signal Hill to discourage the French with the illusion that there were greater numbers of men defending the garrison than there were. The French sailed south and attacked Bay Bulls instead.) And 4 yr.s later in 1800 "there was a mutiny in the garrison in St. John's; the plot was discovered and the ring-leaders hanged." faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/nfldhistory/MilitaryH... So St. John's wouldn't have been the safest home for 2 unmarried sisters in the 1770s and '80s relative to Devonshire, and it's certainly much less comfortable in the winters. (I don't know how much Barbary-pirate slave-raiding had persisted on the SW coast of England into the 1770s and '80s, but it would've been much less than at the crisis level seen just before and into the time of Cromwell.: "Over the course of the [17th] cent. a large number of British ships and people were captured by [Barbary] pirates. Devon and Cornwall lost roughly 20% [!] of their shipping through these raiders burning settlements, sinking ships and carrying men, women and children off to [North Africa to] be slaves." www.visitsouthdevon.co.uk/blog/read/2023/04/pirate-histor... That said, I've come across an estimate online that @ 1 1/2 million European and American slaves were abducted and enslaved by or in 'the Barbary states' /b/ 1750 and 1815.) Nonetheless, St. John's was a rapidly growing boom-town at that time. "From the mid-18th-cent. to the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the population of St. John’s grew from less than 1,000 permanent residents to over 10,000." www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/st-johns I have greater confidence that 'Stewart's Cove' was named after Anthony in light of those low numbers. He built a house on the 'King's road' in 1787 having sought and received an official permit to do so on the basis of his declaration that the construction wouldn't interfere with normal fishing operations in town (likely a standard requirement). Seven yr.s later in 1794, the Stewarts were renting a home in 'the 5th Division' ('from King's Beach to the Garrison') and employed a Catholic man-servant or assistant. (No-one else named Stewart/Stuart appears in the 1794 census, nor anyone with the surname Bennett, that of Anthony's sister-in-law.) In 1806 Anthony bought one of the first subscriptions sold in town to the 'Royal Gazette', a local paper.

- In 1811, almost 30 yr.s after their marriage, the Stewarts planned to move with their family to Scotland so that Anthony could retire back home (per the oral history), but he had plans to visit Quebec first to found a masonic lodge somewhere there. (I don't know just where but I've learned that there were already quite a number of masonic lodges in 'Lower Canada' in @ 1811. According to an account from my great great aunt Janie, Anthony had already founded a lodge in St. John's.) Their ship was caught in a storm in the Gulf en route and was wrecked just off Malpeque Bay, P.E.I. The family was rescued with their things but Anthony died of exposure a few days later, and his widow Susanna, who was said to have been "an educated lady", and her children settled in Prince-town (now known as Malpeque, nationally-famous today for its oysters) where she taught school. She later moved to St. Eleanor's (near Summerside today) where her daughter 'Susanna St. John Stewart' went to live after she married. (Susanna Jr. married very well to Spencer Green, son of U. E. Loyalists Daniel Green and Martha [nee Oats] who owned much of the land in and @ St. Eleanor's, then known as 'Green's shore', the future site of the city of Summerside. My great x 3 grandfather George was so impressed with his wealthy brother-in-law that he named one of his sons 'Spencer Green Stewart'.) A fine, dark, wooden (mahogany?) masonic ballot or voting box (with the dark, wooden balls used in voting ensconced within - where we get the expression 'to black-ball' or 'black-balled' from) was preserved, and I've seen it too as it was passed down to my cousin Arthur as well and to whichever of his children inherited it from him since then. (I'll scan and upload a photo I took of Arthur holding it sometime.)

- Now does it sound more or less likely in light of all of that information that my great grandmother's pretensions might have had some basis in fact? Anthony Stewart was a successful businessman who built or maintained ships for the Royal Navy and received something like a pension from the Office of Ordnance, and connections always help with obtaining such work. But his widow and children weren't 'sent for' from across the pond after the shipwreck and his passing, and she had to work. (Or did she deign to?) And yet the plan to found a Masonic lodge before leaving the continent makes Anthony sound ambitious and at least somewhat connected. I don't know who his parents were or where in Scotland he hailed from, although I've read unverified info. that his father's name was Andrew and that "he may have spent some time in Perthshire" before sailing to Newfoundland in his 20s in @ 1777-'78.

- 'Anthony Stewart' is an uncommon name in surviving 18th-cent. baptismal records in Scotland, with only 4 extant (incl. for Antony and Anton) /b/ 1730 and 1767, 2 in Wigtown parish and 2 nearby in Whithorn and Minnigaff (all in 'Dumfries and Galloway' in the SW; Wigtown and Whithorn are in historic Wigtownshire, Minnigaff is just across the River Cree in historic Kirkcudbrightshire), in 1733, 1742, and 2 in 1737, and none for an Anthony/Antony Stuart in the entire 18th cent. The youngest of the 4, sired by an Anthony Sr. and a Jannet Milhench, would've been 41 in 1783 when Anthony married and 69 in 1811. (According to the information recently received, Anthony "came to St. John's in his 20s, sometime shortly after 1777".) It's more likely that the mid-18th cent. record of Anthony's baptism didn't survive. Many didn't. Of 13 baptisms of an Anthony, Antony or Anton Stewart in the records /b/ 1700 and 1770, 9 took place in 'Dumfries and Galloway' incl. 3 in Glasserton (also in Wigtownshire). 3 of the other 4 were in Edinburgh (incl. 1 for an Anthonie) and 1 in Irvine; none survive from the 17th cent. Clannish Scots traditionally named their children after their parents or grandparents in that period, so it's unsurprising that more than 2/3rds of those baptisms of Anthony/Antony Stewarts took place in one region. There's a good chance they had a common ancestor, and while none seem to be a match for my great x 4 granddad, this cluster in and @ historic Wigtownshire could be a clue as to Anthony's provenance. But of course there's also a 50% chance or so that Anthony was named after his maternal grandfather or another ancestor or relation on his mother's line.

- The name 'Antony' appears only once (but never 'Anthony') in 'The Heraldry of the Stewarts' (George Harvey Johnston, 1906). It's found in the chapter 'The Stewarts of Galloway' (p. 71). archive.org/details/heraldryofstewar00john/page/70/mode/2... (A google search took me to this book and this chapter after I wrote the 4th last sentence above, honest.) This Antony was the 'Rector of Penninghame' and the scion of "the Stewarts of Clary". (Did my great x 4 grandfather descend from the 'Stewarts of Clary'?) I haven't yet found the site of the long-gone 'Clary House' in the Carse of Clary online, but it was in the historic parish of Penninghame which extended north of Wigtown to Minigaff. scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/digital-volumes/ordnance-survey-na... youtu.be/lDjYEWDZJh4?si=nJKLhsMa3GiMvlZ4 It was "the principal residence of the Bishops of Galloway in the 16th cent. and for part of the 17th ... [and] became the residence of the Earls of Galloway at the abolition of Episcopacy in Scotland". (Canmore.org.uk) 'Antony' married well to Barbara Gordon in 1566 or '69, the daughter of and heiress to Alexander Gordon (1516-1575), "the celebrated titular Archbishop of Athens, Bishop of the Isles and of Galloway" in succession, son of 'John Gordon, Lord Gordon', "the Master of Huntly by a natural [ie. illegitimate] daughter of James IV" and great grandson of James I. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Gordon_ www.youtube.com/shorts/uSZ59EF4FyE

- James IV's head is buried somewhere under the streets of downtown London today.: youtu.be/ssNWSQfHtS4?si=3uSiTCKhZ3flxPlR

- In quite a coincidence OR an example of just how inter-related these peerage types were (and how), Jane Scobie (who lies buried next to my great x 4 grandmother in Simm's Field on P.E.I., see my write-up for my last photo) descends from Alexander Gordon's brother 'George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly', "the wealthiest and most powerful landowner in the Scottish Highlands" (Wikipedia), and from George's daughter Jean Gordon, Alexander's niece (who married James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell [Alexander preached at their wedding at Holyrood palace], and who later agreed to a formal annulment on May 7, 1567, 8 days before Bothwell married the newly widowed Mary Queen of Scots. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:James_Hepburn,_4th_Ea... youtu.be/KeXZw0piUws?si=tWpxs58YefQEJoER [Bothwell was implicated in the assassination of Lord Darnley, Mary Stuart's 2nd husband, father to James I/James VI.] Jean then remarried to the Count of Sutherland, moved into Dunrobin castle, etc.) youtu.be/5zp3PKkJmHA?si=lBJIHhVrHko5KS_m Jean, Bothwell's ex, etc., was Jane Scobie's great x 4 grandmother as well as her great x 5 twice over (ouch!), as Jean begat Lady Jane Gordon who wed Huistean Du MacKay, XIII of Strathnaver, Jane Scobie's great x 3 grandparents (her Mom's Dad's Dad's Dad's folks) and her great x 4 grandparents twice over (her Mom's Mom's Dad's Dad's Dad's folks and her Dad's Mom's Dad's Dad's Dad's folks. [Her grandmothers were sisters.])

- Back to Antony Stewart.: Antony was 1/2 uncle to the 1st Earl of Galloway (1580-1649) and the son of one Sir Alexander Stewart, 5th of Garlies (@ 1507-@ 1581) by his 3rd wife (Sir Alexander's cousin [sigh] Katherine, daughter of 'William Stewart of Barclye and Tonderghie'); his grandfather Alexander Stewart, 4th of Garlies, died in battle at Flodden in 1513; his great great grandfather was 'Sir William Stewart of Dalswinton, Garlies and Minto' ('Sir Walter Stewart of Dalwinston' was that William's maternal grandfather); and his great x 4 grandfather was 'Sir William Stewart of Jedworth' who was taken prisoner by 'Hotspur' Percy at the battle of Homildon (aka Humbleton) in 1402 and was then executed by him. The inimical 'Hotspur', eldest son of the future Earl of Northumberland, helped to depose Richard II but then rebelled against Henry IV, and appears in both of Shakespeare's eponymous plays. Sean Connery played him in 1960.: youtu.be/bxlpLlGud7A?si=UPxSV9oSXWpjQskA Prince Hal slays him in Henry IV, Part 1 and then disses him in a eulogy, referring to his "ill-weaved ambition". (The defeat of a seasoned general of 39 by a 16 yr. old is dubious, but that's Shakespearian royalist propaganda for you.) www.shakespeareandhistory.com/henry-hotspur-percy.php The family mansion burned up with all the family records @ 270 years back and so "it is not now possible to prove the pedigree further back" than Jedworth, but direct descendants claim he "was a son of Sir Alexander Stewart of Darnley [aka Derneley], and [the] brother of Sir John [of Darnley]". (They cite references to 'Alexander of Garlies' by the Earl of Lennox, a descendant of Sir John, as his "near kinsman", and to the Earl of Galloway by King James VI as a descendant of 'the Stewarts of Darnley' [p. 70].) Sir Alexander was the great grandson of Sir John Stewart of Bonkyl and great great grandson of Alexander, '4th High Stewart', the great grandfather of King Robert Stewart II. (p. 22)

- 'Antony' of Clary's great x 4 grandfather was James Douglas, the famous 2nd Earl of Douglas, great great grandfather of William, the 6th Earl, and his brother, the young victims of the infamous 'Black Dinner' (which, together with the massacre at Glencoe, was the inspiration for George R.R. Martin when he wrote 'the Red Wedding' scene in 'Game of Thrones'. youtu.be/jD3_3iynlYI?si=TfUxOTBNFaZZ5jic ). Antony's great grandmother Margaret Douglas was the hapless 6th Earl's 3rd cousin once removed.

- In another coincidence, Jane Scobie was the great x 10 and twice (at least) great x 11 grand-daughter of 'William Crichton, 1st Lord Crichton' (her Dad's Mom's Dad's Dad's Dad's Mom's Dad's Dad's Dad's Dad's Mom's Dad, etc.), Lord Chancellor of Scotland in 1440 and the depraved asshole who, together with Alexander Livingston of Callendar, invited the young Douglas brothers to the 'Black dinner' "and murdered them, despite the young King's pleas [per one account] for their lives." (Wikipedia)

- Recent DNA studies indicate that as bearers of the surname Stewart there's @ a 30% chance that Anthony and his son George could have claimed descent from Scotland’s Royal family, and a 50% chance of descent from that line or that of the progenitor's brother, Sir John Stewart of Bonkyll who "met his demise at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 fighting alongside William Wallace". project1-m9gb2xku8.live-website.com/?p=38755 "The Stewart family’s well-documented pedigree allowed 'ScotlandsDNA' ( www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/what-does-scottish-dna-... ) to carry out tests on his descendants, and those of his brother James, the 5th High Steward of Scotland and the grandfather of Robert II, the first Stewart king. ... 'ScotlandsDNA' checked its database of ancestry tests for men with the Stewart surname and found that ... 30% are descended from James." Again, @ 20% descend from his brother John.

- The descendants of Sir John Stewart of Bonkyl were scrupulous in maintaining records of their pedigrees, seeing as the Royal Stewarts/Stuarts were their cousins. Mary Stuart, 'Queen of Scots', married one of them, a Lennox Stewart, Henry Stewart Lord Darnley, great grandson of Henry Tudor VII (through his mother Margaret Douglas; Mary, Darnley's 1/2 first cousin and 3rd cousin once removed [and more distantly related several times over], was another of Henry's great grandchildren) and the father of James VI of Scotland/James I of Great Britain and Ireland. (The royal marriage was strategic in light of Darnley's descent from the Tudors and which bolstered their son's claim to the throne of England. youtu.be/SlsmMFnKg3Q?si=G7Mkn6P3Ka25rO_m ) Sir John of Bonkyl's descendants "include the Earls of Angus, Earls and Dukes of Lennox, Earls of Galloway, Atholl, Buchan, and Traquair, Lords Lorn, Innermeath, Pittenweem, and Blantyre, the Stewarts of Appin, Grantully, Rosyth, Minto, etc."

- "[Again] Sir John Stewart of Bonkyl, 2nd son of Alexander, 4th High Stewart [or Steward], was killed at the battle of Falkirk in 1298. He married Margaret, daughter and heiress of Sir Alexander de Bonkyl, in Berwickshire. Sir Alexander's Arms, as shown on his Seal attached to the Ragman Roll, were 3 buckles, and several of his grandsons and their descendants accordingly carried buckles in their Arms also. [They] had 5 sons and 1 daughter, [etc., etc.]."

- Again, the Lennox Stewarts were direct ancestors of James VI & I through his father Henry, Lord Darnley. Antony of Clary was likely James VI and I's 6th cousin through the Lennox line. (See p. 46).

- The Appin Stewarts famously fought for the Bonnie Prince at Culloden in 1746 (where they led the McLarens btw; my grandmother was a McLaren). Jacobite Alan Breck Stewart, immortalized by Scott in Rob Roy and by Robert Louis Stevenson in his romance 'Kidnapped' (played by Michael Caine in the movie upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e7/Kidnapped_1971_UK_... ), was a 'Stewart of Appin'. www.flickr.com/photos/joesonoftherock/50183732266

- Update: Again, James IV and the line of the Stewart kings, one of the oldest in Europe, in which endogamous marriage was common, was fairly inbred (although they were no Ptolemies or Habsburgs).: youtu.be/NRStCaAXvzY?si=qklucCCi3p-q2T7y www.youtube.com/shorts/gKJmDK8a3aY And Scots Highlanders appear to be relatively inbred with much endogamy according to this article.: "Mating patterns in medieval/early modern Scotland".: hbdchick.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/mating-patterns-in-medi... "The broad, general pattern wrt historic mating patterns in Scotland appears to be: more cousin/endogamous marriage for a longer duration (i.e. into the early modern period) the farther north one goes; less cousin/endogamous marriage for a longer duration (i.e. extending back into the medieval period) the farther south one goes in Scotland, with the notable exception of the border areas."

- From 'Finding the Family in Medieval and Early Modern Scotland': "[A]s early as 1336 John MacDonald of Islay applied for papal dispensation to marry his cousin Amy Macruari. According to canon law this marriage was within the forbidden degrees of consanguinity and any children born of the union would have been regarded as illegitimate. Close ties of consanguinity or affinity /b/ spouses were common in the Highlands, but MacDonald was aware of the wider context and the [importance of the recognition of his son's legitimacy] by the Scottish crown. Clan marriages were directed towards various ends, whether political, military or economic. Prioritization of these considerations depended on the size, standing and policy of a particular clan. A study of the marriage patterns of the chiefly family of the McIntoshes reveals both an internal and external agenda. During the 14th and early 15th cent.s it was common for the children of successive chiefs to be married into local families while at least one child was married into a satellite clan of the Clan Chattan, thereby reinforcing clan solidarity. By the 16th cent., however, a clear shift in policy is evident. Internal marriage still took place regularly although in instances where a chief had fewer children it was unusual for endogamous marriage to take place. Instead it was more important to use marriage as a means to establish and to reinforce external alliances. However, if during a period of political instability a particular chief felt the need to reinforce clan cohesion a greater number of marriages were contracted internally."

- "How much cousin/endogamous marriage was there amongst the medieval highland clans? The partial genealogy of one clan, the MacPherson clan, which has been well-researched, offers some clues. There are 3 branches of that clan - the sliochd choinnich, the sliochd iain and the sliochd ghill-iosa - and the genealogy runs from the middle of the 14th through the 17th cent.s: "The genealogy contains almost 1,000 Macphersons, men and women, and @ 200 non-Macpherson marriage partners. ... Of the total number, @ 750 are males, just > 200 are females; and > 300 marriages are recorded. ... More than 1/3rd of the recorded marriages were endogamous, which is to say they took place within the clan, both parties being Macphersons, and marriage within the sliochd [i.e. one patriline] was permissible. Of 119 endogamous marriages recorded in the clan, no fewer than 40 took place within one or other of the 3 major sliochdan. Geographical propinquity was doubtless a factor in the occurrence of some of these marriages, but a more potent force was probably the desire to prevent rights in moveable property, especially stock, and right in land from passing out of the sliochd. The same argument is probably true for inter-sliochd marriages in the clan. One curious consequence of this, perhaps, was the existence of a custom of concubinage where the rules of the Church forbade marriage. The genealogy provides one possible example of this in the case of John Macpherson of Knappach who took the widow of his deceased uncle Thomas as ‘his concubine’. The woman involved was Connie Macpherson, daughter of Donald Dow Macpherson of Pitchirn and Connie Macpherson of Essich. She was, perhaps, following the example of her father, who, after the death of her mother, ‘took as his concubine’ Eneir Cameron of Glennevis from whom the Macphersons of Clune descended. At any rate it is quite clear that the Highland clans and their major patrilineal divisions entertained no rules enforcing exogamy. ...

- "One result of repeated marriage within the clan was that cousin-ship was not a simple matter of two lines of patrilineal descent from a common forebear, but was exceedingly intricate. So complex, indeed, were the relationships established within the clan that many clansmen of the 10th and subsequent generations were able to trace their descent back to, not one, but all 3 of the original brothers, and often to one of them more than once. [Ouch.] “The exogamous marriages were formed with influential families, almost exclusively of the Highlands. ...

- So "1/3rd of MacPherson clan marriages were within the clan, many times within one of the patrilines. (Compare this to 25% in Cumbria, one of the border counties in northern England, in the early modern period.) The MacPhersons circumvented the church’s bans on consanguineal marriage simply by shacking up rather than marrying. A result of all this inbreeding was that MacPherson cousins were more closely related to one another than cousins in a more outbreeding society would be." There you go, the truth will set you free.

- youtube.com/shorts/9x75wqtu-OE?si=6XltJ-VILB4GKcb2

Credit: Plenary Healthier Juliana / Clinton Global Initiative

CGI Annual Meeting 2013

Plenary Session

Healthier Futures: Prioritizing Prevention

Moderator

Chelsea Clinton

Board Member, The Clinton Foundation

Participants

Margaret Chan

Director-General, World Health Organization

Adrian Gore

Chief Executive Officer, Discovery Holdings Limited

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

President and CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Closing Conversation

Participants

President Barack Obama

44th President of the United States

President Bill Clinton

Founding Chairman, Clinton Global Initiative;

42nd President of the United States

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

via

In our exploration of the “Green New Deal” and its impacts on the alternative energy industry, we examined how the environmental and economic components of the ambitious plan, proposed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, would greatly enhance efforts to slow climate change and create new green jobs. The idea has rallied many Democrats behind a federal environmental policy that has quickly become a litmus test for representatives and candidates, including those eyeing the presidency in 2020.

It’s galvanizing for those of us who have worked for years in alternative energy technology, design, and implementation to hear politicians at the highest levels of government prioritizing our work, creating opportunities for broader discussions, and signalling their commitment to environmental action. However, many leaders at the state level have been working to implement policies similar to the Green New Deal over the past several years. Their efforts, and the results, are helping advance federal policy-making regarding the environmental and economic benefits of alternative energy.

Let’s take a look at some of the state-level initiatives that give us hope for the success of a Green New Deal:

New York Leaps Forward

In New York state, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his own Green New Deal this January. As GreenTech Media reports, the plan aims “to achieve 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040, and ultimately eliminate the state’s carbon footprint.” An update to the state’s previous energy plans, it sets ambitious goals involving the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the nation’s largest public power organization. Progress in New York foreshadows how both public and private utilities must cooperate with lawmakers and the alternative energy industry in order to achieve these new goals.

NYPA has announced its plans to invest in large-scale renewable energy with “a 20-year power-purchase agreement for 290 megawatts of wind” that will create an estimated “140 construction jobs, 300 indirect positions and around $2.5 million a year in tax payments.” Offshore wind energy is on the agenda as well, with the deployment of data collection technology in the near future informing decisions about placement and design.

In alignment with Cuomo’s Green New Deal for New York state, Con Edison has announced its plans for a $484 million rate-based investment in energy infrastructure, including charging ports for electric vehicles and energy storage installations. That utility companies, which have fought energy progress for decades, are getting involved as a result of state-level policies is a sign that real forward motion is being made.

California Sets an Example

On the west coast, California’s new Governor Gavin Newsom is continuing the work of his predecessor to meet climate goals that include eliminating carbon emissions by 2045. Long a stronghold for progressive environmental policy, California’s example now includes eliminating some tax revenue sharing for municipalities that contribute to suburban sprawl instead of increasing density of housing in areas with public transportation options.

Grist reports that Newsom also plans to reinstate the Healthy Soils Initiative, which includes soil conservation practices and “techniques to get farmland to soak up carbon from the air.” They note that the Governor will need the cooperation of state legislators to turn these ideas into policy, but that his priorities will shape the upcoming legislative session. California’s example shows that we need passionate leaders like Newsom to continually demand progress if ambitious proposals like the Green New Deal are to be successful.

Other States Join the Movement

While states like New York and California have long been on the front lines of progressive climate policy, they aren’t alone. The New York Times writes that “midterm elections in the fall brought in a new wave of governors who are now setting climate goals for their states and laying out more ambitious plans to cut emissions and expand low-carbon energy” in states like Michigan, Illinois, and New Mexico. “By advancing technologies like wind, solar or electric vehicles,” these states “pave the way for more ambitious federal action.”

State-level initiatives across the country include requiring utilities to use and invest in more renewable power sources, lowering or eliminating carbon dioxide emissions, and creating carbon pricing markets. As the national conversation around environmental and economic policy evolves, educators and activists are focusing on the states to create progress and build support for new federal policy.

From New York to California and everywhere in between, state-level policies are giving us a taste of what a national Green New Deal could mean. At Solar Design Studio, we’re excited to be part of the conversation. If you have your own renewable energy goals for your home or business, reach out to us today to learn more about how we can work together to achieve them.

from

www.solardesignstudio.com/RSSRetrieve.aspx?ID=13199&A...

solardesignstudio.weebly.com/blog/state-level-energy-init...

The Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) prioritized shifting gears to ensure that LDCs are firmly in the driver’s seat on the road to prosperity.

With less than a decade to deliver on the 2030 Agenda, supporting LDCs as they harness their social and economic development potential is critical. The five-day conference in Doha, Qatar brought world leaders together with the private sector, civil society, parliamentarians, and young people to accelerate efforts in places where it is needed the most.

“LDC5 was a once-in-a-decade opportunity to build momentum on meaningful dialogue so that we can best understand what the next era of sustainable development in these countries will look like,” said UNOPS Acting Executive Director Jens Wandel.

© UNOPS/Jason Florio

A desktop of my old mac that I made after I read the lifehacker post about this easy gtd system here: lifehacker.com/5270297/quickly-prioritize-your-tasks-by-u...

All it is is a todo.txt, but seperated into four categories; I put @UI [or whatever] before each task, and I made a simple applescript to sort through todo.txt and put it in UI.txt, NUI.txt, UNI.txt, and NUNI.txt. It was really easy; just using 'do shell script 'x'', and using some old skool sed and grep commands.

In the bottom left corner I have Bowtie displaying my album artwork and info.

I have a completely transparent dock skin so it looks like the color behind it; this case, black

I used crystal clear icons to decorate the 'add to todo' and 'refresh' applescripts in the bottom-right corner that I also just wrote.

The wallpaper is from vladstudio here:

vladstudio.com/wallpaper/?grass

I find it very relaxing and nice to look at.

Well, that's it!

Thanks!

Alex Hwang, 6th grader

VASG supported student and George Mason University graduate student Sammie Alexander.

Alexander uses environmental DNA to track how vulnerable and invasive fish species are using fish passages in Northern Virginia.

Her work will help managers prioritize repair of passages and make future passages optimal for supporting vulnerable species. Dec 18, 2019. (Photo by Aileen Devlin | Virginia Sea Grant)

by danielle_colby_american_picker bit.ly/XBJHct

Invest in our future! Better school funding! Fund the Future. Prioritize public education, not private prisons

***UPDATE**Doug and Tim always prioritize their agenda, and news flash....they will make sure to prioritize their needs. Thank you both for your continued support!

Nine drawers on a vaulted support. Measurements 66 inches long x 19 inches deep x 30.5 inches tall. I also have the matching nightstand

201222-N-OH958-1035 PORTSMOUTH, Va. (Dec. 22, 2020) Ensign Fitzroy Hall, left, from Manchester, Jamaica, a Sailor assigned to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP), administers the first round of the COVID-19 vaccine to Lt. Adam Groyer, from Cape Town, Africa, assigned to the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77). NMCP is supporting the fleet by providing the voluntary vaccination within the DoD phased approach to prioritizing mission-essential healthcare personnel in receiving the vaccine. GHWB is at Norfolk Naval Shipyard undergoing its Docking Planned Incremental Availability. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ryan Pitt)

In recent years, there has been a substantial movement in built environment that prioritizes human welfare and improvement. Experience design, a fresh and interesting concept which brings to life what great design looks like, is built on those key concepts. @ www.spaceagency-design.com/services

Credit: Taylor Davidson / Clinton Global Initiative

CGI Annual Meeting 2013

Plenary Session

Healthier Futures: Prioritizing Prevention

Moderator

Chelsea Clinton

Board Member, The Clinton Foundation

Participants

Margaret Chan

Director-General, World Health Organization

Adrian Gore

Chief Executive Officer, Discovery Holdings Limited

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

President and CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Closing Conversation

Participants

President Barack Obama

44th President of the United States

President Bill Clinton

Founding Chairman, Clinton Global Initiative;

42nd President of the United States

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

*U* Eeeep! Guess who just arrived at my door today?!

HNNNG

SO. MANY. EMOTIONS.

WORDS. CAN'T. FIND. RIGHT ONES. ASDFGHJKL

So first things first, like I've always come to do when I get a new sculpt that is meant to be important to another of my dolls/characters, I shove their faces together and analyze them from every possible angle like a mad scientist for 15 minutes straight. Its become incredibly important to me that a sculpt not only be perfect for their character, but also work perfectly (in my eyes) with the other characters in their story and i've come to realize i'm insanely picky in this regard and it causes me more strife within my dolls than anything else so now I prioritize it before anything else. Of course, in this instance i'm mainly speaking in regards to Calliope and Shu together as they are romantic equivalents (in addition to Eztel, but he's a topic for a different day atm) but also with Faustus and Calliope as they are brother and sister. Overall, my first impression of Calliope with both of them is that her head is a bit too big and it already really annoys me. I think its much less noticeable with her and Shu together but its extremely noticeable for me with her and Faustus.

Honestly, that is kind of unavoidable with having them all in MSD scale. Canonically, Faustus/Euclid/Hyacinth/Petra are all "older" or more physically mature (appear 16-20ish) than that of Shu/Calliope/Etzel (appear 12-14ish) but with having them all as MSDs which have little variation in proportion and height its very difficult to accurately translate those canonical differences in their doll forms. Really the only way that I could remedy that while still being canonically accurate to their own characters would be to have Shu/Calliope/Etzel be in the large Yosd/35cm doll range (Bunny Nine, Iplehouse KID, Chibi Unoa etc.) which i've hugely considered but of course that size is a very limited pool of options at this point. Having them as standard YoSD's would be just as much if not significantly more inaccurate (and much more... questionable) so really, until the hobby progresses and more 35cm doll options pop up having them as MSDs is the best option for them but comes with it its own canonically inaccurate frustrations for me. Its incredibly frustrating when it forces me to choose which character(s) hold priority in being proportionally accurate when in this case both Shu and Faustus are incredibly important to Calliope but its impossible for a sculpt to proportionally and canonically work with both at the same time. T__T Ack. Its just sad because Calliope is so important and significant to Faustus as well. OTL

Anyways, when it comes to her and Shu together i'm much more happy with them and that is the most important thing at this moment because regardless of whether I like it or not, Shu/Calliope/Etzel have priority over Calliope/Faustus in regards to doll accuracy. I notice that doll couples/pairing etc. tend to work best for me the more similar their facial features are and because Shu and Calliope have very similar mouth and head shapes its doing wonders to satiate my bizarre criteria xD. Of course, Calliope is currently just borrowing my Unoa body that Shu has been stealing for a long time now and in the future will most likely be getting her own Minifee Moe body so how I am interpreting her overall look now to how it will correctly be later may also be a large factor in my initial annoyances. Perhaps once she is on a significantly smaller and shorter body it will even itself out or perhaps make my initial annoyances that much more significant, only time will tell.

;__; What truly makes everything so frustrating and difficult for me however is the fact that so far I am just in love with Calliope as this sculpt! Blank in pictures really doesn't do it any justice and I honestly really hate blank dolls but even so I can still see her shining through in it so much. It has so many of her unique canonical features!! I am debating modifying a few things here and there just to make it that much more perfect for her character but asdfghjkl I'm just really in love with this sculpt and especially as Calliope!! Of course, I still need to get her proper eyes, make her wig, get her body and do a faceup on her before I can really say for certain but at least so far in regards to how much I like the sculpt purely for Calliope and not in relation to anyone else I am really in love with it! *U*

Its such a strange yet wonderful feeling to see Calliope again and especially so well in a sculpt i've adored for so long~ I just hope the apprehensions that I have about her in relation to my other dolls doesn't ruin it for me this time like it often does.

TwT Anyways, I probably won't be able to do a faceup on her for a while but eeep i'm still so excited and can't wait to see how she comes to life!! Cross your fingers for me that she ends up being the right one and everything works out <3

(Also on a side note, her resin totally does not match this Unoa body, I just edited it to look less dramatically different xD //shot)

---

Calliope (girl) is a Flower & Junior Yabi head in White Skin borrowing a modded Unoa 1.5 body in Fresh skin.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf answers questions from the press. As the General Assembly convenes for a new legislative session, Governor Tom Wolf today outlined his agenda, in which he continues to prioritize ensuring that Pennsylvania businesses and workers have a path toward recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic, building on bipartisan progress by removing barriers to help everyday Pennsylvanians succeed, and demanding accountability through government reform. Harrisburg, PA – January 28, 2021

Prioritization spreadsheet with priorities assigned to the four columns. The Label column is to identify points on the chart. The Description column reminds you, six months down the road, what the idea meant.

Young, Indi. 2008. Mental Models: Aligning Design Strategy with Human Behavior. New York: Rosenfeld Media.

www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/mental-models/

Credit: Taylor Davidson / Clinton Global Initiative

CGI Annual Meeting 2013

Plenary Session

Healthier Futures: Prioritizing Prevention

Moderator

Chelsea Clinton

Board Member, The Clinton Foundation

Participants

Margaret Chan

Director-General, World Health Organization

Adrian Gore

Chief Executive Officer, Discovery Holdings Limited

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

President and CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Closing Conversation

Participants

President Barack Obama

44th President of the United States

President Bill Clinton

Founding Chairman, Clinton Global Initiative;

42nd President of the United States

The investment project will finance the first of three prioritized corridors of the planned regional rapid transit system (RRTS) network in India's National Capital Region (NCR). The Delhi-Meerut RRTS will pass through the densely populated sections of the NCR, connecting Delhi to Meerut in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The 82-kilometer corridor will provide safe, reliable, and high-capacity commuter transit services between various locations along the corridor. The investment project will finance rail track, signaling, station buildings, and maintenance facilities. It will also support capacity and institutional development of the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), a joint venture company of the Government of India and states of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, that is mandated to implement the RRTS project across the NCR.

Read more on:

India

Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System Investment Project

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

1936 Lancia Astura Cabriolet Series III 'Tipo Bocca' by Pinin Farina

$1,380,000 USD | Sold

From Sotheby's:

LANCIA: TECHNOLOGY MEETS ARTISTRY

As might be expected for an automaker founded by an engineer and racing driver, Lancia, established by Vincenzo Lancia in 1906, prioritized technological innovation, performance, and quality from its earliest days. This approach bore bountiful fruit in motorsport, with Lancia’s epic history of competition success needing little introduction here.

Naturally, when Lancia applied this same uncompromising formula to larger and more luxurious cars, the results were no less spectacular—and this breathtaking 1936 Lancia Astura Cabriolet Series III “Tipo Bocca,” with its unique bodywork by Pinin Farina, represents the very best of the marque’s ample pre-war capabilities.

The Lancia Astura was introduced in in November 1931 as a replacement for the flagship Dilambda, and it would be built in four series before production ceased in 1939. Reflecting a new Italian nationalism, Lancia broke their precedent of assigning their cars the letters of the Greek alphabet and instead named the new model Astura, after an ancient island castle south of Rome. The Astura was packed with innovations, including an independent front suspension with self-lubricating sliding pillars; the live rear axle was controlled by friction dampers that could be adjusted to suit with dashboard-mounted controls, and a Bijur central lubrication system was fitted. The third series also received a Dewandre brake servo for the four-wheel drum brakes and a 78-liter fuel tank.

The centerpiece, however, was Lancia’s V-8 engine. Although Lancia was not the first automaker to bring a V-8 to market, it had its own distinctive approach to the formula, creating its famous narrow-angle engines. By employing a vee angle much narrower than that of the typical V-8, Lancia was able to build an engine that had some of the casting and production advantages of a traditional inline-eight while offering many of the packaging benefits of the more compact V-8 configuration. Starting with the second series, the Astura’s engine was mounted on rubber isolators, further improving powertrain refinement.

The Astura’s third series, known as the Tipo 233 and arriving for 1933, is of particular note. In addition to a larger, 2,973-cubic-centimeter V-8 rated at 82 horsepower, the Astura was for the first time offered in two wheelbase lengths. Nine hundred and eight were built as Lungo, with a wheelbase of 131 inches as the Tipo 233L, while 328 were constructed to Corto specification on a wheelbase of 122 inches as Tipo 233C. When the Astura’s fourth series arrived, only a long-wheelbase version was offered, denying coachbuilders the choice afforded by the previous iteration.

THE PREMIERE ‘TIPO BOCCA’

The present car, Tipo 233C chassis number 33-5313, is one of the 328 Corto Asturas produced on the short-wheelbase 122-inch platform. Fitted with engine number 91-1171, it was delivered as a bare chassis to Pinin Farina in the summer of 1936 and clothed in a body designed by Mario Revelli di Beaumont, who took full advantage of the narrow-angle V-8 to create a rakish yet restrained cabriolet design. The design would come to be known as “Tipo Bocca” in reference to Vittorio Bocca, an important Lancia dealer at the time who would eventually commission a number of cars in this style.

The aerodynamic profile features a sloping, rounded grille, whose horizontal bars are interrupted by a dramatic “waterfall” of chrome strakes running from the slim, elegant bumper to the base of a vee’d windshield. The peaked front fenders are separated from the body by rounded fairings that feature individually integrated headlights and driving lights, while the rear fender spats also contribute to the clean, smooth lines. The open car’s streamlined horizontal emphasis is reinforced by a chrome strake running the entire length of the body as well as horizontal engine compartment vents, features that are accentuated when the halves of the split windshield are folded flat. Gently curving body sides feature an early use of curved side windows. Highlighting the car’s restrained elegance was its subtle, pale grey paint with blue upholstery and power-actuated convertible top, the latter a great novelty for 1936.

The newly completed cabriolet was displayed on the Pinin Farina stand at the 1936 Salone del l’Automobile, Milano, where it received the President’s Cup from the Royal Automobile Club of Italy (R.A.C.I.). Following the show, chassis number 33-5313 was acquired by Ghiara & C., Lancia’s main agent in Genoa. Ghiara sold the car to Cav. Piero Sanguineti, a local industrialist, for about 75,000 Lire (the equivalent of about $4,200 at the time). In May 1937, Sanguineti showed the car in the inaugural Concorso d’Eleganza per Automobili, San Remo, where it received a class award.

The car was subsequently purchased by Emil Uebel, Lancia’s German distributor, who apparently kept it in his main facility in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Wartime records no longer exist, offering no explanation of whether Uebel sold the car or retained it for himself, or how and where the car survived the conflict. But survive, it certainly did, and in early 1947 it was acquired by American collector Barney Pollard, as part of a package deal with two steam locomotives.

Pollard shipped number 33-5313 to the United States and kept the car until 1980, when it was sold to Armand Giglio, former President of the American Lancia Club. Giglio held the car a further two decades, selling it in 2004 to an owner in Connecticut. Other than an older repaint, the car was in largely original condition, but with some deterioration of the body’s wood framing. The new owner undertook restoration of the wood framing, as well as some body preparation work.

A RETURN TO CONCOURS-WORTHY GLORY

In late 2011, the Astura was acquired by collector Orin Smith. He would commission Vantage Motorworks of Miami to complete the restoration to international concours standards. Refinished in pale grey over blue—a livery replicating its original show-stand appearance—the car easily achieved Best in Class at the Classic Sports Sunday at Mar-a-Lago, and People’s Choice at Amelia Island, both in 2013. The Lancia subsequently journeyed back to Italy, where it was judged Most Sympathetic Restoration at the 2014 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, in the company of a thrilled Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

The car was subsequently exhibited at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, as part of their “Rolling Sculpture” exhibit of advanced streamlined design. Notably, a sister car to this lovely Astura, in long-wheelbase form, was awarded Best of Show at the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, cementing its importance to design and elegance for the era.

Oscar Davis acquired this Lancia in 2017, becoming the latest in a series of notable collectors to serve as its caretaker. Undeniably more luxurious than many of Davis’ sport and racing-focused machines, the Astura is nevertheless a true thoroughbred; its style, advanced technology, and remarkable pedigree made it a natural fit for his curated stable.

Now offered from the Oscar Davis Collection, this Lancia Astura “Corto” cabriolet perfectly epitomizes Pinin Farina’s design of the pre-war period: restrained elegance with simple but precise details. As such, it represents an opportunity to acquire one of the most important and beautiful examples of Italian engineering and coachbuilding—a show car par excellence, now as then.

---

Kristina and I headed over to RM Sotheby's at the Monterey Conference Center to view some glorious cars at their auction preview.

- - -

Had a blast with our auto-enthusiast friend and neighbor, Fred, at Monterey Car Week 2022.

Credit: Plenary Healthier Juliana / Clinton Global Initiative

CGI Annual Meeting 2013

Plenary Session

Healthier Futures: Prioritizing Prevention

Moderator

Chelsea Clinton

Board Member, The Clinton Foundation

Participants

Margaret Chan

Director-General, World Health Organization

Adrian Gore

Chief Executive Officer, Discovery Holdings Limited

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

President and CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Closing Conversation

Participants

President Barack Obama

44th President of the United States

President Bill Clinton

Founding Chairman, Clinton Global Initiative;

42nd President of the United States

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

In partnership with FEMA's Direct Housing Mission, Talent Mobile Estates is being prioritized for cleanup to provide temporary housing for community members in need.

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

Background, from 2 weeks ago:

I have a single functional window in my apartment, providing all my sunlight. Being on the first floor, hundreds of people pass by my window daily, a privacy concern. Shortly after moving in, I prioritized the installation of plants on the windowsill for the dual purposes of beautifying my living space and shielding me from prying eyes. I purchased 2 large gorgeous jade plants, a fern-like leafy plant, and a plant that looks a large weed.

The jades are dying, they now have small flies feasting on their decaying succulent parts. The fern-like leafy plant has thinned out and likely also will not make it. The weed is doing fabulously.

This is distressing to me from both living space beautification perspective and a privacy perspective, and I had the inspiration this morning to solve the problem the jewish way: I would pay someone to deal with it. I called the horticultural society of new york and spoke with george, the director of horticulture. He was very sympathetic, really understood my pain when I told him about the dying jades.

"What sort of exposure do you have?"

"Good exposure. I mean, it's a window. There are no buildings or anything blocking the window."

"North, south, east or west?"

"Oh. Northern exposure."

"Oh, god."

"What?"

[Sounding mildly annoyed] "You had no chance."

"What do you mean?"

"Who sold you those jades?"

"This place on 10th street, just east of first avenue."

[Now a little angry] "Do they sell jewelry too?"

"Yeah, that's the place."

"Motherfuckers. Hold on a second while I write something down."

"What's the problem?"

"Motherfucking Filipino motherfuckers. I'm going to have their asses."

"What? What? The guy was so pleasant."

[Irate] "Reuben, jades ABSOLUTELY REQUIRE 6 hours a day of southern exposure. Do you understand? They ABSOLUTELY REQUIRE IT."

"Got it."

"You CANNOT sell someone a jade plant without asking if they have southern exposure. These guys are notorious for this shit."

Anyway, george is coming next tuesday for a consultation. My place is going to be a summertime greenhouse by the time he's done with me.

Note that the part about George becoming angry and making remarks about Filipinos is fiction.

via

Summary: SERVPRO of Hurst-Euless-Bedford stresses the importance of prioritizing safety when dealing with a water damage emergency.

When a home or business owner is confronted with a large-scale water damage incident, it is vital to prioritize the safety of families, employees, customers, and other individuals. SERVPRO of Hurst-Euless-Bedford is sharing 7 safety tips to help people navigate the aftermath of a water damage emergency. These safety tips are applicable for residential or commercial water damage that is internally sourced from a leaky faucet, a cracked water pipe, or a broken water heater. Water damage resulting from a natural disaster such as a flood, tornado, or hurricane has a set of issues that go beyond the extent of an internally sourced water damage situation.

Tip #1: Stay calm. Do not panic.

Water damage to a home or business is stressful, especially if the water damages expensive furniture, ruins family heirlooms, destroys valuable inventory, or requires the property to be evacuated for a period of days or even weeks. Trained, experienced professionals take care of water damage emergencies every day, and they eliminate a large portion of the stress and anxiety. Skilled restoration experts do a thorough job in a timely fashion, so people do not have to worry.

Tip #2: Identify and eliminate electrical hazards.

A flooded house presents a challenge to the homeowner. Floor covering can be replaced, upholstery can be cleaned, and baseboards can be repainted. Electrocution, however, can be fatal.

The first concern is always personal safety, even before identifying the source of the flooding and shutting off the water. If the flooding is extensive, electrical shock is always a concern. Avoid stepping in the water until sources of potential electrical shock have been identified and resolved. Appliances and extension cords in the water are particularly dangerous. Be safe. Shut off the power from outside the home or commercial building. A water damage issue could turn into a fire hazard if electrical appliances are exposed to water.

Tip #3: Identify any chemical or sanitation hazards before entering the residence or building.

Strong smells, burning and itching eyes, or skin irritation may be indicators that the water may have come into contact with activated chemicals. Carefully do a smell test. Is the liquid on the floor more than water? Is it contaminated with raw sewage? It is unsanitary to track raw sewage throughout the entire house in the search for the water leak. What may have been a relatively simple clean up could be expanded to include the whole house.

Tip #4: Avoid slipping and falling.

Watch out for slippery surfaces. Wet floors can be exceedingly slippery, so hold on to cabinets or furniture when walking on slick kitchen or bathroom floors. Wear shoes or boots that provide stability and reduce the possibility of slipping and falling. It is better to keep shoes on while walking through the flooded areas to prevent slipping and to protect the feet from injury.

Tip #5: Use a flashlight when walking through areas that are dark or dimly lit.

If the flooding was so extensive that the electricity needed to be turned off, use a flashlight to illuminate the home. Proper lighting improves balance and stability. Groping around in the dark can lead to head and hand injuries. Further safety hazards can be created if furniture is turned over or glass is broken.

Tip #6: Wear rubber gloves and other protective clothing, if possible.

Wearing rubber gloves, protective eyewear, sturdy shoes or boots, and a mask or respirator are advisable if at all possible. If the leak has persisted over an extended period of time, mold, mildew, and bacteria may have had time to grow. Mold exposure can cause health effects. Also, the liquid on the floor and carpet may be contaminated with raw sewage. Chemicals may have mixed with the water and may have become activated, toxifying the air and the water. Any exposure to these contaminants could be hazardous or even deadly.

Tip #7: Avoid lifting heavy items.

Water-logged pillows, cushions, clothing, carpet, and padding are very heavy. Be careful walking across slippery surfaces. Carrying a heavy load or slipping unexpectedly can wrench the back or cause other injuries.

If the situation is severe and the environment is hazardous, the safest course of action may be to shut off the electricity and water, call the water damage specialists, and wait. Each crisis is unique and carries its own set of safety hazards. Immediate response from a water damage specialist is essential because much of the damage is done in the first few hours of the incident. Getting a trained technician with the best equipment on the scene as soon as possible is always a best-case scenario in a worst-case situation. For water damage restoration in Hurst-Euless-Bedford, TX, contact SERVPRO by phone at (817) 595-0004 or visit the website at https://www.SERVPROhurst-euless-bedford.com.

ift.tt/2Xy87t8

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

Demonstration of ground application of Lambda cyhalothrin using backpack smoker equipment. Bulgan province, Mongolia.

Photo and caption provided by forest entomologist Karen Ripley. In June, 2017, she made a rapid assessment of Mongolia’s forest health surveys, site prioritization, and pest control activities that protect its forests from native defoliating insects. This evaluation was sponsored by the United Nations’ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation program.

Photo by: Karen Ripley

Date: June 12, 2017

For more about Forest Health Protection's International Activities see: www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/cs/main/!ut/p/z1/04...

Image provided by USDA Forest Service, Region 6, State and Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection: www.fs.usda.gov/main/r6/forest-grasslandhealth

Minister of Labour and Immigration Jason Copping and Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation Doug Schweitzer announced, from Edmonton on Monday, October 26, 2020, new initiatives to spur job creation and support Alberta’s economic recovery.

In order to create new businesses and job creators in high-demand industries, Alberta’s government is launching two new immigration pathways to attract investment, create new high-paying jobs for Albertans, diversify the economy and encourage international graduates to launch businesses here in Alberta.

These new streams will support Alberta’s recovery by attracting international job creators and skilled professionals to start businesses and get Albertans back to work.

Starting Oct. 26, recent international graduates from Alberta’s universities and colleges can apply to the new International Graduate Entrepreneur Immigration Stream to launch business ventures and startups in Alberta.

In January, Alberta will also launch the Foreign Graduate Start-up Visa Stream to attract talented international graduates from top U.S. universities and colleges to start businesses and settle in Alberta communities.

Alberta’s government is also making changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program by limiting the number and types of jobs available to new temporary foreign workers – making jobs available to unemployed Albertans.

As of Nov. 1, dozens of additional occupational categories will be added to the “refusal to process list,” removing the vast majority of occupations from the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program. This will result in more than 1,350 available jobs for unemployed Albertans at a time when they’re needed most.

Alberta is using its authority under the Temporary Foreign Worker Annex of the Agreement for Canada-Alberta Cooperation on Immigration and has reached an agreement with the federal government. These changes will impact 475 occupations in sectors such as accommodation and food services, retail trade, transportation, construction, and professional, scientific and technical services.

A small number of specialized occupations experiencing acute and proven labour shortages will be exempted. These changes will not impact employers recruiting for select occupations in the agriculture, technology and caregiving sectors that heavily rely on temporary foreign workers to fill employment gaps.

Alberta will monitor and adjust the province’s “refusal to process list” quarterly and work with industry experts, businesses, post-secondary institutions, municipalities and organizations as economic conditions improve.

Together, the new streams and changes to the TFW program balance the need to get unemployed Albertans back to work in available jobs while keeping educated and talented entrepreneurs in Alberta to build job-creating businesses.

Alberta’s Recovery Plan is a bold, ambitious long-term strategy to build, diversify, and create tens of thousands of jobs now. By building schools, roads and other core infrastructure we are benefiting our communities. By diversifying our economy and attracting investment with Canada’s most competitive tax environment, we are putting Alberta on a path for a generation of growth. Alberta came together to save lives by flattening the curve and now we must do the same to save livelihoods, grow and thrive.

Combined, these programs will provide new tools to grow Alberta’s tech sector and attract new investments that will create new high-paying jobs. (photography by Chris Schwarz/Government of Alberta)

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

Prioritizing Workplace Mental Health

Geneva - Switzerland, 25-29 January 2021. Copyright ©️ World Economic Forum/Pascal Bitz

Punit Renjen, Global Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte, USA; International Business Council Garen K. Staglin, Chairman and Co-Founder, One Mind, USA

Miranda Wolpert, Head, Mental Health Priority Area, Wellcome Trust, United Kingdom

Moderated by Sir Philip Campbell, Editor-in-Chief, Springer Nature, United Kingdom

Rachel Acuña: Here, I wanted to showcase how much of my beauty routine is based around skincare (sunscreen, hyaluronic acid, spot treatment, vitamin e serum, lip mask). The past few years have brought on a wave of "no makeup makeup" tutorials that never quite worked for me. Ultimately, I discovered that prioritizing skincare was the best way to achieve that look.

Credit: Juliana Thomas / Clinton Global Initiative

Breakout Sessions: Can impact investing prioritize profit, people, and the planet?

MODERATOR:

Elizabeth L. Littlefield, President and CEO, Overseas Private Investment Corporation

PARTICIPANTS:

Robert A. Annibale, Global Director, Citi Microfinance and Community Development

Amy Bell, Executive Director, Social Finance, JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Tammy Newmark, President and CEO, EcoEnterprises Fund

Nick O'Donohoe, Chief Executive Officer, Big Society Capital

Mark Tercek, President and CEO, The Nature Conservancy

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

Preparing for prioritization.

Orchestrating Experiences: Collaborative Design for Complexity, Risdon, Quattlebaum, 2018, New York: Rosenfeld Media

rosenfeldmedia.com/books/orchestrating-experiences//

Prioritization spreadsheet with averages of the columns.

Young, Indi. 2008. Mental Models: Aligning Design Strategy with Human Behavior. New York: Rosenfeld Media.

www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/mental-models/

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

While the Dominican Republic generates a relatively low volume of radioactive waste, it has prioritized their safe and secure treatment. Any disused radioactive source identified in the country is transported, characterized, classified, conditioned and stored in a centralized facility built in 2010 in Sierra Prieta, outside the capital Santo Domingo.

Around 170 sources from applications in hospitals and industry as well as so-called orphan sources — radioactive sources that are lost and then found again — detected in scrap metal industries have found a home in the facility. Some are high-activity sources, meaning they emit high levels of radiation, such as those used in radiotherapy to treat cancer. Others are low-activity sources, such as those used for industrial and research applications. Other disused sources come from mining, agriculture and construction.

The facility is equipped with radiation detectors provided by the IAEA. A team of professional staff trained under IAEA technical cooperation projects is in charge of the operation, maintenance and regular inspection of the storage facility.

Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic. October 2016

Photo Credit: Laura Gil-Martinez / IAEA

25 Cities Initiative

Interagency and Cross-Cutting Initiatives to End and Prevent Vetean Homelessness

Working Together to End Veteran and Chronic Homelessness

In March 2014 the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) launched the 25 Cities Initiative to assist communities with high concentrations of homeless Veterans in intensifying and integrating their local efforts to end Veteran homelessness. The initiative concluded in September 2016, but contributed significantly to the recent progress in ending Veteran homelessness. Between 2014 and 2016, the 25 cities that participated in the initiative experienced a 22% reduction in Veteran homelessness. Between January 2015 and August 2016, 29,499 Veterans were housed across the 25 targeted cities. Each city has developed a list that identifies all homeless Veterans by name so they can be linked to the appropriate services. From January 2015 until the initiative ended, each of 25 cities housed an average of 58 Veterans per month. However, there are still approximately 40,000 Veterans experiencing homelessness across the nation, who are still in need of assistance. VA remains committed to the goal of ending Veteran homelessness. VA and our Federal, state and local and non-governmental partners recognize that ending Veteran homelessness is not a single event in time, but rather is a deliberate effort towards achieving the goal, and then continued follow-on efforts to make sure that the goal is maintained. This initiative was a joint effort by VA, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), and local community partners to support the 25 communities with resources, guidance, and lessons learned as they build out and enhance their existing local homeless programs. Through the initiative, VA and its federal partners worked to identify, by name, all of the remaining known homeless Veterans in their respective communities and worked to find permanent housing solutions for these Veterans and for other chronically homeless individuals.

The 25 Cities Initiative was not meant to replace existing programs, but instead, aimed to help each community integrate existing programs, while also accelerating local initiatives and plans already underway. This initiative recognized that ending Veteran homelessness requires strong coordination between all partners and stakeholders who are working to end homelessness in a community. A concerted effort was made to strengthen identification, prioritization, and matching services for homeless Veterans, while improving existing intake data reporting so that homeless Veterans can be better paired with available services. Currently, every locality is using one common assessment tool to streamline this process.

Participants in the 25 Cities Initiative include â Atlanta ⢠Baltimore ⢠Boston ⢠Chicago ⢠Denver ⢠Detroit ⢠Fresno ⢠Honolulu ⢠Houston ⢠Las Vegas ⢠Los Angeles ⢠Miami ⢠New Orleans ⢠New York City ⢠Orlando ⢠Philadelphia ⢠Phoenix ⢠Portland ⢠Riverside ⢠San Diego ⢠San Francisco ⢠Seattle ⢠Tampa ⢠Tucson ⢠Washington, DC

Highlights of success:

All 25 cities have a Coordinated Entry System in place to connect and navigate Veterans who enter the system to the housing services they need in a timely manner.

All 25 cities have developed a By-Name List that identifies all homeless Veterans in their communities by name so they can be found and linked to the appropriate services.

All communities are working with VA to ensure optimal data sharing, regular By-Name-List updating, case conferencing, and Veteran status verification.

Four communities were approved and recognized by the White House, VA, HUD, and USICH for having effectively ended Veteran homelessness in their communities: New Orleans, Houston, Las Vegas, and Philadelphia

Three effectively ended chronic homelessness among Veterans: New York City, Boston, and Orlando

For more information about the 25 Cities Initiative, visit www.25cities.com. If you are or know of a homeless Veteran, please visit your local VA Medical Center (VAMC) for the care and services VA offers Veterans. A list of VAMCs can be found online at: www.va.gov/directory.

VA photos by Robert Turtil

Credit: Plenary Healthier Juliana / Clinton Global Initiative

CGI Annual Meeting 2013

Plenary Session

Healthier Futures: Prioritizing Prevention

Moderator

Chelsea Clinton

Board Member, The Clinton Foundation

Participants

Margaret Chan

Director-General, World Health Organization

Adrian Gore

Chief Executive Officer, Discovery Holdings Limited

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

President and CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Closing Conversation

Participants

President Barack Obama

44th President of the United States

President Bill Clinton

Founding Chairman, Clinton Global Initiative;

42nd President of the United States

Prioritization chart showing the first three ideas you should implement (Jokes, Toys, Seasonal), and the fourth idea to start next (Parking).

Young, Indi. 2008. Mental Models: Aligning Design Strategy with Human Behavior. New York: Rosenfeld Media.

www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/mental-models/