For 38 years, Jay Blakesberg has been a staple of the live music scene. The photographer is most well-known for his connection with the Grateful Dead, where he got his start, but has captured everyone from Eric Clapton to Neil Young to The Who and so many more.In two upcoming events, Blakesberg will discuss his career in photography with extensive slideshow presentations. The Chasing The Light discussions will take place at Garcia’s in Port Chester, NY on October 29th ahead of the Phil Lesh & Friends performance on that night, as well as on November 1st at the Davis Auditorium at Skidmore College. Both shows are free admission and open to the public.You can see all of the details in the posters below. For more on Blakesberg’s extensive career, read our extensive interview published here. read more
Over the weekend, Red Rocks Amphitheatre became home to Gov’t Mule, Yonder Mountain String Band, and The Marcus King Band. It was the perfect Saturday evening, filled with cross-collaborations throughout all three sets. The fun began with The Marcus King Band, who welcomed the former Allman Brothers Band and current Gov’t Mule guitarist/vocalist Warren Haynes for a beautiful rendition of “Dreams.” Then, Yonder Mountain String Band took the stage for a full set, which again included Warren Haynes for their original tune “Sideway Stars” and a cover of Etta James‘ “Damn Your Eyes.” The collaborations continued with Gov’t Mule’s portion of the evening, who welcomed Marcus King for a set-closing “Whipping Post,” then welcoming YMSB’s Dave Johnston, Adam Aijala, Allie Kral, and Jake Joliff for a momentous “Melissa” > “Mountain Jam” > “Melissa” encore.We’ve compiled all audio and videos from the spectacular Saturday show, which you an enjoy below.Warren Haynes with The Marcus King Band, “Dreams” courtesy of Jeremiah Rogers:Marcus King with Gov’t Mule for “Whipping Post,” courtesy of kellypearson1000:Marcus King, Dave Johnston, Adam Aijala, Allie Kral, and Jake Joliff with Gov’t Mule for “Melissa”>”Mountain Jam”>”Melissa” below, courtesy of D Ragoose:Listen to full audio from Yonder Mountain String Band’s set, courtesy of lucas9000:Thanks to Bennet Schwartz, you can listen to the full audio from Gov’t Mule’s below:[Photo by Gary Sheer] read more
DelFest is the annual music festival hosted by Del McCoury and the Travelin’ McCourys in Cumberland, Maryland, at the Allegany County Fairgrounds. Today, the festival has announced its initial lineup for its 2018 edition, which will go down from May 24th through 27th, next year.In addition to sets by the host bands, Del McCoury Band and the Travelin’ McCourys, the festival will also see performances by Old Crow Medicine Show, David Grisman, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn, The Jerry Douglas Band, Elephant Revival, Fruition, and more. The festival will also host The Bluegrass Congress, a collaborative supergroup featuring the Del McCoury Band, David Grisman, Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Bryan Sutton, and Stuart Duncan.Tickets and more information about DelFest 2018 can be found on the festival’s website here.[Photo: Mark Raker] read more
Show Closed This production ended its run on Aug. 7, 2016 New York Spring Spectacular Laura Benanti Star Files Tony Award winner Laura Benanti and Dancing with the Stars champion Derek Hough took a break from high-kicking with the world famous Rockettes in Radio City Music Hall’s New York Spring Spectacular to sit down with The Today Show’s Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie on March 20. The new show is truly a spectacular, from raining on stage to countless voice cameos to Benanti dancing! “I’m pretending to dance,” the Broadway alum joked. “It’s unbelievable…slash terrifying!” Check out the interview—plus a performance from the Rockettes—below! View Comments Related Shows read more
By Dialogo April 10, 2014 The U.S. government appears to have strong evidence to warrant the extradition of El Negro, said Raúl Pineda Alvarado, a Honduran security analyst. The Honduran criminal justice system is prepared to deal with extradition requests while protecting the rights of El Negro, said Juan Ramón Martínez, a newspaper columnist who writes often about security issues. “The Honduran judicial system has been perfecting itself these past years,” Martínez said. “I trust that this process will unfold within the legal framework that respects all the rights of the accused party, but if he and others have incurred in any delinquent activity and it is proven that they have, Honduras has to do what it has committed to do in extradition accords signed with other countries.” El Negro had been evading Honduran authorities by hiding out in another country, authorities said. Honduran security forces received intelligence that El Negro had secretly returned to the country in March, and began following him, officials said. As part of the intelligence operation, authorities intercepted more than 150 cell phone calls from people connected to El Negro to determine his whereabouts, El Heraldo reported. The same day that Honduran police captured El Negro, members of the Inter Institutional Security Force seized four properties allegedly connected to El Negro. One of the properties was in the Trejo neighborhood and two were in the Río de Piedras sector where police captured El Negro. The properties were luxurious compounds which featured swimming pools, extensive gardens and expensive artwork. Police also seized 16 vehicles. In 2013, Honduran authorities seized nine pieces of land allegedly owned by El Negro near the port of La Ceiba. Collectively, the properties were worth about 1.5 million lempiras In 2011, the Armed Forces seized about 27 properties and luxury items allegedly owned by El Negro, including vacation homes, business facilities, yachts and several fishing boats. The properties and boats had a collective value of about 300 million lempiras. El Negro probably used the fishing boats for illegal activities, authorities said. They are fishing boats, but we all know that these vessels are used for other purposes, like the transportation of drugs,” said Marlon Pascua, the defense minister at the time. In 1997, when Lobo Alemán applied for his national identification card, he declared that he was a low-income seaman who labored for an unnamed entrepreneur in Roatán, the major island of the Honduran archipelago in the Caribbean. The capture of El Negro is an important victory in the country’s fight against transnational criminal organizations and a key step in the effort to improve public safety, President Juan Orlando Hernández said. “The journey has begun and that is the route to follow,” Hernández declared. “We are committed to recover the country’s peace and tranquility. Whoever breaks the law has to be punished. If you don’t want to have problems, it is very simple: Do not break the law.” El Negro apparently did not know that Honduran police agents were following him. When El Negro stopped out of his car, the police agents captured him without a fight. El Negro was unarmed when police captured him, Honduran Army Col. German Alfaro told reporters. “When he was detained, (El Negro) was under the influence of alcohol, but he was calm,” Alfaro said. El Negro seemed surprised by the arrest, but cooperated when police agents asked him for identification. Police took El Negro to the base of the 105th Infantry Brigade. By the time El Negro arrived at the military base, “he was sweating and shaking and we asked him if he was alright,” Alfaro said. Soldiers later transported El Negro by helicopter to another military facility in the capital city of Tegucigalpa. The day after police captured El Negro, police escorted El Negro to a hearing before the Honduran Supreme Justice Court. A judge ordered that El Negro should be held under preventive arrest in a maximum-security jail in Támara, 17 miles north of the capital. The U.S. government has two months to present evidence in court to justify El Negro’s extradition, the judge said. The judge scheduled a hearing for April 10, 2014. Authorities have increased security at the prison where El Negro is being held. A strong case President determined to restore peace Intelligence leads to capture Police captured ‘El Negro’ without a fight Honduran security forces recently captured Carlos Arnoldo Lobo Alemán, an alleged international drug trafficker who is believed to be linked with Los Mellos de Kasandra, a transnational criminal organization based in Colombia. Los Mellos de Kasandra has networks in Mexico, Guatemala, and Panama. Authorities suspect Lobo Aleman, who is also known as “El Negro,” helped transport cocaine through Honduras for Los Mellos de Kasandra. Honduran security forces captured El Negro on the morning of March 27, 2014, in the city of San Pedro Sula. El Negro, dressed in shorts, a t-shirt, and slippers, drove his late-model Porsche Cayenne to a bakery in the Río de Piedras neighborhood, apparently to get some coffee, authorities said. Bodyguards did not accompany El Negro. read more
February 1, 2003 Jan Pudlow Associate Editor Regular News Lawyers, doctors gather to discuss bioethics Associate Editor M any people stockpile pills so they have the means to end their life when it becomes unbearable. T o qualify for Medicare benefits for hospice care, a terminally ill patient must be within six months of death. Yet life expectancy is not easy to predict, and many doctors don’t want to declare their patients are going to die within six months.Even patients who clearly express their wishes to receive, refuse, withhold, or withdraw treatment are often ignored.Such end-of-life conundrums brought doctors, lawyers, nurses, medical students, clergy, professors, and policymakers to Tallahassee to attend the January 10 meeting of the Florida Bioethics Network.“What I hope to see out of this type of group is a sharing of knowledge and perspective, because it is so important to everybody,” said Lauchlin T. Waldoch, past chair of the Bar’s Elder Law Section who helped organize the event.“Particularly with elder law, we deal much more with incapacity issues. What happens, not if I die, but what happens if I don’t die and can’t manage my affairs — either financial or personal?” Waldoch said.In her opinion, the burning issue remains funding – not concentrating so much on stretching federal dollars for the future needs of aging Baby Boomers, but helping their parents in critical need of care right now.“The problem with Medicaid is those people in their mid-80s who need long-term care could not possibly have anticipated this situation,” Waldoch said.“Think about it: When I was growing up, my great aunt was ill, came to live with us, and my mom drove her around to the doctor. She got sick, she went to the hospital, and two weeks later she died. Same situation today: A) you don’t usually have the family support to do the assisted living level, because we’re spread all over and we’re all two-job families. And B), great aunt will go to the hospital today, and she doesn’t die in two weeks, but lives for another three years, because of medical technology. Nobody could have anticipated that. The cost of a nursing home in Tallahassee starts at about $4,000 a month. So those people who are middle class Americans, who have worked very hard all their lives and have paid their tax dollars to help be supported need the Medicaid program right now.”Lawyer Bill Allen, co-director of the Florida Bioethics Network and director of the University of Florida Program in Bioethics, Law and Medical Professionalism, led a discussion called “Death and the Legislature: A Florida Statute Update.”Even needed changes in the law are no guarantee that a patient’s end-of-life rights will be honored, he said, and educating health-care providers and patients how to communicate those difficult issues is key to changing the culture.“We need to have it be a routine question that the doctor asks, like ‘How are you doing with your blood pressure?” Allen said. “But that may be about as easy as making pain the fifth vital sign.”He suggested it be the primary care doctor’s duty to be the patient’s advocate when those end-of-life decisions to withhold or withdraw medical care are made in a hospital setting.“We need to make it part of the continuity of care,” Allen said.He said Florida is the first state in the country to have “best interest” as the default criterion for withholding and withdrawing care decisions.As detailed in F.S. 765(2), “Any health care decision made under this part must be based on the decision the proxy reasonably believes the patient would have made under the circumstances. If there is no indication what the patient would have chosen, the proxy may consider the patient’s best interest in deciding that treatments are to be withheld or withdrawn.”“In some cases, it may provide some relief, because no one knew what the patient wanted,” Allen said. “But it’s only a couple of years old and no court cases have tested it.”Florida State University’s new College of Medicine Dean Dr. Joseph Scherger said he was delighted to host the statewide conference.“The medical school was put in place to address the needs of Florida in health care, geriatrics, rural communities, culturally diverse and under-served communities,” Scherger said.“We’ve also been asked to produce humanistic positions. Well, what is a humanistic doctor? It’s one who puts the needs of the person, the patient, above all other concerns. Ethics is central to that. Medical ethics is really understanding the rights of people and helping make difficult decisions and always being a patient’s advocate.”A good doctor is an advocate, much as a good lawyer is an advocate, Dr. Scherger agreed.“Medicine done right is advocacy for people. Law done right is advocacy for people. We both know, on either side, that can be done wrong. Self-interest can be counter-productive to the welfare of society. Both professions, when not done well, can take advantage of people. When done well, they are advocates for people, taking that high road, morally and ethically. That’s what ethics is all about.”Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Harry Lee Anstead delivered a keynote speech about professionalism in the legal profession – and all professions.He referred to a radio interview he recently heard with a business professor and an ethics professor, in which they expressed that a business’s controlling mission really is the bottom line.“We all know that if that is going to be the controlling ethic in a lawyer’s office or in a doctor’s practice, in a hospital, in the nursing home, with the public guardian, anybody providing any service, if that’s the controlling mission, my gosh, I want to bail out,” Chief Justice Anstead said.“We’ve got some serious problems if we’re going to simply be like some big automobile manufacturing company that actually writes down, ‘Well, if we go with the cheaper gas tank, we realize there will probably be 200 deaths, and we’ll value those at $1 million a piece. Yet, we will still save money in the long run.’ Can you imagine somebody actually writing that down?”Just as the court and the Bar have professionalism programs, Chief Justice Anstead said, having a conference to focus on ethics in the medical profession is to be applauded for the mistakes it will prevent. Just as lawyers help people through difficulties when they are most vulnerable, he said, so too do health care workers.“You truly come closest on the ground to carrying out this founding principle of our country that recognizes human dignity.. . . You all could not be in a more privileged position. I applaud you. You are the heroes for the rest of us. Because, at the end of the day, you are the ones who touch, in this most sensitive way, the lives of our people. All of us, whatever we are — whether we are a waitress at the greasy spoon, or the chief justice, or the dean of the medical school or the head of the nursing staff — we’re all enormously privileged to serve our fellow human beings.”Kenneth Goodman, director of the University of Miami Bioethics Program and co-director of the Florida Bioethics Network, looked around Florida State’s University Center ballroom and said: “One of the things that is noteworthy is we have a Supreme Court chief justice and the dean of a medical school in the same room. It’s very exciting. In the course of an ordinary day’s work, most people work with people doing exactly the same thing they’re doing.. . . “We’re trying to reach out. The nexus of health and policy is that we attend to issues in medicine, we attend to issues in law, we attend to issues that have to do with human values. And ultimately, the best answers come from creatively linking up resources. Ultimately, the utility of applied ethics is helping ordinary people make difficult decisions and do a good job at it.” Lawyers, doctors gather to discuss bioethics read more
The bill, which has passed the state Assembly, is pretty simple: “Each person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.” The sentiment is easy to agree with — of course we should have access to clean air and water — but also quietly revolutionary. Should this language be enshrined in the state Constitution, it will be harder to excuse or justify or just plain ignore the environmental hazards contaminating far too many communities throughout the state. Cleaning the state’s waterways and reducing the amount of pollution spewed into the air will come to seem more urgent. Priorities will shift, as state and local governments work to ensure that every resident of New York lives in a healthful environment. Problems once deemed too expensive to fix or solve will finally be addressed. Just last week, New York Comptroller Tom DiNapoli issued a report that suggests that contamination of the state’s waterways from untreated sewage and stormwater is extensive. Wouldn’t it be great to live in a state where this kind of pollution was a thing of the past, rather than a common occurrence? A constitutional right to clean air and water won’t fix the environmental hazards that already exist. But it will help change the way we think about pollution, from an unfortunate fact of life to a problem that must be solved. Those who oppose the bill will focus on the cost of cleaning up the state’s air and water, but the status quo carries a cost, too. I want my son to grow up in a world that’s cleaner and healthier than the one I grew up in. An Environmental Bill of Rights would help make this world a reality. Reach Sara Foss at [email protected] Opinions expressed here are her own and not necessarily the newspaper’s.More from The Daily Gazette:Foss: Should main downtown branch of the Schenectady County Public Library reopen?EDITORIAL: Find a way to get family members into nursing homesEDITORIAL: Beware of voter intimidationGov. Andrew Cuomo’s press conference for Sunday, Oct. 18Cuomo calls for clarity on administering vaccine Categories: OpinionNow that I’m a parent, I’m starting to think like a parent. This means I take my son into consideration when trying to reach a decision or determine how I feel about something. It means I’m more aware of my surroundings — of potential hazards such as loose dogs and speeding cars. Of course, not all hazards are visible to the naked eye. Poor air quality, poor water quality — we can’t always see these things, but they take a toll on the health and well-being of a community. When children grow up in neighborhoods where the air quality is poor, they are more likely to suffer from asthma. Water filled with pollutants, be it raw sewage or dangerous chemicals, can make people sick. These invisible hazards explain why good-government and environmental groups are pushing to add an Environmental Bill of Rights to the New York state constitution. read more
“The sukuk were oversubscribed. This is a good signal from the market for Elnusa,” said Elnusa president director Ali Mundakir in the statement on Wednesday.Securities firm Mandiri Sekuritas, Danareksa Sekuritas, Indopremier Securities and Trimegah Securities acted as the underwriters for the bond.The sukuk was given an Idaa-(Sy) rating – the fourth highest rung – by the Indonesian rating agency, Pemeringkat Efek Indonesia (Pefindo), with a “stable” outlook. The agency attributed the score to the company’s solid cash flow, business diversification and close relations with Pertamina.“The rating will be lowered if the company incurs higher debt than projected to finance its business expansion plans and if we view a decline in support or ownership by its parent,” wrote Pefindo in a statement about the Rp 1.5 trillion sukuk issuance plan on June 22.Elnusa’s rating is also at risk if the coronavirus pandemic worsens, which would further push down oil and gas demand and thus lower the company’s income, added Pefindo.Topics : Publicly listed oil and gas service provider PT Elnusa, a subsidiary of state-owned oil giant Pertamina, issued Rp 700 billion (US$47.4 million) of sukuk (sharia-compliant bonds) on Wednesday to raise funds for its business expansion.The five-year bond, which was registered at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), has a yield of 9 percent.It was the first of several corporate actions to eventually raise Rp 1.5 trillion, which will be used to acquire more upstream-related equipment and to construct new fuel depots, as well as to secure additional working capital. read more
The strategy was proposed by the executive board and approved by the supervisory board on 1 December.In a statement, FRR said efforts by the World Health Organisation, governments and civil society to deal with the “scourge” of tobacco consumption could eventually weigh on the performance of tobacco companies.It also believes engaging with companies will not lead to progress “because the whole purpose of engagement would be to demand that they should stop their activities altogether”.“For this reason, FRR has decided to exclude the tobacco industry from its portfolio,” it said.On its decision on coal companies, the reserve fund said it had already reduced its exposure to high-carbon sectors, especially those exposed to coal, which is accountable for more greenhouse gas emissions than any other fossil energy source.FRR said that, after the international agreement on climate change reached at the UN Conference of Parties (COP21) in Paris last December, “governments, and also investors, are increasingly calling coal into question as being incompatible with the objective of limiting global warming to 2°”.FRR will still invest in companies that generate more than 20% of their turnover – or their electricity, steam or heat production – from coal if they employ carbon capture and storage processes or “have formally announced their commitment and have begun to take action in this direction”.The fund said the two exclusion strategies would be rolled out in 2017.The coal exclusion decision contributes to portfolio decarbonisation efforts that have been underway at FRR over at least the past two years. Individual and institutional investors representing more than $5trn (€4.7trn) of assets under management have committed to divesting from fossil fuels, according to a recent report.FRR’s announcement comes a day after the local authority pension fund for the borough of Southwark in London pledged to sell its investments in fossil fuels. Fonds de reserve pour les retraites (FRR), France’s €37.2bn pension reserve fund, will no longer invest in the tobacco industry or certain coal companies.Further, next year, it will launch €5bn of ESG-based passive equity mandates as part of the implementation of the new strategies. The exclusion strategy will be applied to the fund’s existing bond mandates, so that, by the end of 2017, it will have been applied to almost 95% of the “overall scope” of FRR’s assets, according to the fund.It yesterday announced that it decided to exclude, from its equity and bond portfolio, investments in tobacco-producing companies and companies for which more than 20% of turnover is derived from thermal coal extraction or coal-fired power generation. read more
DEME Group has integrated activities of its subsidiaries GeoSea, Tideway, A2Sea and EverSea into the DEME Offshore activity line.By integrating all of the offshore activities, expertise and capabilities into one organisation, DEME will be able to fulfil the future requirements of its customers, the company said.For the renewables customers, DEME Offshore provides solutions from foundation/turbine transport and installation, cable installation and operations and maintenance activities to full Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) contracts. Bart De Poorter will assume the role of general manager for DEME Offshore renewables activities.For oil & gas and other offshore customers, DEME Offshore’s services include landfalls and offshore civil works, rock placement, heavy lift, subsea construction, umbilical laying and the installation and decommissioning of offshore platforms. Lucas Bols will take the role of general manager for the oil & gas and other offshore related activities.Hugo Bouvy has been appointed managing director of DEME Offshore.“We see the transformation of the energy market as a great opportunity,” said L uc Vandenbulcke, CEO of DEME. “By joining forces and expertise, combined with our state-of-the-art fleet, we are confident that DEME Offshore will be in a unique position to help our customers achieve their aspirations in the offshore oil, gas and renewable energy sector.” read more