News for today's 2018

ISRAEL AND LEBANON - ENERGY

5:27 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1kLcIY-sW-_z2MOcjIgXv2vfSVKu_82KWZyWoRnUtTEbEL53-O9uscdRUvAyxW9kA11gZLJKRSS70Q-QuX_OZoIxvMj2c9nWOq2f2jHpV3-eAzhSEk9STA0hnk960vM2J_U0yNAJnOaGZ/s1600/Untitled-1+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1kLcIY-sW-_z2MOcjIgXv2vfSVKu_82KWZyWoRnUtTEbEL53-O9uscdRUvAyxW9kA11gZLJKRSS70Q-QuX_OZoIxvMj2c9nWOq2f2jHpV3-eAzhSEk9STA0hnk960vM2J_U0yNAJnOaGZ/s320/Untitled-1+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">OIL AND GAS RESERVES ADD TO EXISTING TENSIONS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND LEBANON </span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The recent discovery of oil and gas reserves in the eastern MEDITERRANEAN off the ISRAELI, CYPRIOT and LEBANESE coasts is a great boost to the independence and self-sufficiency of these countries.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But the discoveries also add to existing tensions between ISRAEL and LEBANON as both are claiming the oil and gas reserves as their own.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In April, natural gas from the ISRAELI Tamar reserve began to flow from an offshore rig in the MEDITERRANEAN Sea into ISRAEL, giving the country the chance to hone its energy security and freedom.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yosef Paritzky, former minister of national infrastructure and energy, said: “The state of ISRAEL cannot be choosy in picking up its energy resources. We are an island here, we are surrounded by less friendly and some more friendly ARAB nations but truly, the security of energy is a major issue of Israel and especially when we are talking about natural gas.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in EGYPT two years ago, EGYPTIAN gas pipes to ISRAEL have been bombed again and again. Last year, Cairo cancelled the contract altogether.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But the new discoveries are not all plain-sailing and could bring new problems with old enemies.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_Uo2xvY-Dur3I9tfJQf4T1D_tM8JWzeNcHJneWxmY19IOZMraD3bUN4YzIF3zNkdr3oi1FehT-bgX7olXgjv_zrRzMuuztYwf8fqrVmV_E5N2RjccQZR8j8Rx-oWQA-UhMe09-DDIlpy/s1600/timthumb.php.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_Uo2xvY-Dur3I9tfJQf4T1D_tM8JWzeNcHJneWxmY19IOZMraD3bUN4YzIF3zNkdr3oi1FehT-bgX7olXgjv_zrRzMuuztYwf8fqrVmV_E5N2RjccQZR8j8Rx-oWQA-UhMe09-DDIlpy/s320/timthumb.php.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><u><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information on related topic:</span></b></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><u><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/12/energy-adventures-in-eastern.html"><u><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/12/energy-adventures-in-eastern.html</span></b></u></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/geo-strategic-dynamics-in-eastern.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/geo-strategic-dynamics-in-eastern.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/complexity-of-eastern-med-energy-games.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/complexity-of-eastern-med-energy-games.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/eastern-mediterranean-sea.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/eastern-mediterranean-sea.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/cyprus-emerging-geo-strategic-key.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/03/cyprus-emerging-geo-strategic-key.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/cyprus-and-turkey-never-ending-story.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/cyprus-and-turkey-never-ending-story.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-erratic-foreign-policies-all.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-erratic-foreign-policies-all.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-energy-dependency-on-countries.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/turkeys-energy-dependency-on-countries.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/turkeys-middle-east-chess-game.html</a></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">TURKEY AND LEBANON ALSO SAY THE OIL AND GAS IS THEIRS</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1vxLBKbIoCPrrPgq8sXcwkJrZ00jCAEALamJMn0vOE0RSKuP_Hf-vOYoi0dcNJKTj0a9kbalY1hebYnvr6sl2pBw2A6QIacAWVL3_YD-gF0eHijzDvgwAiHky4m7Dp6amI5uOabFidx7u/s1600/Tamargas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1vxLBKbIoCPrrPgq8sXcwkJrZ00jCAEALamJMn0vOE0RSKuP_Hf-vOYoi0dcNJKTj0a9kbalY1hebYnvr6sl2pBw2A6QIacAWVL3_YD-gF0eHijzDvgwAiHky4m7Dp6amI5uOabFidx7u/s320/Tamargas.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dr Shalom Wald, senior fellow of the Jewish People Policy Institute in Jerusalem, said: “The issue of maritime rights is one of the most complicated issues in international law. There are some principal laws but there are a lot of disagreements and the UNITED NATIONS has not been able, as far as I know, to find, to issue a final agreement about maritime borders because every country has its own interest in this.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ISRAEL and LEBANON are technically still at war. They have never agreed on maritime boundaries, making it unclear where ISRAEL ends and LEBANON begins.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of militant group Hezbollah, said: “Studies show this 850-kilometre area is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. LEBANON says that it belongs to us and ISRAEL has no right to touch it or try to find oil there.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The discovery of oil and gas in this area has also raised the interest of foreign armies like CHINA, IRAN, AMERICA, BRITAIN and FRANCE, who are all present in the seas off the eastern Mediterranean.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

ISRAEL AND LEBANON - ENERGY

OIL AND GAS RESERVES ADD TO EXISTING TENSIONS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND LEBANON The recent discovery of oil and gas reserves in the eastern MEDI...

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4:46 AM Anonymous 0

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margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50cOdFJqWrR23tNDbhrrkFi6toH1ubmSG-RgMjKrETozigyKeUi9w8GEefn9imNBpj7wMa9hByDJ7aCKhb4wIEE6ebc33mWY_07guVatLTSqQJbOQ_9xgYjoGVOu13j3Hf2WshAJ0vt1S/s1600/9f38f715df49474711a88ea047e6e69b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50cOdFJqWrR23tNDbhrrkFi6toH1ubmSG-RgMjKrETozigyKeUi9w8GEefn9imNBpj7wMa9hByDJ7aCKhb4wIEE6ebc33mWY_07guVatLTSqQJbOQ_9xgYjoGVOu13j3Hf2WshAJ0vt1S/s400/9f38f715df49474711a88ea047e6e69b.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.furbishstudio.com/" target="_blank">source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLF_Lmz8nRoIHxmgsRfo-62PBR3on3CDFNM1rV-9LI6G6Na5EJ7IJeLH4L-vZIwLSywFWKtDPhZX04UjWsG96UtlWNWCjq4iNleWCSa4HJaX2l1u3K8Bb-y7e919698Wj4nUmaTO5g2wcA/s1600/95ef9645ac473d3d261a649f3d98bc07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLF_Lmz8nRoIHxmgsRfo-62PBR3on3CDFNM1rV-9LI6G6Na5EJ7IJeLH4L-vZIwLSywFWKtDPhZX04UjWsG96UtlWNWCjq4iNleWCSa4HJaX2l1u3K8Bb-y7e919698Wj4nUmaTO5g2wcA/s320/95ef9645ac473d3d261a649f3d98bc07.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://meredithheron.com/" target="_blank">source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVylNiHgt8_ckltk-jcUCegYDnYu7zYW44TY8qA1Z43TkEChRjSl3AgnEZrf1o8rvXXrW5A-a5LhBn9TjTo0Btn9nDhrHHt9ti2GD9vkcLsMTQIVLiFOEd2ldXGr8SRUbtku4SgmTIAqnr/s1600/11b0fd28c02b5d82487e3e4dce909e6e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVylNiHgt8_ckltk-jcUCegYDnYu7zYW44TY8qA1Z43TkEChRjSl3AgnEZrf1o8rvXXrW5A-a5LhBn9TjTo0Btn9nDhrHHt9ti2GD9vkcLsMTQIVLiFOEd2ldXGr8SRUbtku4SgmTIAqnr/s400/11b0fd28c02b5d82487e3e4dce909e6e.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.laylagrayce.com/Default.aspx" target="_blank">source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGl5zM3Q33P4kq2byWA3vmAT5Go61a1da-U2mzvCry-VJpZQ152ZRFWG7WZSBHGxhlTyJfX14efiCT2D2vuSsSyLpnyS7kouEpgk-ESsU5s4ZYXTQsH8tb3wZFpJfrzDq67qsn4WnAAz_N/s1600/RuthieSommers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGl5zM3Q33P4kq2byWA3vmAT5Go61a1da-U2mzvCry-VJpZQ152ZRFWG7WZSBHGxhlTyJfX14efiCT2D2vuSsSyLpnyS7kouEpgk-ESsU5s4ZYXTQsH8tb3wZFpJfrzDq67qsn4WnAAz_N/s400/RuthieSommers.jpg" width="318" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ruthiesommers.com/" target="_blank">source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzkctiazAEUfCMnyJX6ad8CiG1UvsPPIhk7XVmRvwAEPH5dNThyphenhyphenHbMgZ-aoSVtHHSYsck5k8hhpxB2F-qApde6sKx6lFDkVOKhu29fTmNHlzDxU6Zdk4L9Oribs0qMQ7D01fEXLTxtuvS/s1600/d2da6b1fe3070d7db857ea4a5f8057ea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzkctiazAEUfCMnyJX6ad8CiG1UvsPPIhk7XVmRvwAEPH5dNThyphenhyphenHbMgZ-aoSVtHHSYsck5k8hhpxB2F-qApde6sKx6lFDkVOKhu29fTmNHlzDxU6Zdk4L9Oribs0qMQ7D01fEXLTxtuvS/s400/d2da6b1fe3070d7db857ea4a5f8057ea.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ruthiesommers.com/" target="_blank">source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcNnypWky26XwnJ8MmqCJTXtU8MwdTMr8KwZGXEDCPJSMGmCTCcwGyrpF0C0WGHknuqrlT4TKQ5UmX8JFHIAJK1Y-JNKQGqa2aFBEK2cbdqowpCjeVeohe4aoykIiOkqrE4W4ILHTc3hLc/s1600/c3dbc9f6c6ad77ca4f1d0f97657e64c8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcNnypWky26XwnJ8MmqCJTXtU8MwdTMr8KwZGXEDCPJSMGmCTCcwGyrpF0C0WGHknuqrlT4TKQ5UmX8JFHIAJK1Y-JNKQGqa2aFBEK2cbdqowpCjeVeohe4aoykIiOkqrE4W4ILHTc3hLc/s400/c3dbc9f6c6ad77ca4f1d0f97657e64c8.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nick Olsen for Lee Jofa</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmqDUe81AbaAaZa2nDbn9p34OTT_QYkq06lIjrVTZMNXwlUVuQ0zo4jom23eTJDh2PMuU9iH141xg4UAOvodiixH3t_BPt75uygIOPuzbB5oae2wCWpQpdgU5WzyPZWt3RaHDJpf3H-FsS/s1600/preppy-tropical-guesthouse-pinkc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmqDUe81AbaAaZa2nDbn9p34OTT_QYkq06lIjrVTZMNXwlUVuQ0zo4jom23eTJDh2PMuU9iH141xg4UAOvodiixH3t_BPt75uygIOPuzbB5oae2wCWpQpdgU5WzyPZWt3RaHDJpf3H-FsS/s400/preppy-tropical-guesthouse-pinkc.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.styleathome.com/homes/interiors/interior-tropical-and-preppy-miami-guest-house/a/50985/6" target="_blank">source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdPdjaBQsvJY6y5a5rf8uWv6-hm8OPez0QhdYS7mKwZ25m_3ftlQs_eWBSvUbR7i-WKWUkja84lbu15vwOXdYNJjJGNLzupU_AaFiBAkncpOdmfL9WgNFfOstbVynYIcoI_-NLWCaiUPG6/s1600/3b259d8e3e4df1b7a89f7e80cd251e43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdPdjaBQsvJY6y5a5rf8uWv6-hm8OPez0QhdYS7mKwZ25m_3ftlQs_eWBSvUbR7i-WKWUkja84lbu15vwOXdYNJjJGNLzupU_AaFiBAkncpOdmfL9WgNFfOstbVynYIcoI_-NLWCaiUPG6/s400/3b259d8e3e4df1b7a89f7e80cd251e43.jpg" width="343" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://whatsnew.fschumacher.com/" target="_blank">source</a></td></tr></tbody></table>So what do you think? Amazing right? It's pretty major. Now I've got to go and trim something.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiat8Rka8FLrCUCdLTIYBJP1SvPHrez3hOk81lPh94sCIaY37BF8qV6XiQC171GAOaaWvK8PYdlKLHgeG1NJdPw3SGmu_l-GuaUxK3SVSsuG0ArLL1UQGDPYzqhUvRiwb4FMXFhkfBjXBaW/s1600/blog+party.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiat8Rka8FLrCUCdLTIYBJP1SvPHrez3hOk81lPh94sCIaY37BF8qV6XiQC171GAOaaWvK8PYdlKLHgeG1NJdPw3SGmu_l-GuaUxK3SVSsuG0ArLL1UQGDPYzqhUvRiwb4FMXFhkfBjXBaW/s320/blog+party.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />And don't forget, it's Friday which means another great week of the Simply Baby Nursery blog party. <a href="http://blog.simplybabyfurniture.com/2013/05/16/blogpartyweek5/" target="_blank">This week's party</a> is hosted by the lovely <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Katherine of <a href="http://www.rhymeswithsmile.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" title="Rhymes with Smile">Rhymes with Smile</a><span style="color: #222222;">. Check it out!</span></span>

it's all in the details, trim details

I'm in love with trim. I want it everywhere and I can't get enough of it. It might border on addiction, but since it is so awesome, ...

A Data Trove Now Guides Drug Company Pitches - NYTimes

3:47 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div></div><nyt_text><div id="articleBody"><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">In the old days, sales representatives from drug companies would chat up local pharmacists to learn what drugs doctors were prescribing. Now such shoulder-rubbing is becoming a quaint memory — thanks to vast databases of patient and doctor information being used by pharmaceutical companies to market drugs.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">The information allows drug makers to know which drugs a doctor is prescribing and how that compares to a colleague across town. They know whether patients are filling their prescriptions — and refilling them on time. They know details of patients' medical conditions and lab tests, and sometimes even their age, income and ethnic backgrounds.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">The result, said one marketing consultant, is what would happen if Arthur Miller's Willy Loman met up with the data whizzes of Michael Lewis's "Moneyball." "There's a group of geeks, if you will, who are running the numbers and helping the sales guys be much more efficient," said Chris Wright, managing director of ZS Associates, which conducts such analyses for pharmaceutical companies.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">Drug makers say they are putting the information to good use, by helping a doctor improve the chances that their patients take their medications as prescribed, or making sure they are prescribing the right drug to the right patients.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">Some doctors, however, expressed discomfort with the idea of sensitive data being used to sell drugs, even though federal law requires that any personally identifiable information be removed. "I think the doctors tend not to be aware of the depths to which they are being analyzed and studied by people trying to sell them drugs and other medical products," said Dr. Jerry Avorn, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a pioneer of programs for doctors aimed at counteracting the marketing efforts of drug makers. "Almost by definition, a lot of this stuff happens under the radar — there may be a sales pitch, but the doctor may not know that sales pitch is being informed by their own prescribing patterns."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">The research firm IMS Health has tracked information about which drugs doctors prescribe since the 1990s, and over the last decade, the list of available information has expanded to include insurance claims data, which yields a trove of intelligence about patients' medical diagnoses and insurance coverage. Additional details about patients, including income, education and ethnicity, can also be available.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">One company, SDI Health, <a title="The Web site." href="http://www.sdihealth.com/" style="text-decoration: none; ">promises to provide clients</a> with "actionable analysis" by tracking people — on an anonymous basis — as they move through the "patient experience." That includes, according to their Web site, filling prescriptions at a pharmacy, visiting a doctor, being admitted to the hospital and undergoing lab tests.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">"Through our unique and proprietary patient-linking technology, we connect all aspects of a patient's behavior," the company's Web site states. IMS Health acquired SDI in 2011.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">"The sales representative theoretically has the ability to understand not only the doctor's behavior, and which other physicians are key opinion leaders that the doctor listens to, but also the behavior of that doctor's patients," said Jerry Maynor, the director of marketing for North America at Cegedim Strategic Data, one of the companies that performs data analyses.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">Some said that tracking physicians' behavior was no different from techniques other industries use to sell products, including following a consumer's Internet activity. But David Orentlicher, a law professor at Indiana University who writes on medical ethics issues, said the pharmaceutical companies' use of data has become more invasive. "A lot of the information comes out of the doctor-patient encounter," he said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">Privacy advocates also pointed to research showing that people in anonymous databases can sometimes be re-identified. "It just seems like it skirts the edge of the laws that do exist," said Adriane Fugh-Berman, an associate professor at Georgetown University Medical Center who is a critic of pharmaceutical marketing tactics.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">Doctors who object to the use of their prescribing data by pharmaceutical companies can opt out <a title="The site." href="http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/about-ama/physician-data-resources/ama-database-licensing/amas-physician-data-restriction-program.page" style="text-decoration: none; ">through a program</a> set up by the American Medical Association in 2006. But doctors cannot block the use of their insurance claims and other data, and some doctors complain that few know the program exists. About 31,650 of the nation's more than 767,000 practicing physicians, roughly 4 percent, have enrolled in the opt-out program since it was created, according to the A.M.A., which also sells information about doctors to companies like IMS.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">Drug makers and their consultants say their techniques can help doctors by providing information that is customized to their needs. To sell the respiratory drug Spiriva, for instance, the German drug maker Boehringer Ingelheim uses insurance and prescribing data to focus on doctors with patients who have <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease." class="meta-classifier" style="text-decoration: none; ">chronic obstructive pulmonary disease</a> but who are not frequently prescribing long-acting drugs like Spiriva, which have been shown to reduce sudden attacks of severe complications in people with the disease, compared to shorter-acting drugs.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">"You start analyzing what they're doing and you can find out if, through a combination of factors, you can intervene," said Paul Fonteyne, the president and chief executive of Boehringer Ingelheim USA.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">Some pharmaceutical companies and consultants said the industry mainly used the data to market to big decision-makers like insurers, by demonstrating that their drugs are more cost-effective or show better outcomes for patients. Boehringer Ingelheim and the insurance company Humana, for example, <a title="The companies  statement." href="http://press.humana.com/press-release/humana-and-boehringer-ingelheim-establish-partnership-promote-population-health" style="text-decoration: none; ">recently announced</a> a partnership aimed at improving the health and reducing costs for people with C.O.P.D. and other chronic diseases.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">"At the end of the day, calling on doctors in terms of a personal selling model is a lot less important to selling your drug," said Andrew Kress, a senior vice president at IMS. "You can read a dark side to any of this, but the reality is that most manufacturers that IMS does research for are really trying to engage in a much more productive dialogue with the health care providers."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">Companies are refining their pitches to doctors in part because it is getting harder to market to them. Studies show physicians are less willing to speak to sales representatives, either because they are opposed to such pitches, or because they are under pressure to see more patients. At the same time, the industry has laid off thousands of sales representatives in an effort to save money as once best-selling drugs have lost their patent protection.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">"The industry is now having a harder time getting direct access to physicians," said Edward Rhoads, a managing partner and principal at the New England Consulting Group. As a result, he said, drug companies are asking, "How can we get the information into the community in a different way? There's a big emphasis in understanding how physicians influence each other."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">This field, called influence-mapping, seeks to put a high-tech twist on the old idea that nothing sells a product better than word of mouth. One company, <a title="The Web site." href="http://www.activatenetworks.net/" style="text-decoration: none; ">Activate Networks</a>, applies technology licensed from Harvard University to draw connections between physicians with patients in common, then uses those ties to accelerate the adoption of newly introduced drugs.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">"You can tell a lot about a physician's behavior by looking at what the people they have relationship with are doing," said Peter DeWan, the chief scientific officer at Activate Networks.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">Mr. DeWan said his company assigned physicians a ranking based on how connected they were, which helped companies decide where to send a representative, or whom to invite to a talk about a drug.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">But some doctors questioned whether these techniques were best for patients. Just because doctors are well connected doesn't mean they are prescribing the right drugs, said Dr. David C. May, a cardiologist who practices in a northern suburb of Dallas and is chairman of the board of governors for the American College of Cardiology.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">"We have seen, in our particular part of Dallas, situations in which the physicians were aggressively marketed to and the drugs were perhaps inappropriately used early on," he said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; ">Dr. Larry Miller, the chief executive of Activate Networks, noted that the company also advised clients like insurance companies, which are using the same networks to persuade doctors to choose more inexpensive treatments. "You still have to be very careful," Dr. Miller said. "We all know our own networks and know who we respect."</p></div></nyt_text><div><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/business/a-data-trove-now-guides-drug-company-pitches.html?">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/business/a-data-trove-now-guides-drug-company-pitches.html?</a></div>

A Data Trove Now Guides Drug Company Pitches - NYTimes

In the old days, sales representatives from drug companies would chat up local pharmacists to learn what drugs doctors were prescribing. Now...

Nokia Lumia 925 Full Review

3:23 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixHOLquAHGiocqdubLECKJ9wVNGJfUy0nwrKt_0YJH81nSQ7rifp91DJiUAjDgjY9X2fC2GmNOxoEIWv5qM6QE6ayBjGh0vY0BL3wk7kcKT8rWAsVVxxBkXhtD1rC1owfPDkhhpOg8JdOf/s1600/lumia+925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixHOLquAHGiocqdubLECKJ9wVNGJfUy0nwrKt_0YJH81nSQ7rifp91DJiUAjDgjY9X2fC2GmNOxoEIWv5qM6QE6ayBjGh0vY0BL3wk7kcKT8rWAsVVxxBkXhtD1rC1owfPDkhhpOg8JdOf/s400/lumia+925.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Bright'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 200; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="line-height: inherit;"><span style="color: #ff6600;">Nokia Lumia 925 Full Specification :</span></strong></h3><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px; text-align: justify;">Nokia finally lifted curtain from its new flagship smartphone that is Nokia Lumia 925. Last month Nokia announced some financial losses but yet Nokia  produced some new products. After Nokia Lumia 928 and Asha 501, which were introduced last week, Nokia recently introduces its latest best flagship smartphone called <a href="http://www.pc-gadgetworld.com/2013/05/nokia-has-announced-launch-of-lumia-925.html">Nokia Lumia 925</a>. Key Specification of lumia 928 and 925 are almost same. But outlooks of smartphones are different,Nokia Lumia 928 is made of shiny white polycarbonate or plastic but Lumia 925  is made entirely of metal. Like HTC one, Nokia has used a metal frame to house the antenna.</div><h2 style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Bright'; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 200; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Specification of Nokia Lumia 925</span></h2><ol style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Lucida Bright'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 18px 30px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><li>1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor S4 MSM8960</li><li>Windows Phone 8 OS</li><li>4.5-inch AMOLED ClearBlack display with 768×1280 resolution</li><li>8.7 MP  PureView rear camera</li><li>1.2 MP  front camera</li><li>1GB RAM</li><li>16GB of internal storage</li><li>2,000 mAh battery<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Lucida Bright;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></span></li></ol><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;"><strong style="line-height: inherit;">1. Processor</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;"><em style="line-height: inherit;">Nokia Lumia 925</em> is powered by 1.5 GHz dual core snapdragon Processor S4 MSM8960. It is a quick chip used in numerous handset such as <em style="line-height: inherit;">lumia 820</em> and <em style="line-height: inherit;">Lumia 920</em>. same processor is inside in <em style="line-height: inherit;"><strong style="line-height: inherit;">Nokia lumia 928</strong></em> and <em style="line-height: inherit;">lumia 920</em>. It will be easy to argue that Nokia really need to change its processor like other quad core processor if it really compete with other smartphones which have already quad core.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;"><strong style="line-height: inherit;">2. Operating System</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;">You already know about operating system of Lumia series. Here Nokia is still stick with its old operating system. It runs on <strong style="line-height: inherit;">Window Phone 8</strong> operating system. 2 years ago, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop bet our smartphones not on Google’s Android os but on  Windows Phone software.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;"><strong style="line-height: inherit;">3. Camera</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;">It packs up with 8.7 MP pureview rear Camera and 1.2 MP Front facing camera for video calling. 8.7 MP camera is already in its predecessor smartphone , so whats new in lumia 925? very good Question. Nokia  explain that it is improved  optics in front of sensor.This phone come with smart camera app, that gives some smart features to users just like photo tricks,Best photo out of set, including feature that can snap 10 images at a once of moving obstacle. Best photo out of set feature is already available in <em style="line-height: inherit;"><strong style="line-height: inherit;">Samsung Galaxy S4</strong></em>.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;">Company has made huge improvement in its camera by including most advance lens to make the images more clear and sharp. The lens has six element, one glass five plastic which significantly improve its low-light credentials which means you can click the stunning photos even in low light. Now you can remove unwanted objects and erase them to look your picture the way you want. Also the change face features allows you to combine your favorite expression from a series of shots to make a perfect single group photo</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;"><strong style="line-height: inherit;">4. Display</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;">It features 4.5 inch display which is same as lumia 920 and 928, But Nokia Lumia 925 uses AMOLED ClearBlack screen rather than LCD.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;">It has 1,280×768-pixels resolution, which is again same as lumia 928 and 920.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;"><strong style="line-height: inherit;">5. Memory</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;">Nokia Lumia 925 provides 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB build in storage and the memory is not extendable as there’s no external SD slot for memory but the Vodafone version offers 32 GB of storage that is really cool.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;"><strong style="line-height: inherit;">6. Connectivity and Battery</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;">Nokia Lumia 925 comes with non-removable battery which is 2000 mAh same as of Lumia 920 and Lumia 928.</div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px;"><li>USB 2.0</li><li>Bluetooth 3.0</li><li>NFC</li></ul><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;"><strong style="line-height: inherit;">7. Availability and Price</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Bright"; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 18px;">Company has been confirmed that Nokia lumia 925 will be available in the market next month. This device will launch in Germany, UK, China, Spain starting of June. If we talk about its price then it will be available  at price Rs. 33,500 plus taxes.</div></div></div>Published by <br /><a href="https://plus.google.com/100157211917912694448" rel="author">Coding talk</a></div>

Nokia Lumia 925 Full Specification : Nokia finally lifted curtain from its new flagship smartphone that is Nokia Lumia 925. Last month Nokia...

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 05/17/2013

2:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

<ul class="diigo-linkroll">      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2013/05/11/how-to-handle-a-student-who-habitually-calls-out/">How To Handle A Student Who Habitually Calls Out — Smart Classroom Management</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">This is a tough one and I've had two or three this year who will call out - in a disruptive way. Sometimes it is when I'm speaking. I have one great class that causes me to struggle because of several who have a bit of a problem with knowing the appropriate time to engage (not in the middle of a question or when someone else is talking.) I encourage kids to have a pencil and paper or a tablet in  hand to jot down notes of what they want to say - sometimes they are afraid they'll forget.  Other times, when it is class discussion, I use poker chips. Each student gets two. When they want to interject, they spend their chip. Every student must participate twice before anyone can have a third input. It is a daily grade and so easy to assess b/c everyone must give up their chips.   This article takes it much further and is a good one if you're struggling with this.  "Namely, how do you deal with a student who, despite receiving consequence after consequence, continues to call out in class?  Before we get to the solution, it’s important to note that there are times during a normal school day when you may want to allow your students to respond to you or their fellow classmates without raising their hand"</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/all_teachers">all_teachers</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/bestpractices">bestpractices</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.teachthought.com/technology/8-educational-apps-to-create-digital-portfolios/">8 Educational Apps To Create Digital Portfolios</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">All of my students are required to create an efolio. Every year they update it, eventually producing a personal website to use for themselves for the future. Here are 8 apps that help you do this.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/bestpractices">bestpractices</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/efolio">efolio</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edu_news">edu_news</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/fighting-childhood-obesity-school-cafeteria-time/story?id=19146551#.UZSydqJwrK1">Fighting Childhood Obesity One School Cafeteria at a Time - ABC News</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Can you design a school to promote healthy eating? There are things every cafeteria can do (read to the end.) This is a big problem and something we need to address. Every school should have a fruit basket near the checkout. It is a no brainer, but do we?  "Just walk into the cafeteria and you can see this is no ordinary elementary school.  "One of the most striking differences is the openness of the eating space," said pediatrician Dr. Matthew Trowbridge, who also consulted on the project.  Students can look into the area where the food is prepared, and they can look outside to a planned school garden, where vegetables will soon be planted."</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/lunchroom">lunchroom</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/health">health</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/obesity">obesity</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/bestpractices">bestpractices</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/administrator">administrator</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/05/07/xerox-school-grades/2140749/?sf12803211=1">Xerox stepping into grading school papers</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Grading handwritten answers by students as a feature of a copier? Producing data analytics as a result. IF this works, it will not only sell more copiers, but also make handwritten work more of a commodity. Maybe if a computer can quickly grade the easy stuff, teachers can spend more time assessing project based learning and other work that computers cannot do. This won't help me much - except when I teach binary numbers and memory conversion which do require me to check work (I never do multiple choice.) I could see how math teachers would be thrilled.  "Xerox later this year plans to roll out Ignite, a software and web-based service that turns the numerous copiers/scanners/printers it has in schools across the United States into paper-grading machines. Unlike such staples of the educational system as Scantron, which uses special forms where students choose an answer and fill in the corresponding bubble, Ignite will grade work where the answers are written in by the students, such as the numeric answer to a math problem.  Ignite takes right and wrong answers and turns them into web-accessible data for teachers with reports that say whether a student or groups of students are consistently having more trouble with certain kinds of math problems. Those reports can be used by teachers to tailor what they're teaching — such as by identifying what group of students needs more help with a certain topic — or given to students so they know where they should focus their studying. It also opens the door to specific tests or homework assignments for specific students becoming more the norm, each tailored to academic strengths and weaknesses."</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/xerox">xerox</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/assessment">assessment</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/testing">testing</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/all_teachers">all_teachers</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/coaching_teachers/2013/04/how_can_i_coach_a_resistant_te.html?cmp=ENL-CC-VIEWS2">"How Can I Coach a Resistant Teacher?" (Part 1) - The Art of Coaching Teachers - Education Week Teacher</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">This is a discussion to have with all IT integrators. Many adopt the attitude of leaving the hibernating bear alone. After all, eventually, the resistant teacher will come out of the den ready to enjoy the springtime of learning? No. Not necessarily.  But technological change is as much emotional and psychological as it is instruction. If you don't first have the teacher in the mood to learn, you'll be struggling. So, be careful of labeling the teacher as resistant in the first place and be willing to teach and encourage the teacher wherever he/she is. This is a nice article from Elena Aguilar. Check out part 2 after reading this one.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/it_support">it_support</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/bestpractices">bestpractices</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/all_teachers">all_teachers</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/techintegrator">techintegrator</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/15/gmail-quick-action-buttons-flight-status/">Google adding quick action buttons, real-time flight status to Gmail</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">You'll notice new quick action buttons in Gmail as announced by Google on Wednesday. They want to make things more intuitive. Expect these changes to happen on a gradual basis but they are coming. Including the ability to RSVP more easily - a feature which I like as some stragglers still refuse to properly use Google Calendar or any online calendar at all.  "When the situation calls for it, new quick action buttons will pop up in an email, letting you accomplish simple tasks without reaching for the keyboard. For event RSVPs, you can even mark your attendance from the main inbox view -- a preview with all the key details will pop up, letting you respond with a simple Yes, Maybe or No. "</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/google">google</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/gmail">gmail</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edu_news">edu_news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edu_newapp">edu_newapp</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://sociallyactive.com/instagram-child-safety/">Instagram Child Safety - SociallyActive</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Instagram is something kids are using. Here are some tips for helping your child be safe on instagram. I totally agree about talking to your child about the photo map. If you haven't already, talk to them today about NOT using the feature which puts their photos on a map of where they were when they took it. Like that paint in your new bedroom? Photo map it? Boom. The lat and long of your daughter's bedroom. Just a bad idea. I do think instagram and other location based websites are going to get into hot water. Lat and long disclosing by kids should be approved by parents.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/instagram">instagram</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edu_news">edu_news</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/05/video-how-to-insert-images-into-google.html#.UZSys6JwrK1">Free Technology for Teachers: Video - How to Insert Images Into Google Forms</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">You can tweak your Google forms and insert images. Richard Byrne created a tutorial.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/tutorial">tutorial</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/05/7-ways-teachers-can-create-videos.html">7 Ways Teachers Can Create Videos without Installing any Software ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">You can make videos. You don't have to spend money or get too fancy. Digital storytelling is for every teacher. Take a look.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/a-better-teacher-next-fall-richard-curwin">Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: How Can I Be a Better Teacher Next Fall? | Edutopia</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Nice article to spread around to teachers as they hit post planning. From edutopia, it asks us to do what all of us teachers should constantly do: examine ourselves. Change is a way of life. I've got quite a few I'm pondering for myself as well.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/all_teachers">all_teachers</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://edudemic.com/2013/05/the-5-biggest-education-technology-trends-to-know-about/">The 5 Biggest Education Technology Trends To Know About | Edudemic</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">While they left out wearable technology and learning analytics is combined into the LMS category, this is a quick list that you can forward to your board of directors or others who want to look at a few things about changing technology.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/trends">trends</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/01/30-ipad-apps-every-teacher-should-be.html">30 iPad Apps Every Teacher Should Be Using ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Interesting list of apps. What apps are you using? </p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/apps">apps</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/eduapp">eduapp</a></p>                                        </li>  </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='https://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 05/17/2013

How To Handle A Student Who Habitually Calls Out — Smart Classroom Management This is a tough one an...

Kon-Tiki: Spirited but superficial

1:00 AM Tukiyooo 0

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><i>Kon-Tiki</i> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>(2012) • <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4DZ7svBw7I" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">View trailer</a></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b> </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>3.5 stars. Rating: PG-13, and needlessly, for dramatic intensity</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>By <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/12885694730612878577" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">Derrick Bang</a></b></span></b></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>            <br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thor Heyerdahl’s Oscar-winning 1950 documentary about his famed ocean voyage was a frequent attraction during my grade school and middle school years; I must have seen it at least three times before hitting my teens.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgo0sK_cu0q-dez1tOvIC1HuyQb0099wvAYpecoyj2UspuwQoRIQcehmKeUJrOsOY0wpKu52rhj0c628skGEN7NY41ICDTTvwyrqoUDeC_t2GT8bKVgow5BwouaDB2c7L8mxjdllqmcl8/s1600/Kon+Tiki+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgo0sK_cu0q-dez1tOvIC1HuyQb0099wvAYpecoyj2UspuwQoRIQcehmKeUJrOsOY0wpKu52rhj0c628skGEN7NY41ICDTTvwyrqoUDeC_t2GT8bKVgow5BwouaDB2c7L8mxjdllqmcl8/s400/Kon+Tiki+blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Enraged by the constant presence of the always dangerous sharks, Torstein (Jakob<br />Oftebro, left) and Knut (Tobias Santelmann) foolishly decided to kill one of the<br />predatory creatures.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also read Heyerdahl’s published account of the expedition — 1948’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft</i> — and noted that articles about him were fairly common in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">National Geographic</i>in the 1960s and early ’70s (which is deliciously ironic, given the magazine’s initial refusal to treat him seriously).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I therefore approached the new dramatized account of Heyerdahl’s 101-day journey on a balsa wood raft — Norway’s recent nominee for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award (losing to Austria’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Amour</i>) — like a reunion with a long-unseen friend. And, on that level, this new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kon-Tiki</i> does not disappoint.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg have crafted a respectful, detail-laden account of Heyerdahl’s voyage that plays very much like a valentine: quite similar to the family-friendly tone Brian Helgeland gives Jackie Robinson’s story, in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">42</i>. This worshipful atmosphere is amplified by the almost saintly aura that star Pål Sverre Hagen gives his reading of Heyerdahl; once granted the months-at-sea affectation of a scraggly beard, and the Christ-like framing by cinematographer Geir Hartly Andreassen, we almost expect a halo to appear over Hagen’s head.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK, so Heyerdahl’s messianic qualities are larded on rather thickly, but I suppose we can forgive everybody concerned; after all, the famed explorer remains one of Norway’s most cherished native sons.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The performances are heartfelt and credible, and the film certainly captures both the adventurous spirit and eventual doubts experienced by Heyerdahl and his five companions, as the journey progresses. But scripter Petter Skavlan is much better at back-story and laying the groundwork for the Kon-Tiki’s trip, than in conveying the day-after-grinding-day reality of their experiences, once the raft is launched.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On top of which, several sequences feel like Hollywood-ized peril, clearly exaggerated for dramatic impact. Such moments give the film an embroidered, boys-own-adventure aura: unfortunate, when an unvarnished depiction of these events should have been sufficiently absorbing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><a name='more'></a><br />  <div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Heyerdahl and his wife, Liv (Agnes Kittelsen), are introduced in 1937, during their yearlong research trip to Fatu Hiva, a tiny island in the Marquesas group in the middle of the Pacific. This initial study of Polynesia, a collaboration with the University of Oslo’s zoological facility, hoped to reveal how a previously deserted Pacific island’s flora and fauna could have reached it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It must have been a magical year for this young Norwegian couple, essentially living alone during their research in paradise, and this film deftly sketches both Thor and Liv’s loving and collaborative relationship, and Thor’s growing interest in a new theory. Conventional wisdom at the time suggested that Polynesia had been populated, long ago, by people from Southeast Asia; Heyerdahl became convinced that ocean currents and prevailing winds suggested something else.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The crucial moment, lifted for this film directly from Heyerdahl’s book, comes when a Polynesian elder quite dramatically insists that “Tiki” brought his ancestors to the islands. In Heyerdahl’s mind, that points to Peru.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, he faces an uphill battle, while trying to gain acceptance for this belief. Years pass, during which he is ignored or dismissed by publishers, universities and, yes, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">National Geographic</i>. Undeterred but now convinced that he’ll gain credibility in only one way, Heyerdahl decides to reproduce one of the voyages that he believes must have taken place 1,500 years earlier, and do so down to the last detail.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meaning, the raft must be built only with materials that would have been available to those ancient peoples.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Heyerdahl constructs this ungainly craft with a team of four experienced colleagues: radio experts Knut Haugland (Tobias Santelmann) and Torstein Raaby (Jakob Oftebro), Swedish sociologist Bengt Danielsson (Gustaf Skarsgård) and navigator Erik Hesselberg (Odd Magnus Williamson). They name their craft the Kon-Tiki, after the Inca sun god. (It would be nice to understand how Heyerdahl knows these men, and comes to select them, but that’s one of many details Skavian’s script glosses over.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They’re joined by engineer-turned-refrigerator salesman Herman Watzinger (Anders Baasmo Christiansen), an “average Joe” sort who befriends Heyerdahl and embraces the expedition for the “thrill of adventure.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The roly-poly Watzinger is employed as this saga’s weak psychological link: a well-meaning, likable fellow who hasn’t the faintest idea what he has let himself in for. It could be argued that this depiction is both unkind and unfair, since we get the impression that Watzinger is quite useless during this journey, when in real life he collected and recorded valuable weather data about the then-unstudied Pacific.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The raft’s seventh member is Raaby’s pet parrot, Lorita, which — on at least one occasion — creates the sort of mischief one would expect from a 1960s Disney comedy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once past the jubilant glow that briefly lingers after they begin the journey, the men fall into a routine of observation, logbook entries and efforts to maneuver their ungainly raft. Early problems are what we would expect: storms and dangerous ocean swells, ever-present sharks and boredom.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Additional tension results from Skavlan’s distortion of actual events, starting with a malfunctioning radio that rarely seems to work ... at least, according to what we watch here. This belies the regular broadcasts that Haugland and Raaby made to American, Canadian and South American stations, which relayed the transmissions to the Norwegian Embassy in Washington, D.C.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hesselberg also worries, day by passing day, that they’re heading northwest, rather than the desired west/southwest that will allow their raft to be embraced by the crucial South Equatorial Current: essentially an ocean expressway to Polynesia. Heyerdahl advises patience and faith, Hagen’s piercing blue eyes taking on an obsessive, mildly unsettling quality as the explorer stubbornly clings to his convictions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At about the same time, Watzinger announces that their huge balsa wood logs — the essential framework of their raft — are absorbing water at a dangerous rate, with stray balsa chips becoming heavy enough to sink. Clearly, this is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">very</i>serious issue ... and yet we never get closure. Do Heyerdahl and his companions solve this problem? Ignore it? Impossible to say, because...<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...once the Kon-Tiki finally, happily, slides into the South Equatorial Current, the saga jumps forward several months, to the raft’s climactic arrival in Polynesia.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If this narrative leap feels abrupt and absurdly jarring, you’re not imagining things. Rønning and Sandberg made a 118-minute film, but this American release — courtesy of the Weinstein Company — has been abbreviated to 101 minutes. Clearly, some essential details have been left behind. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s shameful.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Santelmann, Oftebro, Skarsgård and Williamson look and sound right for their respective roles, although we don’t get much in the way of character development. At times, Heyerdahl’s strongest relationship appears to be with a small Peruvian crab that has hitched a ride on the raft, becoming a living example of how one species could travel 4,300 nautical miles to make a new home.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hagen’s Heyerdahl gets the lion’s share of Skavlan’s character exposition, particularly during the lengthy first act, as the explorer refines his theory and mounts the expedition. Hagen is wholly credible as a determined researcher who won’t back down, his slightly mocking smile greeting each setback with ever-greater determination.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ironically, modern DNA theory and other scientific studies have reaffirmed the original belief regarding Polynesians having ancestors from Southeast Asia, but of course that doesn’t diminish the adventurous awesomeness of Heyerdahl’s journey by raft. And his expedition certainly proves that South American natives <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">could</i> have made a similar trip.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If this film — particularly our bowdlerized American cut — too often feels like the gentled-down cinematic equivalent of a young adult novel, well, that also doesn’t lessen Heyerdahl’s contributions to world knowledge (and let’s not forget that he would go on to make many more expeditions, before dying in 2002, at the age of 87). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps this <i>Kon-Tiki</i> best can be considered a jumping-off point, designed to encourage today’s generation — no doubt unfamiliar with Heyerdahl — to track down the memoir and documentary that were so ubiquitous half a century ago.</span></span>

1940s 2012 Agnes Kittelsen Anders Baasmo Christiansen Fact-based Foreign films Gustaf Skarsgård Jakob Oftebro Odd Magnus Williamson Pål Sverre Hagen Tobias Santelmann Kon-Tiki: Spirited but superficial

Kon-Tiki (2012) • View trailer 3.5 stars. Rating: PG-13, and needlessly, for dramatic intensity By Derrick Bang Thor Heyer...

Star Trek Into Darkness: Still voyaging boldly

1:00 AM Tukiyooo 0

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><i>Star Trek Into Darkness</i> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>(2013) • <a href="http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/startrekintodarkness/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">View trailer</a></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b> </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>Four stars. Rating: PG-13, for intense sci-fi action and violence</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>By <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/12885694730612878577" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">Derrick Bang</a> • </b></span>Originally published in <i><a href="http://www.davisenterprise.com/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">The Davis Enterprise</a></i>, 5.17.13</b></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>            <br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Director J.J. Abrams’ audacious 2009 re-boot of <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2009/05/star-trek-exciting-new-voyages.html">Star Trek</a></i> was clever and wildly entertaining, a delight for both hard-core fans and newcomers. (Do the latter actually exist?)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This follow-up is just as successful ... and perhaps even more fun. While also being deadly serious.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-hqla3IgFdJh3s3z0TwXfbiynOQm_TY-q-Fef6XSzlRpMy3HEivritMslmW1ANmALEaR6zAad3Lk2bqevEMJOB_nX38ampvFEzcJDuLXW5QDqDUIwfT0QpQouqfefcLuW5fxFLww63o/s1600/Star+Trek+Darkness+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-hqla3IgFdJh3s3z0TwXfbiynOQm_TY-q-Fef6XSzlRpMy3HEivritMslmW1ANmALEaR6zAad3Lk2bqevEMJOB_nX38ampvFEzcJDuLXW5QDqDUIwfT0QpQouqfefcLuW5fxFLww63o/s400/Star+Trek+Darkness+blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Trapped on a hostile planet at the fringes of the Klingon empire, Kirk (Chris Pine, left),<br />Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) try to figure out whether a cloaked<br />and impressively powerful assassin is helping them ... or merely eliminating distractions<br />in order to kill them himself.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which is an impressive balancing act.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Considerable credit goes to returning scripters Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman, this time joined by Damon Lindelof, who understand that it’s all right to mess with Gene Roddenberry’s original template — here and there — if such adjustments are made respectfully. And if they make sense, both dramatically and in the greater context of established <i>Trek</i> lore.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thus, Spock’s home planet Vulcan was destroyed in the 2009 film, signaling that the future of these fresh-faced “Young Trek” characters wouldn’t necessarily unfold according to the Holy Writ as laid down by Roddenberry and the various show-runners who augmented the mythos during the subsequent TV shows and films.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the other hand, blue-eyed Chris Pine’s James T. Kirk remains an unapologetic babe-hound. Some things <i>can't</i> change.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Star Trek Into Darkness</i> opens on the run — literally — as Kirk and Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban) flee from the enraged inhabitants of Nibiru, a Class M planet (i.e. one that’s Earth-like). Kirk has “liberated” a sacred object as a diversion, while Spock (Zachary Quinto), Uhura (Zoe Saldana) and Sulu (John Cho) take a shuttle into a massive volcano, hoping to prevent a cataclysmic eruption that could wipe out the entire civilization.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite their efforts to accomplish this clandestinely, Kirk and his crew clearly are violating Starfleet’s sacred Prime Directive, which prohibits any “interference” with a developing culture. (Needless to say, William Shatner’s Kirk violated that directive almost every week, back in the day.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Regardless of this mission’s outcome — and things definitely don’t go quite as Kirk planned — the brash young Enterprise captain gets a serious dressing-down from mentor Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), once back at Starfleet Command’s San Francisco headquarters. The unhappy result: a demotion and loss of his ship, with Spock assigned elsewhere and the rest of the Enterprise crew left to wonder who they’ll salute next.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><a name='more'></a><br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The punishment is apt, because — as Pike angrily tells Kirk — everything has come too easily to the young officer. And it’s true: Kirk wound up commanding the Enterprise far too quickly in 2009’s <i>Star Trek</i>, and that success merely encouraged his already reckless tendencies. Although strongly bonded to Spock by friendship, Kirk rarely seeks advice from his more pragmatic and (dare I say it?) logical science officer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He’s not yet the best Kirk he could be, and it’s only a matter of time before his luck runs out. And Pike knows this.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile...<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A distraught Starfleet officer — Noel Clarke, as Harewood — and his wife watch, helplessly, as their hospitalized daughter sinks deeper into the unspecified malady that is poised to claim her life. “I can save her,” promises a mysterious visitor, and a devil’s bargain is sealed. The girl’s vital signs bounce back; Harewood, in return, betrays his Starfleet oath in the worst possible way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The act itself is shocking enough: that it should be orchestrated by a Starfleet officer feels even worse. But, then, <i>Star Trek</i> lore is laden with examples of corrupt officers who’ve gone off the rails for reasons ranging from power lust to outright insanity. Not so unusual, then, that this one succumbs to a father’s desperate love for his daughter.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Family ties, in fact, are the driving force behind this rapidly unfolding storyline. Orci, Kurtzman and Lindelof quite ingeniously explore the bonds of various deeply personal relationships, and the lengths to which people — good and bad — will go, to preserve them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kirk very soon encounters the same mysterious individual, identified as John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch, best known as the BBC’s re-booted Sherlock Holmes), who seems hell-bent on a one-man mission of revenge against Starfleet. Harrison is an unexpectedly powerful adversary, as strong, fast and nimble as he is cunning and smart. He doesn’t seem to care if people see his face, because he knows that nobody can stop him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, it would seem, he’s right.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Events eventually lead to deep space and the planet Kronos, perched at the outer fringes of the rapidly expanding Klingon empire. (Recall that we’re a long ways from the Klingon/Federation truce that put Worf on Jean-Luc Picard’s Enterprise.) For reasons that remain vague, Harrison has gone to ground on this planet; Starfleet’s Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller), uncharacteristically vengeful for one holding his rank, orders this terrorist tracked down. And killed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The latter part of that command deeply troubles both Spock and McCoy, uncomfortable over the lack of due process that has transformed them from explorers into executioners.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Any real-world parallels to the way Western countries — particularly the United States — have been pursuing and treating captured Islamic terrorists are, of course, absolutely intentional. And this, too, is classic <i>Trek</i>; Roddenberry, like Rod Serling before him, tackled all manner of hot-potato political topics under the thin guise of science-fiction and fantasy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although this new film owes its energetic juice to the adroit script and Abrams’ slick pacing, the cast deserves considerable credit for the way in which they inhabit these younger versions of beloved characters. The Kirk/Spock dynamic is particularly droll, with Pine and Quinto exchanging rat-a-tat dialogue that demonstrates exasperation on both sides, as each tries to bridge the awkward emotional divide that separates humans from Vulcans.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pine’s Kirk is cocky, impulsive and impatient, forever frustrated by Spock’s apparent inability to recognize — let alone practice — human traits such as loyalty. Quinto’s always bluntly truthful Spock, in return, is eternally puzzled by the ill-advised hunches and “gut feelings” that prompt human behavior.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This becomes even more of an issue for Spock, when it comes to his relationship with Uhura, who also is reaching the end of her tether, when it comes to her pointy-eared lover’s maddening refusal to show his feelings. If he actually possesses any. Saldana is deliciously flinty, her Uhura capable of a depth of cold fury that surprises even Kirk.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the same time, this Uhura is by no means limited to opening hailing frequencies, in her Starfleet capacity. For one thing, she speaks Klingon like a native. Which, as you might expect, comes in handy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cho’s Sulu gets his first stint in the captain’s chair, rising to the occasion quite splendidly; Urban’s McCoy is ever the humanist, insisting that Kirk step back and count to 10. The good doctor also is adept at growling irritated quips, and of course he remains a technophobe who dislikes “scattering his atoms across the universe” when traveling by transporter beam.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Simon Pegg once again is a hoot ’n’ a holler as Scotty, who, yes, gets to complain about his poor Enterprise engines; we, in turn, get to see far more of Scotty’s massive engineering section than ever before. Thanks to the special-effects wizards, we finally have a better sense of this starship’s impressive <i>size</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Deep Roy returns as Keenser, Scotty’s mute, diminutive but absolutely devoted companion.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anton Yelchin is under-utilized as Chekov, and Yelchin needlessly hammers this character’s Russian accent: not this ensign’s finest hour. Alice Eve is similarly under-developed as Carol, a science officer who gets herself assigned to the Enterprise for secret reasons of her own, apparently having to do with the 72 experimental “photon torpedoes” that the ship has been assigned to carry ... much to Scotty’s displeasure.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cumberbatch makes an awesome villain; we absolutely believe his character’s arrogance, ruthlessness and utter disregard for collateral casualties. Cumberbatch looks scary even when Harrison is motionless: his dark eyes blazing malevolence, his grim expression a precursor to fresh atrocities being hatched in his coldly analytical mind.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Longtime <i>Trek</i> fans will pick up on the several hints to Harrison’s actual identity, although that plot twist undoubtedly will be headline news by Monday. More’s the pity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Editors Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey keep the pace lively, often intercutting between divergent plotlines; Abrams shrewdly manipulates tension by lacing grim events with lighter moments, as when Spock and Uhura have a lovers’ spat en route to Kronos. Cinematographer Daniel Mindel brings impressive scope to every scene, from Starfleet’s expansive San Francisco headquarters, to the labyrinthine guts of the Enterprise’s warp-core engines.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, rest assured, you’ll want to experience the marvelous special-effects work — the planets, the Enterprise, the space battles — on a giant IMAX screen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But don’t bother shelling out for 3-D glasses on a regular screen. This is post-production 3-D — in other words, fake — and it brings nothing to the experience.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Michael Giacchino delivers another rousing orchestral score, laden with character themes and action motifs. And, just as the iconic “James Bond Theme” was held back until the very end of Daniel Craig’s debut 007 adventure, in <i>Casino Royale</i>, Giacchino saves Alexander Courage’s familiar <i>Star Trek</i> fanfare until a similarly climactic moment. Wednesday evening’s packed-to-the-gills preview audience erupted with well-deserved applause as the first notes trilled from the screen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Along with the equally iconic signature phrase that we’ve not heard for awhile.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Star Trek Into Darkness</i> is a grand ride that certainly does <i>not</i> suffer from the “sophomore curse” that infects so many sequels. We can only hope that Abrams, his writers and this tightly bonded ensemble cast return for another round.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Make it so</i>.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>

Star Trek Into Darkness: Still voyaging boldly

2013 Anton Yelchin Benedict Cumberbatch Bruce Greenwood Chris Pine Four Star Films J.J. Abrams John Cho Karl Urban Peter Weller Sequel Series Simon Pegg Star Trek Zachary Quinto Zoe Saldana Star Trek Into Darkness: Still voyaging boldly

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) • View trailer Four stars. Rating: PG-13, for intense sci-fi action and violence By Derrick Bang • Or...

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Star Trek Into Darkness: Still voyaging boldly

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