Place Your Bets: In It to Win It

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vlatko Vedral
Keyword(s):  
Las Vegas ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The City

Until now we have discussed how life propagates and how life eventually ends; but I guess what most of us are preoccupied with is ‘what we do in between.’ In this chapter, I would like to stay in-between these two extremes and enjoy the moment. What more could we ask for? Excitement is what I, for one, would like to have. Whilst the concept of excitement may be subjective, most would agree that some modicum of risk comes as a given. It is much harder to get excited by certainty (let’s face it, we all find certainty boring). Let us instead choose life and discuss the various ways to make it more exciting. It’s 1962 Las Vegas, the city of dreams. Millions are made and lost every minute of every day. The city is littered with dreams of rookies making their way across the Nevada desert with borrowed money to chance their arm. Perhaps he will come back a millionaire or perhaps he will come back with his tail between his legs. But this day is different. Today a new cowboy is in town. He enters one of the casinos, the music is going, the cameras are on him, and the wine and the girls are on tap. He looks around, spots the blackjack table and makes a beeline straight for it. When the sexiest game in town is poker – why is this guy spending all his time on the blackjack table? He has a strategy, he thinks, that will beat the dealer. In his pocket, he has $10,000 to play with (in 1962 not an insignificant amount – worth around a cool quarter of a million dollars today), so this guy clearly means business. He starts to play the game like any rookie, placing small bets, quite innocuous, but as the game wears on, whilst others were leaving the table, this guy is still going. Slowly but surely his strategy seemed to be working. Of course, no casino likes winners, and is particularly wary of those that go about their business with such ruthless efficiency in such a cool and methodical manner.

L’absence chez Michel Butor. L’Emploi du temps et Degrés

2012 ◽  
pp. 66-80
Author(s):  
Michał Mrozowicki
Keyword(s):  
Human Memory ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Narrative Discourse ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Michel Butor ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Narrative Mode ◽  
The City

Michel Butor, born in 1926, one of the leaders of the French New Novel movement, has written only four novels between 1954 and 1960. The most famous of them is La Modification (Second thoughts), published in 1957. The author of the paper analyzes two other Butor’s novels: L’Emploi du temps (Passing time) – 1956, and Degrés (Degrees) – 1960. The theme of absence is crucial in both of them. In the former, the novel, presented as the diary of Jacques Revel, a young Frenchman spending a year in Bleston (a fictitious English city vaguely similar to Manchester), describes the narrator’s struggle to survive in a double – spatial and temporal – labyrinth. The first of them, formed by Bleston’s streets, squares and parks, is symbolized by the City plan. During his one year sojourn in the city, using its plan, Revel learns patiently how to move in its different districts, and in its strange labyrinth – strange because devoid any centre – that at the end stops annoying him. The other, the temporal one, symbolized by the diary itself, the labyrinth of the human memory, discovered by the narrator rather lately, somewhere in the middle of the year passed in Bleston, becomes, by contrast, more and more dense and complex, which is reflected by an increasinly complex narration used to describe the past. However, at the moment Revel is leaving the city, he is still unable to recall and to describe the events of the 29th of February 1952. This gap, this absence, symbolizes his defeat as the narrator, and, in the same time, the human memory’s limits. In Degrees temporal and spatial structures are also very important. This time round, however, the problems of the narration itself, become predominant. Considered from this point of view, the novel announces Gerard Genette’s work Narrative Discourse and his theoretical discussion of two narratological categories: narrative voice and narrative mode. Having transgressed his narrative competences, Pierre Vernier, the narrator of the first and the second parts of the novel, who, taking as a starting point, a complete account of one hour at school, tries to describe the whole world and various aspects of the human civilization for the benefit of his nephew, Pierre Eller, must fail and disappear, as the narrator, from the third part, which is narrated by another narrator, less audacious and more credible.

scholarly journals Multi-level Governance in Refugee Housing and Integration Policy: a Model of Best Practice in Leverkusen

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eli Auslender
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Collaborative Governance ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Integration Policy ◽  
German Government ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Integration Management ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The City

AbstractThis paper will explore a model of best practice, the Leverkusen Model, as well as its impact on both the city and the refugees it serves by utilising key stakeholder interviews, civil servants, non-profits, and Syrian refugees living in Leverkusen. The core argument to be presented here is that the dynamic fluidity of the Leverkusen Model, where three bodies (government, Caritas, and the Refugee Council) collaborate to manage the governance responsibilities, allows for more expedited refugee integration into society. This paper utilises an analytical model of multi-level governance to demonstrate its functional processes and show why it can be considered a model of best practice. Started in 2002, the Leverkusen Model of refugee housing has not only saved the city thousands of euros per year in costs associated with refugee housing, but has aided in the cultivation of a very direct, fluid connection between government, civil society, and the refugees themselves. Leverkusen employs a different and novel governance structure of housing for refugees: with direct consultations with Caritas, the largest non-profit in Germany, as well as others, refugees who arrive in Leverkusen are allowed to search for private, decentralised housing from the moment they arrive, regardless of protection status granted by the German government. This paper fills a gap in the existing literature by addressing the adaptation of multi-level governance and collaborative governance in local refugee housing and integration management.

Translating Shanghai

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 25-50
Author(s):  
Chen Wang
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The City ◽  
Multiple Translations

This essay problematizes the translation of one city as another: Shanghai for instance as ‘New York’ or ‘Paris.’ Such tropes have long been popular in literature and journalism. By viewing the issue through the lens of translation, the essay proposes to question the equivalence between cities that such statements presume. Behind the presumption of equivalence are political, cultural, and social ‘Untranslatables’ that emerge at the moment of translation. The paper focuses also on issues of intersemiotic translation that arise in the multimedia book, Disappearing Shanghai. The essay discusses how multiple translations of Shanghai co-operate with, conflict with and defy one another, leading to a constantly changing perspective on the city.

scholarly journals Fiduciary Agreement Implementation in Car Credit Agreement on Financing Institutions of Mandiri Finance of Cirebon Based on Act No. 42 of 199 About Fiduciary

Jurnal Akta ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 655
Author(s):  
Ardiansyah Alrawi ◽  
Gunarto Gunarto
Keyword(s):  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
The Public ◽  
Legal Development ◽  
Freedom Of Contract ◽  
Legal Effect ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Credit Agreement ◽  
The City

The emergence of various institutions today's economy helped spur the economy of the community. But unfortunately the growth of the economic institutions are not supported by an adequate legal development. The presence of various financial institutions helped bring a major role in economic development of society, especially the poor. These financial institutions emerged as a form of providing funds or capital goods for the public to purchase goods on payment in installments or periodically by consumers. Construction consumer finance based on an agreement with the principle of freedom of contract as legal bases for both parties. In practice financing undertaken by financial institutions poured in the form of a credit agreement. In each of providing credit to their customers finance institutions always face a risk, therefore the customer's business situation and developments to be followed continuously starts the moment the credit is given to the loan. As for giving legal protection to the parties in the process of providing collateral (guarantee), then one of them is with the enactment of Law Fiduciary. Implementation of lending followed by a fiduciary assurance processes at financial institutions in the city of Cirebon most important is the legal effect if the Borrower defaults which are expected to creditors (financial institutions) can be easily exercised fiduciary object. Constraints faced in a fiduciary guarantee is as follows: a. Any cost of making a deed by the Borrower felt heavy, incomplete b. Any requirements of the Borrower to elaborate on the type, brand and quality of the fiduciary object, c. The office registration still limited fiduciary, fiduciary registration e. The office could not provide information on everything about the guarantee with the issuance.Keywords: Financing Institution, Credit Agreements, Fiduciary.

scholarly journals SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH AS A PLANNING INSTRUMENT ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE CHEREMUSHKI DISTRICT OF ODESSA

2020 ◽  
pp. 12-21
Author(s):  
V. P. Urenev ◽  
◽  
Engel Barbara ◽  
O. S. Savytska ◽  
N. O. Dmytrik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
Round Table ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Future Design ◽  
Planning Decisions ◽  
Habitat Analysis ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The City

The article discusses issues related to the monitoring of public opinion in pre-project studies on the further development of the Cheremushki district in the city of Odessa. These studies were carried out as part of the international project “Unloved Heritage of a Socialist City?”, in the period from 2016 to 2019. The project was attended by Germany, Ukraine, Russia. The first and second stages of the project were devoted to the study of the German experience in renovation and a research workshop in the city of Odessa. The third stage is the creation of an office to familiarize residents of Cheremushki with pre-project research and monitoring public opinion. The article describes the results of a survey and two discussion round tables on the development and problems of the area; the authors noted the importance of taking into account the results of a sociological survey when conducting pre-design decisions. As a result of the discussion of the first round table, the participants came to the following conclusions: the residents of the region are indifferent to the adjacent territories, believing that these are housing and communal services tasks; their interests end outside their apartments; it is necessary to find methods to activate local residents and involve them in the management of their local territories; the solution may be to create a model quarter on Cheremushki as an example of successful renovation, thereby attracting residents to self-government and the desire to change something; a sociological survey of residents and their acquaintance with research developments on the topic of the development of Cheremushki will favorably affect not only future design decisions, but also the thoughts of residents themselves about the fate of their habitat. Analysis of the survey, the second round table and monitoring the opinions of residents led to the following conclusions: at the moment, investors are not interested in investing in the development of the Cheremushki region; there is no detailed plan for the development of the district at the official level, the city authorities support point and chaotic development; German experience as tracing paper cannot be transferred to Ukrainian realities; the district is inhabited by people of different social levels who have different levels of understanding in the ongoing processes, but most of them favor the preservation of basic architectural and urban planning decisions and the modernization of houses on Cheremushki; there are activists of the region and specialists interested in developing Cheremushki along the path of modernization and comprehensive renovation, using the experience of architectural and urban planning solutions in other countries, for example, Germany, but legal, economic and state support is needed; in conditions of extensive development of the city, it is advisable to use and develop existing territories.

Aktywność kobiet w wyborach na urząd prezydenta miasta Rzeszowa w latach 2002–2018

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-145
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Niewiadomska-Cudak ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Female Gender ◽  
The Political ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Direct Election ◽  
Participation Of Women ◽  
Enforcement Authority ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The City

The article deals with the activity of women in the elections to the enforcement authority in Rzeszów over the period of 16 years, i.e. from the moment the act on the direct election of a commune head, town mayor and president came into force. An attempt was made to analyze the women's electoral participation in the candidacy for the position of mayor or president from the political science perspective. The choice of the place of this city is not without significance, as the feminization rate (the women’s involvement in local government authorities in cities with poviat status), indicates that Rzeszów came 62 out of 66 cities (Swianiewicz, Łukomska, 2020, s. 9). Examining the representation of female voters in five elections not only gauges the phenomenon of female gender participation, but also helps to understand the problem of under-representation of women among presidents at the city level with poviat rights. The article complements the discussions on the participation of women in local government authorities, but also fills a significant cognitive gap in research on the representation of women in local politics.

‘If you strike a King you must kill him’: Sir Archibald Salvidge and the Revolt of Liverpool’s Conservative MPs, 1927-1928

2020 ◽  
Vol 169 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-106
Author(s):  
Paul A. Nuttall
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
Second World War ◽  
News Story ◽  
World War ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The City ◽  
Second World ◽  
Local Party

In the spring of 1927, Liverpool’s Conservative MPs concluded that the local party was not equipped to counter the rise of Socialism in the city. They therefore demanded significant changes were made to the structure of the Liverpool Conservative Party. At the head of the local party was Sir Archibald Salvidge, a ruthless political operator who was determined not to give up the powers he had accrued over decades of service. What began as an internal row between Salvidge and seven rebel MPs became a national news story, and the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Conservative Party Chairman became entangled. In many ways, the row represented the moment when Liverpool’s pre-war rowdy Unionism clashed with Stanley Baldwin’s post-war consensual conservatism; and the outcome of the dispute determined the character of Liverpool’s politics until the outbreak of the Second World War.

Ground Control to Major Tom

2017 ◽  
pp. 264-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron D. Knochel
Keyword(s):  
Visual Culture ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Embodied Experience ◽  
Art Making ◽  
Positioning Systems ◽  
Global Positioning ◽  
A Site ◽  
Intensive Course ◽  
The City

In this chapter I explore satellite seeing in the convergence of global visual culture as a human-satellite co-figuration. Satellites, Global Positioning Systems, and mobile devices are engaged as prosthetic extensions of an embodied experience that can augment the potential of place-based learning. I engage this co-figuration through Mirzoeff's (2000/2006) notion of intervisuality and diaspora, the work of contemporary artists Trevor Paglen and Jeremy Wood, and my experiences with graduate students in Helsinki, Finland in an intensive course that developed understandings of the city as a site of geographic and cultural identity while exploring ideas of public space and performative interventionist practices in art making. The relations of the human-satellite co-figuration give insight as to the convergence of the local as a scale of the global, imprinted with transcultural pathways for understanding how we are located in the world.

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