Word Problem No. 1

Frank is buying Hot Dogs for a class picnic.  Hot dogs are sold in pckgs of 10.  Hot Dog buns are sold in pckgs of 8.  What is the smallest number of hot dogs and buns Frank can buy to have an equal number of each?

Word Problem No. 2

You are making pumpkin pies for the bake sale.  Pie crusts are sold in pckgs of 3.  Pie filling is sold in 4-can pckgs.  What is the least number of pie crusts and filling that you can buy to have the same number of each?  How many of packages of each should you buy?

Word Problem No. 3

Emma is packaging up presents to give to her friends.   She has 45 pencils and 36 stickers.  All of the packages need to contain the same amounts of stickers and the same amount of pencils.  What is the greatest number of packages that she can make?  How many of each item is in each bag?

Word Problem No. 4

David is passing out treats at his birthday party.  He has 14 cookies and 35 sticks of gum.  Does he have enough to divide equally amount each of the 7 guests?  How many cookies and how much gum will each of the 7 guests get?

Word Problem No. 5

Hetty is making identical gift baskets for the senior citizens center.  She has 39 small bars soap bars and 26 small bottles of lotions.  What is the greatest number of baskets that she can make suing all of the soap bars and bottles of lotions?  How many bottles of lotion will be in each basket how many bars of soap

Vanaf januari krijgen de Zuid-Hollandse erfgoedinstellingen de  kans te participeren in een pilot waarbij open standaarden en sociale media centraal staan. De Zuid-Hollandse tak van het LCM, het Provinciaal Historisch Centrum, nodigen organisaties die behoefte hebben aan advies over het gebruik van standaarden en web 2.0 uit hieraan mee te doen.

PHC ziet dat erfgoedinstellingen zoals archieven, musea en historische verenigingen steeds vaker gebruik maken van websites en databanken, om kennis en informatie te bieden, en collecties  beschikbaar te stellen. Hierbij zijn gebruikers steeds vaker zelf actief bij het hergebruiken en creëren van de content via web 2.0-toepassingen. Om een groter publiek te bereiken, moeten erfgoedinstellingen hierop inspelen.

Het PHC organiseert daarom een adviestraject waarin vraagstukken behandeld kunnen worden, zoals “Welke standaarden worden aanbevolen om te gebruiken bij het digitaliseren van mijn collectie?”, “Hoe kies ik de juiste open standaard om mee te werken voor mijn organisatie?” en ook “Hoe plaats ik mijn fotocollectie op Flickr?”

Zuid-Hollandse instellingen kunnen zich tot 5 december aanmelden bij Tamara van Zwol (vanzwol@erfgoedhuis-zh.nl).  In januari 2010 gaat PHC aan de slag met maximaal vijf van de meest dringende vraagstukken. Na 5 december krijgen instellingen te horen of hun vraag wordt opgenomen in de pilot. Aan het einde van de pilot vindt een bijeenkomst plaats waarbij deelnemers de resultaten kunnen delen met collega-instellingen.

We zijn benieuwd!

YVI SLAN

Yvi Slan sera en résidence du 10 au 30 novembre AMI (Marseille), du 5 janvier 2010 au 26 janvier AMI, du 22 au 29 février 2010 à la Distillerie (Aubagne).

YS mixe le 4 titres de the BIJS (Bg ij Japan). Cd promo pour début décembre 2009.

YS enregistrera & mixera l’album de Dissonant Nation 2010. Il intègre la formation en tant qu’ingé-son pour les concerts.

Les radios qui playlistent l’album “EVE” depuis la mi-août 2009:

• Plum FM (Serent / Morbihan)
• Alternantes FM (Nantes / Loire-Atlantique)
• Radio Zinzine (Limans /Alpes de Hautes Provences)
• Radio Saint-Affrique (Saint-Affrique / Aveyron, région Midi-Pyrénées)
• CFM Caussade / Rodez / Montauban (Tarn & Garonne)
• Radio Altitude (Clermont-FD / Puy-de-Dôme)
• Radio Primitive (Reims / la Marne)
• Radio Coloriage (Fain les Moutiers / Centre-Bourgogne)
• Radio Alpa (le Mans / De la Sarthe)
• Radio RPG 96,5 (Gueret / Creuse)
• Radio Campus – Bordeaux (Bordeaux / Gironde)
• Radio Campus -Angers (Angers / Maine et Loire)
• Radio Coteaux (St-Blancard / Gers)
• Radio Beaub FM (Limoges / Haute-Vienne)
• Radio Graf’Hit (Compiègnes /Oise)
• Agora Fm (Grasse / Alpes Maritimes)
• Radio Ballade (Espéraza / Aude)
• Radio Jordanne FM (Aurillac / Cantal)
• Radio RTF (Limoges / Haute-Vienne)
• Eko des Garrigues (Montpellier /Hérault)
• O2 radio (Cenon /Gironde)
• Radio Bip (Besançon /Doubs)
• Fréquence Mutine (Brest /Finistère)
• Radio 666 (Hérouville St Clai /Calvados)
• Radio Liberté (Riberac / Dordogne) …

Yvi Slan en concert à partir de février / mars 2010.

Album dans les bacs en février 2010.

www.yvislan.com

www.myspace.com/slanyvi

THE BIJS (BIG IN JAPAN)

The BIJS en concert les :

• - Mardi 10 novembre LCM (tv) 19h00
• - Vendredi 13 novembre au Poste à Galène (Marseille) avec Dondolo, PAF : 6 euros
• - Vendredi 04 décembre à La machine à coudre (Marseille) avec Nasser, PAF : 6 euros

Sortie du cd promo pour décembre.

Enregistrement au studio “le Garage” (Manosque),

mixage : Yvi Slan

Vidéo : Didier Illouz & Antoine Germain, remerciement à toutes les personnes qui ont participé au clip.

www.myspace.com/biginjapan1
www.didierillouz.com

DISSONANT NATION

Dissonant Nation sera en concertles :

• - Samedi 14 novembre à FILE 7 (Paris) avec Ladylike Dragon
• - Vendredi 04 décembre au Cargo de nuit (Arles) avec the Dodoz
• - Samedi 12 décembre pour les Sélections du Printemps de Bourges, Mjc Picaud (Cannes)
• - Samedi 21 janvier 2010 au Moods (Monaco)

Enregistrement de l’album en février 2010…

www.myspace.com/dissonantnation

BOOKING :

Dissonant nation : thierry.noygues@mjcaubagne.fr

the BIJS : boombop@yvislan.com

Yvi Slan : boombop@yvislan.com

Les Apéromix du Bouchon Marseillais : boombop@yvislan.com

Vente MP3S sur www.yvislan.com (système Paypal) : the Bijs, Les Couleurs du spectre, Ba Cissoko, Yvi Slan…

BOOMBOP REC

www.myspace.com/boomboprec

boombop@yvislan.com

As it was mentioned on previous LC meeting…

this Wednesday, November 4th, from 18:00 – 20:00 we’ll have a training about myaiesec.net!

The training will take place in AIESEC office.

Important note – if it’s possible, please bring laptops!

Very important note – if it’s possible, please bring some sweets or cookies

Ieva Ose
AIESEC Riga, TM, Learning Environment Manager

Test Today!

• Divisibility Rules
• Least Common Multiple
• Greatest Common Factor
• Prime and Composite Numbers
• Prime Factorization (Division and Factor Tree)
• Word problems

Review:

• Divisibility Rules
• LCM
• GCF

Good afternoon!

Remember not to be late for
EPs recruitment promotion training!
It will happen on Tuesday at 19 (till 20) in LC office.

Who participates?

Any member of AIESEC. (X team – must to be. Lotus, PR & Charity has to be & Energy should be. Random ppl whom we haven’t seen for some time – welcome to be)

Who delivers session?

Laura with support from EB

What info delivered?

AIESEC way.  Promo ppt of recruitment. X promo. Most probable & popular questions about X & AIESEC to be ready to answer (from EPs, TNs).

Why should I be there?

Because we are “life changing agents”! Why? Come & see! + Link X between any AIESEC project.

Let X rocks the house!

Hellow,

Some big things are happening in LC Riga! Our LCP Ilona is in EuroCo conference.. this Weekend we had NTS…. and today, on Wednesday 8th October at 18:30 in EVF room 404 there will be an LCM where we will see just what happened in the national training seminar. also we will see what are the opportunities and positions to take, also something fun and a special guest – Pavels to talk about activating leadership!

And last, but not least – Guys, you might know that this is a year of Latvia’s 90^thanniversary. In case of this, LV90 organizing committee, is making great event – Guineess Record Relay running “Skrien!Par Latviju”, where all people are invited to take part in 100 m relay run The thing is that this happens 24 hours and over 2000 people will be there, so it would be great event AIESEC to show up

The run will take place on 18th and 19th of October. There will be lot’s of media, all kinds of people, music, entertainment, fun and games. So, we as AIESEC simply cannot miss this chance to show ourselves not only as active youth, but also as patriots, good sportsmen and a team! So, let’s register and run!

More info here – http://www.lv90.lv/skrienparlatviju/index.php, email me at jevgenijs.viznuks@aiesec.lv or contact one of the organizers and a proud member of AIESEC Valmiera – Baiba Suseja at baiba.suseja@aiesec.lv.

LCM - May 14

Agenda

The personality test with pictures and description can be found here.

During LCM there was also voting for people who would be good OCPs. And they are: Natālija, Mārtiņš, Thilan, Egle, Ņina, Aliya, Aija, Baiba P., Daumants, Anni, Iveta, Lāsma.

Do not forget! Apply till May 19!

On November 20^th 2009 the Marine Corps and especially the 2^nd Marine Division will mark the 66^th anniversary of the amphibious assault on the Tarawa Atoll and the island of Betio.  It was fought at a great cost but would yield lessons that would be invaluable in future amphibious operations. The veterans of the landing are fewer every day. Please take time to remember their sacrifice that they made and Marines continue to make in Afghanistan and Iraq. I have served with the 1st and 3rd Battalions, 8th Marine Regiment the 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion and HQ Battalion 2nd Marine Division.  I have had the honor to meet some of the surviving Tarawa Veterans so this is not only history for me, but a way to pay tribute to the Marines who served at Tarawa and all Marines since. Especially those Marines that I served with at 2nd Marine Division, Marine Security Forces and the Marine Advisers to the Iraqi 7th and 1st Divisions, 2nd Border Brigade, Port of Entry Police, Police and Highway Patrol in Al Anbar Province. Semper Fidelis, Padre Steve+

The Decision: Operation Galvanic

The Target: Betio Island at Tarawa Atoll

Following Guadalcanal and the shift of significant naval forces from the Solomons the focus of the US shifted to the thrust across the Central Pacific.  Unlike the Solomons which were initially a Navy and Marine Corps Operation and shifted to the Army under MacArthur as the campaign shifted to Borneo, the operations here would be an almost total Navy and Marine Corps operation. Operation Galvanic, the first offensive operation in the Central Pacific, came about as a result of the Joint U.S. Strategic Committee decision in April 1943 to favor an advance in the Central Pacific while maintaining the offensive in the South Pacific.[i] The driving force behind this strategy was Admiral King who fought for the plan and “insisted that any campaign should focus on the destruction of Japan’s overseas resources, which meant an offensive directed only toward the Western Pacific sea lanes.”[ii] The Joint Chiefs believed that a simultaneous attack by Nimitz in the Central Pacific and MacArthur in the South Pacific would “keep the Japanese guessing.”[iii] The decision was presented to the British at the TRIDENT meetings in May 1943 and though the British resisted the American plans a compromise was reached allowing the Americans to “simultaneously…maintain and extend unremitting pressure against Japan….”[iv]

Japanese Emplacing 8″ Vickers Gun

The decision to begin operations in the Central Pacific meant that MacArthur’s priority in logistics and personnel would be reduced in order to launch the Central Pacific operation.  MacArthur protested, to no avail and the Joint Chief’s stood firm in their decision that the Central Pacific operation “would make it easier to isolate Japan from her domain in the south.”[v] MacArthur was allowed to continue OPERATION CARTWHEEL while Nimitz seized the Marshall and Caroline islands.[vi] Nimitz’s staff began preparations and decided on a conservative course to capture the Gilberts first before taking the more heavily defended Marshalls.[vii] This was in part due to the “need to minimize the risks to his untried amphibious forces against such heavily fortified enemy bases out of reach of air cover.”[viii]

Japanese conducting Live Fire Range prior to the Assault

Several factors were considered by Nimitz and his planners considerations in this choice.  Nimitz did not have enough troops to capture all of the vital heavily defended locations in the Marshalls without dividing his forces.[ix] Additionally the Gilbert operation could be supported by land based bombers.[x] A final consideration was the Joint Chief’s decision to allow MacArthur to retain control of 1^st Marine Division which Nimitz had hoped would be available for operations in the Central Pacific.[xi] CINCPAC did a thorough photo reconnaissance of the Gilbert’s convinced the Joint Chiefs that Tarawa and Makin needed to be taken to provide air bases for the assault on the Marshalls.  Finally the order for Galvanic was issued on 20 July 1943 with its execution planned for November 1943.[xii]

Japanese Preparations

Admiral Shibasaki boasted that it would take a million men a thousand years to take Betio

The Japanese did little to prepare against potential American offensive operations against the Gilbert’s until Makin Island was raided by elements of 2^nd Raider Battalion in August 1942.  The Makin raid shook the Japanese and at which time they reinforced Makin and occupied Betio.[xiii] The Japanese occupied Betio with the Yokosuka 6^th Special Landing Force, essentially Naval Infantry or Marines[xiv] and the 111^th Construction Battalion on 15 September 1942, over nine months after they attacked Pearl Harbor.[xv] These forces were commanded by Admiral Tomanari, who at once began to fortify Betio. Recognizing his need for more troops  Tomanari asked Tokyo for reinforcements.  The reinforcements came in the form of Commander Sugai’s 7^th Sasebo Special Naval Landing Force, which landed on 14 March.[xvi] Commander Sugai’s troops were the Rikusentai, the best of the Japanese Navy’s land forces.

Japanese Conducting Gunnery Exercises

The fortification of Betio proceeded slowly until the arrival of Rear Admiral Shibasaki, who relieved Tomanari who returned to Japan.[xvii] Shibasaki, a tough veteran of service at sea and ashore including 19 months as a Rikusentai[xviii] officer in China was chosen by Admiral Koga to instill a better fighting spirit on the island.  The Imperial General Headquarters “New Operations Plan” ordered the outer defensive islands, such as Tarawa, to “hold up any American advance while an inner line of fortresses was constructed….”[xix] Shibasaki drove the garrison hard, inspiring them to “extraordinary heights of labor that resulted in Betio’s superb defenses.”[xx] Betio mounted four 8” Naval guns[xxi], four 14 cm guns, four dual mount 5.5” dual purpose guns[xxii] six 80 mm anti-boat guns, eight 75 mm dual purpose guns, ten 75 mm mountain guns, six 70 mm guns and nine 37 mm anti-tank guns, numerous machine guns and light AA guns and 14 light tanks.[xxiii] These weapons were mounted in well camouflaged armored or reinforced pillboxes.[xxiv] In accordance with the directives of the high command Shibasaki ordered his troops “to defend to the last man all vital areas and destroy the enemy at the waters’ edge.”[xxv] The Japanese records note that Shibasaki “immediately began to strengthen morale and carried out advanced training, and as a result…the garrison remarkably enhanced its fighting capability and they were full of confidence.”[xxvi] Even the service troops were thoroughly trained to fight from their superb defensive positions.[xxvii] Shibasaki reportedly told his men that it would take a million men a thousand years to take Betio.

American Preparations

LVT

Nimitz organized his forces into three major commands, the 5^th Fleet, commanded by Admiral Raymond Spruance, the 5^th Amphibious Force under Admiral Richmond “Kelly” Turner and the V Amphibious Corps under Major General Holland “Howlin’ Mad” Smith, USMC.[xxviii] The 2^nd Marine Division which would make the assault at Tarawa was commanded by Major General Julian Smith. The force that sustained in this operation and subsequent amphibious operations was the Service Force Pacific Fleet.[xxix] This was a collection of ships whose mission it was to sustain the fleet in mobile operations,[xxx] which greatly “increased the range and power of the Navy in amphibious operations.”[xxxi] The planned assault called for the Army’s 27^th Division take Makin and the veteran 2^nd Marine Division which had been blooded at Guadalcanal to take Tarawa supported by the carriers and battleships of 5^th Fleet.

This was the first application of new amphibious tactics developed for the Pacific war.[xxxii] Air and sea bombardment would precede the actual assault. The Marines would be transported ashore in a new vehicle called an LVT (Landing Vehicle Tracked) and other amphibious ships and craft including the LSD (Landing Ship Dock), LCM (Landing Craft Mechanized) and LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel).  The LVTs were absolutely vital, nicknamed “Amtracks” or “Amphtracks” they were essentially a tracked amphibious personnel carrier. They were developed from a commercial vehicle used by U.S. Forrest Service Rangers in the Florida Everglades and were capable of crossing coral reefs that would cause other craft to go aground.  The early LVTs had retrofitted armor and mounted a .50 cal. machine gun.  At Tarawa the Marines deployed 75 LVT-1s[xxxiii] and 50 LVT-2s. 93 LVTs would be part of the first wave of the Marine assault.[xxxiv] The LVTs were transported to Tarawa aboard LSTs (Landing Ship Tanks.)  Other innovations included the assignment of Naval Gunfire Support teams to the Marine Regiments and some battalions,[xxxv] and the first use of the M4 Sherman tank by the Marines.[xxxvi] Tarawa was a proving ground for the tactics and equipment which would be improved on and used in every subsequent amphibious operation in the Pacific.  Tarawa would also mark the last major use of rubber landing craft by the Marine Corps in an opposed landing.[xxxvii]

There were limitations to American preparations. First the size of the force meant that it could not be assembled in one place for rehearsals or to train as a team.[xxxviii] A second problem for the Americans was the assumption that high and low tides would be sufficient to get their landing craft across the reef in spite of warnings to the contrary.[xxxix] Likewise the Americans failed to completely anticipate the scope to which the Japanese had fortified the island. This was despite good intelligence that they had done so. In particular aerial photos taken by the air force and ULTRA intercepts provided good information on the Japanese units on the island and the layout of the defenses.[xl] Additionally some equipment shortages were not remedied. The Marine Bazooka’s did not arrive, and neither the 6^th or 8^th Marines had made an actual amphibious assault.  At Guadalcanal they made an administrative landing and few field-grade officers remained from the 2^nd Marine Regiment who had landed at Tulagi.[xli] They were far from “amphibious experts” that they would become.[xlii] However, they made up for their lack of experience by their cohesiveness, high morale and esprit, being well armed and equipped, in top physical condition and knowing the basic tools of their trade: “weapons proficiency and field firing, close combat techniques, fire and maneuver, tactical leadership, fire discipline.”[xliii]

8 Inch Gun Emplacement

The most critical aspect of the operation was to get across the reef onto the island.  There were few good landing sites and it was decided to make the landings from inside the atoll’s lagoon onto the Betio’s north shore.  This decision meant that transports embarking the Marines would unload outside of the lagoon and that the landing craft would have to make a 10 mile trip.[xliv] There was only one entrance into the lagoon and it was not deep enough for heavy ships to enter.[xlv]This meant that heavy ships such as battleships and cruisers would not be able to have direct fire on the Japanese positions best situated to disrupt the Marines.

The execution of the plan involved land based bomber strikes beginning on D minus 7. Carrier aircraft would begin their operations on D minus 2.  Cruisers and destroyers joined the cacophony of destruction on D minus 1 and the battleships on D Day itself.[xlvi] On D-Day itself Navy planned to bombard the island with 3,000 tons of shells in 2 ½ hours.[xlvii] The Navy was confident in the bombardment plans. Rear Admiral Kingman commanding the fire support group declared “We will not neutralize; we will not destroy; we will obliterate the defenses on Betio!”[xlviii] Four battalions of Marines would land in the first wave, the three battalions of the 2^nd Marines and 2^nd Battalion 8^th Marines all commanded by Colonel David Shoup. Colonel Shoup who would win the Medal of Honor on Betio and later became the Commandant of the Marine Corps assumed command of 2^nd Marines when its Regimental commander fell ill on the journey to Efate.[xlix] The division reserve was the remaining 8^th Marine Regiment battalions. The 6^th Marine Regiment served as the corps reserve.[l] The assault units would be reinforced by tanks and the 1^st and 2^nd Battalions 18^th Marine Regiment, the division’s combat engineers.

Invasion: Day One

Going Ashore

The naval gunfire bombardment commenced at 0542 on 20 November, and the assault waves began their trek to the beaches.  The transports were out of range of Japanese guns but ththat ensured boats would have to make a 10 mile trip.[li] At this point things began to go wrong.

Navy LCT Sinking after Being Hit By Japanese Fire

The Navy had “badly miscalculated the amount of softening-up that could be done in two and a half daylight hours bombardment.” Although major coast defense guns were silenced not enough damage was done to the Japanese defenses.[lii] The Japanese helped the Marines by firing their larger guns at warships, identifying their positions to Navy gunners.[liii] The bombardment lifted to allow an attack by carrier based aircraft. However the aircraft were late to arrive and the ships did not resume fire, allowing the Japanese to emerge and re-train their weapons.[liv] Likewise the destroyers Ringgold and Dashiell inside the lagoon had to cease fire, knowing the Japanese gunners along the shore were still active.[lv] Some believe that an extra half hour of direct fire from the destroyers would have saved many lives.[lvi] The LVTs in the first three waves were delayed by heavy chop and did not make landfall until 0913 throwing off the landing schedule.[lvii] The expect and planned for rise in tides did not materialize and they remained unpredictably low for the first 48 hours. No landing boats could cross the reef and the Marines were forced to wade ashore from 600 to 1000 yards.[lviii]

Marines Wading Ashore

Shoup’s Marines landed on three beaches.  Red one and two lay to the west of a 500 yard long pier and Red three lay to the east.  3/2 landed on Red-1, 2/2 on Red-2, 2/8 on Red-3, elements of 1/18 and the scout snipers on the pier, with 1/2 in reserve to land behind the battalion making the best progress.[lix] As soon as the Amtracks hit the reef the Japanese began firing.  Every “working weapon along the north and west shorelines….blazed forth in fierce, interlocking fields of fire.”[lx] As they watched the Amtracks craw over the reef that Japanese knew they were in for a tough fight, one of Warrant Officer Ota’s men exclaimed “Heavens! The God of Death has come!”[lxi] The Marines of 3/2 on Red-1 received enfilade fire from Japanese guns emplaced in a U around the beach.  Before the Marines landed they began to take causalities, Amtracks were hit in the lagoon and most that were not sunk or destroyed were unfit for further use.[lxii] The 2000 Marines who landed in the first hour were badly disorganized, the commanding officer’s of 2/2 and the Amtracks were killed, 3/2’s commander was isolated on the reef and only 2/8’s commander was with his troops. 2/8 was the only battalion being to reach the shore relatively intact.[lxiii] 3/2 was down to 65% of its strength and K/3/2 had taken over 50% casualties.[lxiv] The Marines in the fourth to sixth waves were struggling to wade ashore from the reef. Landing craft “ran aground or milled about helplessly outside the reef, which was swept by crossfire from behind the beaches and from a grounded hulk northwest of the pier.”[lxv] Most of the tanks were put out of action either through accurate fire by Japanese guns or by sinking in deep areas of the lagoon, the Tank battalion commander was blown out of his Amtrack, wounded and survived 24 hours by clinging to a pile of dead bodies to keep from drowning.[lxvi]

Colonel Shoup Directing Operations on Tarawa

Shoup himself landed at Red-2 and began directing operations on the beach.  He knew that he had to get more troops ashore to exploit the minimal gains his Marines had made.  The news from Red-1 and Two was bad; he decided to bring 1/2 in at Red-2 thought that 3/8 should go in at Red-3.[lxvii] At 1018 General Julian Smith ordered the 8^th Marines to dispatch 3/8 to Red-3.[lxviii] 3/8 had to make their way across 700 yards through the water to get to the beach.  It was a slaughter, only 30 percent of the first wave got ashore, in the second less and the third “were practically wiped out.”[lxix]

Close Combat on Betio

As his Marines struggled ashore those who had gotten ashore engaged the Japanese at point blank range.  Lt. Hawkins of the 2^nd Marine Scout and Sniper platoon and 5 of his men engaged the Japanese on the pier in vicious hand to hand fighting,[lxx] Sergeant Bordelon of the Engineers on Red-2 though grievously wounded knocked out four gun positions, some by lobbing dynamite charges into them and galvanizing survivors into action, finally being killed while taking on a Japanese position alone.  He would be awarded the Medal of Honor.[lxxi]

Wounded Marines Being Evacuated by Rubber Raft

By afternoon Julian Smith realized that he needed more troops, his last battalion, 1/8 waited to go ashore.[lxxii] Smith asked for the 6^th Marines and had Admiral Hill send a message to Admiral Turner stating “Issue in doubt. I concur.” This sent a chill through the listening Naval Staff.[lxxiii] Ashore Shoup brought howitzers from 1^st Battalion 10^th Marines on surviving Amtracks to the eastern edge of Red-2 near the pier,[lxxiv] which landed in the early evening.[lxxv] He sent Lieutenant Colonel Carlson to make a personal report to General Smith that he would hold his beachhead no matter what happened. Shoup ordered his Catholic Chaplain to lay out a cemetery and begin burying the dead who were already decomposing in the tropical heat.[lxxvi] As this transpired 2/8 got two 37mm anti-tank guns into position to drive off Japanese tanks approaching the beachhead.[lxxvii] The Division Band assisted corpsmen in bringing back wounded Marines.[lxxviii] The rest of the day the Marines continued to eke out a beachhead; Shoup’s Marines on Red-2 and Red-3 managed to advance about halfway across the island, 3/2 and elements 1/2 and 2/2 was isolated and Major Ryan of Lima Company pulled them back to meet an expected Japanese counter-attack.[lxxix] The Marines had taken over 1500 casualties of 5000 men landed the first day.[lxxx] There is no evidence that Shoup considered withdraw that night.[lxxxi] No counterattack occurred due to Japanese command and control problems, Admiral Shibasaki and his staff were killed while shifting headquarters during the afternoon,[lxxxii] and their communications were in shambles. A counterattack would have been disastrous in their condition,[lxxxiii] yet they assembled over 1000 men to oppose the Marines on day two.[lxxxiv] Had Shibasaki lived and communications survived a counterattack might have had ramifications far beyond Tarawa.[lxxxv]

Day Two: D+1

Marines Advancing

The second day began with 1/8 landing on Red-2 and the 6^th Marines began to land on Green Beach at the far western tip of Betio.  1/8’s landing turned into a bloodbath, the tide fell even lower than the previous day and as they hit the reef and waded ashore drifted into some of the heaviest Japanese defenses. Japanese guns, including the dual 5.5” guns took direct aim at the boats, and Marines ashore watched helplessly, and correspondent Robert Sherrod noted: “This is worse, far worse than it was yesterday.”[lxxxvi] Only half of 1/8 reached the beach with none of their heavy weapons or equipment.  Shoup ordered the remnants of the battalion into line on his western flank in preparation for an advance inland.[lxxxvii] During five hours of landings on day two, the “Marine casualties reached a higher rate than that sustained on the first morning.”[lxxxviii]

Meanwhile, Shoup ordered Ryan’s “orphans” to make an attack down the right flank of the Japanese positions on Green beach and the “ultimate American victory at Betio evolved from the attack during one intense hour the second morning.”[lxxxix] Taking every available Marine, two surviving Shermans and some mortars, Ryan gathered his force and coordinated Naval Gunfire support.  The area contained a number of heavy guns including two of the 8” mounts.  A destroyer blanked the Japanese positions with 5” shells and fire from her light AA guns.[xc] Attacking behind the beach, Ryan’s Marines isolated and destroyed everyone and everything that looked hostile.[xci] Against minimal opposition Ryan’s Marines quickly seized the gun positions and the western end of the airfield.  Within an hour his Marines occupied the entire western side of Betio up to a 200 yard depth by 1200 and he radioed to let Shoup know the good news and that he intended to advance east against the airfield.[xcii] The attack allowed the Marines to be able to land intact battalions with supporting arms for the first time battle.[xciii]

To the east behind Red-2 and Red-3 The 8^th Marines and survivors of 1/2 and 2/2 attacked against fierce Japanese opposition near Shibasaki’s former command bunker and two other large bunkers which were mutually supporting.  The attack by the 2^nd Marine survivors eventually succeeded in getting completely across the south side of the island.[xciv] During the attack Lt. Hawkins of the Scout Snipers was mortally wounded.  He too would win the Medal of Honor.  The attack cut the island in two but the Japanese launched a counterattack on the Marine positions which was beaten back.[xcv] The 8^th Marines faced a more difficult task going against what was now the heart of the Japanese defense, as its defenders had been reinforced by Lt. Minami and his third company of the 7^th Special Naval Landing Force.  Vicious fighting ensued and by nightfall “the Marines had little to show for their heavy losses,[xcvi] but they did make significant inroads against the Japanese to warrant optimism for D+2.[xcvii] By evening the Marines on Red-1 and Red-2 had consolidated their beachhead so that reinforcements were landing, including jeeps, artillery and heavy equipment, and other Marines noted that Japanese defenders were beginning to commit suicide and they began to feel that Japanese morale had broken.  By late afternoon Shoup transmitted the message: “Casualties many. Percentage of dead unknown. Combat efficiency-We are winning.”[xcviii] By late afternoon Major Jones’ 1/6 landed on Green beach in their rubber boats, reinforcing Ryan’s orphans, it was the first of the 7 battalions landed to get ashore intact and the two officers coordinated their units for a night defense and an early attack the next morning.[xcix] 2/6 cleared the nearby island of Bairiki allowing 2/10 to land its howitzers on the island.  This in effect cut off any line of retreat for the defenders of Betio.[c] Colonel Edson came ashore during the evening to relieve Shoup[ci], who remained ashore to help coordinate the next day’s attack.  Again there were no coordinated Japanese counterattacks, the only senior officer, Sugai was isolated in the pocket between the Red and Green beaches and no senior officer could coordinate any attacks.[cii]

Day Three and Four: D+2 and D+3

Wrecked LVY’s and Bodies on the Beach: The Marines Released Photos to Get the Public to Understand the Cost of the Battle

Day three began with attacks against Japanese strong points and the arrival of more reinforcements including 3/6 which landed on Green beach and three light tank platoons which landed on Red-2.[ciii] The Marines attacked off of Green beach sweeping east to join the 2^nd Marines who had cut the island in two the day before.  The 8^th Marines continued to attack the heavily fortified bunker complex eventually taking these heavily fortified and defended positions.  During the assault Lt Sandy Bonnyman of 1/18 won the Medal of Honor for leading the assault on these positions.[civ] Fighting remained fierce throughout the day and General Smith arrived to take command on shore.  The Marines attacked supported by tanks, artillery and naval gunfire.  By the evening they were established at the east end of the airfield.  The Japanese launched a series of Banzai charges which beginning about 1930 hours and ending about 0400 when the Marines annihilated the last attack with the assistance of artillery.[cv] The attack, which could have succeeded the first or early the second day, now aided the Marines by sacrificing strength that might have been used to exact a higher price for the tail of the island.[cvi] The next morning the Marines pushed forward and eliminated the last Japanese defenders and by 1200 Betio was secured.  Of about 5000 defenders only 17 Japanese and some Korean laborers were taken prisoner.[cvii] The Marines lost over 1000 killed and 2300 wounded.[cviii]

One of the 17 Japanese Who Survived the Battle being Interrogated by Marines, only one Chief Warrant Officer Ota was an Officer

Epilogue

The Marines paid a heavy price for Betio, but it was not to be a useless sacrifice, though it was a source of great controversy especially among politicians.[cix] Spector wonders if waiting for better tides or a full moon would have saved lives.[cx] Holland Smith later argued that Tarawa should have been bypassed, but Nimitz’s biographer Potter notes “if the lessons of the amphibious assault had not been learned at Tarawa, they would have to be learned elsewhere, probably at greater cost.”[cxi]The lessons learned alone aided all future amphibious operations in the Central Pacific and elsewhere.  Timing and coordination of naval gunfire support, air strikes and combat loading of transports were all refined in future operations. Large numbers of armored and up-gunned Amtracks would be part of every future operation.[cxii] Intelligence was emphasized and replicas of the Japanese fortifications were built and tested to determine the best way of destroying them.[cxiii] The Marines shocked the public by releasing photos and films of the carnage on Tarawa to awaken them to the challenges ahead.[cxiv]

Today the battle is remembered annually by the 2^nd Marine Division at Camp LeJeune, an ever shrinking number of veterans of the battle attend the ceremonies.  Samuel Eliot Morison put it best: “All honor, then, to the fighting heart of the United States Marine. Let the battle for that small stretch of coral sand called Betio of Tarawa be remembered as terrible indeed, but glorious, and the seedbed for victory in 1945.”[cxv]

Appendix: Leaders on Tarawa

Lieutenant General Holland Smith and Major General Julian Smith on Betio

General Holland M. “Howling Mad” Smith USMC: (1882-1967) Lieutenant General Holland M. Smith command V Amphibious Corps during the Gilberts operation.  Prior to the war he had worked extensively on amphibious warfare doctrine for both the Marine Corps and Navy. Unlike many senior officers Smith was not a Academy graduate having matriculated from the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) in 1903 and law school in 1903.  Smith served as Adjutant of the 4^th Marine Brigade in the First World War and served in Panama and the Dominican Republic in addition to other Marine tours afloat and ashore.  He served well and had many key assignments between the wars culminating in as the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps.  Subsequent to the Gilbert campaign he served as Commanding General of the Fleet Marine Force, Pacific and later commanded the Marines at Iwo Jima.  He retired in 1946.

Major General Julian Smith USMC: (1885-1975) Major General Julian Smith served as Commanding General 2^nd Marine Division at Tarawa.  He graduated from the University of Delaware and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1909.  He served in Haiti, Santo Domingo and the Vera Cruz expedition. During the First World War he served as an instructor in the Marine Officer training camps at Quantico. After the war he served in Cuba, Nicaragua and various command and staff posts including the Army Command and General Staff College.  He commanded 5^th Marines in 1938 and in 1942 was promoted the Major General serving as director of Fleet Marine Force Schools, New River, NC.  He took command of 2^nd Marine Division in May 1943 and served there until April 1944 when he became Commanding General, Expeditionary Troops, Third Fleet and in December 1944 took command of the Military Department of the Pacific.  He retired in 1946.

Colonel Shoup After the Battle

Colonel David Shoup USMC: (1904-1983) Colonel David Shoup commanded the 2^nd Marines at Tarawa, being appointed as commander when its commander fell ill.  Shoup won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions on Tarawa.  A 1926 graduate of DePauw University, Shoup was commissioned a Second Lieutenant through the ROTC program that year.  He served in various assignments to include service in China, at sea on the battleship Maryland and Marine Barracks Puget Sound Navy Yard. He joined the staff of 6^th Marines in October 1940 and assumed command of 2/6 in February 1942.  He was assigned as the Assistant Operations Officer for 2^nd Marine Division in July 1942 and promoted the Lieutenant Colonel.   He went with the Division to New Zealand where he became the G-3 and from which he was fleeted up to command 2^nd Marines at Tarawa.  After Tarawa he served as the Division Chief of Staff at Saipan and Tinian.  After the war Shoup continued to be assigned in key billets at the Pentagon and as commanding General, 1^st Marine Division and then the Third Marine Division.  He became Chief of Staff, HQMC in 1958 and was appointed as the 22^nd Commandant of the Marine Corps by President Eisenhower, a post that he retained until his retirement in 1963.

Admiral Tomanari Sachiro IJN: (1887-?) Commander of Tarawa garrison until relieved by Rear Admiral Shibasaki.   Graduate Naval Academy 1910, initially a communications officer he held various commands including Heavy Cruiser Haguro and Battleship Kirishima and two smaller ships.  Assigned to Tarawa in February 1943 he helped design and supervised the initial construction of Tarawa Defenses until relieved by Admiral Shibasaki on 20 July1943.  He returned to Japan and served the remainder of the war on Navy Division of Imperial General Headquarters.  Tomonari survived the war though nothing is mentioned as to his postwar fate.

Rear Admiral Shibasaki Keiji IJN: (1894-1943) Commanded Tarawa Garrison until his death during the battle.  He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1915 and he was a skilled navigator and instructor.  Prior to the war he had served afloat and ashore and ashore and had commanded a ship and naval station and served as a naval attaché to a member of the Imperial Family.  Among his assignments was 19 month combat tour with the special Naval Landing Forces in China, where he served as Chief of Staff of Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force.  Shibasaki’s leadership helped the garrison improve their defensive capabilities and combat skills as he inspired them to great heights and executed an intense training program. He was killed in the battle.

A Personal Note

I have not been to Tarawa but feel that I know it well.  I served in Second Marine Division from April 1999 through December 2001.  Due to my prior service experience I was used to fill gaps where chaplains were needed and ended up serving in four different battalions.  I served in 2^nd Combat Engineer Battalion, the descendant of 1/18, the combat engineers.  We had a WWII Bulldozer outside our command post named after Sergeant Bordelon, the Medal of Honor Citations for Bordelon and Boonyman were prominently displayed.  I also served in 1/8 and 3/8.  I knew the accounts of the slaughter of these Marines as they attempted to land but as I re-read the accounts I was moved by their courage under fire.  The CPs of these battalions are also adorned with citations of their heroes lost at Tarawa.  Veterans would visit our units during Tarawa Days at Camp LeJeune, worn by the battle and the years they always made an impression. There is almost a mystical connection between the Second Marine Division and the Marines of Tarawa; it was a crucible that defined the division, whose motto is the same as the Army Infantry School. “Follow Me!”

Semper Fidelis,

Padre Steve

[ii] Murray, Williamson and Millett, Allan R. A War to Be Won: Fighting the Second World War, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA 2000. p.338

[iii] Ibid. Spector. p.253

[iv] Ibid. p.255 The conference also set a date for the invasion of France.

[v] Toland, John. The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945. Random House, Inc. New York, NY 1970. p.468

[vi] Ibid. Spector. p.255

[vii] Costello, John. The Pacific War 1941-1945. Quill Publishing, New York, NY 1982. p.430

[viii] Ibid.

[ix] Potter, E.B. Nimitz. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1976, Third Printing with Revisions 1979. p.243. Nimitz’s forces would have had to seize 5 major Japanese bases and his staff was not sure that the Pacific carrier force would be strong or experienced enough to provide the necessary air cover for the operation.

[x] Ibid.

[xi] Ibid. pp.243-245

[xii] Morison, Samuel Elliott. The Two Ocean War: A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War. Little Brown and Company, Boston and Toronto, 1963. p.296.

[xiii] Hammell, Eric and Lane, John E. Bloody Tarawa: The 2^nd Marine Division, November 20-23, 1943. The Zenith Press, St. Paul MN 2006.  Text copyright 1998 Eric Hammell and John E. Lane. p.4

[xiv] See Alexander, Joseph H. Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa. Ivy Books, published by Ballantine Books, New York, NY. 1995. pp. 39-40.  This unit became the Third Special Base Unit on its deployment and was joined by the 111^th Construction Battalion.

[xv] Ibid. Hammell. p.4

[xvi] See Alexander pp.39-40. This unit was basically a reinforced infantry battalion with 3 rifle companies, a weapons battery, anti-aircraft battery, a light tank company and support units numbering about1600 men.

[xvii] Ibid. Alexander. p.43

[xviii] Alexander p.27 The Rikusentai was the Japanese equivalent of Marines, who numbered about 50,000 men.  The officers attended Army schools and qualified enlisted men attended additional Army specialist training.

[xix] Ibid. Costello. p.431

[xx] Ibid. Hammell. p.22

[xxi] See Alexander p.77. While most writers say that these guns were brought from Singapore, Alexander notes that British writer William H Bartsch submitted proof (serial numbers) that the guns were sold by Vickers to Japan in 1905 as a legitimate business transaction.

[xxii] These are the same guns (127mm) mounted as the secondary armament of Nachi and Takao Class Heavy Cruisers and later mounted on light cruisers to replace the main battery with a more effective anti-aircraft armament.

[xxiii] Ibid. Hammell. p.22

[xxiv] Hammell notes that many of these bunkers and pillboxes were so well concealed that they could not be seen.

[xxv] Ibid. Toland. p.469.

[xxvi] Ibid. Alexander. p.43.

[xxvii] Ibid. Hammell. p.28

[xxviii] Ibid. Morison. p.297

[xxix] Ibid. Costello. p.429

[xxx] At this point the force could provide everything except major permanent repairs to warships.

[xxxi] Liddell-Hart, B.H.  History of the Second World War. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, NY 1970. p.511

[xxxii] Ibid. Costello. p.431

[xxxiii] The older LVT-1s had boiler plate armor added as a field modification and were given a heavy machine gun. Prior to this they were unarmored and had two light machine guns.

[xxxiv] Ibid. Morison. p.303

[xxxv] Hammell includes a by name list of these officers in Appendix B.  Of note for today, each MEUSOC (Marine Expeditionary Unit, Special Operations Capable) has an assigned Naval Gunfire Support Team.

[xxxvi] Ibid. Alexander. pp. 61-62.  The Shermans had to be transported aboard pre-loaded LCM-3s carried in the well decks of the LSDs.

[xxxvii] Ibid. Alexander. pp.58-59

[xxxviii] Ibid. Morison. p.297.  As a sidebar discussion it should be noted that Galvanic helped provide the model for the organization of all further Marine Corps amphibious doctrine now known by the acronym PERMA; Planning, Embarkation, Rehearsal, Movement and Assault, which describes the 5 phases of a amphibious assault.

[xxxix] Ibid. Hammell details the intricacies of the particular tides seen at Tarawa and the knowledge that the Marines had from the former Resident Commissioner of the Island, Major Frank Holland who warned the division staff that he knew that there would not be enough water over the reef to get landing craft across it. (pp.18-20)

[xl] Ibid. Alexander. pp.75-77

[xli] Ibid. Alexander. pp.67-68.

[xlii] Ibid. p.70

[xliii] Ibid. p.71

[xliv] Ibid. Morison. p.302

[xlv] Ibid. Hammell. p.16

[xlvi] Johnston, Richard W. Follow Me! The Story of the Second Marine Division in world War II.  Copyright 1948 by the Second Marine Division History Board and published by Random House Publishers, New York, NY 1948. p.106

[xlvii] Ibid. Liddell-Hart. p.511  Johnson says 2,700 tons. (p.106)

[xlviii] Ibid. Johnston. p.106

[xlix] Ibid. Hammell. p.17

[l] Ibid.

[li] Ibid.. Hammell. 46-47

[lii] Ibid. Morison. p.303

[liii] Ibid. Alexander. p.113.  Alexander notes that the Japanese would have been better served by using these guns on the stalled out landing craft.

[liv] Ibid. Hammell. p.47.

[lv] Ibid. Hammell. p.58

[lvi] Ibid.

[lvii] Ibid. Morison. p.303

[lviii] Ibid. Alexander. p.79

[lix] Ibid. Hammell. p.17

[lx] Ibid. Alexander. p.121

[lxi] Wukovits, John. One Square Mile of Hell: The Battle for Tarawa. NAL Caliber, published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group USA, New York NY, 2006. p.112

[lxii] Ibid. Johnston. p.116

[lxiii] Ibid.

[lxiv] Ibid. Wukovits. P.119  Other companies suffered as grievously, K/3/2 was not alone in its suffering.

[lxv] Ibid. Spector. pp.263-264

[lxvi] Ibid. Alexander. pp.136-138

[lxvii] Ibid. Hammell. p.90

[lxviii] Ibid. p.95

[lxix] Ibid. Spector. p.264

[lxx] Ibid. Wukovits. p.114

[lxxi] Ibid. Alexander. pp.139-140

[lxxii] 1/8 did not arrive on the beach due to botched communications until D plus 1.

[lxxiii] Ibid. p.150  The last time this signal had been sent it was by Major Devereaux at Wake Isalnd

[lxxiv] Ibid. p.151

[lxxv] Ibid. Johnston. p.132

[lxxvi] Ibid. Hammell. p.112

[lxxvii] Ibid. p.130

[lxxviii] Ibid. Johnston. p.122

[lxxix] Ibid. Johnston. p.122

[lxxx] Ibid. Costello. p.436

[lxxxi] Ibid. Alexander. p.163

[lxxxii] Ibid. Alexander. pp.157-158  Hammell notes that Shibasaski was most likely killed by fire from Ringgold or Dashiell.

[lxxxiii] Ibid. Hammell.pp.139-140

[lxxxiv] Ibid. Alexander. p.162

[lxxxv] Ibid.  Wukovits. p.176. Wukovits notes how this could have affected the planning for the Normandy invasion.

[lxxxvi] Ibid. Alexander. p.173

[lxxxvii] Ibid. Hammell. p.160

[lxxxviii] Ibid. Costello. p.437

[lxxxix] Ibid. Alexander. p.170

[xc] Ibid. Hammell. p.163

[xci] Ibid. Hammell. p.166

[xcii] Ibid. Wukovits. p.178

[xciii] Ibid. Alexander. p.170 Ryan would be awarded the Navy Cross for his efforts.

[xciv] Ibid. Hammell. p.172

[xcv] Ibid. Alexander. p.179

[xcvi] Ibid. Alexander. p.181

[xcvii] Ibid. Hammell. p.178

[xcviii] Ibid.. Wukovits. p.194

[xcix] Ibid. Hammell. p.202

[c] Ibid. Hammell. p.212

[ci] Shoup would be awarded the Medal of Honor and eventually go on to be the Commandant of the Marine Corps.

[cii] Ibid. Alexander. pp.191-192

[ciii] Ibid. Johnston. p.134  2 platoons landed on Red-2 and one on Green Beach.

[civ] Ibid. Alexander. pp.202-205

[cv] Ibid. Johnston. pp.145-146

[cvi] Ibid. Johnston. p.147

[cvii] Ibid. Toland. p.470

[cviii] Ibid. Murray and Millett. p.345

[cix] Ibid. Liddell-Hart. p.511

[cx] Ibid. Spector. p.266

[cxi] Ibid. Potter. P.264

[cxii] Ibid. Murray and Millett. p.347  The Amtrack in improved forms has been part of the Marines ever since. The current model serves in a traditional amphibious role as well as a Armored Personnel Carrier for Marines involved in ground combat operations ashore.

[cxiii] Ibid. Costello. p.439. The method found to work best was long range plunging fire by heavy guns found on battleships and heavy cruisers.

[cxiv] Ibid. Murray and Millett. p.346

[cxv] Ibid. Morison. p.306

Bibilography

Alexander, Joseph H. Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa. Ivy Books, published by Ballantine Books, New York, NY. 1995.

Costello, John. The Pacific War 1941-1945. Quill Publishing, New York, NY 1982

Morison, Samuel Elliott. The Two Ocean War: A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War. Little Brown and Company, Boston and Toronto, 1963

Hammell, Eric and Lane, John E. Bloody Tarawa: The 2^nd Marine Division, November 20-23, 1943. The Zenith Press, St. Paul MN 2006.

Johnston, Richard W. Follow Me! The Story of the Second Marine Division in world War II.  Copyright 1948 by the Second Marine Division History Board and published by Random House Publishers, New York, NY 1948

Murray, Williamson and Millett, Allan R. A War to Be Won: Fighting the Second World War, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA 2000

Potter, E.B. Nimitz. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1976, Third Printing with Revisions 1979

Spector, Ronald H. Eagle Against the Sun: The American War with Japan.  The Free Press, New York, NY 1985 Toland, John. The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945. Random House, Inc. New York, NY 1970

“Marseille, un autre regard” l’a dit, redit, re-redit. La collusion entre la mairie de Marseille et le Groupe Hersant Media, notamment détenteur de « La Provence », est un fait qui s’avère de jour en jour plus solide qu’un paradigme mathématique, loin du zéro, ce “néant absorbant”.

“L’intelligence” entre une institution politique et un organe de presse, détenant un quasi monopole informatif à Marseille, n’est pas de nature à faire remonter la France dans le palmarès mondial de la liberté de la Presse récemment publié par Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF). L’Hexagone est le grand perdant du nouveau classement qui, après avoir déjà perdu quatre places en 2008, en a perdu huit autres en 2009 pour s’afficher à la 43ème position cette année. Coincé entre le Surinam et Le Cap-Vert…

L’article du Canard Enchaîné, paru dans son dernier numéro du 21 octobre, largement passé sous silence sur les rives du Lacydon (pas de réponse dans La Provence, étonnant non ?) vient jeter un peu plus d’huile d’olive provençale sur le feu du marigot journalistique régional. Il relate en effet les pratiques d’une presse locale qui ne se cache désormais plus de « jouer de la proximité politique »… Nous ne résistons pas au fait de vous le faire partager in extenso.

Le groupe Hersant lance la presse de proximité politique

Partenariats en Provence entre les sites Internet des quotidiens et des municipalités UMP, articles cire-pompes en échanges d’achats de journaux… De Marseille à Nice, la liberté de la presse est à la fête.

Grande première journalistique à Marseille. Le maire UMP Jean-Claude Gaudin et le pédégé du quotidien régional « La Provence », Didier Pillet, s’apprêtent à conclure un émouvant « accord de partenariat » : une alliance entre… le site Web de la ville et celui du journal. Le texte qui scelle ce mariage devrait faire date dans l’histoire de la presse. Joliment intitulé « Échanges de contenus des sites internet LaProvence.com et marseille.fr », il prévoit rien de moins qu’une signalétique commune et le partage de certaines informations.

Bientôt, le supporter de l’OM pourra, par exemple, retrouver les articles de « La Provence » qui parlent de son club préféré dans les pages Web de la cité. Dans celle du journal, le lecteur visionnera les vidéomagazines que les communicants de Gaudin réalisent sur la douce vie locale.

Des tchates télévisés organisés conjointement par la mairie et des interviouveurs de « La Provence » seront mis en ligne sur les deux sites. Et, d’un simple clic, l’internaute pourra joyeusement surfer de l’un à l’autre. Objectif de ce magnifique projet pour le journal : doper la fréquentation de son site et, du même coup, ses rentrées publicitaires. Après ça, aucun doute, « La Provence » aura toute latitude pour cirer les mocassins de Gaudin.

Les complices de l’UMP
Il y a bien longtemps que ce genre de considérations n’embarrasse plus Hersant Médias. Depuis que le groupe a racheté à Lagardère les quotidiens du Sud (« La Provence », « Nice-Matin/Var-Matin », « Corse-Matin »), le bateau prend l’eau. Endetté jusqu’au cou (150 millions d’euros), plombé par les gratuites et la chute des recettes de pub dont il dépend majoritairement, Hersant a commencé par larguer, en début d’année, son « Journal de l’île de la Réunion ». Puis ses télés locales, la francilienne Cap 24 et Citizen TV, à Caen. Et, au mois d’août, son pauvre président du directoire, Frédéric Aurand. Histoire d’éteindre le feu dans la maison, l’héritier Philippe Hersant, résident fiscal en Suisse, a même fait rapatrier d’urgence depuis Londres son frangin Mick.

Résultat : après avoir réalisé de belles affaires avec la grande distribution, le salon des antiquaires du coin ou la foire au boudin, Hersant n’hésite plus à passer à l’étape supérieure : le partenariat politique. Quitte à laisser au vestiaire, la liberté d’écrire de ses journalistes. Sur la Côte d’Azur, pas de surprise, les relations se resserrent plutôt avec les amis UMP, dont les meneurs – Gaudin à Marseille, Falco à Toulon, Estrosi à Nice – ont tant œuvré pour favoriser l’arrivée d’Hersant dans leur région. Et toutes les idées sont les bienvenues pour aller à la soupe !

Désormais, raconte un responsable syndical de « Nice-Matin », « on propose par exemple à un maire d’accélérer la cadence des articles sur les associations de sa ville et, en échange, la mairie nous achète des piles de journaux qu’elle distribue ensuite, gratos, aux responsables de ces associations ».

Une bonne façon de récupérer de l’argent frais et de gonfler les chiffres de diffusion pour séduire les annonceurs. Et pas question de protester. En mai dernier, à ses journalistes qui critiquaient la méthode lors d’un comité d’entreprise, le pédégé de « Nice-Matin », Eric Debry, a rétorqué tout net : « On est prêts à tout pour vendre ». Circulez !

Même topo, le 4 octobre, à « La Provence ». Lors d’une réunion houleuse avec sa rédaction, Didier Pillet a vu rouge : « Je n’ai pas de leçons de journalisme à recevoir ! Soit on ne fait rien et on meurt, soit on développe ces nouvelles formes de vente ». Accessoirement on peu aussi essayer de faire un bon journal…

Service après-vente
A l’origine de cette passe d’armes, la dernière trouvaille du pédégé. Cet été, « La Provence » a démarché plusieurs mairies UMP de la Côte (Cassis, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, La Ciotat, Marseille, etc.) pour leur mettre ce marché en main : quelques pages locales vantant les activités estivales de la ville contre l’achat de milliers de journaux. Lesquels ont ensuite étaient offerts aux vacanciers sur les plages…

La combine fait également recette lors des grandes manifestations municipales. « La direction nous dit : De toute façon, on va couvrir l’événement, alors autant le faire un peu plus et le rentabiliser », persifle un journaliste de « La Provence ».

Ainsi, sur les terres de l’UMP Maryse Joissains, à Aix-en-Provence, une belle entente a été célébrée autour de l’expo Picasso (mai – septembre 2009). Cette fois il ne s’agissait pas d’un paquet de journaux, mais d’un paquet d’oseille.

Fin 2008, Didier Pillet a expédié un commando dans le bureau de la mairesse. Sur la table : « une proposition de partenariat », avec « ses axes mutualistes de communication ». Dans ce document de quinze pages, en plus des traditionnels achats de pubs, le journal promettait un… « appui rédactionnel ». Autrement dit la garantie d’une couverture très suivie de l’événement, avec un calendrier d’articles forts gentils établi à l’avance. Un sacré mélange des genres. Prix de ce panier garni : 80000 euros. Joissains a payé. Dans le lot, elle a même décroché un cahier de huit pages, sans la mention obligatoire « publicité », rédigé par la rédaction de « La Provence » et relu par son équipe municipale. Autant dire que la mairesse d’Aix-en-Provence ne risque pas de lire des papiers cinglants pendant quelque temps…

A Cannes, le député-maire UMP Bernard Brochand, lui, pratique un autre genre de collaboration. La semaine dernière, il s’est acheté une édition spéciale de « Nice-Matin » à la gloire de ses grands projets urbains et de sa vidéo surveillance. Et ce avec une simple mention « supplément publicitaire » inscrite en petite sur la couverture.

Son voisin de Nice, Christian Estrosi, inonde la même gazette de pleines pages de pub en couleurs et vient de le proclamer dans un courrier mémorable à « L’Express » (15/10) : « Nous entretenons un niveau de partenariats avec le groupe Nice-Matin (…) qu’à aucun moment nous avons souhaité interrompre. Les dernières publications en apportent une preuve incontestable. Nous n’avons jamais cessé de soutenir noter grand quotidien régional ». D’ailleurs Estrosi vient de passer un nouveau marché avec la régie pub des journaux Hersant, à laquelle il promet jusqu’à 1.2 million d’euros d’annonces par an, renouvelable pendant trois ans.

Que les lecteurs des autres provinces se rassurent : vu l’état général des quotidiens locaux (un journal comme « Sud-Ouest » s’attend à 45 millions de pertes en 2009), la méthode Hersant devrait rapidement faire école dans tous les pays. Mais pas école de journalisme…

Christophe Nobili

Une campagne électorale est un moment à part dans la vie des citoyens. Il en va des acteurs politiques aux électeurs en passant par les observateurs plus ou moins éclairés.

L’adrénaline du pouvoir, la force des convictions, les rapports de force, la puissance d’une idée, l’argument qui porte, le symbole qui fait la différence, la quête du scoop, l’intérêt bien compris de chacun. Mais aussi les dazibaos antisémites, les permanences électorales qui brulent, les tracts en arabe pour fusiller l’adversaire, l’interdiction de meetings en public pour l’opposant, la lettre présidentielle pour sauver Marseille brandie dans l’entre deux-tour et aussi une web-campagne acharnée… Tout est porté à l’extrême.

A Marseille plus qu’ailleurs, les mottes du champ politique revêtent souvent les formes improbables et criardes des costumes de la commedia dell’arte. Pourtant, elles sont plus florentines que napolitaines, plus machiavéliques que bonapartistes. Fratricides et cruelles en public, poliment abrasives dans la coulisse.

Ce documentaire revient, comme un flash back lucide, sur ce moment historique de la campagne 2008 des municipales à Marseille où la plus vieille ville de France faillit basculer à gauche à quelque centaines de voix près dans un suspense intenable.

Rarement la cité phocéenne n’avait vu autant de journalistes internationaux. “Un défi certain pour le président Sarkozy”, fraîchement élu, nous avait alors confié un journaliste de la NHK japonaise… Alors qu’un confrère américain de CNN affirmait, avec le ton affirmatif et non négociable du Texan sûr de lui : “si la 2e ville de France bascule, Sarkozy est mort”. Tel était l’enjeu…

Ce que “Marseille, un autre regard“, vous a rapporté, minute après minute, en dehors des canaux officiels provençaux de l’information dont certains furent assurément manipulatoires, transgressant les règles basiques du journalisme, engoncés de certitudes, fiers, suffisants et faussement objectifs, parfois condamnés par le CSA (mais trop tard, après la campagne, bien entendu) ; ces images vous le donne à voir, ou à revoir…

Nous, nous sommes fans et attendons avec impatience la suite ! Trois épisodes nous dit-on.

Quelques questions néanmoins. Pourquoi :

1°) Jean-Claude Gaudin n’a pas voulu être interviewé ?

2°) Les producteurs n’ont trouvé aucun diffuseurs locaux ou nationaux ?

3°) Internet est le seul lieu de diffusion libre en dehors des contingences publicitaires qui bride la presse jusqu’à la moelle, voire la corrompt ?

4°) Les chiffres de confiance de la presse traditionnelle auprès du grand public fondent comme neige au soleil. Nous, on a une idée…

Find the smallest number divisible by each of the numbers 1 to 20

The requirement is to find the Lowest Common Multiple (LCM)of the numbers 1 to 20

We can very easily find the LCM using the  Greatest Common Divisor (GCD) using the formula

lcm(x, y) = (x * y) / gcd(x, y)

A very fast method to calculate GCD is using Euclid’s algorithm

gcd(x, y) = gcd(y, x mod y)

Implementing this in Clojure

(defn gcd [x y]
    (cond
	(zero? x) y
	(zero? y) x
	:else (recur y (mod x y))))

(defn lcm [x y]
    (/ (* x y) (gcd x y)))

(reduce lcm (range 1 21))

gcd calculates the greatest common divisor of 2 integers

(gcd 6 8 )
=> 2

lcm calculates the lowest common multiple of 2 integers

(lcm 6 8 )
=> 24

Internet, internet, internet ! L’Elysée mise tout, désormais, sur sa communication via le web. D’abord en annonçant l’ouverture, à l’occasion du sommet climat de Copenhague prévu en décembre, d’un compte sur le site de socialisation en direct Twitter où sera détaillée “la démarche” du président Nicolas Sarkozy durant cette négociation, en direct. Ensuite par le lancement du blog de la première dame, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. Enfin, par toute une stratégie de communication thématique sur Facebook nonobstant des exclusivités en “off” sur ledit site.

En baisse dans les sondages, le chef de l’Etat veut maîtriser entièrement sa communication « descendante ». L’Élysée se doit d’être à la pointe de la modernité en matière d’Internet et d’équipements audiovisuels, surtout dans la perspective de 2012…

Le détail du budget 2010 de la présidence de la République montre que Nicolas Sarkozy n’a pas l’intention de lésiner sur ces dépenses. “Afin de conforter l’action de la Présidence, les moyens techniques, notamment dans le domaine de la communication, devront être modernisés”, souligne le “bleu” budgétaire de la mission “pouvoirs publics” du projet de loi de finances.

Le chantier de remise à niveau du site Internet entrepris en 2009 “sera poursuivi en 2010”. “L’amélioration des moyens au service de l’audiovisuel sera recherchée”, indique le document budgétaire. Des objectifs qui viennent gonfler légèrement le poste consacré aux “équipements et travaux”. Ce dernier va passer de 1,395 million d’euros à 2,49 millions entre 2009 et 2010, soit un bond de 79 %.

“Une volonté de modernisation et d’amélioration des équipements doit accompagner les actions entreprises par les équipes de l’Élysée, justifie le document. À ce titre, figurent parmi les priorités les matériels et équipements propres à la communication : audiovisuel, Internet, télécommunication et informatique.” Le renouvellement d’une partie du matériel est programmé ainsi que le “développement des services nomades” et la “modernisation du parc de terminaux sécurisés”.

Au passage, on apprend que la rénovation de la chaîne TV/vidéo-diffusion est aussi “envisagée pour 2010”. Une “expertise” est aussi en cours quant à l’amélioration du studio de télévision installé à la Présidence.

Échaudé par les derniers couacs qui ont entaché l’image présidentielle, Nicolas Sarkozy entend ainsi reprendre la main en instaurant une palette d’outils destinés à véhiculer une information plus contrôlée et à contrer l’impact négatif des récents dérapages entre le « pauv’con » présidentiel et les « blagues » auvergnates d’Hortefeux.

Ainsi, sur le terrain du Net, le site de l’Élysée présente quelques nouveautés comme la diffusion de reportages et plus récemment la diffusion du « making off » de l’interview du chef de l’État depuis New York dans les journaux de 20H00 de France 2 et TF1 qui, par ailleurs, obtient un nombre très satisfaisant de visionnages depuis sa mise en ligne sur Dailymotion.

Le web c’est bien, le maîtriser c’est mieux
Si Ségolène Royal répète à l’envi qu’elle a servi de modèle aux équipes d’Obama sur le versant participatif de la campagne des présidentielles de 2007 (ce qui reste à être démontré mais qui fait toujours sourire les professionnels, surtout américains…), le candidat Sarkozy n’était pas en reste sur les plateformes communautaires, loin s’en faut.

Grâce à sa « web dream team », l’UMP s’était étendue comme une trainée de poudre sur tous réseaux sociaux et plus particulièrement sur Facebook où l’on dénombrait d’innombrables groupes de soutien au futur chef de l’Etat. De quoi en découdre avec les équipes structurées de « Désirs d’avenir » et avec la « Netscouade » (équipe web de campagne de Ségolène Royal).

Pourtant, une fois passé l’enthousiasme de la campagne, force est de constater que le suivi des bonnes intentions technologiques n’est pas toujours au rendez-vous. La vigilance s’estompe. Pour preuve, le groupe officiel de l’UMP sur Facebook comptant 3500 militants a été victime de pirates du Net.

Ces « Kamikazes » s’attaquent aux groupes en déshérence et dépourvus d’administrateurs. Ils ont ainsi pu ouvertement détourner le logo de l’UMP, écrire des insultes par mailing interne et écorcher l’image du parti de la majorité sans que les patrons de l’Internet du gouvernement ne réagissent, plus prompts à vendre leur professionnalisme sur les plateaux de télévisions.

De quoi provoquer la colère des militants qui avaient pourtant fait remonter l’information depuis plus de deux semaines : « je ne comprends pas ce que foutent les gens de l’Internet à l’UMP, qui fait quoi ? Que font ces types qui se pavanent sur Envoyé Spécial et dans les médias à longueur de journée ? » (source : INTELINK PRESS – juillet 2009).

Si aujourd’hui, tous les communicants et les acteurs politiques reconnaissent au web une puissance radicale des messages diffusés, ils ne sont pas encore totalement conscients de la réactivité immédiate et parfois ravageuse que les dits messages peuvent générer sur la toile.

La démocratie sur la toile : un leurre !
L’interactivité revêt assurément des atours très démocratiques mais le « 2.0 » est souvent dangereux. C’est l’endroit idéal des critiques, du déversement de frustrations et des attentes populaires sans risque.

Sous pseudo, caché derrière un ordinateur, en pantoufle à la maison ou en costume au bureau, le citoyen se transforme très souvent en révolutionnaire, en syndicaliste, en journaliste satirique de la première heure. Chaque mot et chaque image, sont observés, disséqués et détournés selon l’argument ou le leader qu’il défend. La seule loi est celle du « buzz », c’est-à-dire du nombre de lecteurs que l’information aura recueillie. Peu importe la véracité des propos, de l’argument, de la posture ou de la sincérité de l’information initialement diffusée. Le web est un monde radical, impitoyable.

L’exemple du lancement du nouveau site Internet de Ségolène Royal est, à ce propos, très éloquent. En pointe sur la communication participative, l’échec à peine croyable de son site témoigne aussi du danger d’un excès de confiance de l’agence web en charge de ce projet : un suicide numérique en somme.

Ce raté invraisemblable était, bien entendu, relayé comme une traînée de poudre sur la toile et notamment dans un article impitoyable de 20minutes.fr : «Rassurez-moi, c’est un fake, un hoax, un bug, une blague?», s’interroge le webproducteur Nicolas Voisin, sur Twitter. La mise en ligne, mardi en fin d’après-midi, de la nouvelle version du site Désirs d’avenir (DA), de Ségolène Royal a semé la stupeur sur le site de micro-blogging.

Après un nombre incalculable d’erreurs, le site s’affiche finalement. Premier choc : le design. Un coucher de soleil – visiblement un fond d’écran d’ordinateur récupéré sur le net- sert d’image de fond en page d’accueil. Sur son blog politique, Marc Vasseur y voit un «revival des années 90». «On pourrait penser à un faux grossier, une blague de potaches… non ce truc hideux a coûté près de 40.000 euros…», poursuit-il. D’autres, à l’instar du blogueur Embruns, y trouve une ressemblance avec un site de secte: «Mon mari rentre du boulot, voit le site DA à l’écran : “C’est le site des Témoins de Jehovah?”».

A tel point que certains s’interrogent sur un possible piratage du site, même dans les médias: «Histoire de vérifier s’il ne s’agissait pas d’un piratage du véritable site, Rue89 a quand même contacté l’entourage de Ségolène Royal, qui nous a confirmé qu’il ne s’agissait pas d’une attaque malveillante, mais bien du nouveau site», peut-on lire. «Toutes les fautes ont été accumulées», estime pour sa part Net & Sans détour, «design cheap, glauque et peu engageant, concept erroné, des liens vides et mal renseignés».

Et les fautes ne concernent pas que le design. L’architecture du site Internet est basique, note-on sur Internet, proche de celle d’un blog. Jambon buzz s’inquiète également d’un autre aspect : le référencement. «Ce nouveau site est une catastrophe pour un référencement qui n’avait pas l’air mauvais. (…) un site laid, illisible par les moteurs de recherches et fortement attaquable. Il conclut avec un «message au donneur d’ordre de ce site : vous vous êtes fait entuber bien profond.»

L’heure du bilan, notamment à Marseille
Novices pour la plupart dans ce domaine, les hommes politiques ont été les premiers à s’être pris les pieds dans la Toile. Aujourd’hui, forts de leur expérience issue des précédentes campagnes électorales, ils entendent bien éviter les mêmes écueils quitte à, comme le Président Sarkozy, rectifier le tir et pallier les défaillances de ses conseillers Internet sans ménagement.

Car désormais, la recette du succès sur le Net tient dans un savant mélange d’anticipation, de proximité et du choix judicieux des équipes. On se souvient de la dernière campagne municipale menée dans la cité phocéenne et dont « Marseille, un autre regard » a été un observateur privilégié.

Tandis que Jean-Claude Gaudin fut difficile à convaincre sur l’opportunité du Web, son adversaire socialiste, Jean-Noël Guérini anticipait déjà, non sans perspicacité, l’importance croissante des nouvelles technologies.

Ayant constitué ses équipes dès son entrée dans la bataille, en septembre 2007, il conserva ainsi une longueur d’avance sur sa stratégie de communication tout en misant sur la proximité et l’ouverture. Ainsi, une véritable armée d’internautes fut levée pour relayer les propos du candidat alors que le maire sortant, Jean-Claude Gaudin misait, 5 mois plus tard, sur une peopolisation de son site de campagne (avec des champions de sport, des stars de télés…), ce qui a failli lui couter la victoire. Il l’admet in petto aujourd’hui.

Conscient qu’un déni du Net peut être synonyme de défaite, l’édile marseillais a d’ores et déjà procédé à une refonte de son site officiel. Avec une bannière minimaliste offrant comme information la seule déclinaison des agendas de l’hyper actif patron qu’il est : maire, sénateur et président du comité de la majorité, entre autres… Toutefois, aucune possibilité pour les internautes de commenter. On donne à voir, pas à commenter! Silence ! Pas d’interactivité donc. Mais avec quelques vidéos, ce qui est une évolution notable et salutaire. Dommage de ne pas en faire plus car J.-C. Gaudin y excelle. vraiment.

Les citoyens devront aller voir ailleurs pour s’exprimer. Un site Internet très début des années 2000…Figé, on vous dit ! C’est un choix, respectable, mais difficile à accepter pour les internautes d’aujourd’hui… Nul doute qu’une fois encore Jean-Claude Gaudin s’inscrit pleinement dans la politique conduite par son parti, incitant ministres et autres élus locaux à suivre l’exemple présidentiel en se rappropriant leur communication et stratégie Web. Mais du côté de la mairie de Marseille, pour l’heure, on est encore loin du compte : pas de blog, pas de compte vidéo. Une offensive Facebook semble néanmoins se mettre en place. L’ensemble est plutôt bien référencé.

Jean-Noël Guérini, quant à lui, n’a pas à rougir. Il fut l’un des premiers à s’être doté d’un blog qui, selon les classements, arrivent dans le top 100 des sites politiques les plus consultés de France. Conscient de la puissance de tir de l’image. On ne compte plus ses vidéos sur le web. Son compte vidéo personnel Dailymotion (hors campagne) vient de dépasser les 15 000 visionnages… Et sa présence sur Facebook omniprésente : 4600 amis (le maximum étant 5000), et une dizaine de groupe de soutien comptant pas moins de 12 000 contacts.

Ainsi, tous les élus locaux l’ont compris, le web est désormais incontournable. Mais la règle du jeu est désormais claire pour eux : préférer la compétence technologique et la proximité aux stars surmédiatisées des agences web nationales, fort coûteuses et pas forcément très efficaces…

More on consumer spending, jobs, and the economic recovery

Roubini: Forget The V-Shaped Recovery…But Get Ready For The U-Shaped Recovery! ( http://www.etfdesk.com/headline.aspx?hId=1214 )
Nouriel Roubini used to be known Dr. Doom. These days, however, he insists he is a “realist.” What does that mean? Well, it means that he doesn’t think we’re in for a V shaped recovery but he doesn’t think we’re going L shaped either.

Is the Economic Storm Over? Consumers Weigh in on the “New Frugality” ( http://www.etfdesk.com/headline.aspx?hId=1216 )
Jane Crossan, Vice President, Practice Leader, Financial Services, The Nielsen Company For the past six months we’ve seen and heard about the recovery of the U.S. market: the DOW has ticked up and the Fed chair has said the recession is “likely over.” But ultimately, the consumer will determine when our economy is back on track when you consider that consumer spending accounts for roughly 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.

The end of Kobe beef burgers, or how thrift stole Christmas ( http://www.etfdesk.com/headline.aspx?hId=1218 )
Frugal is the new black, according to everyone from David Rosenberg to the US consumer and the beleaguered retailers. Consider the following piece, which appeared in the New York Times on Friday:

Rethinking the American consumer ( http://www.etfdesk.com/headline.aspx?hId=1219) ONE thing that’s worth remembering as we discuss the recovery (something I often have to remind myself) is that American spending on consumption was primarily focused on what one might call necessities.

Is the U.S. job market broken? ( http://www.etfdesk.com/headline.aspx?hId=1220 ) Is there a “new normal” for the American labor market? Are the days of an unemployment rate of just 4 to 5 percent a thing of the past? That is the contention of some economists who see the sharp rise in joblessness during this recession as a warning sign of structural changes in the job market.

Unemployment Becoming Leading Indicator for Pimco’s New Normal ( http://www.etfdesk.com/headline.aspx?hId=1223 ) Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) — Mohamed El-Erian says economists are wrong to dismiss unemployment as merely a lagging indicator, a sign of where the economy has been. For the chief executive officer of Pacific Investment Management Co., the 26-year high jobless rate is also an omen of things to come.

So….

Here I am again!

Yesterday, I was taking a wander into town, enjoying the sunshine with my ipod providing the sound track, and on came a version of a song I’d not heard before. It was very odd, as just 3 weeks ago I had to stop myself purchasing the Rogers/Hart score of ‘Cinderella’ (because I’d given up my day job!) and the song was from that same show. ‘Sweetest Sounds’, beautifully sung by Sarah Vaughan, as if she ever sung any other way! Even more odd that I’d never heard it before – although my music library is pretty full, and so to put it on shuffle and work my way through that way does take a while..
Anyway. I fully intend to add it to my repertoire.. Looks like I’ll have to buy that book now!

Recently, I have been rehearsing with both the boys in the quartet and the girls in Solaris.
I’ve a gig with each this week. London with the boys on Wednesday, and Hexham with the girls on Friday.

On Wednesday, we shall be playing a mini-set at the Spice of Life jazz club in Soho. By all accounts its a lovely venue to play, and I’m hoping to get a big crowd down, not least to cover my costs of train fares this week!
We’ll be playing for half an hour, at around half 8, and then the main artist will be doing her thing.

On Friday, I’m returning home to Hexham (where I was born!) to sing some a cappella with my friends in Solaris. I’m really looking forward to it, as we don’t get to gig that much, particularly up there. It’s part of the Hexham Abbey Festival, and we’ll be on at 9:30 at the Forum Cinema.

But enough of the future, lets look at the past..

The Pizza on The Park gig was fun. – It’s a lovely Venue, and we got to try out some new arrangements on the friendly audience there. I’m already looking forward to our return in November.
The following Thursday (11th) I made my first ever TV apprearance. It was a little surreal, but quite enjoyable really! We headed to the BBC building, which is just nextdoor to LCM, so we all knew it well! As I went off to get my makeup done, and be interviewed by Harry and Christa on the sofas, the boys set up in The Venue at the Music College. The interview seemed to go like a flash! I’m not even sure whether or not I said anything i was supposed to! But the two presenters each got an album, and Harry made a (terrible) joke about me ‘working as a waitress in a cocktail bar’ when he first met me – I served him in Harvey Nichols many times before. Then we recorded about 45 seconds of ‘Feeling Good’ (about 15 times!) in the space I hadn’t sung in since my Final recital in 2007!

Finally, we set off back to my house, as the BBC folk cut together all the footage to make it on the News at half 6. I hid myself in the kitchen and made dinner for Aidan and Matt, so I didn’t have to watch it with them! (Too embarrased at watching myself on screen!) and then caught it on the iplayer later, where I watched it about 6 times over!
Eventually, I decided I didn’t think it was too bad for a first time! hehe

So yes, I think that’s all going on at the moment. Although I do seem to have misplaced my microphone, so if anyone should have seen my lovely EV 767, please return it – I miss it very much.

Thanks!

TSx

YVI SLAN

le nouvel album de Yvi Slan “Eve” est en ligne. Album concept/hommage dans un certaine “tradition française” (Gainsbourg, Bashung)2 titres en écoute sur les myspaces, l’album est en extrait et en vente exclusivement sur yvislan.com (système Paypal) avant la sortie vinyl en nationale  prévue pour janvier/février 2010.

Musique, arrangements, chant, instruments, enregistrement, mixage : Yvi Slan

Batterie : Antoine Germain

Mastering : Sonics Mastering

Photos : Didier Illouz

Cover : YS

Produit par Boombop rec 2009

L’album de Yvi Slan “EVE” en playlist & chronique sur :

Plum FM (Serent/Morbihan)
Alternantes FM (Nantes/Loire-Atlantique)
Radio Saint-Affrique (Saint-Affrique/Aveyron, région Midi-Pyrénées)
CFM Caussade/Rodez/Montauban (Tarn & Garonne)
Radio Altitude (Clermont-FD/Puy-de-Dôme)
Radio Primitive (Reims/la Marne)
Radio Alpa (le Mans/De la Sarthe)
Agora Fm (Grasse/Alpes-Maritimes)
Radio RPG 96,5 (Gueret/Creuse)
Radio Campus-Bordeaux (Bordeaux/Gironde)
Radio Coteaux (St-Blancard/Gers)
Radio Beaub FM (Limoges/Haute-Vienne)
Radio Coloriage (Fain les Moutiers/Centre-Bourgogne)…

En résidence les mois de novembre 2009 & janvier 2010 à l’A.M.I.
En résidence en février 2010 à la Distillerie (Aubagne).

VIDEO / TV : Yvi Slan succède aux “Chemicals Brothers” pour la synchro de la pub TV Ford S-max (Ford Angleterre), avec son titre ” A la poursuite de Slan”, l’album “Knock Out” 2003 (Platinum rec / Boombop rec). La vidéo est sur les myspaces ainsi que sur Youtube…

BOOKING : BOOMBOP REC

Yvi Slan sera en concert avec son groupe “les Galaxistes” (Batterie/Basse/guit/clavier/fx//chant) à partir de décembre 2009/janvier 2010. Pour toute programmation, groupe ou Dj set, cliquez sur boombop.

VENTE ON LINE : mp3s/wave www.yvislan.com

myspace.com/slanyvi

myspace Boombop rec

DISSONANT NATION

En concert le :

LCM (la cahine marseillaise, canal 209 freebox tv), live & interview le vendredi 18 septembre à 19h00

Samedi 26 septembre, festival Marsatac (Marseille) à 22h15, Yvi Slan en Ingé-son.

Vendredi 16 octobre, Dissonant Nation + Ladylike Dragons + the Shane (Poste à Galène) 21h00

Dissonant nation

the BIJS (Big in Japan)

Les BIJS sont sortis du studio “le Garage” à Manosque pour l’enregistrement de 4 titres, en 2 jours, c’est “Big”, “c’est in”, c’est “The BIJS”

the BIJS (Big in Japan)

POUR TOUT BOOKING :

Yvi Slan (dj) / Yvi Slan & les Galaxistes / the BIJS / Dissonant nation : BOOMBOP REC

VENTE ON LINE : (mp3s/Aiff/wave) www.yvislan.com

Yvi Slan / Les couleurs du spectre / the BIJS / Dissonant Nation / Ba Cissoko & Yvi Slan / Snack

Et c’est l’emission de La Chaine Marseillaise, C L’ETE (remplacante durant la periode estivale de CNOUVEAU), qui nous a gratifiée de notre première télé vendredi dernier.

Cliquez sur l’image pour voir la vidéo et avancez jusqu’à 17:00 une fois qu’elle aura suffisamment chargé.

Encore merci aux journalistes de LCM pour ce joli reportage, et à nos chers clients qui ont parlés devant la caméra.

OVERVIEW OF BUSINESS CONTENT ANCHOR CONCEPT WITHIN LOCAL SEARCH AND ITS IMPORTANCE AS THE FOUNDATION FOR LOCAL CONTENT MANAGEMENT

What is the most important aspect of managing your local retail business presence online? A search optimized web site, targeted keyword campaign, informative blog articles or social media channels. Just some of the many options that may confuse you. There are also many opinions based on who you ask and what type of business you are. However, I would argue there is a single paramount component regardless of whether you are an individual business location or a national retailer. Even if you are just learning or you are a knowledgeable expert, the answer should be the same.

In this article I will describe the concept and why it is important. The subsequent article will provide more detail about the concept and some insight on how to manage it. The concept might sound simplistic and easy to disregard, but you would be surprised how important it is and how it could negatively impact your business.

Definition of business content anchor

It all comes down to a simple concept called your business content anchor (BCA), or anchor for short, for a single location. I bet you never heard of it and most businesses don’t realize how important it is. Business content anchors are typically comprised of the business name, address, and phone number for an individual business, which I labelled the business’ NAP for name, address, and phone. I will describe each of these components in more detail later, but right now let’s review how this impacts your business.

Just as you are uniquely represented as an individual by your first and last name, social security or phone number, a business in the digital world requires something to identify it. Otherwise, all the related information is not linked and quickly becomes incongruent. Consider your web site link or email address, which is not typically used online to identify your business by the publishers. However, it is considered a useful attribute associated to your business and you want to make sure it gets correctly linked to your business or better yet your unique anchor. Otherwise, it could be incorrectly linked to another similar business or not match at all. In other words business content anchors are essential in the programmatic matching logic and everything else is just associated as attributes matched up by the anchor.

Diagram: Business content anchor and associated content attributes

Aside from the importance of the anchor for matching information in the digital world, it also has the duality of being actionable content for consumers. As a business, your ultimate goal is to drive consumers to buy via calling or walking in the front door. Both pieces of information required to create this consumer behavior are fortunately part of the anchor. The content duality is essential for a consumer’s “recovery” search opposed to a “discovery” search for a business. Now that you understand the anchor, let’s review the original source of all this content and how it gets aggregated for consumers to search online.

The initial and still largest source of business listings is the print directories, which primarily encompasses the yellow pages with contribution from the white pages. All the physical books are manually digitized, consolidated, matched, and distributed. The books contain anchors, but in all sorts of formats based on how each telecom publisher prints it. The challenge is to technically match up business content anchors to make sure each combination is a unique and legitimate business. I think you are starting to get an idea of the challenges and how it can impact your business.

These sources are still used as the primary source by publishers, such as search engines, and therefore consumers search this content to find your business. As a business you don’t want to depend on this aggregated process, since it is published every twelve months and becomes quickly outdated. You also don’t want to accidentally create more confusing content for publishers to decipher, which I call business noise anchors (BNA). Noise might be a slightly different anchor that never matches up to your business or a closed location that was never removed from the repository, which potentially creates a duplicate.

Now that you understand the concept of the anchor, it is not as simple as just changing it online. Although I am also going to give you some guidelines to follow later, it is not necessarily an issue that you can easily resolve when you have a problem. The digital world is still relatively new and these issues are not just exclusive to your individual business. The publishers are still compelled to figure out the tools to make available to businesses, so you can successfully manage your business.

Importance of business content anchor

You might already think your anchor is important to manage based on what you just read, but it is even more important than you think at a macro level. Consider all the potential digital content you create related to your business, such as landing pages, advertising campaigns, video commercials or even coupons. How will all this content get linked to your business?

By placing your anchor in a consistent format across all this digital content, it will programmatically get linked. For example use a micro format to standardize and link all your digital content. Think of it as the foundation to build your digital presence. Publishers use the anchor to match and verify the business based on a multitude of sources, thereby linking all the content to the correct business. This is typically called the business’s online citations or web references. However, the publishers each have their own unique algorithm for matching, which therefore generate different results. 

You now know why the anchor is critical at both a micro and macro level for your business. However, I also want to share some common tips or misconceptions you might encounter when researching, which could actually negatively impact your business. Many of the suggestions seem to be innocent and simple, but they can have repercussions and even worse it could be next to impossible to undo.

For example you might decide to focus on a specific search engine and figure out how to manage your business on the publisher’s property. Most of the sites give a business an interface to claim their business, which I highly recommend to lock and manage your business moving forward. However, these interfaces allow you to add or modify content about your business, but just because the interface allows you to make the change doesn’t necessarily mean you should, since it might create noise.

Current publisher challenges

I also want to provide some insight as to why the data providers and publishers have challenges indirectly managing all the business content anchors. Depending on your definition of a business and your source of statistics, there are anywhere from ten to twenty million businesses in the United States. Every month, there are approximately one million new businesses and one million closed businesses. So now you start to get the scope of the challenge!

Currently, the publishers depend primarily on a single aggregated source, the print directories; in addition the number of searches online for a business today is relatively small. However, this number is exponentially increasing and publishers will become more dependent on another and more accurate source, the business claiming and managing their business content anchor directly. This causes different challenges as publishers require new mechanisms for protecting the content from accidental typos, fraudulent use, and ensuring sustainable maintenance.

The first challenge is the authentication of the person entering in the information. How do you know this person is associated to the business? How do you know this person is the authority of the business? The next challenge is the verification of the content. Is the content accurate and correct? Is the content standardized and not a duplicate? The last challenge is the freshness of the content. Is the content still correct? How to verify it is still correct months later?

Article summary

This article gave you an overview of the business content anchor concept, the importance to a business at a micro and macro level, and the industry’s challenges encountered by data providers and publishers for managing the accuracy for local search. Once you comprehend how this works, it will better prepare you for managing and optimizing the business content anchor for your business. The subsequent article will cover the components of the anchor and suggestions for you to manage it.