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Ford Explorer in LEGO® Bricks From Chicago Assembly Plant to the New Ford Driving School at LEGOLAND® Theme Park near Orlando Florida
November 20, 2011 1 Comment
TO WATCH THIS AWESOME VIDEO CLICK: Building a Ford Explorer to LEGOLAND® Florida
Full-size LEGOLAND® Florida Explorer created from more than 380,000 LEGOs makes its debut at Chicago Assembly Plant; model took more than 2,500 hours to create
New LEGOLAND Florida theme park is the second in the U.S. and the fifth and largest LEGOLAND park in the world; it’s comprised of more than 50 million LEGO bricks
Ford Driving School at LEGOLAND Florida allows children to experience the fun and responsibility of driving in their own vehicles (at a maximum speed of 3 mph)
Orlando, Florida – A unique Ford Explorer rolling off the line at Chicago Assembly Plant feature the model’s trademark eye-catching craftsmanship with one notable distinction. This Ford Explorer is created from more than 380,000 LEGO bricks and marks the beginning of a long-term alliance between Ford and LEGOLAND® Florida theme park.
The bright red LEGOLAND Florida edition Explorer, created by 22 designers, weighs 2,654 pounds and is supported by a 768-pound interior aluminum base.
The completely reinvented Ford Explorer is a head-turner on its own, of course, blending style, capability and technology with class-leading fuel efficiency. It delivers an EPA-certified 28 mpg on the highway with an all-new EcoBoost® engine.
After its debut at the historic Chicago plant, which produces the Explorer, the vehicle will be loaded onto a trailer with transparent sides so motorists can see the LEGO Explorer as it makes its way to the new 150-acre LEGOLAND Florida theme park just outside Orlando.
There it will be featured in front of one of the park’s attractions, the Ford Driving School for children.
“Ford is excited to support the alliance between LEGOLAND Florida and the Southeast Ford dealers. The LEGOLAND Florida Explorer and the Ford Driving School attraction are great opportunities to showcase our products and safety messages to families and visitors in a unique way,” said Tracy Magee, Ford Experiential Marketing manager.
LEGOLAND Florida, Cater to kids ages 2 to 12 with more than 50 family-focused rides, shows and attractions and a historical botanical garden.
The park, which features exhibits using more than 50 million LEGO bricks, is divided into 10 themed entertainment zones for kids. It allows them to experience different adventures, including the empowering thrill of getting behind the wheel and learning to drive their own vehicle.
LEGOLAND Florida General Manager Adrian Jones. “This is the only park of its kind in the world built exclusively for kids ages 2 to 12, and it is a total departure from anything families with young children have seen before. It’s a completely immersive experience, engaging kids’ imaginations and their sense of adventure through interactive play.”
Driving through LEGOLAND Florida
The driving school is divided by age. There’s a Ford Junior Driving School for children ages 3 to 5 years old and a Ford Driving School for those ages 6 to 12. The children watch a video with driving instructions and safety tips – starting with the basics like safety belts and the difference between the accelerator and the brake – and move on to stoplights and stop signs. Children then have the opportunity to drive in their own electric vehicles on curbed roads with maximum speed limits of 3 mph.
With its detailed LEGO theme, the attraction is designed to give children the experience of driving in a real-world neighborhood.
While the children are behind the wheel, park employees known as “model citizens” are nearby to ensure the experience stays positive. After the drive is complete, the children are issued their own Ford Driving School license.
The school was the brainchild of Florida-area Ford dealers that worked with LEGOLAND Florida management, and is designed to introduce the fun and responsibility of driving skills to children.
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- Story Ideas
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Dear President Obama:
Congratulations on your reelection. You no doubt know how much the black community appreciates the historical significance of both of your successful presidential campaigns. If you didn’t, all you have to do is Google the numbers.
In 2008, according to several exit polls, you captured 95 to 98 percent of the black vote. For 2012, the estimates are 94 to 96 percent.
We understand a broad coalition elected you as president both terms, not just us. But we have had your back at a rate much higher than other slices of your coalition, and you know it.
Now, Mr. President, how about some payback?
This is not an unreasonable request. Just ask women, gays and immigrants.
For women, on your first day in office you signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Later came your birth-control mandate that guarantees women access to free contraceptives.
For gays, you announced your support for same-sex marriage on “Good Morning America.”
For immigrants, you stopped deporting younger, undocumented immigrants — most of them Latino — and began granting work permits for some of them.
Noticeably missing from the list is any demonstrable policy change — or change of mind — aimed squarely at black members of your coalition. Some of your black supporters raised that issue even as they celebrated your victory on election night and the morning after.
“Now he’s got to do something for us,” Reginald Miles, a professor at Howard University, said minutes after networks began declaring Obama’s win. “We should get our reward.”
A friend who worked in the Clinton White House heard about this line of thinking and dismissed it. “Which one of those groups does not include black people?” she asked. “There are black women. They are black gays and black immigrants. And what about his health-care bill — don’t blacks benefit from that?”
I understand her point, Mr. President, but she did not hear what I did from different people in different places less than 12 hours after your victory: Something for us.
Many blacks who supported you in 2008 adopted a stay-quiet-and-wait posture. They wanted a second term for you. We understood that meant you had to camouflage your blackness.
A few African Americans did challenge you, Mr. President, and urged you to reach out more to blacks and to the poor. You know, people like Cornel West and Tavis Smiley. But your unofficial wingmen, radio hosts Tom Joyner and Steve Harvey, shot West and Smiley down with nasty verbal assaults.
It was safer to stay quiet and wait. In the meantime, you served up trinkets to your black supporters.
You granted interviews and allowed yourself to be videotaped playing basketball, that black game.
You sympathized with anger generated by the slaying of Trayvon Martin, saying in a statement, “If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon.”
But no policy changes. Nothing for us.
Mr. President, many of us got the wait-until-a-second-term message earlier this year. In March, the media reported that you were “caught” on an open microphone telling then-Russian president Dmitry Medvedev to pass some words on to Vladimir Putin. “It’s important for him to give me space,” you said. “This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility.”
You could have been speaking to your black supporters, Mr. President. Now you earned the second term, and the flexibility that comes with it.
Your legacy is secure. The first black president of the United States. One of only three Democratic presidents to be elected to a second term in the past century. Now, sir, you can work on the third, fourth and fifth paragraphs of your story. Something for us.
But what something, you ask. What I heard from some of your supporters in the hours after your victory did not come with specifics, Mr. President. Blacks in this country aren’t monolithic. We want different things. Besides, it seems as if the road you take to get the result would carry as much weight as the result.
“We need to decide what we want,” Miles said. “Make calls. Write letters. Send e-mails. And just like FDR told A. Philip Randolph, we need to make Obama do it.”
Keith Harriston teaches journalism at Howard University, where he edits www.hunewsservice.com.
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Now free from her major label obligations, Björk‘s undertaken one of the most complex musical experiences ever conceived. With a ten-track album as its centerpiece, Biophilia, includes a unique live show, educational seminars, a documentary and an iOS app built for the gamut of mobile Apple products.
Today, the free iPad/iPhone app Biophilia was released, serving as the home base for access to all subsequent single launches on the way. The application largely mimics the aesthetic of her current website, placing the user at the godly helm of a system of constellations, swerving, zooming and sliding, using familiar finger controls iPhone users are already familiar with.
Each song from the album is represented through a constellation; as of a right now, only one of the ten constellations is lit, her first single “Crystalline.” As she releases new singles, new constellations will light up, opening a portal to purchase the song and its accompanied multimedia experience. In Björk’s mind, these singular interactive encounters emphasize intertwining themes of nature, music, technology and education – each manifested in different ways as new songs become available. For now, the app for “Crystalline” is a game “which provides novel ways to experience music’s spatial relationship,” accompanied with an essay that “traces the relationship between musical and crystal structures.”
Bjork’s flowery hyperbole aside, the app both reflects and helps creates an inflection point in how we consume music and media. In a world of iTunes singles, playlists, and DVR’s, gone is the romantic notion of patiently exploring something from front to back, but rather we can dive into the tiny parts that most attract us and do something unique involving the concept of play. Some might think Bjork’s crazy, but her innovative iPad/iPhone app is a (well thought out) sign of the times. [Download the Biophilia App here.]
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Each sermon is published in large print for use in preaching, and for easy reading by several people gathered around the computer monitor.
LIVE FOR TOMORROW – YESTERDAY IS GONE FOREVER
A SERMON ORIGINALLY DELIVERED AT THE HIGH HILL UNITED
THE FEDERATED CHURCH OF ATHENS
5 APRIL 1992
By Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor
Preparation Verse: (Matthew 6:34)
"Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Our life in Jesus Christ is probably one of the most misunderstood and least appreciated events in the history of human beings.
Our Lord and Savior died to free us from the death sting of our sins.
He paid the price so that we wouldn't have to pay it ourselves.
He doesn't even ask for our thanks in words; but He does require a positive response, as He told the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:10-11).
10. And straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?"
11. And she said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go your way. From now on sin no more."
This woman can never reverse the sin she committed. It is locked in time, and she can never go back and change the events, any more than any of us could.
But what Jesus says is what is done is done. From now on let's live a life that will not lead to those previous sins. Live for tomorrow – yesterday is gone forever.
This doesn't mean that we forget that we have sinned, but that we recognize our sin and the errors of our ways, and are sorry for what we did, and resolve in our heart and soul never to do it again.
Jesus Christ gives us a new start.
Stop worrying about the past, but learn from it.
This is nothing new. We've been told this for a long, long time.
The Lord told us this through the prophet Isaiah in 43:18-21.
18. "Do not call to mind the former things,
Or ponder things of the past.
19. "Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert."
We have to learn to leave room for God.
What might look hopeless to us is hardly a challenge for our Lord.
The worst things in our lives can be straightened out by our compassionate and loving God, if we will let Him; and while He is doing this, He will refresh us with His living waters.
All we have to do is pass this same love and compassion on to every other living being.
And all creation will benefit.
20. "The beasts of the field will glorify Me;
The jackals and the ostriches;
Because I have given waters in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert,
To give drink to My chosen people.
21. "The people whom I formed for Myself,
Will declare My praise."
This is not worrying about the past.
This is enjoying today.
This is living for tomorrow.
In John 12:1-8, we are told of an event which took place in the home of Lazarus; and in a very special and personal way, we see the difference between living for the future and being concerned about past things.
1. Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
2. So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him.
3. Mary therefore took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4. But Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said,
5. "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii, and given to poor people?"
6. Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.
Let's take a moment and look at where the hearts and minds of these people are set.
Martha is concerned with the here and now, and doesn't look very far into the future, even though she knows Jesus is her Messiah.
Lazarus, on the other hand, wants to be filled with all he can receive from Jesus, so that His wisdom would carry him into the future. He is starting with this moment and going forward.
And Mary is a very emotional woman, and she recognizes the sins in her own life. But above all, she trusts in the Lord for her future; and she doesn't care about the value of her possessions, or about seemingly making a fool of herself by her demonstration of her faith; so she anoints His feet with the most valuable thing she has, for she knows Jesus won't be with her on the earth much longer, and this is her way of letting Him know how she feels.
Judas lives only for the present. He doesn't care about the Lord, or any person. He is totally self-centered.
And Jesus, understanding what is taking place, counters the words of Judas, so that others would not lose their forward vision.
7. Jesus therefore said, "Let her alone, in order that she may keep it for the day of My burial.
8. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have Me."
The future for the Judases of this world is cut off with their death; for if we do not repent of our sinful ways and accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we are cut off.
But if we have Jesus in our hearts and minds, we will be able to accomplish all things in His name, including taking care of the poor, the exploited humans and animals, and ourselves.
Living for tomorrow requires faith and trusting in the Lord.
In Paul's letter to the Philippians (3:7f), he expresses in words his own feelings about his relationship with Christ – feelings that Mary could only express by her actions.
Let's listen to what he is saying to us:
7. But whatever things were gain to me, those, things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ,
9. and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,
10. that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
11. in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Judas was concerned about possessions, and he died without them or Christ.
Mary and Paul are not concerned about possessions.
They enjoy what they have for as long as they have it; but when the time comes to let it go, they easily let it go for the sake of Christ.
They use what they have for the benefit of others and for their faith in Christ, so that their life and actions would reflect their faith.
As an example: Mary and I can afford to buy any food or clothing we desire, but because those things coming from animals cause horrible suffering, we no longer contribute to their exploitation.
We no longer eat, wear, or use anything that comes from animals, or uses them for our pleasure; we now only seek to bring the peace of Christ to the whole of creation.
This is part of our faith.
Faith is a word for tomorrow.
For faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
Simply live for the joy of what is to come, and only build upon past things, but never at the expense of any other living being.
If what has taken place is good, continue to build upon it; but if it is not, begin to build anew.
Live for tomorrow – yesterday is gone forever.
Your Comments are welcome
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Themes and Theories: Selected Essays, Speeches and Writings in International Law
As President of the International Court of Justice, Dame Rosalyn Higgins is the world's most senior judge. This two volume set collects together all of her most important writings as a scholar, a member of the UN Human Rights Committee, and as judge and President of the International Court of Justice. During these years Dame Rosalyn has written on a wide range of topics including legal theory, United Nations Law, humanitarian law, the use of force, state and diplomatic immunities, human rights, and natural resources law.
As President and Judge of the International Court of Justice, Dame Rosalyn has played her part in the formulation of the Judgments and Opinions of the principal judicial organ of the UN. She has sought to ensure the ICJ - the senior international court - operates in a modern and efficient manner, and in cordial relationship with the many new courts and tribunals now existing. These aspirations are reflected in her speeches during the years 2006 to 2008, most of which have not hitherto been published. This volume boasts a comprehensive collection of all her Separate Opinions, amongst other writings, divided into ten Parts by subject matter. This includes specially written introductory passages by Dame Rosalyn to present the catalogue of her writings and the correlative developments in international law by theme.
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Ghost in the Machine
THE CUTTING EDGE IN ELECTRONIC AND MODERN ROCK
GITM is often described as having a fresh sound that is distinctive and definitive. They sound like nobody with hints of everybody at the same time.
"Powerful, emotional, unpredictable and engaging - That''s just the way we are and write. We have so many influences, we can''t even count them. Our music is product of this, so it is multi-dimensional as well. Besides, we believe people ...
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Sorry for the brief hiatus. I don’t quite know what happened. Probably just getting used to work and a new schedule and everything. I have a few “lighter” articles in the works for the next couple of days, plus I’m working on more substantial things for other sites. I’ll let you all know. But now, back to beauty.
Last we left the Beauty series, we were discussing the proper way in which to respond to it. Though there’s no absolute “most proper” way to respond, I used our main Biblical text that we’ve been looking at, and an idea developed by C.S. Lewis to break down our response into two useful categories: contemplation and enjoyment. Before we enjoy, we contemplate. This is not to say we can’t enjoy anything apart from comprehensively knowing it, but it does say that a contemplation and exploration of things helps us enjoy them more fully; and to be enjoyed to the fullest is the ultimate desire of Beauty itself. But what does this contemplation look like in real life?
Let’s recall our defintion of Beauty as the attribute of something that expresses complexity, simply. It’s what takes the complex unwoven strands out there in reality and weaves them into a tapestry that we can perceive with our spiritual and physical sense. The more strands are woven more simply, the more beautiful that tapestry is. So in its most basic form, the contemplation of Beauty is thinking through what “strands” or what “complexity” is being represented in the thing in front of you. So what does it look like? Well, formally, in philosophy, this endeavor is called “Aesthetics” or “Metaphysics”. It’s the philosophical study of Beauty and Beautiful things.
In the real world, for the rest of us, I thought of two ways this could look. First, when presented with something that your senses find beautiful, ask yourself, “What is it that’s actually being stirred in me?” Is it romance? Sorrow? Reminders of childhood joys? That stirring is your soul resonating with the strands that are in the tapestry in front of you. This is what art critics are really good at doing: teasing apart the strands that make up any given piece of art. The second way I could see this look is when you are encountered with something or someone that everyone seems to think is so beautiful but you just don’t get it. Maybe it’s the Mona Lisa. You may think: “Yeah, it’s a good painting, but what’s the big deal?” Maybe it’s some piece of abstract art that everyone else is swooning over but you. Maybe it’s a book, poem, or song you just don’t understand. In this case, I would encourage you to do research, read criticism, and try and understand the complexity behind the tapestry that others are noticing, but not you. It seems like people that know Music theory really well seem to like Jazz and Classical more than others. It seems like trained poets like weird abnormal poetry. The better you can understand the complexity in something, the easier it is for you to appreciate and ultimately enjoy the fullness of its beauty. This is why I would encourage all of you to be very curious about as many topics as possible. It’s not for the sake of more knowledge, but so that you can better enjoy the world around you and see it’s Beauty in everything.
Now, what I just went through is more for our everyday use and understanding of subjective, created Beauty. But more importantly, we must learn what it means to contemplate the Beauty of God. In Christianity this endeavor is called “Theology”. If Theology is (as most people know) “the study of God”, then it by definition is the study of Beauty Itself. This is what Theology was meant to be. It’s the kind of theology God calls us to do. Theology is the contemplation of the various complexities and revealed “strands” of God in order to better enjoy Him. John Calvin talks about this in his Institutes of the Christian Religion. He says that if your quote-on-quote “theological study” isn’t leading you to greater praise and enjoyment in God, then you’re not really studying theology! At that point it’s just studying literature – getting a better idea of this “character” named God in this “novel” called “The Bible”. This is why I had to leave seminary. I was in the midst of such beauty and I was numb to it! I was too immature. I didn’t have the spiritual infrastructure to see it for how beautiful it was! This infinite complexity being placed in front of me day in and day out was not leading me to enjoy Him. How many of us live day in and day out surrounded by the objective beauty of Christ and it does nothing to us? This contemplation of the Beauty of God can help us. Just yesterday our brother Marc Savage sent that group text (I have no idea how many of you got it) with this quote from Charles Spurgeon: “There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. No subject of contemplation will tend to more humble the mind, than thoughts of God.”
May I challenge all of us to press in and seek the complexities of Who this God is and how He has revealed Himself? Understanding the beauty of God is of the utmost importance to the Christian, because His beauty is completely pointless. It can’t be manipulated, used, or abused. It can only be enjoyed. Something I’ve learned over time: whenever spirituality of any kind goes awry and goes off track, the Beauty of God is one of the first things to go. The inability to accept the mysterious complexities of God is the beginning of all heresy. You can’t have a right enjoyment of the Beauty of God and be a legalist, libertine (someone who abuses grace), or a hypocrite. Seeking to enjoy the Beauty of God is a guard against all these things. In my reading, one of my favorite things I came across was from a Catholic theologian named John Navone. He says in his book Toward a Theology of Beauty that Christian theologians (which I would argue should be all of us) are people given the task of articulating and putting into words how everything in life is given to us by God. Navone calls this the “givenness” of life and selfhood. This means that all of life is grace – unmerited favor; and that even things that are usually seen as secular (types of visual art, media, culture, jobs, and types of “non-Christian” music) are actually things that “mediate the mystery of the dawn of Christ’s Kingdom, as epiphanies or manifestations of grace. We as theologians [(and I would argue as artists and beholders of beautiful things)] are charged with the task of ushering in and articulating the mysteries of beauty which we will rest in forever.” That’s amazing. He goes on to say that “Theologians [(and I’d say even Christian artists)] are engaged in a dialogue, not only with their public, but with the object of their contemplation.” This should be one of the distinguishing factors between artists that are Christians, compared to those that are not: non-Christian artists can only use their art to dialogue with other people (speaking horizontally) and other art (speaking down). Only the Christian can make art with the confidence and hope that it also speaks and dialogues upwards to a God pleased to see, hear, or watch it.
Now what if you’re hearing all this, but you wouldn’t say you’re a Christian. First, if your interest has been piqued, but you just don’t get it, I’d give you the same encouragement I gave to those earlier that don’t understand the Beauty of things that others find beautiful. Learn about this God. Stick around. Ask questions. Seek answers. Try to see the infinite complexity of this God and how simply he has revealed Himself. Look into how He has revealed Himself and start to pick apart the strands of the incredible tapestry he has revealed Himself as. Secondly, let me encourage you: there is objective Beauty. You heart yearns for it and longs for it, and it is out there. Objective beauty is when the fullest possible complexity is expressed to us. So God – infinite complexity – is that objective Beauty Itself. But people don’t know full objective beauty before they know God. This complexity cannot be comprehended until God changes someone to comprehend it. If you’re not there yet, that’s fine. Pray. Ask God to change you as He has changed many of us. Contemplate this God. Contemplate His world. Contemplate all Beauty.
Why? So we can enjoy Beauty. I’ll see you next time.
Here are the manuscript and lecture that this series is based off of.
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All Power Grid sub-stations will be remotely managed by 2013
All sub-stations of state-owned transmission company Power Grid will be unmanned and remotely managed by next year, chairman R.N. Nayak said Tuesday.
In place of personnel, Nayak said, "there will be cameras watching the functioning of devices and equipment and the stations will be totally managed remotely by the National Transmission Asset Management Centre at Manesar."
Addressing an international conference here on high voltage surge arresters technology, Nayak said having eight persons per substation was a waste of human resources.
Surge arresters are critical in transmission in limiting switching and lightning surges on main equipments like transformers, reactors and circuit breakers.
Nayak also called for domestic manufacturing of line arresters and Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV) circuit protection devices.
"Line arresters are the future. We are ready to give our full support to the industry, but they should focus on manufacturing line arresters as these are urgently needed in the transmission lines in north Bengal, evacuating power from the North Eastern States."
According to Power Grid, surge arresters required for the 1,200 kV National Test Station at Bina, Madhya Pradesh, have been developed indigenously and are in operation since Feb 2012.
Power Grid has a pan-India presence with around 95,329 circuit-km of transmission network.
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Photo by Pylon757 via Flickr Creative Commons
An American Airlines flight carrying 147 people on board, including the seven crewmembers, landed safely at LAX Monday morning after reporting engine trouble on a flight from Kona, Hawaii.
Flight 246 was showing trouble with the left engine, said airline spokesman Matt Miller.
Instruments aboard the Boeing 757 jetliner reportedly indicated a problem about an hour before it was set to touch down in Los Angeles, and the engine was shut down.
Miller said says the craft is designed to fly safely on one engine.
No injuries were reported.
Photo by l indien via Flickr Creative Commons
To purposefully point a laser at an aircraft is now a federal offense, and a Los Angeles 18-year-old faces the possibility of up to 10 years in prison for allegedly aiming a green one at an airplane and a helicopter in March.
Adam Gardenhire was arrested Wednesday and charged with two counts of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft, the second use of new legislation passed last year.
Lasers can blind or distract pilots, according to the FAA, and the growing number of incidents prompted the new measure. More than 3,500 reports were registered last year.
Prosecutors say the man aimed first at a Cessna, and then at the Pasadena police helicopter responding to the pilot's call to authorities.
Lisa Brenner can be reached via Twitter @lisa_brenner
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
YBR of WASHINGTON is NOW ACCEPTING VOLUNTEERS!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
NO SEVERE WEATHER
Monday, January 16, 2012
SEVERE WEATHER ALERT: JANUARY 16th & 17th!
Friday, January 13, 2012
BRIDGE HOUSE CELEBRATES 25 YEARS!
A Quarter Century of Positive Youth Development… Sort Of.
by JT (Jerry) Fest
Twenty-five years ago yesterday, January 12th, 1987, the first four of hundreds of future residents moved into Bridge House; at the time one of only seven demonstration projects for federal Transitional Living Programs for older homeless youth. The success of the program contributed to funding for future TLP’s around the nation, and today Bridge House is the only one of the original seven TLP’s still in operation, making it the oldest continuously funded federal TLP in the country.
Bridge House is considered one of the earliest programs to be based on the principles of Positive Youth Development (PYD), but here’s an interesting fact. In 1987, PYD as a codified best practice did not exist. As the principles and practices of PYD were articulated, it became clear that the design of Bridge House incorporated PYD principles and implemented PYD practices. But if PYD was not known at the time that Bridge House was established, then while it may be accurate to say that the program was designed along lines that were compatible with PYD, it cannot be said that Bridge House was based on PYD. That being the case, it may be interesting to some to learn what the program was based on. As I was director of the program at that time, I am able to answer that question for you.
The original grant that we received here in Portland was a demonstration grant and, as such, I wanted to try something new. After all, it’s not as though housing programs didn’t exist for homeless youth in the ‘80’s … but they weren’t demonstrating much success. While I have long since lost the studies from that time, I remember that the success rate for homeless youth going through housing programs was about 30% back then. Equally concerning was that the success rate for youth exiting street life without any program involvement at all was also about 30%, which was leading some to question whether or not programs were really helping. When the Bridge House demonstration showed a 70% successful rate of transition, people began to take notice, and our success contributed to a focus on PYD. But, again, the program preceded what is now known as PYD, so on what was it based?
In looking for a model to demonstrate I exhausted all existing approaches to housing and transitional living for homeless youth. Replicating the 30% success rate was not our goal; we wanted to find the most effective way to work with this population. When I couldn’t find anything new or promising within the existing approaches to homeless youth, I began to explore other fields. It was in the field of education that I found an approach to emulate when I came across a book called “Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Child Rearing” by Alexander Sutherland (A.S.) Neill (originally published in 1960, an expanded and revised version is now available as “ Summerhill School: A New View of Childhood.”).
Summerhill was a radical new concept in education. Instead of teachers as authoritarians and students as passive recipients of knowledge, Summerhill envisioned adults and young people as co-participants in an educational environment, each with responsibilities to that environment. The basic principles were defined in the forward to the book by sociologist and psychoanalyst Erich Fromm: nourish the whole child’s potential to love life intellectually, as well as emotionally; have him educated commensurate with his capacity, sans dogmatic disciplining; allow him to be free, but without encroaching on anyone; have the teachers maintain a transparency; encourage security in the pupil without resorting to submission and domination tactics, or utilizing guilt in one’s methods; and advocate a theology of human freedom, not sinful suppression. Sounds a lot like Positive Youth Development, doesn’t it? But, pre-dating Positive Youth Development, these principles were referred to as “self-government,” which is why Bridge House was not defined as a PYD model based on development, but as a self-government model based on freedom.
Say the word “freedom” in reference to youth programs and watch the blood drain from many adult’s faces as they envision young people running wild in the streets and terrorizing program staff. Freedom, however, is not license; as Neill himself points out in a later work titled, appropriately enough, Freedom -- Not License, which you can read HERE in its entirety (be aware that this was written in the mid 1960's; some of his commentary on social issues makes for an interesting time capsule). Neill describes it this way:
“It is this distinction between freedom and license that many parents cannot grasp. In the disciplined home, the children have no rights. In the spoiled home, they have all the rights. The proper home is one in which children and adults have equal rights.”
What many fail to understand is that there are no rights without responsibilities. A right without a responsibility is not a right at all; it is an entitlement … and people do not grow, learn, and develop from entitlements. In application to a program for homeless youth, I would paraphrase Neill’s statement and say that it is the distinction between freedom and license that many youth programs cannot grasp. In a structured program, young people have responsibilities with few rights. In an enabling program, young people have rights with few responsibilities. The proper program is one in which young people and adults each have rights and responsibilities, and are held accountable to their actions.
At Bridge House the accountability piece is accomplished through an evaluation system, but that is way beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that Bridge House is a living example that freedom, when properly understood and applied, works … and on this occasion I would like to publically thank each and every staff and resident who has helped to prove that over this past quarter century.
So, with appreciation to A.S. Neill for his inspiration, The Youth Networker wishes Bridge House a happy birthday. While it is my hope that someday programs like you are no longer needed, may you remain open until that day.
This article expresses the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the position or view of the InterNetwork for Youth. For more information about the InterNetwork for Youth, contact author and consultant JT Fest HERE.
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Prediction of outcome and prognosis of patients on mechanical ventilation using body mass index, SOFA score, C-Reactive protein, and serum albumin
Context: Body mass index (BMI), serum albumin, and C-reactive protein (CRP) appear to be major determinants of hospitalization. Aim: To determine the predictive ability of BMI, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA score), serum albumin, and CRP to assess the duration and outcome of mechanical ventilation (MV). Materials and Methods: Thirty patients aged >18 years who required mechanical ventilation (MV) were enrolled for the study. They were divided into two groups; patients who improved (Group 1), patients who expired (Group 2). Group 1 was further divided into two groups: patients on MV for <5 days (Group A), and patients on MV for >5days (Group B). BMI and SOFA score were calculated, and serum albumin and CRP were estimated. Results and Discussion: Out of the 30 patients, 18 patients successfully improved after MV (Group 1) and 12 patients expired (Group 2). Among the 18 patients in group 1, ten patients improved within 5 days (Group A) and 8 patients after 5 days (Group B). SOFA score and CRP were significantly increased (P value 0.0003 and 0.0001, respectively) in group 2 when compared to group 1. CRP >24.2 mg/L or SOFA score >7 at the start of MV increases the probability of mortality by factor 13.08 or 3.92, respectively The above parameters did not show any statistical difference when group A was compared to group B. Conclusion: Simple, economic and easily accessible markers like CRP and assessment tools of critically ill patients with SOFA score are important determinants of possible outcomes of a patient from MV.
Keywords: Body mass index, C-reactive proteins, mechanical ventilation, SOFA score, serum albumin
Endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation (MV) is the standard supportive therapy for acute respiratory failure (ARF). Prolonged endotracheal intubation has become the standard of care in most intensive care units (ICUs) for maintenance of MV. Unfortunately, this approach is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. In critically ill patients suffering from ARF, weaning from ventilatory assistance is a key survival factor. Despite the efficacy of MV, there are still patients in whom positive pressure ventilation is not successful in preventing further deterioration of respiratory function.
Clinical trials and observational studies usually use scoring systems for the assessment of the severity of organ function impairment. One of most popular among them is the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score. SOFA is composed of scores from six organ systems (respiratory, cardiovascular, hepatic, coagulation, renal, and neurological) graded from 0 to 4 according to the degree of dysfunction/failure.
However, the prediction of MV duration is difficult and has been studied by few authors. A retrospective study done on elective cardiac surgical patients showed that vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV 1 ) and arterial oxygen pressure, before surgery, predict the duration of MV. Moreover, for emergent intubation, respiratory parameters cannot be measured before the tracheal intubation. Established prognostic factors such as nutritional depletion as assessed by body mass index (BMI) and serum albumin levels and overall systemic inflammation as estimated by C-reactive protein (CRP) appear to be major determinants of hospitalization and death risk whatever the end-stage respiratory disease. Increased CRP levels are strongly and independently associated with respiratory impairment. A higher CRP value was associated with the development of respiratory failure and subsequent intubation in patients with probable severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Hence, the severity of inflammatory response and impairment of organ function are the major determinants of the outcome in critically ill patients.
The predictive ability of SOFA score, BMI, CRP or serum albumin as a simple, inexpensive, and dynamic marker of critical illness in patients requiring MV has been studied by few authors. Hutter et al. study had showed that the group of patients that failed non invasive positive pressure ventilation had a mean BMI of 23 kg/m 2 , which is relatively under weight. However, authors have not correlated BMI with the duration and outcome of mechanical ventilation. Studies done on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have shown that patients with low BMI and nutritional depletion tend to have poor prognosis. ,, Also high CRP levels have been associated with development of respiratory failure and subsequent intubation in patients with probable severe acute respiratory syndrome. , Frequency of hospitalization in COPD patients have been found to be independently determined by elevated CRP. It has also been shown that BMI of < 23.3 kg/m2 and CRP of >10 mg/L is an independent predictor of more than seven days duration of MV. However, in this study only the patients who had improved were included in the study. We wanted to study whether these parameters can be used to predict mortality of the patients with acute respiratory distress on mechanical ventilation. Hence, this study was designed to determine the presence of a relationship between the SOFA score, BMI, CRP, serum albumin with the duration and outcome of the patients with acute respiratory distress on MV.
Type of study
Prospective follow-up study
Thirty patients (age >18 years) admitted to the ICU of tertiary care hospital and who required mechanical ventilation were enrolled for the study. They were divided into two groups; patients who improved (Group 1), patients who expired (Group 2). Group 1 was further divided into two groups; patients on mechanical ventilator for <5 days (Group A), patients on mechanical ventilator for >5days (Group B). Approval from the institutional ethical committee was taken before commencement of the study. Written consent was taken from the patient relatives before collection of blood. Patients without neuromuscular diseases, left ventricular dysfunction, chest or abdominal trauma, hypokalemia, hypophosphatemia, hypomagnesemia, chest pain or suspected myocardial infarction, coronary bypass surgery, burn injury or any addiction, no history of exacerbation of chronic respiratory failure during the last 3 months were included in the study.
The study was conducted for a period of two months between June 2009 and July 2009. In these two months, there were 76 admissions to the ICU. Out of these, 35 had acute respiratory distress and were intubated. Five were excluded from the study as they did not meet the inclusion criteria. Hence, thirty patients were included in the study.
Data collected from the patients record included age, sex, BMI (kg/m2), SOFA score, underlying disease, documentation of the need for MV, and duration of MV. Strict intake/output chart was maintained for all the patients to estimate their fluid balance. The ICU staffs ensured that all the patients maintained adequate fluid balance. Venous blood was collected within 24 hours after the patient was put on MV and centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 10 minutes and serum was used immediately for the estimation of serum albumin and CRP. Serum albumin was determined by bromocresol green method in Randox Daytona fully automated chemistry analyzer and CRP levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Duration of mechanical ventilation
Duration of MV was calculated from the time the patient was intubated and connected to ventilator till the time he was disconnected from the ventilator. A combination of subjective and objective parameters were used to wean the patient from MV. The objective parameters used were: a) PaO 2 /FiO 2 > 150-200; b) level of positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP) between 5-8 cm H 2 O; c) FiO 2 level <50%; d) pH > 7.25; e) ability to initiate spontaneous breaths. The subjective parameters used were: a) hemodynamic stability; b) absence of active myocardial ischemia; c) absence of clinically significant vasopressor requiring hypotension; d) adequate muscular strength allowing the capability to initiate/sustain the respiratory effort.
Arithmetic mean and SD were estimated to assess the level of various parameters in the study. Differences in the outcome from MV, BMI, CRP, serum albumin, and SOFA score between the defined groups were assessed using the Mann?Whitney nonparametric test. The nonparametric Spearman ranked sign procedure was used to assess the significance of associations. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and positive or negative likelihood ratios (+ LR) for BMI, CRP, serum albumin and SOFA score in predicting the outcome of patients from MV were calculated. Also, receiver operative characteristics (ROC) curves were constructed for each of the predictive variables and the areas under the ROC curves (AUC) were compared. The analyses were facilitated with the use of the MedCalc 22.214.171.124 software packages. Stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to determine; which of the above variable was an independent risk factor for predicting the outcome of patients from MV. Differences were considered significant if the P value was <0.05. In order to test the significance of difference among the four groups based on obesity, analysis of variance was applied at 5% level of significance.
The distribution of patients in the study groups along with their mean age is shown in [Table 1]. Out of the 30 patients enrolled for the study, 18 patients successfully improved after mechanical ventilation support was given to them and 12 patients expired. The mean age and BMI of the patients who improved (Group 1), when compared with those who expired (Group 2), did not show any statistical significance P value 0.56 and 0.25, respectively. Serum albumin levels though decreased in group 2 when compared to group 1 was not statistically significant (P value 0.09). However, SOFA score and CRP were highly increased in group 2 when compared to group 1 (P value 0.0004 and 0.0001, respectively) [Table 2].
Out of the 18 patients in group 1, 10 patients improved within 5 days and 8 improved after 5 days. The mean age of the patients belonging to the two groups were comparable and did not show any statistical significance (P value >0.48). Also, mean BMI, serum albumin, CRP, and SOFA score did not show any statistical significance in the two groups [Table 3].
When patients were classified based on the Indian Standards of BMI, 50% of the patients had normal BMI (BMI: 18.5 to 22.9), 23.3% of the patients were under weight (BMI <18.5), 13.3% of the patients were overweight (BMI 23-25), and 13.3% were obese (BMI >25). Age, duration of MV, SOFA score, and serum albumin and CRP levels did not show any statistical difference in the four groups based on the Indian standar5ds of BMI [Table 4].
The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, positive or negative LR and area under the ROC curve (AUC) to predict the outcome of the patient from MV is shown in [Table 5] and [Figure 1]. CRP had high specificity or PPV for predicting the outcome from MV. The SOFA score had high sensitivity or NPV for this purpose. The AUC for CRP or SOFA score was not significantly different (P > 0.05). CRP >24.2 mg/L or SOFA score >7 at the start of MV increases the probability of mortality by factor 13.08 or 3.92, respectively. By performing stepwise logistic regression analysis, it was shown that the most powerful predictor of outcome of patients from MV was SOFA score. An increase of 1 in SOFA score significantly increased the relative probability of mortality by a factor of 1.662 (95% CI, 1.1659-2.3707, P = 0.005). Also, by performing Spearman ranked correlations it was seen that CRP and SOFA score at the start of MV showed highest correlation with the mortality (rs = 0.68 and rs = 0.59, respectively). The association was negative with serum albumin concentration [Table 6].
The severity of inflammatory response and impairment of organ function are the major determinants of the outcome in critically ill patients. , With an increase in the number of overweight and obese patients admitted to the ICU, morbidity and mortality have become a concern for the ICU physicians. In our study, CRP showed a significant relationship with the outcome of patient from MV. The level of CRP, which is a marker of inflammation, is known to increase in conditions in which the body is under stress. Their levels were more or less the same in patients who improved after being on mechanical ventilation regardless of the duration they required for improvement as shown in [Table 3]. On the other hand, patients in group 2 who had very high levels of CRP could not survive even after being on mechanical ventilation as shown in [Table 2]. However, BMI did not have significant relation with either the duration of MV or the outcome of patient from MV. The serum albumin was comparatively higher in patients who responded to mechanical ventilation successfully than those who expired. However, it was not statistically significant as indicated in [Table 2]. Patients who had a lower SOFA score had better chances of weaning indicating that overall Systemic Organ Failure may lead to death even after prolonged ventilation. So calculation of SOFA score is helpful in predicting the outcome of the patient on mechanical ventilator. Similarly, patients who have a higher SOFA score could not survive [Table 2] indicating that SOFA score can act as a good predictor of outcome from MV.
Several studies have shown that the two major determinants of outcome in patients with end-stage respiratory disease were BMI and CRP. ,, It has been shown that the patients who failed noninvasive positive pressure ventilation had a mean BMI of 23 kg/m 2 , which is relatively underweight. Also, for each 1-point increase in BMI, there was a 29% decrease in the risk of endotracheal intubation and MV. Lower muscle mass makes it more likely that a patient will become dependent on MV and less likely that a patient will have effective cough. In addition to this, it has been shown that critically ill patients in overweight and obese categories have a better survival and discharge functional status. However, in our study when the patients were classified into four groups based on their BMI there was no significant difference in their duration of mechanical ventilation, serum albumin and CRPs as shown in [Table 4]. This could probably be due to the small sample size involved in the study group. The serum albumin concentration in COPD patients with acute respiratory failure who require MV was associated with survival and successful weaning. The albumin and blood glucose are possible indexes of the metabolic status of trauma patient, which could be essential in deciding the need for ventilator and weanable status of the patients who are mechanically ventilated for extended periods of time. However, in our study serum albumin levels did not show any significant association with duration as well as outcome of the patient on MV.
A strong and independent association of increased CRP and respiratory failure were shown in several studies. , The relationship between CRP and prognosis is also well recognized in chronic respiratory failure. Also the circulating blood levels of several inflammatory cytokines and acute phase proteins were higher in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Hornarmand et al showed that both BMI and CRP when compared with the SOFA score, can be used in estimating the risk of prolonged MV and concluded that BMI <23.3 kg/m 2 or CRP >10 mg/L at the time of discontinuation of MV were independent predictors of more than seven days duration of MV. Also, an increase of 1 in CRP-2 or BMI-2 significantly increased the relative probability of >7 days of MV by a factor 1.454 or 1.201, respectively. These data confirm the association of systemic inflammation with respiratory failure. However, in our study CRP >24.2 mg/L or SOFA score >7 at the start of MV showed an increased probability of mortality by factor 13.08 or 3.92 respectively. More severe the organ injury, as implicated by the SOFA score calculation, higher the CRP levels. Also, elevated concentrations of serum CRP correlated well with mortality as shown in [Table 6]. There is an increasing body of evidence supporting the critical role of the vascular endothelium in the pathogenesis of multiple organ failure in critically ill patients. , CRP can act directly on endothelial cells, inducing the production of inflammatory cytokines. These data show that measuring serum CRP level during the period of MV acts as a marker for predicting risk of organ failure and subsequent outcome of the patient from mechanical ventilation.
Limitation of the study
Small sample size is the limitation of the study. Therefore, large-scale, multi-centric, prospective epidemiologic studies must be conducted to confirm and validate the findings of this preliminary study.
Simple, economic and easily accessible markers like CRP and assessment tools of critically ill patients with SOFA score are important determinants of possible outcomes of a patient from MV.
The study was done as a part of ICMR-STS 2010
[Table 1], [Table 2], [Table 3], [Table 4], [Table 5], [Table 6]
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MIAMI (AP) — Elvis may have left the building, but on one Miami street he’s making another appearance in time for his 78th birthday.
Neo-pop artist Pete Kirill painted a mural of Elvis on a building in Miami’s Wynwood arts district in honor of the rock ‘n’ roll king.
Kirill’s mural features Elvis in a black sweatsuit, thick gold rope necklace and high-top fade in front of a bright green background.
The artist told The Miami Herald he wanted to mix hip hop culture and the American icon to make a statement about how Elvis was influenced by black music, and how that in turn has been influenced by rock ‘n’ roll.
The mural was finished by Elvis’ birthday on Friday.
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This epistle clearly is connected with the former epistle of Peter. The apostle having stated the blessings to which God has called Christians, exhorts those who had received these precious gifts, to endeavour to improve in graces and virtues. They are urged to this from the wickedness of false teachers. They are guarded against impostors and scoffers, by disproving their false assertions, ch. 3:1-7 , and by showing why the great day of Christ's coming was delayed, with a description of its awful circumstances and consequences; and suitable exhortations to diligence and holiness are given.
Exhortations to add the exercise of various other graces to faith (1-11) The apostle looks forward to his approaching decease. (12-15) And confirms the truth of the gospel, relating to Christ's appearing to judgment. (16-21)
Verses 1-11 Faith unites the weak believer to Christ, as really as it does the strong one, and purifies the heart of one as truly as of another; and every sincere believer is by his faith justified in the sight of God. Faith worketh godliness, and produces effects which no other grace in the soul can do. In Christ all fulness dwells, and pardon, peace, grace, and knowledge, and new principles, are thus given through the Holy Spirit. The promises to those who are partakers of a Divine nature, will cause us to inquire whether we are really renewed in the spirit of our minds; let us turn all these promises into prayers for the transforming and purifying grace of the Holy Spirit. The believer must add knowledge to his virtue, increasing acquaintance with the whole truth and will of God. We must add temperance to knowledge; moderation about worldly things; and add to temperance, patience, or cheerful submission to the will of God. Tribulation worketh patience, whereby we bear all calamities and crosses with silence and submission. To patience we must add godliness: this includes the holy affections and dispositions found in the true worshipper of God; with tender affection to all fellow Christians, who are children of the same Father, servants of the same Master, members of the same family, travellers to the same country, heirs of the same inheritance. Wherefore let Christians labour to attain assurance of their calling, and of their election, by believing and well-doing; and thus carefully to endeavour, is a firm argument of the grace and mercy of God, upholding them so that they shall not utterly fall. Those who are diligent in the work of religion, shall have a triumphant entrance into that everlasting kingdom where Christ reigns, and they shall reign with him for ever and ever; and it is in the practice of every good work that we are to expect entrance to heaven.
Verses 12-15 We must be established in the belief of the truth, that we may not be shaken by every wind of doctrine; and especially in the truth necessary for us to know in our day, what belongs to our peace, and what is opposed in our time. The body is but a tabernacle, or tent, of the soul. It is a mean and movable dwelling. The nearness of death makes the apostle diligent in the business of life. Nothing can so give composure in the prospect, or in the hour, of death, as to know that we have faithfully and simply followed the Lord Jesus, and sought his glory. Those who fear the Lord, talk of his loving-kindness. This is the way to spread the knowledge of the Lord; and by the written word, they are enabled to do this.
Verses 16-21 The gospel is no weak thing, but comes in power, Ro. 1:16 . The law sets before us our wretched state by sin, but there it leaves us. It discovers our disease, but does not make known the cure. It is the sight of Jesus crucified, in the gospel, that heals the soul. Try to dissuade the covetous worlding from his greediness, one ounce of gold weighs down all reasons. Offer to stay a furious man from anger by arguments, he has not patience to hear them. Try to detain the licentious, one smile is stronger with him than all reason. But come with the gospel, and urge them with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, shed to save their souls from hell, and to satisfy for their sins, and this is that powerful pleading which makes good men confess that their hearts burn within them, and bad men, even an Agrippa, to say they are almost persuaded to be Christians, Ac. 26:28 . God is well pleased with Christ, and with us in him. This is the Messiah who was promised, through whom all who believe in him shall be accepted and saved. The truth and reality of the gospel also are foretold by the prophets and penmenof the Old Testament, who spake and wrote under influence, and according to the direction of the Spirit of God. How firm and sure should our faith be, who have such a firm and sure word to rest upon! When the light of the Scripture is darted into the blind mind and dark understanding, by the Holy Spirit of God, it is like the day-break that advances, and diffuses itself through the whole soul, till it makes perfect day. As the Scripture is the revelation of the mind and will of God, every man ought to search it, to understand the sense and meaning. The Christian knows that book to be the word of God, in which he tastes a sweetness, and feels a power, and sees a glory, truly divine. And the prophecies already fulfilled in the person and salvation of Christ, and in the great concerns of the church and the world, form an unanswerable proof of the truth of Christianity. The Holy Ghost inspired holy men to speak and write. He so assisted and directed them in delivering what they had received from him, that they clearly expressed what they made known. So that the Scriptures are to be accounted the words of the Holy Ghost, and all the plainness and simplicity, all the power and all the propriety of the words and expressions, come from God. Mix faith with what you find in the Scriptures, and esteem and reverence the Bible as a book written by holy men, taught by the Holy Ghost.
2 Peter 1:1-21 . ADDRESS: EXHORTATION TO ALL GRACES, AS GOD HAS GIVEN US, IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST, ALL THINGS PERTAINING TO LIFE: CONFIRMED BY THE TESTIMONY OF APOSTLES, AND ALSO PROPHETS, TO THE POWER AND COMING OF CHRIST.
1. Simon--the Greek form: in oldest manuscripts, "Symeon" (Hebrew, that is, "hearing), as in Acts 15:14 . His mention of his original name accords with the design of this Second Epistle, which is to warn against the coming false teachers, by setting forth the true "knowledge" of Christ on the testimony of the original apostolic eye-witnesses like himself. This was not required in the First Epistle.
servant--"slave": so Paul, Romans 1:1 .
to them, &c.--He addresses a wider range of readers (all believers) than in the First Epistle, 2 Peter 1:1 , but means to include especially those addressed in the First Epistle, as 2 Peter 3:1 proves.
obtained--by grace. Applied by Peter to the receiving of the apostleship, literally, "by allotment": as the Greek is, Luke 1:9 , John 19:24 . They did not acquire it for themselves; the divine election is as independent of man's control, as the lot which is east forth.
like precious--"equally precious" to all: to those who believe, though not having seen Christ, as well as to Peter and those who have seen Him. For it lays hold of the same "exceeding great and precious promises," and the same "righteousness of God our Saviour." "The common salvation . . . the faith once delivered unto the saints" ( Jude 1:3 ).
with us--apostles and eye-witnesses ( 2 Peter 1:18 ). Though putting forward his apostleship to enforce his exhortation, he with true humility puts himself, as to "the faith," on a level with all other believers. The degree of faith varies in different believers; but in respect to its objects, present justification, sanctification, and future glorification, it is common alike to all. Christ is to all believers "made of God wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption."
through--Greek, "in." Translate, as the one article to both nouns requires, "the righteousness of Him who is (at once) our God and (our) Saviour." Peter, confirming Pau;'s testimony to the same churches, adopts Paul's inspired phraseology. The Gospel plan sets forth God's righteousness, which is Christ's righteousness, in the brightest light. Faith has its sphere IN it as its peculiar element: God is in redemption "righteous," and at the same time a "Saviour"; compare Isaiah 45:21 , "a just God and a Saviour.
2. Grace . . . peace--( 1 Peter 1:2 ).
through--Greek, "in": the sphere IN which alone grace and peace can be multiplied.
knowledge--Greek, "full knowledge."
of God, and of Jesus our Lord--The Father is here meant by "God," but the Son in 2 Peter 1:1 : marking how entirely one the Father and Son are ( John 14:7-11 ). The Vulgate omits "of God and"; but oldest manuscripts support the words. Still the prominent object of Peter's exhortation is "the knowledge of Jesus our Lord" (a phrase only in Romans 4:24 ), and, only secondarily, of the Father through Him ( 2 Peter 1:8 , 2 Peter 2:20 , 3:18 ).
3. According as, &c.--Seeing that [ALFORD]. "As He hath given us ALL things (needful) for life and godliness, (so) do you give us ALL diligence," &c. The oil and flame are given wholly of grace by God, and "taken" by believers: their part henceforth is to "trim their lamps" (compare 2 Peter 1:3 2 Peter 1:4 with 2 Peter 1:5 , &c.).
life and godliness--Spiritual life must exist first before there can be true godliness. Knowledge of God experimentally is the first step to life ( John 17:3 ). The child must have vital breath. first, and then cry to, and walk in the ways of, his father. It is not by godliness that we obtain life, but by life, godliness. To life stands opposed corruption; to godliness, lust ( 2 Peter 1:4 ).
called us--( 2 Peter 1:10 ); "calling" ( 1 Peter 2:9 ).
to glory and virtue--rather, "through (His) glory." Thus English Version reads as one oldest manuscript. But other oldest manuscripts and Vulgate read, "By His own (peculiar) glory and virtue"; being the explanation of "His divine power"; glory and moral excellency (the same attribute is given to God in 1 Peter 2:9 , "praises," literally, "virtues") characterize God's "power." "Virtue," the standing word in heathen ethics, is found only once in Paul ( Philippians 4:8 ), and in Peter in a distinct sense from its classic usage; it (in the heathen sense) is a term too low and earthly for expressing the gifts of the Spirit [TRENCH, Greek Synonyms of the New Testament].
4. Whereby, &c.--By His glory and virtue: His glory making the "promises" to be exceeding great; His virtue making them "precious" [BENGEL]. Precious promises are the object of precious faith.
given--The promises themselves are a gift: for God's promises are as sure as if they were fulfilled.
by these--promises. They are the object of faith, and even now have a sanctifying effect on the believer, assimilating him to God. Still more so, when they shall be fulfilled.
might, &c.--Greek, "that ye MAY become partakers of the divine nature," even now in part; hereafter perfectly; 1 John 3:2 , "We shall be like Him."
the divine nature--not God's essence, but His holiness, including His "glory" and "virtue," 2 Peter 1:3 ; the opposite to "corruption through lust." Sanctification is the imparting to us of God Himself by the Holy Spirit in the soul. We by faith partake also of the material nature of Jesus ( Ephesians 5:30 ). The "divine power" enables us to be partakers of "the divine nature."
escaped the corruption--which involves in, and with itself, destruction at last of soul and body; on "escaped" as from a condemned cell, compare 2 Peter 2:18-20 , Genesis 19:17 , Colossians 1:13 .
through--Greek, "in." "The corruption in the world" has its seat, not so much in the surrounding elements, as in the "lust" or concupiscence of men's hearts.
5. And beside this--rather, "And for this very reason," namely, "seeing that His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness" ( 2 Peter 1:3 ).
giving--literally, "introducing," side by side with God's gift, on your part "diligence." Compare an instance, 2 Peter 1:10 , 2 Peter 3:14 , 2 Corinthians 7:11 .
add--literally, "minister additionally," or, abundantly (compare Greek, 2 Corinthians 9:10 ); said properly of the one who supplied all the equipments of a chorus. So accordingly, "there will be ministered abundantly unto you an entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Saviour" ( 2 Peter 1:11 ).
to--Greek, "in"; "in the possession of your faith, minister virtue. Their faith (answering to "knowledge of Him," 2 Peter 1:3 ) is presupposed as the gift of God ( 2 Peter 1:3 , Ephesians 2:8 ), and is not required to be ministered by us; in its exercise, virtue is to be, moreover, ministered. Each grace being assumed, becomes the stepping stone to the succeeding grace: and the latter in turn qualifies and completes the former. Faith leads the band; love brings up the rear [BENGEL]. The fruits of faith specified are seven, the perfect number.
virtue--moral excellency; manly, strenuous energy, answering to the virtue (energetic excellency) of God.
and to--Greek, "in"; "and in (the exercise of) your virtue knowledge," namely, practical discrimination of good and evil; intelligent appreciation of what is the will of God in each detail of practice.
6. Greek, "And in your knowledge self-control." In the exercise of Christian knowledge or discernment of God's will, let there be the practical fruit of self-control as to one's lusts and passions. Incontinence weakens the mind; continence, or self-control, moves weakness and imparts strength And in your self-control patient endurance" amidst sufferings, so much dwelt on in the First Epistle, second, third, and fourth chapters. "And in your patient endurance godliness"; it is not to be mere stoical endurance, but united to [and flowing from] God-trusting [ALFORD].
7. "And in your godliness brotherly kindness"; not suffering your godliness to be moroseness, nor a sullen solitary habit of life, but kind, generous, and courteous [ALFORD]. Your natural affection and brotherly kindness are to be sanctified by godliness. "And in your brotherly kindness love," namely, to all men, even to enemies, in thought, word, and deed. From brotherly kindness we are to go forward to love. Compare 1 Thessalonians 3:12 , "Love one toward another (brotherly kindness), and toward all men (charity)." So charity completes the choir of graces in Colossians 3:14 . In a retrograde order, he who has love will exercise brotherly kindness; he who has brotherly kindness will feel godliness needful; the godly will mix nothing stoical with his patience; to the patient, temperance is easy; the temperate weighs things well, and so has knowledge; knowledge guards against sudden impulse carrying away its virtue [BENGEL].
8. be--Greek, "subsist" that is, supposing these things to have an actual subsistence in you; "be" would express the mere matter-of-fact being ( Acts 16:20 ).
abound--more than in others; so the Greek.
make--"render," "constitute you," habitually, by the very fact of possessing these graces.
barren--"inactive," and, as a field lying fallow and unworked (Greek), so barren and useless.
unfruitful in--rather, . . . in respect to, "The full knowledge (Greek) of Christ" is the goal towards which all these graces tend. As their subsisting in us constitutes us not barren or idle, so their abounding in us constitutes us not unfruitful in respect to it. It is through doing His will, and so becoming like Him, that we grow in knowing Him ( John 7:17 ).
9. But--Greek, "For." Confirming the need of these graces ( 2 Peter 1:5-8 ) by the fatal consequences of the want of them.
he that lacketh--Greek, "he to whom these are not present."
blind--as to the spiritual realities of the unseen world.
and cannot see afar off--explanatory of "blind." He closes his eyes (Greek) as unable to see distant objects (namely, heavenly things), and fixes his gaze on present and earthly things which alone he can see. Perhaps a degree of wilfulness in the blindness is implied in the Greek, "closing the eyes," which constitutes its culpability; hating and rebelling against the light shining around him.
forgotten--Greek, "contracted forgetfulness," wilful and culpable obliviousness.
that he was purged--The continually present sense of one's sins having been once for all forgiven, is the strongest stimulus to every grace ( Psalms 130:4 ). This once-for-all accomplished cleansing of unbelievers at their new birth is taught symbolically by Christ, John 13:10 , Greek, "He that has been bathed (once for all) needeth not save to wash his feet (of the soils contracted in the daily walk), but is clean every whit (in Christ our righteousness)." "Once purged (with Christ's blood), we should have no more consciousness of sin (as condemning us, Hebrews 10:2 , because of God's promise)." Baptism is the sacramental pledge of this.
10. Wherefore--seeking the blessed consequence of having, and the evil effects of not having, these graces ( 2 Peter 1:8 2 Peter 1:9 ).
the rather--the more earnestly.
brethren--marking that it is affection for them which constrains him so earnestly to urge them. Nowhere else does he so address them, which makes his calling them so here the more emphatical.
give diligence--The Greek aorist implies one lifelong effect [ALFORD].
to make--Greek middle voice; to make so far as it depends on you; to do your part towards making. "To make" absolutely and finally is God's part, and would be in the active.
your calling and election sure--by ministering additionally in your faith virtue, and in your virtue knowledge, &c. God must work all these graces in us, yet not so that we should be mere machines, but willing instruments in His hands in making His election of us "secure." The ensuring of our election is spoken of not in respect to God, whose counsel is steadfast and everlasting, but in respect to our part. There is no uncertainty on His part, but on ours the only security is our faith in His promise and the fruits of the Spirit ( 2 Peter 1:5-7 2 Peter 1:11 ). Peter subjoins election to calling, because the calling is the effect and proof of God's election, which goes before and is the main thing ( Romans 8:28 Romans 8:30 Romans 8:33 , where God's "elect" are those "predestinated," and election is "His purpose," according to which He "called" them). We know His calling before His election, thereby calling is put first.
fall--Greek, "stumble" and fall finally ( Romans 11:11 ). Metaphor from one stumbling in a race ( 1 Corinthians 9:24 ).
11. an entrance--rather as Greek, "the entrance" which ye look for.
ministered--the same verb as in 2 Peter 1:5 . Minister in your faith virtue and the other graces, so shall there be ministered to you the entrance into that heaven where these graces shine most brightly. The reward of grace hereafter shall correspond to the work of grace here.
abundantly--Greek, "richly." It answers to "abound," 2 Peter 1:8 . If these graces abound in you, you shall have your entrance into heaven not merely "scarcely" (as he had said, 1 Peter 4:18 ), nor "so as by fire," like one escaping with life after having lost all his goods, but in triumph without "stumbling and falling."
12. Wherefore--as these graces are so necessary to your abundant entrance into Christ's kingdom ( 2 Peter 1:10 2 Peter 1:11 ).
I will not be negligent--The oldest manuscripts read, "I will be about always to put you in remembrance" (an accumulated future: I will regard you as always needing to be reminded): compare "I will endeavor," 2 Peter 1:15 . "I will be sure always to remind you" [ALFORD]. "Always"; implying the reason why he writes the second Epistle so soon after the first. He feels there is likely to be more and more need of admonition on account of the increasing corruption ( 2 Peter 2:1 2 Peter 2:2 ).
in the present truth--the Gospel truth now present with you: formerly promised to Old Testament believers as about to be, now in the New Testament actually present with, and in, believers, so that they are "established" in it as a "present" reality. Its importance renders frequent monitions never superfluous: compare Paul's similar apology, Romans 15:14 Romans 15:15 .
13. Yea--Greek, "But"; though "you know" the truth ( 2 Peter 1:12 ).
this tabernacle--soon to be taken down ( 2 Corinthians 5:1 ): I therefore need to make the most of my short time for the good of Christ's Church. The zeal of Satan against it, the more intense as his time is short, ought to stimulate Christians on the same ground.
by--Greek, "in" (compare 2 Peter 3:1 ).
14. shortly I must put off--Greek, "the putting off (as a garment) of my tabernacle is speedy": implying a soon approaching, and also a sudden death (as a violent death is). Christ's words, John 21:18 John 21:19 , "When thou art old," &c. were the ground of his "knowing," now that he was old, that his foretold martyrdom was near. Compare as to Paul, 2 Timothy 4:6 . Though a violent death, he calls it a "departure" (Greek for "decease," 2 Peter 1:15 ), compare Acts 7:60 .
15. endeavour--"use my diligence": the same Greek word as in 2 Peter 1:10 :this is the field in which my diligence has scope. Peter thus fulfils Christ's charge, "Feed My sheep" ( John 21:16 John 21:17 ).
decease--"departure." The very word ("exodus") used in the Transfiguration, Moses and Elias conversing about Christ's decease (found nowhere else in the New Testament, but Hebrews 11:22 , "the departing of Israel" out of Egypt, to which the saints' deliverance from the present bondage of corruption answers). "Tabernacle" is another term found here as well as there ( Luke 9:31 Luke 9:33 ): an undesigned coincidence confirming Peter's authorship of this Epistle.
that ye may be able--by the help of this written Epistle; and perhaps also of Mark's Gospel, which Peter superintended.
always--Greek, "on each occasion": as often as occasion may require.
to have . . . in remembrance--Greek, "to exercise remembrance of." Not merely "to remember," as sometimes we do, things we care not about; but "have them in (earnest) remembrance," as momentous and precious truths.
16. For--reason why he is so earnest that the remembrance of these things should be continued after his death.
followed--out in detail.
cunningly devised--Greek, "devised by (man's) wisdom"; as distinguished from what the Holy Ghost teaches (compare 1 Corinthians 3:13 ). But compare also 2 Peter 2:3 , "feigned words."
fables--as the heathen mythologies, and the subsequent Gnostic "fables and genealogies," of which the germs already existed in the junction of Judaism with Oriental philosophy in Asia Minor. A precautionary protest of the Spirit against the rationalistic theory of the Gospel history being myth.
when we made known unto you--not that Peter himself had personally taught the churches in Pontus, Galatia, &c., but he was one of the apostles whose testimony was borne to them, and to the Church in general, to whom this Epistle is addressed ( 2 Peter 1:1 , including, but not restricted, as First Peter, to the churches in Pontus, &c.).
power--the opposite of "fables"; compare the contrast of "word" and "power," 1 Corinthians 4:20 . A specimen of His power was given at the Transfiguration also of His "coming" again, and its attendant glory. The Greek for "coming" is always used of His second advent. A refutation of the scoffers ( 2 Peter 3:4 ): I, James and John, saw with our own eyes a mysterious sample of His coming glory.
were--Greek, "were made."
eye-witnesses--As initiated spectators of mysteries (so the Greek), we were admitted into His innermost secrets, namely, at the Transfiguration.
his--emphatical (compare Greek): "THAT great ONE'S majesty."
17. received . . . honour--in the voice that spake to Him.
glory--in the light which shone around Him. came Greek, "was borne": the same phrase occurs only in 1 Peter 1:13 ; one of several instances showing that the argument against the authenticity of this Second Epistle. from its dissimilarity of style as compared with First Peter, is not well founded.
such a voice--as he proceeds to describe.
from the excellent glory--rather as Greek, "by (that is uttered by) the magnificent glory (that is, by God: as His glorious manifested presence is often called by the Hebrews "the Glory," compare "His Excellency," Deuteronomy 33:26 , Psalms 21:5 )."
in whom--Greek, "in regard to whom" (accusative case); but Matthew 17:5 , "in whom" (dative case) centers and rests My good pleasure. Peter also omits, as not required by his purpose, "hear Him," showing his independence in his inspired testimony.
I am--Greek aorist, past time, "My good pleasure rested from eternity."
18. which came--rather as Greek, "we heard borne from heaven."
holy mount--as the Transfiguration mount came to be regarded, on account of the manifestation of Christ's divine glory there.
we--emphatical: we, James and John, as well as myself.
19. We--all believers.
a more sure--rather as Greek, "we have the word of prophecy more sure (confirmed)." Previously we knew its sureness by faith, but, through that visible specimen of its hereafter entire fulfilment, assurance is made doubly sure. Prophecy assures us that Christ's sufferings, now past, are to be followed by Christ's glory, still future: the Transfiguration gives us a pledge to make our faith still stronger, that "the day" of His glory will "dawn" ere long. He does not mean to say that "the word of prophecy," or Scripture, is surer than the voice of God heard at the Transfiguration, as English Version; for this is plainly not the fact. The fulfilment of prophecy so far in Christ's history makes us the surer of what is yet to be fulfilled, His consummated glory. The word was the "lamp (Greek for 'light') heeded" by Old Testament believers, until a gleam of the "day dawn" was given at Christ's first coming, and especially in His Transfiguration. So the word is a lamp to us still, until "the day" burst forth fully at the second coming of "the Sun of righteousness." The day, when it dawns upon you, makes sure the fact that you saw correctly, though indistinctly, the objects revealed by the lamp.
whereunto--to which word of prophecy, primarily the Old Testament in Peter's day; but now also in our day the New Testament, which, though brighter than the Old Testament (compare 1 John 2:8 , end), is but a lamp even still as compared with the brightness of the eternal day (compare 2 Peter 3:2 ). Oral teachings and traditions of ministers are to be tested by the written word ( Acts 17:11 ).
dark--The Greek implies squalid, having neither water nor light: such spiritually is the world without, and the smaller world (microcosm) within, the heart in its natural state. Compare the "dry places" Luke 11:24 (namely, unwatered by the Spirit), through which the unclean spirit goeth.
dawn--bursting through the darkness.
day star--Greek, the morning star," as Revelation 22:16 . The Lord Jesus.
in your hearts--Christ's arising in the heart by His Spirit giving full assurance, creates spiritually full day in the heart, the means to which is prayerfully giving heed to the word. This is associated with the coming of the day of the Lord, as being the earnest of it. Indeed, even our hearts shall not fully realize Christ in all His unspeakable glory and felt presence, until He shall come ( Malachi 4:2 ). Isaiah 66:14 Isaiah 66:15 , "When you see this, your heart shall rejoice . . . For, behold, the Lord will come." However, TREGELLES' punctuation is best, "whereunto ye do well to take heed (as unto a light shining in a dark place, until the day have dawned and the morning star arisen) in your hearts." For the day has already dawned in the heart of believers; what they wait for is its visible manifestation at Christ's coming.
20. "Forasmuch as ye know this" ( 1 Peter 1:18 ).
first--the foremost consideration in studying the word of prophecy. Laying it down as a first principle never to be lost sight of.
is--Greek, not the simple verb, to be, but to begin to be, "proves to be," "becometh." No prophecy is found to be the result of "private (the mere individual writer's uninspired) interpretation" (solution), and so origination. The Greek noun epilusis, does not mean in itself origination; but that which the sacred writer could not always fully interpret, though being the speaker or writer (as 1 Peter 1:10-12 implies), was plainly not of his own, but of God's disclosure, origination, and inspiration, as Peter proceeds to add, "But holy men . . . spake (and afterwards wrote) . . . moved by the Holy Ghost": a reason why ye should "give" all "heed" to it. The parallelism to 2 Peter 1:16 shows that "private interpretation," contrasted with "moved by the Holy Ghost," here answers to "fables devised by (human) wisdom," contrasted with "we were eye-witnesses of His majesty," as attested by the "voice from God." The words of the prophetical (and so of all) Scripture writers were not mere words of the individuals, and therefore to be interpreted by them, but of "the Holy Ghost" by whom they were "moved." "Private" is explained, 2 Peter 1:21 , "by the will of man" (namely, the individual writer). In a secondary sense the text teaches also, as the word is the Holy Spirit's, it cannot be interpreted by its readers (any more than by its writers) by their mere private human powers, but by the teaching of the Holy Ghost ( John 16:14 ). "He who is the author of Scripture is its supreme interpreter" [GERHARD]. ALFORD translates, "springs not out of human interpretation," that is, is not a prognostication made by a man knowing what he means when he utters it, but," &c. ( John 11:49-52 ). Rightly: except that the verb is rather, doth become, or prove to be. It not being of private interpretation, you must "give heed" to it, looking for the Spirit's illumination "in your hearts" (compare Note,
21. came not in old time--rather, "was never at any time borne" (to us).
by the will of man--alone. Jeremiah 23:26 , "prophets of the deceit of their own heart." Compare 2 Peter 3:5 , "willingly."
holy--One oldest manuscript has, "men FROM God": the emissaries from God. "Holy," if read, will mean because they had the Holy Spirit.
moved--Greek, "borne" (along) as by a mighty wind: Acts 2:2 , "rushing (the same Greek) wind": rapt out of themselves: still not in fanatical excitement ( 1 Corinthians 14:32 ). The Hebrew "nabi," "prophet," meant an announcer or interpreter of God: he, as God's spokesman, interpreted not his own "private" will or thought, but God's "Man of the Spirit" ( Hosea 9:7 , Margin). "Thou testifiedst by Thy Spirit in Thy prophets." "Seer," on the other hand, refers to the mode of receiving the communications from God, rather than to the utterance of them to others. "Spake" implies that, both in its original oral announcement, and now even when in writing, it has been always, and is, the living voice of God speaking to us through His inspired servants. Greek, "borne (along)" forms a beautiful antithesis to "was borne." They were passive, rather than active instruments. The Old Testament prophets primarily, but including also all the inspired penmen, whether of the New or Old Testament ( 2 Peter 3:2 ).
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I’m at my parents’ house for the holidays, and actually have time to go online and catch up on the old blogs I used to read.
Jeff on Feminist Allies writes in What Men Can Do Wednesday: Avoid Being the Hero that the need to be rescued is a gendered act. (And illustrates his post with some lovely pictures of knights and LEGOS.)
We all need to be rescued, from time to time. That’s what friends, lovers and family are for, in part. Our social networks are also, to some degree, our rescuers, our safety nets. There’s no shame in wanting to help people, or needing some help, gender be damned. However, men are trained from boyhood that they not only need to tend to their own needs, but they must rescue those women who need saving.
The “white knight syndrome” is replayed in videogames, where I, the player, embody the white knight in so many of the games I love, Legend of Zelda, the most of last ten years of Final Fantasy games, even Paper Mario. Growing up, living in stories through gaming in a way I couldn’t through reading books or watching films that replayed the same white male heroic trope, no wonder I expected it when I went into videogame communities as a confused and depressed teenager. As I recently wrote about in Cerise, the guys there were more than willing to step up, in a very gendered and possessive way, and be my fucked-up hero. And I wanted it.
And what’s it do to my gender identity, my self esteem, my confidence in my agency, being the hero when I game, and then entering a community of folks who share my hobby and becoming the one that needs to be rescued?
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The Canary with the Best Song25968_000_006
President Monson teaches that the Lord looks not on appearance but on the heart.
Some years ago, I was called to serve as the bishop of a large ward. One evening, my telephone rang. I heard a voice say, “Bishop Monson, this is the hospital calling. Kathleen McKee, a member of your congregation, has just passed away. Your name is listed as the one to be notified of her death. Could you come to the hospital right away?”
Upon arriving there, I was presented with a key to the apartment in which Kathleen had lived. I entered her apartment, turned the light switch, and discovered a letter. It read:
“I think I shall not return from the hospital. In the kitchen are my three precious canaries. Two of them are beautiful, yellow-gold in color and perfectly marked. On their cages I have noted the names of friends to whom they are to be given. In the third cage is ‘Billie.’ He is my favorite. Billie looks a bit scrubby, and his yellow hue [color] is marred by gray on his wings. Will you and your family make a home for him? He isn’t the prettiest, but his song is the best.”
Kathleen McKee had befriended many neighbors in need. She had brightened each life she touched. Kathleen was much like “Billie,” her prized yellow canary with gray on its wings. She was not blessed with beauty. Yet her song helped others to more willingly bear their burdens.
The world is filled with yellow canaries with gray on their wings. Some are young people who don’t know who they are, what they can be, or even what they want to be.
We are sons and daughters of God. True, we live in a world where moral character is [often considered] secondary to beauty or charm. But what are the inspired words of God? The counsel of the Lord to Samuel the prophet echoes in our ears: “The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7).
He calls you and me to serve Him here below. May we reflect our love of Him and of all mankind as we do so.
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Aging the Flavor
I've heard that aging is good for cigars. But how does it affect the taste?
Posted: October 1, 2012
Submitted via CigarAficionado.com
Age makes a cigar's flavors softer and rounder.
Aging mellows the taste of cigars. Aging may lend complexity to a cigar as the smoke picks up flavor from the cedar found inside humidors, or it may deepen the pure tobacco flavors when cigars are stored in a neutral environment such as in glass, metal or ceramic.
Either way, as the tobacco loses some of its high humidity and oil content, the flavors settle down, marry and mellow—the more time, the more pronounced the difference.
The environment you choose for aging will affect the results. Some people feel that cigars kept in their original boxes inside a humidified cabinet will benefit the most with age. Others feel that combining different cigars in one humidor is the better way to go, allowing their flavors and aromas to mingle as opposed to separating them by brand or country of origin. Regardless of preference, the effects of aging are indisputable.
To prove this to yourself, perform a long-term experiment. Store a favorite cigar by itself in a humidor for six months to a year. Then go to a tobacco shop, purchase the same cigar and compare the two. You'll probably find the store-bought cigar will be stronger or sharper in taste than the aged one. You may prefer this close-to-the factory flavor. If you prefer the older cigar, then you know that aging is something that you should explore on a larger scale.
Have a question for the Cigar Aficionado editors? Submit it here
You must be logged in to post a comment.
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The Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association, a global trade group that represents more than 1,000 taxicab companies, limo and car services, airport shuttle fleets, and other transportation services, just issued a strong warning against apps like Uber that let customers order a cab from their phones. Apps like Uber, GroundLink, and Get Taxi are "rogue services" that are a danger to public safety and equal access transportation, the group said in a statement released today.
No service is licensed or regulated as a taxicab or limousine company with the exception of Uber’s operation in New York City, according to the association. That means cars aren't required to be insured, drivers aren't required to pass a criminal background check, and fares aren't regulated either. "The passenger is placed at-risk for personal safety, uninsured accident claims, fare gouging and other illegal activity," the association said.
"The passenger is placed at-risk for personal safety, uninsured accident claims, fare gouging and other illegal activity."
"This is propaganda generated by an entrenched incumbent adverse to technology, innovation and progress as it negatively affects the value of their business in favor of drivers and riders," Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said in an email. "Uber operates in 17 cities across the country with a few jurisdictions challenging us legally along some of the lines below. Each of those jurisdictions has ultimately lost in their efforts to prevent Uber from operating in those cities." That's because Uber is operating legally, he said, and because the service is better for drivers and passengers.
Over the past few years, Uber and other car-ordering apps have enjoyed a warm reception from investors, the media, and customers (with the exception of a few variable pricing catastrophes). Uber has raised $44.5 million total from investors and competitor Get Taxi recently raised $20 million, even though the legal issues are still murky.
Uber does not own cars or employ drivers. The service merely connects passengers with legal, licensed, insured taxis and limo companies. Still, it hasn't been a smooth ride. The company was hit with cease and desist orders over compliance issues in both San Francisco and Boston, although both were later resolved. The company won a political fight in Washington D.C., but legislation that makes the service legal will run out at the end of the year and have to be revisited.
The statement is pretty strongly-worded, suggesting that Uber uses "dangerous business practices" that could lead to criminals behind the wheel and other risky repercussions. "One of the most heinous and potentially discriminatory practices includes an Uber feature that allows drivers to rate passengers. This feature enables drivers to easily identify and discriminate against individuals who may require significant additional assistance, such as wheelchair users," the statement continues.
"This is propaganda generated by an entrenched incumbent."
Of course, Uber and other similar apps represent real competition to professional car services entrenched in cities like New York. Hence, today's statement from the TLPA, which has had its eye on Uber for a while. The association did not universally condemn car-ordering apps, giving a shoutout to "responsible companies" including Taxi Magic, GoFastCab, and Cabulous, which have worked with the association to integrate their technology into fleets. "Technology is embraced by our industry, as are responsible regulations," the TLPA said.
Repeatedly, the association emphasized that services like Uber should be subject to the same regulations as traditional taxi and limo services. To do otherwise would just be unfair to passengers, the association says — and, of course, unfair to its members. But if the association wants to turn the public against Uber and its brethren, hysterical rhetoric is probably counter-productive.
Update: The TLPA's statement comes at the same time as Uber has run into another regulatory thicket. The company just launched its service for yellow street cabs in New York, but has been challenged by the local Taxi and Limousine Commission. Uber already works with private black cars in New York.
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By Brandon Lowrey
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Parents seeking to take control of a failing Los Angeles elementary school delivered hundreds of petitions to the nation's second-largest school system on Thursday, invoking the California's controversial "parent trigger" law to force change.
Parents representing 68 percent of the school's students signed on to the petition, well over the 50 percent level required to set in motion a process that could ultimately see the 24th Street Elementary School turned into a privately managed charter, organizers of the effort said.
The move represents a repudiation of the largest school district in a state that in 2010 became the first to pass a law that lets parents of students in failing schools band together to force sweeping change: They can fire teachers, oust administrators or turn the school over to private management.
It remained unclear which option, if any, the parents at the largely poor and minority 24th Street school would take.
"We're tired of hearing excuses," said Laura Wade, a mother of a 24th Street kindergartner, who said her child has had more than a dozen different teachers over a six-month period. "We're tired of being pushed back. We need a change, now."
The effort was organized Parent Revolution, a non-profit that recently led the state's first successful parent takeover of a public school in the desert city of Adelanto. The school board there agreed last week to transform the struggling Desert Trails Elementary School into a charter.
Critics of the parent trigger law say it can divide communities and lead to the privatization of public schools, while proponents say it empowers parents to improve their children's educational opportunities.
Other states, including Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Connecticut, Indiana and Ohio, have since passed similar laws, while other states debate them.
Los Angeles schools Superintendent John Deasy said the district had already identified 24th Street as a bottom-tier school that needed to be improved and was working with parents to formulate a plan to improve the school.
If a plan is ultimately approved by the superintendent, the school could become a pilot school or a privately operated charter, district officials said. Deasy said he welcomes the parent trigger effort.
"I would love to have this kind of parent involvement at every school," Deasy said.
Warren Fletcher, union president of United Teachers Los Angeles, said the parent trigger law was a poor tool to fix troubled schools but acknowledged parents had legitimate concerns.
"The problem with parent trigger is it's sort of like the neutron bomb. (It's) a blunt instrument and it can result in either nothing happening, which is unacceptable, or eliminating the entire faculty, which is extremely unwise," he said.
(Editing By Cynthia Johnston and Cynthia Osterman)
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I have been working on an application that is basically a server, a client library and a handful of clients. The interface between the clients and the server is functional, meaning that the clients don't worry about the socket connections they just call API functions to read or write information to the server. The client library would then send/recv a request/response over the already connected socket, and return the result to the calling client. The purpose of the API is to allow other developers to build clients quickly and easily without too much trouble. This already works quite well. I am using a local domain stream socket if the client is on the same host as the server and if it's on another machine it uses TCP/IP.
I would like to add the capability for the server to send messages to the clients asynchronously. Something like event or data change notification. It's causing me some grief because of resource contention issues surrounding the socket. I'm trying to keep this thing as efficient as possible so I'm trying to avoid excessive system calls.
I have a couple of ideas. I don't know if either is any good or which is better so I was hoping to get some advice on the potential pitfalls or benefits of each one.
First is to start another thread from within the library and have it handle communication. The server already requires pthreads so from a dependency perspective this isn't that big of a deal, but it seems like bad form to start threads from within a library. Maybe not. It seems to me that I'll wind up having to use a bunch of system calls and signals to coordinate all this.
The other idea is to simply open a second socket and give the client developer a select/poll kind of interface to the asynchronous messaging. This would probably still require some multi-threading in most clients but it would be at the discretion of the client developer not hidden away inside the library.
I guess a third option is to do both. :-) I'm basically looking for advice from those who have gone before.
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As an enlisted, single military servicemember, you will most likely not have access to government-supported off-base housing. Your military housing options are living in military dormitories/barracks, or choosing to pay for off-base housing out of your base pay salary.
So – what are today’s military barracks really like?
MILITARY DORMS: NOT WHAT THEY USED TO BE
If you’ve seen movies like Private Benjamin, where she was promised country club living and found herself in camp-style barracks, you may have a poor image of military dormitories. The truth is that today, standards of living for single servicemembers in military dormitories have improved quite a lot.
With the exception of training bases and deployment locations, (such as Iraq and Afghanistan) all of the services (except the Marine Corps) are military bases are working toward giving all junior enlisted members their own rooms.
Many bases are upgrading to more modern dormitories, which include two to four bedrooms (one service in each bedroom with a private bath), and a common living room. For example, the Army’s standard is a two-bedroom apartment built for two servicemembers.
PAID OFF-BASE HOUSING FOR ENLISTED OFFICERS
As your rank increases, you can usually choose to move out of the dormitories and off-base at government expense. In this case, you would receive the BAH housing allowance and monthly food allowance (in this case, meals at the chow hall will no longer be free).
The living arrangements vary between services and bases, but in general, E-4 or E-5 officers with over four years of service can expect to move off base and get a living stipend.
Any service member authorized by the military to live off-base at government expense retains their rights even in the case of deployment to a combat zone. The Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act protects against penalties for breaking a lease, and in some cases single servicemembers may terminate their leases and keep the housing allowance during a deployment.
MILITARY DORM INSPECTIONS AND RULES
Inspections are another routine part of military dormitory living. There are also two types of inspections that military dormitory occupants can expect. The first is a periodic inspection; the commander or First Sergeant performs a room inspection to make sure you are following hygienic standards. The second type of inspection is known as "Health and Welfare Inspection," which is unannounced and occurs about 2:00 A.M. These inspections are contraband searches, keeping drugs, knives, guns, etc. out of the dorms.
While some thrive in a dormitory environment, for some it can become stressful. One big disadvantage to living on-base in the dormitories is that regulations are against having overnight guests; military dorms are not co-ed. If your boyfriend or girlfriend will be visiting regularly, living off-base might be a more comfortable option. Using your enlisted pay to cover off base housing might be a stretch, but there is a little support for off-base living: while you won’t receive a military housing allowance or food allowance, you will still get free meals in the chow hall.
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Celebrating 15 years of participation, the Fort Wayne Fire Department (FWFD) and International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 124 will be out this Thursday through Saturday, August 23-25, with their “Fill the Boot” campaign to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).
FWFD crews throughout the city will position themselves at high traffic intersections and collect monetary donations from cars stopped at traffic lights. “Every year during the ‘Fill the Boot’ we are humbled by the support the community gives us during this campaign. In 2011, the Fort Wayne Firefighters collected record breaking $91,046.21 and raised more dollars than any other department in the state,” said Captain Randy Zion, Fort Wayne Fire Department Firefighter and IAFF Local 124 MDA Chairman.
Muscular dystrophy (MD) refers to a group of more than 30 genetic diseases that cause progressive weakness and degeneration of skeletal muscles used during voluntary movement. These disorders vary in age of onset, severity, and pattern of affected muscles. All forms of MD grow worse as muscles progressively degenerate and weaken. MDA leads the fight against muscular dystrophy, ALS and related diseases. Money raised during the campaign supports local MDA clinics and research and funds services like neuromuscular disease support groups, medical equipment repair and summer camps for children.
Fort Wayne Firefighters enjoy this time of year because they have the chance to interact with many citizens of the community. “Firefighters see first-hand the ownership the public has taken in this citywide campaign,” adds Zion. “Often folks pull up to donate, and as they dump a large change canister in our boot, they tell us they have been collecting all year. The 'Fill the Boot’ campaign is a reminder to both the fire department members and the community, when you work together, the effort does make a difference.”
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Connect with Pratt
The Pink Panther
Pratt co-created the Pink Panther for the opening and closing credit sequences of the Inspector Clouseau detective farces starring Peter Sellers. Pratt later developed cartoon shorts and a television series for the popular character.
really made me laugh. Loved it.
The Pink Panther was arguably the first cartoon character to epitomize a suave, sleek new aesthestic for the 1960s, in much the same way that Bugs Buggy symbolized the pugnaciousness of the early 1940s.
Hawley Pratt is my no. 1 “icon”. In my view he was the greatest all-around artist in the animation field. He was stunningly prolific and talented.
Email (will not be made public):
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Just in case anybody's keeping track, the government has now appropriated $9 billion in bailout funds to some of the richest folks in America. This would be Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity fund that owns majority stakes in GMAC and Chrysler and whose chairman is John Snow - the last Treasury Secretary before the current one, Henry Paulson.
Cerberus is a worthy supplicant because it's flat out of money - hahaha, just kidding! Cerberus actually has plenty of money, courtesy of a secret list of well-heeled investors. And that's not even counting the personal stash of billionaire Stephen Feinberg, the company's founder and CEO. No, Cerberus is a worthy supplicant because of the 35 or so companies that it owns, its two auto-related properties are really hurting.
Now in a normal caplitalst society, Cerberus's losses on two troubled companies would merely be the cost of doing business, and odds are high that its gains on other investments would offset those losses. Or else Cerberus would go out of business, and be replaced by a more competent group. But here in Bailout Nation, Cerberus gets special treatment.
Chrsyler, with one of the weakest product lineups in the industry, qualifies for $4 billion in bailout money because it employs 55,000 workers and it would be an inconvenient time for an industrial firm centered in the most depressed part of America to go bankrupt. GMAC gets $5 billion because it's losing billions on foolish mortgage-related investments that are going bust, and because General Motors, which owns 49 percent of the lender, can't sell cars if GMAC isn't there to make loans.
[See the cars that drove Detroit's customers away.]
You might think that Cerberus, whose specialty is structuring multibillion-dollar deals, could come up with $9 billion on its own to salvage these two companies - if Feinberg et. al. thought they were worth the investment, that is. But it turns out that big investing clubs like Cerberus have rules preventing money invested in one fund or company to be cross-invested in another. Anyway, it's all too complicated for you to understand. The good news is, Cerberus has no rules against accepting sweetheart loans from taxpayers.
More good news: Paulson's Treasury Dept., which is adminstering the loans, won't require Snow or Feinberg to publicly testify or otherwise explain why they need the loans and can't cover their own losses. Cerberus has already sent Chrsyler CEO Bob Nardelli to testify before Congress, so that his corporate bosses don't have to. And GMAC doesn't have to explain its need to taxpayers because none of the other financial firms that have gotten financial aid from Treasury, like Citigroup and AIG, have had to formally explain. Thank goodness. Feinberg in particular is a notorious recluse, averse to even having his picture taken. Making a public plea for help would have made him really uncomfortable.
Cerberus is getting the $9 billion because Chrysler and GMAC supposedly play an important role in lubricating the broader economy. GMAC is deemed especially vital to you and me. It used to finance about 80 percent of all GM purchases. This fall, on account of its deep losses, GMAC said it would only lend to people with credit scores of 700 or higher, effectively cutting off millions of potential borrowers. GM, in turn, has cited those lending cutbacks as one of the biggest reasons people have stopped buying its cars. And that supposedly is one reason that the entire auto industry is in a tailspin, making a tough recession even worse.
So you might think that in exchange for $5 billion, Treasury would require GMAC to relax its lending standards and get some money flowing to consumers. But Treasury doesn't want to tell anybody how to run their business - they just want to fund it. So the terms of the loan don't make any stipulations about what GMAC must do with the money. Instead, we're left to hope that billionaire financial-aid recipients will someday share the governmnet's largesse with the rest of us.
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Share ideas that matter on the social web and experience
the benefits of curating the world's best content.
I don't have a Facebook, a Twitter or a LinkedIn account
Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?
A new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project looks at the future of libraries.
23% of Americans ages 16 and older read an e-book in the past year, up from 16% the year before. The share who read a print book declined to 67%, from 72%.
Americans are all for more technology resources in libraries, so long as they don't have to fork over space occupied by print books.
after years of avoiding ebooks I am finally avoiding print books.
These eight tools will make the experience of creating your first ebook painless and even fun.
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E-voting security: looking good on paper?
Voter receipt more 'security blanket' than 'security measure'
A couple of weeks ago, the US League of Women Voters incurred the wrath of touch-screen ballot skeptics by indicating its acceptance of DRE (Direct Recording Electronic) ballot machines with no voter-verifiable paper trail.
On 14 June, following several days of bad press, the League revised its position and adopted a resolution saying that the machines should in fact be capable of printing out a summary of votes cast, as a protective measure against tampering and malfunctions. The decision was received with great praise from DRE skeptics.
Judging by the warm response, one might be tempted to think that the paper receipt is a security measure that will make e-voting safer from manipulation and fraud. Unfortunately, this is not the case, though it is widely believed.
The voter's paper receipt has become the security idée fixe of DRE skeptics, and a shibboleth identifying those who are on the 'right' side of the debate. This is because the paper trail is a concept easily understood and conveniently communicated. It also likely derives much appeal from the fact that it involves an object that one can hold in one's hand and examine, unlike the results of a strictly electronic process.
But it's far more security blanket than security measure. At the moment, there is so much wrong with DRE security that the paper record has become a harmful distraction.
Many things can go awry with a complex system like DRE, and a machine that spits out paper records can be every bit as insecure and prone to tampering as one that doesn't. But the piece of paper creates an illusion of enhanced security, which is why so many people insist in it. People imagine that, so long as the printout matches their recollection of votes cast, it's proof that the DRE machine is recording their votes properly. In fact, it's no such thing. It's proof only that the printer is recording their votes accurately.
There is no logical reason for a voter to assume that the printout in his hand, and the electronic tabulation in the machine, are the same. Numerous types of attack could produce an accurate record of voter choice on paper, yet still tweak the electronic results. And if the two results should differ, there is no way for the voter to know it. The receipt has no immediate diagnostic value. It can only tell a voter whether the data sent to the printer is the same data he recalls entering at the touch screen. The machine could well be rigged for a miscount, only with voter choices printed accurately. This sort of discrepancy would not be discovered until the electronic results are tabulated, by which time the damage will have been done.
Recounting what, exactly?
The only useful purpose of the paper trail would be to enable a recount using a different medium when there is reason to suspect the electronic results. However, for the printouts to be of any value in a recount, voters would have to review them carefully and note any discrepancies before the receipts are collected. Many ballots are long and confusing, so the idea that even a majority of voters would bother to scrutinize theirs is hardly guaranteed. And there may be numerous false alarms from people who, after confronting myriad races and referendums, may well forget one or two of the votes they cast and imagine a discrepancy where none exists, creating considerable alarm and delay.
On the other hand, if voters neglect to examine their receipts carefully before submitting them, they're worthless - there's no basis for trusting them more than any other result. A paper recount where perhaps thirty per cent of voters have actually bothered to verify their ballots is hardly the basis for confidence.
Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the paper record will be the one recounted. Many jurisdictions require that a recount be performed in the same manner as the original election, which might mean simply reading the machine's memory or storage devices again, unless specified by law. If local regulations don't require that the paper printouts be recounted, there is little reason to collect them - except to create an illusion of security.
And if, during a re-count, some discrepancy between the electronic and paper results should emerge, the paper record would have to be paramount according to law to be of any use. Otherwise, there will only be confusion. But as we noted, unless voters are scrupulous about reviewing the printouts, there is no logical reason why they ought to be paramount. In fact, they probably should not be.
The hanging chads of Florida
The printout will become a burden on everyone concerned, including voters, because in order to be valid for a recount, the paper receipt would have to be free from marks and corrections. This is necessary to avoid the difficulties with interpreting voter intent that the infamous hanging chads of Florida presented. With paper ballots, observer bias is a significant factor in determining voter intent. When confronting ambiguous results, such as pregnant chads and overvoting, Republican observers tend to conclude that the Republican candidate was chosen, and Democrats tend to believe that a Democrat was chosen. DRE terminals are designed to clarify voter intent, and, in theory, they can do this very well.
However, if the paper receipt is to be used in a recount, it would be necessary for each voter to review it before the next voter would be allowed to use the terminal. Thus, if there are discrepancies, the voter's results could be cleared from the terminal, and they would have another go. This would be necessary so that, in the end, the voter can submit a 'clean' receipt: one free of marks and corrections, to avoid a re-run of the chad debacle. A security protocol would have to be devised to ensure that the disputed receipt is disposed of properly and the voter-approved one substituted, without breaching voter privacy.
Furthermore, if it were possible for one person to clear any result from a DRE terminal, this would be a monumental security hole in itself. Thus it would be necessary for two election supervisors (preferably with different party affiliations) to perform the electronic equivalent of turning the keys needed to launch a nuclear missile, perhaps with different passwords, or with two smart cards, or some means of authentication along those lines.
Imagine the delays caused by careless voters puzzled by their own choices, needing perhaps two, perhaps three, turns at the terminal to get things right. And let's not forget that 'getting things right' in this context means only that the printout matches the voter's own recollection of what they did at the terminal. The paper receipts will add not one shred of security, but they will bring about confusion and delays and Florida-esque disputes.
But what of good e-voting security? Is it even possible? The short answer is yes, and the long answer follows in tomorrow's companion story: E-voting security: getting it right. ®
Thomas C Greene is the author of Computer Security for the Home and Small Office, a comprehensive guide to system hardening, malware protection, online anonymity, encryption, and data hygiene for Windows and Linux.
Dutch e-voting software goes open source
E-voting promises US election tragicomedy
California preps e-voting ban bill
Ireland to scrap e-voting plan
California set to reject Diebold e-voting machines
UK not ready for e-voting
Campaign calls for safe e-voting
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Last week everybody got really upset at Frank Miller for making a critical statement about the Occupy Wall Street movement -- one in which the comics great sounded more like one of his macho, trigger-happy characters than an informed or reasoned political commentator. It's the kind of statement a lot of people have come to expect from the increasingly conservative Miller, but it was my immediate thought that comics shouldn't be surprised when this kind of reactionary thinking emerges from anyone associated with the medium.
The sequence above is from half a week of Frank King's classic, influential Gasoline Alley strip in 1927. It's neither the first nor the most famous instance of King poking fun at the post-World War I, pre-Depression modernist arts scene: in a much-reprinted Sunday page from a few years later, the strip's father-son duo Walt and Skeezix take a dreamlike meander through a post-Impressionist landscape they see in a museum canvas and emerge decidedly unimpressed. "That was an awful dream!" Skeezix exclaims in the strip's final panel, after being told by one of the painting's distorted inhabitants that "there is no way out". "Or was it a dream at all?" the boy muses to a knowing audience.
The politics behind King's critiques of modernism are interesting enough to warrant some unpacking. In Gasoline Alley's golden era of the mid-'20s through early '30s, comics were still very much a "low", populist art, with a few Gilbert Seldes paragraphs on Krazy Kat about all the form had to show as far as cultural cachet goes. King, an engaged observer of the modern arts, was doubtless aware of his status as an artist for the masses rather than the privileged few -- a status all cartoonists of his day shared, and all but enough to count on one's fingers do today as well. While it's unclear whether or not King himself resented this, he certainly got mileage for his strip by tapping into a kind of populist resentment of a high-art scene that was making rapid strides away from relatability and depictive realism toward theory, formalism, and personalized expression.
King himself was an experimentalist, pushing the formal boundaries of comics in ways that still echo today in the work of cartoonists from Ware to Quitely and beyond, so perhaps it's unfair to paint him too heavily as the reactionary artistic conservative. But then again, his conflation of Einsteinian physics with the modern literature he satirizes hints at a real unease with the changes occurring in the wider world around him, not just its high art. It's easy enough to do a reading of the homespun, quiet Gasoline Alley as a staunchly conservative "family values" strip, and the answer to Skeezix's question about whether early 20th-century modern art might all just be a bad dream has implications for the wider form of comics, not just King himself. That answer, of course, is a resounding "No" -- since the Sunday strip in question's publication in 1930, figurative painting and drawing have only receded further into the background of the contemporary arts, and literature has suffered a near-total loss of its pre-eminence as a storytelling medium.
King's criticisms of abstracted modernism as a resolutely figure-based, humanist artist-in-comics are almost prescient: as painting has moved further and further toward the theoretical, comics have stood out in greater and greater contrast as the last refuge for the great figurative draftsmen to ply their trade in. A similar phenomenon can be seen in comics' relationship to prose fiction, perhaps best exemplified by the major chain bookstores' reliance on comics to stay solvent as the printed book went the way of the dinosaur. The conventional action of comics comes close to insisting on the story and the figure, and where it doesn't the market certainly does. As comics have grown from a medium of simple stories intended for children into one patronized by amateur historians and archivists wary of any idea that breaks the continuity of the perceived smooth progression from its past to its present, works in which theoretical or abstract concerns are more prominently displayed on the page than figurative ones have routinely been met with outright hostility, a retrenching of comics' self-policed borders: we don't have any room here for that. The fact of such works' publication and popularity with a small specialty audience means little. They have not caught on. They have not changed the mechanics of the comics world the way modernism changed literature and the fine arts.
If comics are not quite the final bastion of figurative art and novelistic storytelling, they are not too far away from it either. They are at the very least a place for traditional artistic values that have been discarded elsewhere thrive. Of course, comics' acting as a repository for lost wisdom doesn't preclude its ability to function as a progressive site for innovation as well; but it makes things harder. When a medium grows a preservationist focus, a simultaneous focus on expansion both becomes more difficult and can constitute a challenge to the relevance of what is being preserved. Viewed from this angle, it seems very much that comics is just a conservative artistic space. The community's slight lean toward political liberality (common enough in artistic circles) aside, comics more than any other medium during the past hundred years has been built on nostalgism and resistance to change. Artists' total failure to push back against their editorial overlords and stand strong for a space in which they could have a proper means of artistic expression is the story between the lines of the universally accepted statement that "reduced strip sizes killed newspaper comics". And the newspaper strip's replacement as the medium's most popular delivery mechanism -- the pamphlet genre comic book -- has undergone only one serious challenge to its hegemony over the past seven decades: the small-press underground comic, whose intense popularity in the mid-to-late 1960s rivaled that of the superhero books for a period that lasted perhaps a thousand days in total.
The narrative that the comics community has spun as a counter to this idea is one of increasing freedom of content and artistic virtuosity: comforting thoughts, and not unsupportable ones either. But audience acceptance of the work that gives this narrative its merit has been patchy -- so much so that the vast majority of the artists whose work functions as its evidence are unable even to make a living from their comics alone. The people who read comics and give comics their money have never been comfortable with material that goes beyond the look and feel of canonized past works. How bizarre and unhealthy is it that "artistic growth" in comics is and has been almost totally restricted to finding different ways of working within the same set of formal boundaries that have remained in place since the 19th century? People have to see those better, braver comics for the notion of their very existence -- let alone their growing prominence -- to have any currency. And they don't. Comics, by and large, wants more of the same, and if it reminds us of some rose-colored and distant past, so much the better.
All this being said, however, it's difficult to know where to go from this point. While a few comics have successfully discarded the figurative and the narrative to break new ground for the form, few would argue that these works are as satisfying or engaging as the best of the medium's more conventional stories. Personally, I even find it difficult to imagine that the kind of concerted exploration that painting gave abstraction and hard theory a century ago would yield results as valuable as the works of a Picasso or a Duchamp in comics. For me, and for almost every other participant in the comics industry I've spoken about these issues with, comics are inherently narrative, inherently figurative, and while work done outside these boundaries can be interesting, it can never get at the highest potentials for excellence the medium offers. Perhaps the only thing that can be done with this opinion is to admit that the notion of inherence, of nature determining form, is the bedrock of the conservative mindset -- to acknowledge that just because you can see there is a problem doesn't mean you aren't a part of it too.
I fail to see anything surprising about Miller's statements -- neither as the views of an individual or a statement made on the behalf of comics as a whole. Artistic conservatism is cultural conservatism. Miller merely speaks a politicized version of the mindset that's been a part of comics from the cradle.
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Kettlebells are preferred by some exercise enthusiasts over barbells and dumbbells because their shape -- the bulk of the weight is off-center -- encourages the recruitment of more stabilizer muscles, providing a more functional workout. Whatever the reasoning for your use of kettlebells, you can't train effectively if you don't know which exercises to choose. You can use kettlebells to train any muscle in your body, including your traps, or trapezius, which is located in your upper-back area. If you aren't used to working with kettlebells, begin with light weights and perform the exercises slowly.
Sumo High Pull
The sumo high pull is a kettlebell exercise that challenges your traps as well as your shoulders, glutes, hamstrings and quadriceps. Because it works many muscles, it can help you train efficiently. To perform the sumo high pull, crouch in a wide stance, holding the kettlebell with both hands as it rests on the floor. Keep your hips back but your head and shoulders up. Pull the kettlebell up to your shoulders as you stand, stopping when your legs are straight. Reverse the motion and repeat.
Bent-Over Kettlebell Row
The bent-over row is an effective exercise for your traps whether performed with a dumbbell or a barbell. Performing it with a kettlebell makes it even more effective, as you have to work extra hard to keep the kettlebells from swinging. To perform the bent-over row with kettlebells, set two kettlebells at your feet, standing with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Bend your knees slightly and lean forward to grab the kettlebells. Lift the kettlebells off of the ground by bringing your elbows back as far as you can. Reverse the motion and repeat as desired.
According to the weight training website Exercise Goals, shrugs are an exercise that can help build "massive traps." Performing shrugs with kettlebells can be preferable to a barbell because kettlebells require each side of your body to pull its own weight, reducing the likelihood of muscle imbalances. To perform kettlebell shrugs, hold a kettlebell in each hand while standing upright. Raise your shoulders up toward your ears as far as you can without bending your arms at the elbow. Pause briefly at the top of your range of motion, then reverse it and repeat.
Reverse Kettlebell Flys
According to fitness website Home Fitness Manual, reverse flys are among the five most effective exercises for your traps. While this exercise is often performed with dumbbells, doing so with kettlebells enhances the effectiveness due to the additional stabilization your muscles will have to provide because of the kettlebells' irregular shape. To perform this exercise, lie on your chest on an incline bench. Hold a kettlebell in each hand, with your arms hanging down on either side of the bench. Lift your arms up to your sides as high as you can as if spreading your wings. Pause at the top then reverse the motion and repeat.
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Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? has been acclaimed by critics and audiences throughout the world as a film of remarkable power and beauty. In a remote mountain monastery above a bustling city, an old Zen master, his conflicted young apprentice, and an orphaned boy live a life of quiet contemplation. The old master, nearing his end, wishes to make the ceremony of his death his final lesson to his apprentice, who is struggling to come to terms with the worldly life he left behind. Meanwhile the young boy has his own awakening to mortality as he attempts to nurse a bird he thoughtlessly injured with a stone. The title of the film is a Zen koan— a paradox meant to aid meditation—that provokes the question of the distinction between leaving and arriving. This magnificent film, quietly powerful and astonishingly rich in formal beauty, is not only a cinematic gem, but an evocative meditation on the cyclical nature of existence. Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? does not seek to explain the tenets of Zen Buddhism so much as illuminate the mysteries of life that lie behind them. —Milestone Films
Mr. Bae studied visual arts in South Korea and France, and he’s an art professor in Korea. His first and the only feature length film, “Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East?”, probably is the only film in Korean film history to be released abroad first. Its sudden debut caused quite a stir Korea, and only after a successful film festival cicuit tour in Europe, it made its screening in Korea. Despite high media and public attention, Bae remained and still remains unknown and mysterious. It is known, however, that it took more than 7 years to complete his film, and that he used his own resources for the film and did not use any professional actors. Offers from large film studios poured in, but Bae declined them and maintains a private life. —IMDb
As my body returns to its original condition, blood and pus from my wounds will fall as dew from the night sky. After all, I exist nowhere in the universe. But in the universe there is nothing which is not me.
How I wish to watch this film again, the nice people voting it today reminded me of how fond I was of it when it came out! I was 16 years old then and it was a completely new experience to me to be hypnotised by such a slow and meditative pace. I went to the cinema twice and the second time coming out of the cinema I felt I knew where I was going from then on.
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Now, I found these on etsy.com for sale, but I didn't see any tutorials any where on blog land giving instructions on how to make one. Unless I just didn't put the right title into Google, which very well could be. Tutorials take time and I do NOT want to sit her and make a tutorial for something 20 people have already done one for. It is a waste of time in my point of view. That is why I do not have a lot of tutorials up because honestly people, someone some where has pretty much done all of them! haha
So I started with the inside of the purse because that is where the crayon holder will be. Here is a picture of what it turned out like.
I like that the purse is tall enough that you can put in both crayons or tall colored pencils.
Started out with 2 11X11in squares for the outside ( I used flannel )
then 1 11 X 5in piece for the pocket.
Let's start out making the crayon pocket. I took the fabric and ironed it in half like so
Then I added a 11X 2 1/2 in piece of interfacing
then I folded it back over to complete the pocket
I then placed the pocket about 3 inches from the bottom of the bag and pinned it in place. Apparently i forgot to take a picture of this step. But basically you sew it from one side, down the bottom and back around the other side. The sides are gonna be sewn again when you sew the bag closed but this will help keep it in place. It should look like this
Notice, I did a zig zag stitch along the bottom. This was to make sure I stitched down all three thickness and made the pocket stronger. Next you want to measure a little more then an inch into this pocket and sew a line right down the pocket. Back stitch at the beginning and end.
Remember you will eventually stitch around the sides and you want to individual crayon space to be big enough for big crayons or markers, so that is why I made it bigger then one inch to account for seem allowance. Make this as big as YOU want just remember to do it. Next I did 1 inches for each pocket ALL the way till you reach other other side. Remember to back stitch because the kids will be taking these crayons out and putting them back in like crazy so you want your stitches to hold!
Now you are ready to start assembling the two pieces for the inside of the bag. With right sides together, pin the bag from one side, down the bottom and around the other side.
DO NOT FORGET TO LEAVE AN OPENING IN THE CENTER FOR TURNING THE BAG! It should look like this once you have done that
next we want to make corners for the bottom of the bag. I wanted my bag to have a bottom so that she could fit a pad of paper and whatever else she wanted in it. Take the corners of the bag and pinch them together. With the bottom and the sides of the purse coming together at the seams. Make sure you line the seams up or it will look funny after you complete the step. Pin the sides down and measure out 3 inches across the bottom. This is confusing so let's look at a picture for clarification
I usually sew along this line several times to add strength.
Do this to both corners and then clip away the access corner. You will not need it ( but if you HATE to throw it away like I did, keep it and I will show you what I did with mine on a later post )
Now you can put the inside of the bag off to the side and work on the outside of the bag, which should be really easy. We got the "hard" part over with already. Take two 11X11in pieces for the outside of the purse
Pin them right sides together and sew from side, down the bottom and up the other side. This time YOU DO NOT NEED TO LEAVE AN OPENING FOR TURNING THE BAG. Sew ALL the way around the bottom. Next do you corners like before. Then turn the outside of the bag right side out and it should look like this
We are getting close to being done. Now we need to make the straps. I did not use interfacing because I used flannel which is thicker then normal fabric. If you want to use interfacing please add them to your strips here. I used 2 4 X 18 in strips. Take the strip and fold the ends into the middle and iron like so
Next iron it in half
Sew down both sides to complete the straps
Now we get to start pinning it all together! WOO HOO There are two ways to do this. I line up where I want my handles to be and I pin them on. YOu can leave them pinned or you can do a baste stitch to make sure they stay straight and don't move. I always just hope and pray ( and once I had to un-stitch everything and re-do it because it did NOT stay in place. It is up to you )
Notice the handles are pinned facing down ward towards the bottom of the bag. If you have never made a purse before this probably seems weird but trust me when I say it will end up the way it is supposed to be after the bag is done.
Next you take the inside of the bag and put it around the OUTSIDE of the bag.
Right sides should be facing. Pin them together all along the top. This is where the basting comes in handy. What I do is line up the sides of the bag first, then pin in towards the middle. When I get to a handle, I hold it in place carefully, un pin it and pin all three layers together. If you basted it, you don't have to worry about that.
Notice the right sides of the fabric and facing in towards each other
Now you are ready to sew. Make sure the handles are INSIDE of this sandwich. Sew along the top. Now you are ready to turn it right side out
Stick your hand inside the hole we left in the bottom of the inside of the bag and pull the outside out.
Now you can stitch the bottom of your bag closed either by hand or with your sewing machine. I think it looks better with the sewing machine but I just don't hand stitch well. Then push the inside of your bag inside and iron the top flat. Then I always add another stitch around the top to keep the inside of the bag down and it give it a more finished look. On this purse I used a zig zag just because it was for a little girl and I thought it would be more fun
And we are done people. It really doesn't take more then an hour or two ( if your kids allow you to do it )
At first I didn't like how tall the bag was and how skinny it was. After I tried putting the colored pencils in, I am LOVING how tall it is now since I know they fit. Hopefully that was easy to follow and no one got lost. Again, if you get lost, feel free to leave me a comment and I will try my best to help. If you have made a bag before, it should be easy peasy! ENJOY!! Also, come back later today or tomorrow when I show you the flower I made out of the corners to add to the purse.
Adding to some link parties
Sugar and Spice
Show and Tell @Blue Cricket Design
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featured on Wikipedia.
"Somalia has no functioning government, and therefore no regulations or licensing requirements for businesses, and no taxes on businesses or individuals. Those wishing protection from bandits may voluntarily pay warlords or security guards, and private courts resolve disputes. Since the collapse of the government, businesses have been doing much better. Though Somalia continues to be a poor country, the number of individuals living in abject poverty has diminished— surpassing its neighbors in this respect."
Want to help the poor? Get rid of the governnment!
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Lloyd Dorsey was born 12 Mar 1813 in Somerset Co PA, the son of William Cumming and Mary (Black) Dorsey. He died 3 Jun 1873 in the same county and was buried in the Mount Zion Cemetery beside his wife, Margaret (Frashure) Dorsey. Lloyd Dorsey and Margaret Frashure were married 22 Nov 1849 in Somerset Co PA.
Sarah Ann Moser was born about two weeks after Lloyd’s birth, in Berks Co PA, the daughter of Michael (Jr) and Maria Magdalena (–?–) Moser. She died 8 Dec 1870 in Somerset Co PA. She was married about 1846 to David Coughenour.
No record of the marriage or divorce of Lloyd Dorsey and Sarah Moser has been found, although they had a son, Augustus, born 30 Dec 1841, and his second marriage license is filled in that his mother was “Sarah Dorsey,” née “Sarah Moser.” There is an intricate web of connections between the Dorsey, the Moser and the Coughenour families which lead this researcher to conclude that there should have been no reasonable obstacle to Lloyd and Sarah’s marriage, which probably took place. Her second marriage license, if found, could solve that question.
In the Somerset Co PA Tax List, 1846-48, Lloyd Dorsey was listed as single. From 1850, Lloyd Dorsey and his family were in the Somerset Co PA census: 1850, Somerset Co PA, Allegheny Twp, p 302, household 62, Lloyd Dorsey 40 m farmer PA, Margaret 29 f PA, Jane Courtney f 24 PA. 1860, Somerset Co PA, Allegheny Twp, p 41, Lloyd Dorsey 50 m farmer $1780, 730 PA, Margaret 39 f PA, Matthew 10 PA attended school, Henry 7 PA attended school, Mary 5 PA. 1870: Somerset Co PA, Allegheny Twp, p 237, Loyd Dorsey 60 M w farmer $2000 $600 PA cannot read & write male citizen, Margaret 49 f w keeping house PA cannot read, Henry 17 m w works in farm PA attended school, cannot read & write, Mary J 15 f w PA attended school, cannot read & write.
Lloyd and Margaret Dorsey had the following children:
1. Matthew DORSEY. Born on 2 Jul 1850 in Somerset Co PA. Matthew died in Somerset Co PA, on 21 Mar 1864.
2. Mark DORSEY. Born on 2 Jul 1850. Mark died on 7 Jul 1850.
3. Henry DORSEY. Born in 1852 or 1849. Henry died in Somerset Co PA, on 1 Dec 1901. Henry married Emma Jane MULLEN. Born in 1856. Emma Jane died in 1916. They had the following children:
i. Lloyd (1881-1911)
ii. Laura L (1884-1909)
iii. Margaret S (1886-1921)
iv. Rufus C (1889-1951)
v. Blanche Nellie (1891-)
vi. George Henry (1896-)
6. Mary J DORSEY. Born ca 1854 in Somerset Co PA. Unmarried in 1900, living with brother’s family and mother.
From 1850, Sarah and David Coughneour were also in the Somerset Co PA censuses: Somerset Co PA, Southampton Twp, page 211, #103-105. David Coughenour 47 farmer PA, Sarah Coughenour 35 PA, Augustus Coughenour 8 PA, Mary Coughenour 2 PA, Sarah Coughenour 1 PA. #104-106. Michael Moser 65 m farmer PA, cannot read & write, Margaret Moser 65 f PA, George Moser 29 m PA, Mary A Moser 27 f PA, George Moser 11 m PA. 1860, Somerset Co PA, Allegheny Twp, page 39. David Coughenour 55 day laborer $50 PA, cannot rd & wr, Sarah 46 PA, Mary 12 PA attended school, Christina 11 PA attended school, Magdeline 8 PA attended school, Michael 6 PA. 1870, Somerset Co PA, Allegheny Twp, p 414. David Coughenour 68 w m farmer $2000 $100 PA male citizen, Sarah 57 f w keeping house PA cannot read, Mary 22 f w PA cannot read & write.
Sarah and David Coughenour had the following children:
1. Mary COUGHENOUR. Born on 26 Dec 1847 in Somerset Co PA. Mary died aft 1924. Christened on 12 Feb 1848 in Shaffer Lutheran Church, Somerset Co PA.
2. Christina COUGHENOUR. Born on 8 Apr 1849 in Somerset Co PA. Christina died before 1924. Christened on 3 Jun 1849 in Shaffer Lutheran Church, Somerset Co PA.
Christina married Ananias FLICKINGER. Born on 13 May 1851 in Berlin, Somerset Co PA. Ananias died on 27 Dec 1924. They had the following children:
i. Sarah Jane (ca1870-)
ii. Ellen Minerva
iii. Emma Cordelia
iv. Elizabeth Virginia
v. Mary Alice
vi. John Calvin
vii. William Jacob
3. Magdeline COUGHENOUR. Born after 1850 in Somerset Co PA.
4. Michael COUGHENOUR. Born on 6 Mar 1854 in Fairhope, Somerset Co PA. Michael died in Akron OH, on 18 Sep 1924, a few months after the death of his brother, Augustus Dorsey. The 1895 Kansas State census, for Barber County, shows Michael, his wife Loventia, 35 IA, and daughters Rhoda A (Oct 1891) and Lula E (Jul 1893). Michael, widowed, and his daughters were in the 1900 census, and he and Lula were in 1910 census, for the same county.
i. Rhoda A (1891-)
ii. Lula E (1893-)
The only child of Lloyd Dorsey and his possible first wife, Sarah Moser was:
1. Augustus DORSEY. Born on 30 Dec 1841 in Somerset Co PA. Augustus died in Conways Springs, Sumner Co KS, on 2 Jul 1924; he was 82. After serving in the Union Army for four years, participating in numerous battles, including Gettysburg, and surviving Andersonville Prison, on 22 Oct 1868 when Augustus was 26, he first married Frances Minerva SHULTZ, daughter of Joseph SHULTZ & Catherine HANNA, in Dixon, Lee Co IL. Born on 1 Apr 1849 in Somerset Co PA, Frances Minerva died in Lincoln, Lancaster Co NE, on 8 Jun 1878. They had the following children:
i. Lulu Belle (1869-1923)
ii. Dallas Eugene (1871-1888)
iii. Mary Ellen (1873-1928)
iv. Edith Marie (1878-1878)
On 3 Aug 1879 when Augustus was 37, he second married Ersula FRYE in Lincoln NE. Born on 18 Apr 1849 in Peoria Co IL. Ersula died in Conways Springs, Sumner Co KS, on 24 Nov 1936. They had the following children:
i. Chester Arthur (1882-1955)
ii. Charles Augustus (1884-1973)
iii. Mabel E (1888-1888)
iv. Zora (1890-1918)
v. Florine (1892-1972)
© 2009, Kathy Alvis Patterson
In the summer of 2010, my supplemental application to the NSDAR establishing descent from James Black was approved. This document was prepared to satisfy the staff genealogists that the line was valid:
Evidence that Lloyd Dorsey of Somerset County, Pennsylvania, was a Son of William Cumming Dorsey of the Same County
Their Census Record
In the 1800 Somerset Co PA census, Stonycreek Township, p 561, William Dorsey’s family was listed as: 21100/00100. That is, William was 16-26, with wife Mary, née Black, in the same age group, one male, 10-16, and two males under 10. Note that Mary’s father, James Black, was in the same township.
By 1810 in Allegheny Township of the same county, page 470, “Wm C Dorsy Esqr” had this family: 41010/21010. There were now five sons and three daughters.
In 1820 in same township and county, p 139, William C Dorsey had 221301/12010, that is, seven sons (assuming duplication of the son who was in the category for age 16-18 and also for 16-26) and still three daughters.
By the date of the 1830 census, the family’s father had died and the widow was listed as head of the household: 1830 Somerset Co PA, Allegheny Twp, p 63: Mary Dorsey, 00131…/00102001… There were four sons at home and three daughters.
As stated in the Somerset Co PA Genealogical Society publication, The Laurel Messenger, there was one Dorsey family in the county. This is borne out by the censuses from 1800-1840. A 26-year-old unaccompanied man named Patrick Dorsey from Ireland had arrived in Southampton Township by 1850; by 1860 he was in Paint Township and had acquired a wife and six children. This man obviously could not be the father of Lloyd Dorsey, who was older than Patrick.
In 1830, in addition to widow Mary Dorsey, the only other Dorsey in the county was David Dorsey: 10001…/00001…. He was in the same township as Mary, but unfortunately the names are alphabetized and it is not possible to tell how closely they lived to each other.
By 1840 several of the children had moved to Ohio (see below). The only Dorsey in the county listed in the census that year was Edward Dorsey, still in Allegheny Township, p 13. Edward Dorsey: 000111…/000011001…. The older women is likely Mary (Black) Dorsey, who died in August of that year, and the two younger men may have been Edward’s brothers.
It will be seen that Edward and Lloyd Dorsey continued to have a close relationship, living next door to each other in 1860 and being buried in the same cemetery.
Edward was also guardian for the children of Sarah (Moser) (Dorsey?) Coughenour’s brother, Nathaniel Moser, as well as a guarantor of the administration of the estate of Samuel Coughenour, probably the brother-in-law of Sarah (Moser) (Dorsey) Coughenour, first wife of Lloyd Dorsey.
Mary (Black) Dorsey left no will and had no estate documents, but her husband William C. Dorsey, although leaving no will, did have a packet of estate papers. He had been guardian to two different sets of children and most of the documents relate to these responsibilities. Outstanding bills at the time of William’s death did include one referring to his daughter Sarah, “Boarding his daughter Sarah for 6 days.” A William Dorsey witnessed one of the estate documents.
Earliest List of Children of William and Mary, and Its Accuracy
The earliest known list of the names of this couple’s children is found in A Century and a Half of Pittsburg [sic] and her People, by John W Jordan, published in 1908. On pages 351-352 of this book is found the biographical sketch of Benjamin Franklin Lee and his wife, Margery Ella Dorsey. There is more information about the Dorsey family than about the Lees, probably indicating that the facts were provided by Mrs. Lee .
The birth date of Margery Ella Dorsey is not given in the article. Her 1900 census, however, gives “Ella Lee” the birth date of February 1861. She grew up in Bedford Co PA, just east of Somerset Co PA where her father was born. Ella, as she was called in the 1900 census, probably was acquainted with the aunts and uncles still residing in Somerset County; she would have been 12 years old when Lloyd Dorsey of Somerset Co PA died. She likely knew personally at least two uncles, Lloyd and Edward, and one aunt, Cordelia.
Neither Margery Ella (Dorsey) Lee nor the author John W Jordan would have had access to census documents, which provide the number and approximate ages of ten children of William C and Mary (Black) Dorsey. In spite of this lack of access to documents, the individuals Mrs. Lee named fit exactly with the census data, as well as later censuses showing Dorseys in Somerset County, as well as Hancock Co OH and Bedford Co PA, marriages found in Somerset County records, and burials in published books relating to Somerset County.
From correspondence with descendants, this writer has known for some time that several of the children of William C Dorsey—James B, David, William C Jr, Jane (Mrs. Isaac Weisel), and Sarah (Mrs. Joseph Hardy—moved to Hancock Co OH before 1840. Each of them has been identified in the 1850 census, with spouses corresponding to Mrs. Lee’s list. Sarah (Dorsey) Hardy had died before the 1850 census, when her husband had a new wife.
Family History Library death records for children of two uncles and an aunt, who moved to Ohio, demonstrate that the 1908 informant correctly gave the maiden names of her uncles’ wives and her aunt’s husband. Images are not available at this site at this time. Note that these records are mentioned only as evidence corroborating the Dorsey family records as published in A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and her People, by John W Jordan.
Mrs. Lee did not know of the infant who died and is buried near Mary (Black) Dorsey. Otherwise, she has seven sons and three daughters, corresponding exactly to the census data, although there are unanswered questions about some of the ages and there may have been other children who died young, as following:
Census William C other males Mary other females, ages
1774-84 1784-1790, unknown 1774-84 none
1790-1800, James B (1800)
1790-1800, David (1800)
1764-84 1794-1800, James B (1800) 1764-84 1800-05 servant?
1800-10, David (1801) 1800-10, Jane (1808)
1800-10, William C (1804) 1800-10, Cordelia (?)
1800-10, Lewis (no known records of his age) 1800-10, Edward (possibly ca 1810)
bef 1774 1794-1804, James B 1774-94 1804-10, Jane (1808)
1794-1804, David 1810-20, Cordelia (1810?)
1794-1804, William C 1810-20, Sarah, (1814)
1802-04, William C
1810-20, Lloyd (1813)
1810-20, Henry (1817)
dec’d 1805-10, William 1770-80, head of household
1810-15, Edward 1805-10, Jane
1810-15, Lewis 1805-10, Cordelia
1810-15, Lloyd 1815-20, Sarah
also in Somerset Co PA, David, 1805-10
dec’d 1810-15, Edward, head of household 1770-80, Mary
1815-20, Lloyd 1810-15, Sarah
1820-25, Henry 1815-20, Cordelia
1850 James B Dorsey, Franklin Co OH, 50, “James B Dorcey”; 60 in 1860 in Franklin Co OH
David Dorsey, Hancock Co OH, 49; age 60 in same place in 1860
Edward Dorsey, Somerset Co PA, 47;
William C Dorsey, Hancock Co OH, 46; in same place in 1860 age 56
Jane (Dorsey) Weisel, Hancock Co OH, 42; indexed as Wessels in 1860, Hancock Co OH, age 52
Lloyd Dorsey, Somerset Co PA, 40; same place in 1860, age 50
Cordelia (Dorsey) Wertz, Bedford Co PA, 33; deceased by 1860, her family had moved to Cedar Co IA
Sarah (Dorsey) Hardy, deceased; husband Joseph Hardy had remarried, Hancock Co OH
Henry Dorsey, Bedford Co PA, 33.
In other words, nine of the ten children listed in A Century and A Half of Pittsburg and her People can be located in the 1850 census, with spouses, exactly as stated in the book. Only Lewis has not been located in 1850 or 1860, unless he was the Lewis Dorsey, 42, with a large family in Huntingdon Co PA; neither naming patterns nor location about indicate this man belongs to the family under discussion here, plus he was African American.
The informant for Jordan’s book made one mistake (Lloyd’s wife’s maiden name was Frashure, not France) and one statement that has not been confirmed (that Lewis fought in the Civil War). The only known Lewis Dorsey who fought in the Civil War with Pennsylvania troops was African American, born ca 1844 in Maryland.
In Mrs. Lee’s defense, it may be noted that there were no Frashures in Somerset Co PA censuses either before or after Lloyd’s marriage to Margaret Frashure. (But see the Margaret Frazier, age 40, next door to Edward Dorsey in 1850, above. Using Soundex I located several families named Frazier/Fraser, etc.) So Mrs. Lee may have been correct and the clerk who entered the marriage into the record was the one who made the mistake. And since there is only one Lewis Dorsey born in PA between 1800 and 1830 in the 1850 or 1850 censuses, this family’s Lewis may have moved to a totally different part or the country, or he may have used a middle name which is not known to family researchers, or to his niece, Margery Ella (Dorsey) Lee.
It is worth noting how many of these reported children named their children after siblings, including one who used the name Lloyd.
Two more facts of interest gleaned from this article from A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and her People: the maiden name of the wife of Edward Dorsey has not been located elsewhere; and the informant knew more about the brothers and sisters of William Cumming Dorsey than even the authors of The Dorsey Family, writing in 1947. These names match the heirs who signed the estate papers after the death of Edward Dorsey, 1825 in Washington Co KY, even being listed in the same order.
The Children of William C Dorsey who went to Ohio
Several of the children of William C and Mary (Black) Dorsey moved to Hancock Co OH. Three of these are mentioned in Robert C. Brown, History of Hancock County, Ohio: containing a history of the county, its townships, towns … portraits of early settlers and prominent men, biographies, history of the Northwest Territory, history of Ohio, statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc. Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886. On page 350, David Dorsey and Isaac Weisel are described as brothers-in-law who moved to Hancock County from Pennsylvania in 1833, Isaac’s wife being Jane Dorsey.
On the next page, William Dorsey, named as a brother of David Dorsey, is said to have arrived in the county about the same time as his brother.
And I have included here the mini-biography of Lloyd Weisel, on page 657, because of the fact this man was likely named for his uncle Lloyd Dorsey of Somerset Co PA.
The final evidence that Lloyd Dorsey was a son of William C and Mary (Black) Dorsey is in the cemetery records. Fortunately, Somerset Co PA has extensive published cemetery records. There are two cemeteries where Dorsey family members are known to have been buried. Volume I of Tombstone Inscriptions of Cemeteries, Somerset County, PA on page 40 describes the Dorsey Cemetery, where only three of seven graves had inscriptions. These include Mary, the wife of William C Dorsey and an infant son of “L. & M. Dorsey.” As these pages have demonstrated Lloyd and his wife Margaret were the only L. and M. Dorsey possible.
Page 41 of the same book shows that Edward and Lloyd Dorsey and their wives were buried in the same plot of the Mt Zion cemetery, as well as Lloyd’s son Henry (who was likely named for an uncle, Henry Dorsey).
In 1955, Laura Hay Braddock and Charlotte Hay Beard wrote another book for the Somerset Co PA Historical and Genealogical Society entitled Mount Zion Lutheran & Reformed Church Cemetery Allegheny Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Page 111 lists early residents on Allegheny Township, including “Wm. C. Dorsey.” They state, “Names of many of the descendants of the above will be found on tombstone inscriptions copied from stones in this cemetery, which appear on following pages.”
Page 123 lists five Dorsey burials in the Mount Zion Cemetery, similar to the list in the first book cited here. The burials here are listed by rows, and it can be seen that Lloyd and Edward and their wives are buried consecutively. Henry Dorsey is not included here, but the child Mathew “son of L. & M.” Dorsey is listed. Note the exact wording “son of L. & M.” as in the other cemetery.
I consider myself very fortunate as a passionate family historian since 1966 to have the resources available at my desktop today, which earlier genealogists could never have dreamed of.
I can use census schedules, access local history books, and confirm mothers’ maiden names on death certificates. Nothing I have found contradicts the family group in A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and her People, and most of the facts are confirmed.
1. There was only one Dorsey family in Somerset Co PA between 1800 and 1840.
2. Although neither William C Dorsey nor his wife Mary (Black) Dorsey left a will or other list of their children, a granddaughter, Margery Ella (Dorsey) Lee likely provided the Dorsey family facts for A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and her People, which names her father, uncles and aunts and their spouses.
3. The list in this book is in agreement with the census record for this family.
4. The list in this book matches names and spouses of the Dorsey individuals from Somerset Co PA and Hancock Co OH, as well as other independent sources, such as death records from Ohio, 1910-1927.
5. Lloyd Dorsey was named in the list as a child of this couple.
6. Lloyd Dorsey’s infant son was buried in the same cemetery as his mother.
7. Lloyd Dorsey was closely connected in Addison Township with Edward Dorsey.
Lloyd Dorsey, born 1813, was the sixth son of William C and Mary (Black) Dorsey.
© 2010, Kathy Alvis Patterson
Laura Hay Braddock and Charlotte Hay Beard, Evangelical Lutheran and Reformed Cemetery Inscriptions of Somerset County PA, 1968.
DNA testing results have shown that William C Dorsey was a member of the Anne Arundel Co MD family. See www.contexo.info/DorseyDNA/Results.htm. “The first five members of Lineage I are well documented descendants of the colonial American Immigrant Edward Darcy/Dorsey. The first two are descendants of Edward Darcy/Dorsey’s son John and the next three descendants of his son Edward. The results of the next four members of Lineage I are consistent with their (sometimes tentative) research conclusions that they are also descendants of Edward Darcy/ Dorsey. [I object. William C Dorsey is documented, just not in Jean Muir’s book. KP] DNA results from the final five participants place them in the same lineage as the first eight and suggest that they may share a common ancestor with Edward Darcy/Dorsey. The DNA results coupled with known Irish origins of the last three participants and matches with a number of Irish surnames strongly suggest an Irish origin for Lineage I. Y-chromosome DNA from Lineage I does NOT match Y chromosome DNA from proven descendants of Norman D’Arcy who was said to have come to England with William the Conqueror in 1066.”
William Cumming, Dorsey, Black, Weisel by Edith L Burrell, Findlay OH. Also, Eber Cockley, “Dorsey Family Dated to 1699 Tax List,” Laurel Messenger, Somerset Co PA, Feb 1971, p 4.
Braddock and Beard, op cit.
Called “Margaret France” in Boucher, John Newton. A century and a half of Pittsburg and her people. New York: Lewis Pub. Co, 1908. There were no families spelled “Frashure” in PA in 1840. The closest family in 1840 is the same William Frazer in 1840, Napier Twp, Bedford Co PA. Ancestry.com has him with a daughter Margaret b 1811-d 1851.
“Somerset County Early Marriages,” Laurel Messenger, Somerset Co PA, Aug 1976, p 7.
Her christening at Friedens Union Church, Albany Twp, Berks Co PA, was reported at ancestry.com, but I have been unable to find the actual source of this statement.
Lancaster County Marriage Book 4:212, Court Clerk’s Office, Lincoln NE.
“Descendants of William Cumming, compiled and arranged by Montgomery Cumming. Copied by Ruby Bowers Dorsey, Jul 1, 1957.” This notebook was inherited by Lowell Dorsey, who died in the 1970, and in 1993 was in the possession of Tom Dorsey, a descendant of William Dorsey, son of William Cumming Dorsey. Xerox copy included in a letter from Kim Carles-Hammer (10491 SR 37, Findlay OH 45840) to Kathy Patterson, 30 Aug 1993, not received until Dec 1994. According to Kim Carles-Hammer’s letter of 25 Feb 1995, the notebook is mainly names without dates, possibly corresponding to the chart I have. More detailed Dorsey data may have been added to Montgomery Cumming’s notes by Ruth B. Dorsey.
Possibly the census taker checked “cannot read and write” when he meant to signify the opposite.
Her 1900 census indicated she had four children, two living.
There are several mistakes in this article, but it is being submitted here only in terms of the statement from the publication of The Somerset County (PA) Historical and Genealogical Society that there was one Dorsey family in the county.
Note that William C Dorsey’s family, according to this bill, included “himself,” his wife, a son and 4 other members of the family.
The children of William C and Mary (Black) Dorsey are listed as:
James Black who married Nancy Wells;
David Dorsey, married Rose Ann Weyand, and Margaret Adams;
Jane, wife of Isaac Weisel;
Sarah, wife of Joseph Hardy;
William, who married Louisa Bryan;
Edward, married Mary Hardy;
Lloyd, married Margaret Frances;
Henry, who married Margery Davidson;
Cordelia, wife of David Wertz;
and Lewis, “who served in the Civil War.”
Note that Lloyd Dorsey lived near two families named Black, nephews of his mother, Mary (Black) Dorsey, and a family named Coughenour, possibly the father-in-law of Sarah (Moser) (Dorsey) Coughenour, and individuals named Frazier.
In 1850, James had William, Jane and five others;
David had William, David, Cordelia and James, plus two others;
William had William C, Cordelia, and four others;
Jane had Lloyd, Mary, Sarah, and six others;
Edward had William, Mary and one other;
Sarah had a daughter named Mary Jane, a son and possibly a daughter named Sarah Ann, at whose birth the mother died;
Lloyd had Matthew and Mark, and by 1860 Henry and Mary;
Cordelia had William, Mary, Sarah, and two others;
and Henry had William and 2 others. Remember that the parents were William and Mary.
The children of Edward and Sarah (Cumming) Dorsey are listed in A Century and a Half of Pittsburg… as:
William Cumming Dorsey, married Mary Black;
Deborah, wife of Hugh McElroy, John Welsh, Mr. Larm;
Robert, who married Phoebe Myers;
Richard, who married Lucy Jeffreys;
Thomas, married Amelia Glover;
Johnson, married Rebecca Silver;
and Anna, wife of John Geoghegan.
For the purposes of this study, I am including the letter from Jean Muir Dorsey, author of the 1947 Dorsey genealogy, to confirm that Mrs. Lee knew facts about her Dorsey ancestors which even the acknowledged experts on Dorseys in America were only finding out half a century later. Note that in 1947, when The Dorsey Family was published, nothing at all was included about the children of Edward Dorsey, died 1782, father of Edward Dorsey, died 1825 Washington Co KY, father of William C Dorsey.
Ancestry.com. Tombstone inscriptions of cemeteries, Somerset County, Pa. [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. Original data: Fischer, Della Reagan.. Tombstone inscriptions of cemeteries, Somerset County, Pa.. McKeesport, Pa.: unknown, 1968.
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FCC Chair: US Has ‘More 4G Subscribers Than the Rest of the World Combined’
(CNSNews.com) - Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations Tuesday, said the U.S. leads the rest of the world in 4G subscribers, and it is leading the way on apps, a technology invented by U.S. companies.
“The U.S. has today more 4G subscribers than the rest of the world combined, and we’re on a path to maintain that leadership into the future. This is incredibly important, because 4G LTE is the leading platform for next-generation mobile, and mobile will be a leading if not the leading platform for innovation for years to come,” he said.
In the past four years, the percentage of mobile devices with U.S.-made operating systems worldwide has more than doubled, Genachowski said.
“Today, the U.S. is the clearer world leader on mobile innovation. U.S. companies invented the apps economy, and in four years, the percentage of mobile devices globally with U.S.-made operating systems has grown from 20 percent to 80 percent in four years. Around the world, American apps are leading the way,” he said.
Genachowski said the U.S. “has regained global leadership in key areas of the broadband economy” in the past four years and “moved from laggard to leader” in mobile technology.
“Four years ago, people were talking about mobile innovation, but they were talking about mobile innovation in Asia, and they were talking about mobile infrastructure, and they were talking about mobile infrastructure in Europe – then describing the U.S. as a backwater,” he said.
“And on mobile infrastructure, the U.S. is now leading the world in deploying at scale the next generation of wireless broadband networks – 4G, 4GLTE,” Genachowski said.
“This new mobile broadband platform will allow us to enjoy broadband feeds on the go comparable to what we’re used to from our WiFi connections at home,” he said.
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Growing up just off the Southern California coast, Beau Bennett was often faced with a difficult choice: Spend the afternoon at hockey practice or it the beach?
Such choices were the biggest challenge for a hockey-loving kid growing up in a non-traditional hockey area like Gardena, Calif., which is nestled between Los Angeles and Long Beach. The second biggest challenge, Bennett said, was finding a sheet of ice.
To get ice, it's really expensive. For an hour it would cost $650 (compared to $280 for an hour at Coal Street), Bennett said. We had some good rinks, but they were really far apart.
And those challenges used to be even greater. It wasn't until Wayne Gretzky was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988 that hockey in Southern California was rejuvenated. Fan interest grew and, just as important, so did the number of kids who wanted to skate.
The trade created a hockey hotbed in a region known for surfboards and sand.
As far as hockey in California, you really saw a jump in interest when Gretzky came down, Bennett said. Those birth years, from 1988 to the mid-90s, when Gretzky was there, those are the kids that grew up with it in California.
At age 20, Bennett is one of those kids.
Skating in his first pro season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the former first round pick grew up playing hockey, but not on the ice.
He started on the pavement, playing roller hockey beginning at 4-years-old. In Southern California, roller hockey is the equivalent of pond hockey in Canada.
While many Canadian kids grew up skating on farm ponds or makeshift ice rinks in the backyard, Bennett's childhood was a bit different -- it was spent on asphalt, not ice.
Roller hockey was my main sport until I was 16. My parents made an area for us to play in the backyard, he said. My friends and I practiced a ton every day.
Because roller hockey wasn't as regimented as playing organized ice hockey, kids in Southern California developed their skills in a different manner.
It's something that Penguins head coach John Hynes noticed during his years leading the U.S. National program, which attracted many players from non-traditional hockey areas.
They play roller and street hockey and not in these organized leagues where everything is so competitive and they play game after game, Hynes said. The kids from non-traditional hockey areas, a lot of times, they have a lot of skill and hockey sense that comes from playing on the street. It's an environment that's more skill- and talent-based.
Bennett agreed, and said to play ice hockey in southern California required a lot of commitment with travel and daily practices. Roller hockey, he said, was more about fun and less about winning.
We'd do stuff like stickhandling in the backyard. That's where I worked on my stick skills every day after school for years, Bennett said. It was just a free-flow game. Roller hockey was something I loved to do.
The fun aside, as Bennett grew into a teenager he realized that there wasn't a future in roller hockey. When he was 16, he made the switch to playing on the ice.
At 17, he joined the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League for his first taste of junior hockey.
For the first time, Bennett skated on the ice every day of the week and he combined the skills he learned on the asphalt with those he was now developing in an organized setting.
He had his sights set on becoming a pro, and just as important, parlaying hockey into an education -- which he got while playing for the University of Denver for two years.
But back home, ice hockey always faced stiffed competition from other interests that only Southern California could offer.
They were interests that even Gretzky couldn't compete with at times.
The biggest challenge was there were so many other things you could be doing. The weather was always nice and you didn't have to be locked in to going to the rink, Bennett said. You have the beach. There are some days where you just have to get to the beach because it's beach weather. You have to maintain your focus, and that's the biggest challenge with playing hockey in California.
Hynes said the Kings' Stanley Cup win last season should trigger another hockey wave through California, much like Gretzky's trade. He added it's just one component that has boosted hockey in non-traditional areas, including the NHL's expansion to warmer climates, such as Arizona and Florida, along with USA Hockey's emphasis on growing the games in new areas.
The end result, he said, is kids getting noticed outside of the traditional hockey hotbeds.
Once those kids get to their draft age, you have the USHL, WHL or the U.S. National program. Once they get into that, they're going to progress to a situation where they won't be overlooked, Hynes said. They get recognized as much as anybody else, regardless of where they're from.
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“This is a place,” says Columbia University president Lee Bollinger of his Ivy League institution,
that respects ideas, values diversity of thought and experience and, perhaps most importantly, recognizes that what defines great scholarship is not the easy acceptance of what we already know, but the relentless determination to discover what we still have to learn.
Really? When so many in Columbia's student body personify the very anti-diversity that was the word made flesh during the heady Stalin-show-trial days and the Maoist-springtime schooling of Chinese children in the art of accusation and repudiation? So keep the buildings, Mr. Bollinger—some of them are remarkably beautiful—and repopulate the place with citizens who value real diversity—of the sort you yourself profess to cherish.
For can you in seriousness call “the relentless determination to discover what we still have to learn” descriptive of people whose intolerance for ideas falling outside the known and accepted tropes of the left is so deep and wide as to render them incapable of listening without a jeering rancorousness to the words of fellow student Anthony Mascheck—a heroic wounded vet arguing in favor of reinstating Columbia’s ROTC program after a four-decade ban—who sits, wheelchair-bound, at the opposite pole?
Never mind: It isn’t, whether you would call it so or not. These are children who know they have nothing to learn, except, maybe, from one another. (And that is barely to mention the appalling, and appallingly stupid, lock-step leftism of the professoriate: “Universities should not be involved in military activities,” Sociology Professor Emeritus Herbert Gans told The Post. “Columbia should come out against spending $300 billion a year on unnecessary wars.”)
What’s more, and perhaps needless to say (though many of your students do say so), the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” is not sufficient grounds for bringing war-mongering back to campus: What about transsexuals, some of them would like to know.
“Transpeople are part of the Columbia community,” said senior Sean Udell at the meeting, referring to the military’s current ban on transgender soldiers.
So they are, Mr. Udell; and so, despite your unhappiness about the fact, is Anthony Mascheck. He survived eleven gunshot wounds and two years of rehabilitation. He’ll survive your distaste and your tantrums.
As for you, Mr. Bollinger, the great ball of diversity is now back in your relentlessly determined court. What’s your play?
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Team Killers, Part Three
While there are a few notable exceptions to this general portrait, many couples (no matter what gender) tend to follow a similar pattern. Two people meet and feel a strong attraction, or they are related and have established an intimate familiarity with each other that allows them to share fantasieseven violent ones. Typically one is dominant, and that one seduces the other into sharing his or her fantasy, and then into acting it out. If they succeed, they get bolder, with the dominant one feeling arrogant and alive, and the submissive one often experiencing some guilt, but reluctant to withdraw. However, he or she is often afraid of the dominant one, so will continue to go along.
The urge to commit another crime becomes compulsive for the dominant partner. In the case of two equally dominant partnersmore rare but it happensthey egg each other on. If either feels unsatisfied, that one may go off and commit other crimes on his or her own. With a dominant/submissive couple, the dominant one determines what they will do next. As they escalate, the submissive one (who also may be passive-aggressive) will either get out of the situation, undermine the plan or talk to the authorities (or tell someone else that will go report it). In any event, this person will attempt to end the crimes. He or she has had enough, either because of safety fears or because the guilt has become a burden.
If both are arrested, the submissive usually will attempt to save himself by turning on the dominant partner and blaming him for the most serious crimes. At first the dominant one may protect the weaker one, but generally he turns on the other one and implicates him or her.
Inevitably, they end up estranged, with the dominant using whatever leverage he can get from his association with the submissive partner.
A typical case was a father-daughter team in Brussels, Belgium, who were convicted of multiple counts of murder in 2002. The father, Andras Pandy, brutalized the daughter, Agnes, including raping her since she was 13. Out of fear, she was his accomplice for three years, helping him to kill and get rid of five of the six victims that she knew about until she finally confessed to the police.
Andras Pandy was a Hungarian-born priest, but he had raped his daughter and two stepdaughters. Agnes told authorities about six relatives who were killedPandy's first two wives and four of his children and step-childrenbut the body parts and sets of teeth pulled from the basement and refrigerators on one of his properties were tested for DNA and proved to belong to other people. In the end, authorities suspected Pandy in the deaths of 13 people, some of them children. According to Agnes some had been shot and others bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer. She and Pandy hacked the corpses into pieces and wrapped them in plastic. Some were dumped outside the home, while others were immersed in an acidic drain cleaner called Cleanest, which could dissolve meat from bones and then dissolve the bones themselves.
Although Pandy denounced the investigation as a witch-hunt without physical evidence, the prosecutor described him as a man who wanted to be in control of those who knew about his incestuous activities. Mostly that meant killing them. He claimed that the missing relatives were still alive. He was in touch with them "through angels."
At the conclusion of his trial in 2002, Andras Pandy was convicted on six counts of first-degree murder and three counts of rape, getting life in prison, while Agnes, 44, got 21 years on five counts for her participation.
Agnes claimed that she was equally a victim. "I had no way out," she said. "I was completely in his grip." She was unsparing in her details of Pandy's brutalization.
Agnes was a submissive person who accommodated a killer for three years and who finally turned on him. While she may not have initiated the crimes, she certainly participated and did nothing on five separate occasions to report her father. She went along.
In fact, numerous teams are formed among those who are related by blood or marriage, cementing an intimacy that fully exploits the relationship.
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By Regina Mburu from the CFCA Communications Center in Nairobi
Javan, 19, had a difficult time growing up in a community where people with disabilities are often shunned and seen as a burden to their families.
Javan, who is deaf, was born first in a family of seven in Kenya. He was born and raised in Bondo, a county in the lakeside city of Kisumu.
Javan uses a construction level tool during his classes.
Thanks to the CFCA Hope for a Family sponsorship program, Javan has transformed from a timid boy to a cheerful young man.
After Javan’s father died, his mother took care of him and his siblings. The proceeds she earned from selling food and through her secondhand clothes business helped provide her family with a meal and the opportunity to go to school.
ìMy mother did everything she could, but sometimes it was difficult for her to keep us in school due to lack of money to pay our school fees,î Javan said in sign language.
ìI often prayed and hoped that something good will come my way. I wanted to prove society wrong by being self-reliant,î he said.
His prayers were answered when another deaf friend introduced him to CFCA. Javan was then enrolled in the Hope for a Family program.
Through sponsorship, Javan attends the St. Joseph Technical Institute for the Deaf, where he studies building and construction. It will take him four years to complete the program.
Javan now attends the St. Joseph Technical Institute for the Deaf.
Javan chose the building and construction course because it is practical, and because he has a deaf friend who also did the course and is now doing well.
ìI am very happy that I am a step closer towards my goal,î he said.
It has not been smooth sailing, however. Javan sometimes has a hard time in class, especially when the teacher is not familiar with sign language.
It becomes hard for him to keep up with the rest of the students. His classmates assist him with notes, which he can study later.
Just like everyone else his age, Javan has dreams that he hopes will come true.
“I want to get a good job that will allow me to help my mother take care of my siblings. I would also love to have a family of my own someday,î he signed as he broke into a wide smile.
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Helping Students Shoulder the Load
Published in Stakeholders in the Vision
By Rebecca ChadJPMorgan Chase kicks off partnership with Teachers College by distributing backpacks to students in Harlem
“I’m so glad you all could come today to not only be a part of the school community, but most importantly spend time with the kids.”
On a chilly morning in early January, Principal Elizabeth Jarrett, standing amid colorful student artwork, and book-lined shelves, welcomed a room full of volunteers from Teachers College, JPMorgan Chase (JPMC), World Vision, and the school’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) to PS 154. The visitors had assembled to distribute backpacks full of school supplies to students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Donated by JPMC and assembled by bank employees and members of World Vision, an international NGO committed to improving the lives of children, 90 backpacks were distributed to students in five classrooms. JPMC employees also provided and packed an additional 180 backpacks that will be distributed at two other Harlem schools, PS 36 and PS 76.
PS 154, PS 36, and PS 76 are among seven schools included in TC’s Partnership Schools Consortium, which has been awarded a $1 million grant from the JPMC Foundation in order to launch the consortium’s efforts to improve the educational and developmental outcomes of children living in under-resourced neighborhoods in Harlem. The consortium is an initiative of TC’s Office of School and Community Partnerships (OSCP), led by Associate Vice President Nancy Streim, who notes that “the consortium formalizes and extends OSCP’s work in schools throughout Harlem, allowing TC to leverage its teaching, research, and service in support of providing Harlem youth with access to Comprehensive Educational Opportunity.”
The latter concept calls for delivering programming in the areas of teaching and learning, expanded learning opportunities, early childhood education, family support and engagement, and mental and physical health services to meet children’s academic, social, and developmental needs. “Much of the work over the Consortium’s first year has focused on building the instructional capacity of school leaders, teachers and teacher teams as well as providing students with high-quality expanded learning opportunities,” said Kecia Hayes, who oversees the consortium for TC. Within the next three to five years, the consortium hopes to expand to include 12 schools.
Combining TC’s efforts with support from the JPMC Foundation, a compelling vision of positive, sustainable improvement for children and communities is emerging as a force of change in Harlem.
“Our giving strategy is focused on building communities so that they’re thriving,” said Gayle Jennings-O’Byrne, Vice President of JPMC Foundation. “That includes parents, students, teachers, school leadership and the community at large. So for us – when we think about communities – we think about involving all key stakeholders who will contribute to academic success, and TC’s program is innovative because it does that.”
At the event at PS 154, teachers and PTA members actively engaged with the students as finance and local branch managers from JPMC dispersed into classrooms to interact with the children and distribute the backpacks. Volunteers read aloud books such as Of Thee I Sing by Barack Obama and Double Fudge by Judy Bloom, answered questions from curious students about their jobs working in finance, and initiated conversations about how to save money, how debit cards work, and the joys of sharing with others.
“I finished one book and then they said ‘encore!’” recalled Nicole King, Chase branch manager at the 125th Street location. “I couldn’t believe it, it was the most wonderful thing. What’s exciting about this entire event is that not only do I work here but I also live in the area, so it’s a double benefit for me in terms of giving back.”
Hayes reiterated that sentiment. “Aside from the obvious financial support that an organization like JPMC can provide, the relationship is important because it allows TC to help bridge and expand the networks of young people and their families so that they have access to new and different examples of success and responsible citizenship,” she said. “It provides all stakeholders – higher education, principals, teachers, students, parents, and community organizations – with opportunities to develop deeper understandings of how we each fulfill a critical role as responsible citizens to address the needs of the communities in which we live and work.”
As the event came to a close, King, along with the other JPMC volunteers and TC staff, had the pleasure of handing out colorful, brand new backpacks to the students, who opened their bags and showed off notebooks, markers, rulers, and other critical school supplies. The children also received personalized hand-written cards with positive words of encouragement from World Vision volunteers. “It takes a whole community to provide different things,” said Jarrett, “and something as simple as this has an impact because these volunteers aren’t just giving their time, they’re leaving a gift. That says something because some of our kids come from homes where they didn’t get anything for Christmas.”
Jarrett sees the school’s relationship with TC and JPMC as promising, particularly in the realm of professional development, which she says “is the lever we’re going to use to really implement positive change.” Jennings-O’Byrne is also excited to see the relationship with PS 154 and the other consortium schools flourish. “What’s unique about this model is that it’s really bridging the best practices from a higher ed institution – an amazing one like TC which has so much experience and knowledge in teaching – and bringing it to some of the most challenging schools in Harlem.”
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24-Jun-2001 -- A weekend away at a friend's holiday house on Tasmania's east coast provided the opportunity for another confluence hunt. I'd already bought a detailed map and roughly located 42 South 148 East as being a couple of kilometers walk from the nearest road through bush.
On the Friday afternoon on the way up we took a short detour to visit the area. My wife, who hasnt exactly caught confluence fever, was eventually convinced that a short stroll in the bush would do us all good after the long drive. We climbed a gate and followed a rough track heading in the right direction through apparently disused gravel quarries. The track branched several times so the GPS was handy for recording the route we had taken. My seven year old son Rowan, an experienced confluence seeker from 43S 147E, helped with the navigation, while my four year old daughter Ella was just happy to be out of the car.
We reached the edge of the quarried area where stunted eucalypt trees growing on the gravel changed to less disturbed natural woodland. With daylight fading I scouted ahead another couple of hundred meters and got to within 800 meters of the confluence. The route ahead was down a ridge through light bush and the only remaining obstacle was a creek or small river that the map showed to be just before the confluence.
On Sunday morning we headed back home and despite the deteriorating weather I tried again while the others waited patiently in the car. This time I jogged through the quarry and down the ridge, more or less blindly trusting in the GPS to get me there and back. For the last hundred or so meters some thicker scrub slowed progress. A couple of startled wallabies hopped away.
The confluence turned out to be in a small clearing just before the creek. Many small dead trees indicated a bushfire had passed through the area some years before. With rain starting to fall I turned back, again just following the GPS arrow and not using a map or compass. I arrived back at the car just as heavy rain was falling and the already strong winds reached gale force.
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This very fine documentary feature was the first to win audience awards at both the Sundance and Berlin film festivals. It was also nominated for best documentary at the 2011 Academy awards. I have a feeling that if it was down to an audience vote it would have won! It has also won a number of awards at other international film festivals. "Wasteland" has been marketed as a film which shows how lives are transformed through the power of art, and for once the advertising is not exaggerating. The film follows a project by the Brazilian artist Vik Muniz, as he uses recyclable materials from the massive landfill site of Jardim Gramacho, Rio De Janeiro, to use in his work. In terms of sheer volume of trash received in a day it is the worlds busiest landfill, and working on it day and night like a swarm of locusts are the contadores, the pickers who grab any recyclable materials to make a living. Amongst the scavenging birds, the rats, the flies and the stink which seems almost tangible to the watcher, these people go about their work with unexpected dignity.
The human race is by some distance the messiest life form on this planet. This generation particularly so, and I have a feeling history will judge us as such. Just how messy you will see from this film. Do we really need all this stuff? Lives are laid bare amongst the garbage which tells a tale. Muniz himself says that after escaping poverty he brought a lot of possessions to satiate his desire for material things, and adds that this desire was extinguished. Cut to Muniz's plush apartment full of nice objects. Therein lies the contradiction that is at the heart of our wasteful, consumer led society. We fill our homes full of stuff from China and it ends up in landfill. In the film Muniz picks out characters working on the site. One young woman called Isis has been working there since she was seven. Another is a leading light in the pickers association. One young man relates how he recovered a copy of Machiavelli's "The Prince" from the rubbish, and compares the Florence of that period with its petty fiefdoms to the drug controlled flavela areas of Rio. These people are photographed by Muniz and then work on his art project, which has a huge transforming effect on them. One even travels to an art exhibition in London. I was reminded of Pocahontas being transported to Elizabethan England. Perhaps most telling is that only one of them, who is to old too change her ways, decides to go back to Gramacho after the project has ended.
There is much to admire in the dignity of these people in a harsh environment. They support one another and show more tolerance than the people at a local car boot sale do. These people are also doing a durned fine job in recycling vast amounts of material each day. The tears that you see on screen are clearly genuine, which is very moving. The art that Muniz turns out is actually very good. His type of art I can relate to, which is more than I can say for Damien Hirst. The director Lucy Walker together with co-directors Joao Jardim and Karen Harley have made a genuinely uplifting film out of unpromising material, echoing Muniz's work. Most importantly the 250,000 dollars raised from the sale of pictures at auction was given to the pickers association, thus helping to improve the working conditions of these remarkable people. An added bonus for me was the fine accompanying music by Moby a group I admire. This is a heartwarming documentary that celebrates the human spirit and deserves all the plaudits it got.
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On Tuesday, August 31, 1993, at 1330 eastern daylight time, a Beech BE-19, N24685, registered to K. R. Robinson, Inc., and piloted by Kendall A. Knox, sustained substantial damage during an attempted takeoff from the Lakes Regional Airport, Wolfboro, New Hampshire. The pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR 91. Use your browsers 'back' function to return to synopsisReturn to Query Page
The pilot initiated a takeoff on runway 30. In his report, the pilot stated:
The aircraft accelerated to 45 mph and the nose- wheel came off the runway. The A/C continued to accelerate to 60 mph and the main gear came off the runway. The elevator was relaxed slightly in an attempt to accelerate in ground effect and avoid an imminent stall...however the aircraft settled back down onto the runway. The airspeed was between 55-60 mph and the A/C came off the runway again, but only briefly and again settled down failing to climb. At this point the A/C left the paved runway...through...piles of dirt...
Mr. Thomas C. Schultz, Aviation Safety Inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration (Airworthiness), conducted an examination of the wreckage and an interview with the pilot. In his report, Mr. Schultz stated:
The pilot stated that the run-up and power check were normal. When he attempted to take off...he lifted the nose at 45 MPH The aircraft lifted then settled back to the runway. He lowered the nose and accelerated to about 60 MPH, and lifted the nose again and the aircraft lifted then settled back again. ...the aircraft departed the end of the runway, hit some piles of dirt.
His report continued:
When asked if the nose high attitude was higher than usual he said YES. When asked if the aircraft just mushed forward down and off the end of the runway, he again said YES...
Mr. Schultz's report also stated:
On [October 1, 1993] an engine run was accomplished on the above engine while still attached to the fuselage....The engine was started with no difficulty.. ..No malfunction was found that could have caused the accident.
The pilot reported that his total flight time within the 90 days prior to the accident was 1.5 hours.
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How do ultrarunners (or any athletes who go through vigorous training) know when/how much to rest?
As in politics, sports, and life in general, athletic training/racing has all kinds of rhetoric that gets wrapped up in the mix. An example of this is the notion that our bodies will tell us when we need rest. This is a bit of rhetoric that I have been trying to prescribe to for most of my days as a runner. It seems like such a simple thing. So much so that I've never actually thought much about it, and I'm certain that I've even told others that this is how I know when to rest. The problem is that in the case of ultrarunning this couldn't be further from the truth.
In this manner it reminds me of the idea in baseball that a runner should never dive into first base because not only is it potentially dangerous, but also that you actually get there faster by running through the base rather than diving for it (something about losing forward motion by coiling up for the dive? Even though with every stride we basically coil up as we bend at the knee and ankle). For most of my childhood (in which I always played baseball) I simply accepted this as the truth because every coach and all announcers on TV would always point this "fact" out. It never occurred to me that it could be any other way until one random day as a young adult when my brother and I were watching a game where a player dove into first base and the announcer went off with the typical bottled rhetoric about the stupidity of doing such a thing. This time something went off in our minds though and for some reason we just didn't really trust the rhetoric anymore. We talked about the reality that probably none of these coaches or announcers who always said this had ever actually done any research to back up these claims, and that in all likelihood this notion came about decades ago and was simply passed on as "fact" without anyone really even thinking much about it, let alone testing it. A few minutes later we were out in the yard with a stop watch, a tape measure, and an old glove for a base. We measured off 90 feet and my brother ran while I timed. I don't remember the exact times but what I do remember is that after about a half dozen tests both ways his fastest time without diving was slower than his slowest time with diving for the base. In other words everything that we'd ever been told about this notion was wrong, and to this day I still get annoyed when I hear an announcer on a game mention this "fact" about it being stupid to dive into first base.
Anyway, back to running. The most obvious problem with this notion about our bodies telling us when they need rest is that our bodies don't "speak" such a clear language. When I'm in the midst of serious training (100+ miles per week) I often feel like my body is telling me that it wants rest everyday. How do I know though if it really needs rest or if it's just telling me that it's going to need to have a nice long warmup before it's really ready to go strong? The question is how do we tell when our bodies really need rest and aren't just telling us that they want the rest? For the most part this only applies to those seeking to get the highest level of performance out of their bodies, not so much to those running simply for recreation/general fitness. In other words, the reason we have this dilemma is that we're not training with the intention of our body feeling as strong as possible throughout our training but rather with the intention of our bodies being as strong as possible for a specific event at some point in the future. Thus there are days that you simply have to go out and struggle through fatigue that has accumulated from previous days. You're not always going to want to run every day, but on almost all of these days you will need to or you'll never get as fast as you otherwise could have.
At some point we do benefit from days off, but I really don't think that our bodies are as precise at telling us this as we give them credit for. Rather we have to have a mind that takes over and forces us to grind out a couple hours of running when our bodies are saying that they just want to sit on the couch and sip coffee.
None of this answers the question of how we know when we really do need a day off though. For me I don't feel like there is any specific answer. I think it's something that we have to slowly learn over time. Certainly if my body is saying rest for several days in a row then I know something is up that I should probably be listening to, but otherwise I tend to just get out and grind out some mileage, knowing that my body will almost always feel better after my run than it did before it. When I'm really in good shape I pretty much don't take days off, but that doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of days (typically about one in every 7-10 days) when my body is telling me to. Usually with an active recovery day or two though my body feels great again and over the long haul I think this is more beneficial than a day off would have been.
I'd be interested to hear the opinion of other competitive endurance athletes on this idea... Obviously different people subscribe to (and likely need) very different ideas about training techniques, including rest. How do you all feel about the importance of days off vs. active recovery days?
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The upcoming 8.1 update to Windows 8 will offer improved fingerprint security – including the option to secure folders using a fingertip, as well as signing into Microsoft accounts and authenticating online payments.
[UPDATE #1: (21 Dec 2012, 5:30PM) ESET Researcher Cameron Camp has just published the second part of this series on securing your Android device. Read it here on the ESET Threat Blog at Securing Your Holiday Tech Gifts, Part 2: Android Guide. AG] December is upon us, and whether you have a Christmas tree, menorah,
Disasters, new hardware, new software: to the phish scammer, it’s all potential bait for reeling in victims.
[UPDATE: 10/23/2012, 3:00PM — Testing agency AV-Comparatives has reviewed both ESET NOD32 Antivirus and ESET Smart Security for Windows 8 compatibility. I have updated the blog post below. AG] The release of Windows 8 is this week and interest remains high in Microsoft’s new flagship operating system. We have already taken a
[NOTE: For the latest information about compatibility between ESET's software and Windows 8, please see the following blog post: W8ing for V6: What ESET has in store for Windows 8 Users. (10/23/2012, 4:15PM)] Windows 8 will be available to the public in three weeks, and interest in the latest version of Microsoft’s flagship operating system
While I share the reluctance of my colleagues to predict the future, I think there are some trends that can be classified as “reasonably likely to occur” in 2012. I make no promises, but here’s what I think we will see, in no particular order of importance or certainty. We will see increased interest in
Since yesterday’s Much Ado About Facebook post in the ESET Threat Blog, we have written additional articles, received a few comments, and also received updated information on the “threat,” so it seems that now is a good time for a follow-up article. Reports continue to come in of pornographic and violent imagery on Facebook, and
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For More Information Contact the Public
Kathryn Forsyth, Director
For Release: Novmber 22, 2005
22 Governor’s Schools of Excellence Winners Recognized
Twenty-two schools were honored today as 2005 Governor’s Schools of Excellence Award winners for the significant improvements they have made over the course of two school years.
“These schools are excellent examples of how we can prepare our students for a 21st century workplace,” acting Commissioner Lucille E. Davy said. “It’s important we honor them today, and we’re sure they will sustain their improvement and keep providing outstanding opportunities for their students.”
Acting Commissioner Davy was joined by Ratepayer Advocate Seema Singh and other officials for the ceremony, held at the Masonic Temple in Trenton.
“These schools have shown they can give their children the best opportunities to succeed because of their marked improvement,” Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey said last month when the awards were announced. “They wanted to get better, and it’s no doubt their students benefited as a result.”
Governor’s Schools of Excellence receive a $25,000 reward. The program, in its third year, recognizes schools that show significant promise and meet five of nine criteria for two consecutive academic years. The criteria are:
- Outstanding growth in literacy measures;
- Improved parental involvement in school matters;
- Improved student attendance, graduation, and retention rates, and/or dropout reduction;
- Fewer violence and vandalism incidents as demonstrated in the annual Violence and Vandalism report and other measures;
- Creative and increased involvement with partnerships and/or the community;
- Increased and creative use of technology as a tool for learning in a school’s curriculum;
- Improved the quality of professional development of teachers;
- Improved learning for special needs and/or specialized populations; and
- Other category: this is an area where a school may submit documentation that shows areas of significant improvement that may not fit one of the criteria above.
Here are the 2005 winners, by county:
Washington Avenue Elementary School, Pleasantville School District: An Abbott school in an urban district that sits outside the borders of Atlantic City, this school of approximately 330 students has demonstrated sustained and impressive growth in test scores at the fourth grade level over the last five years. For more information on the school: http://www.pleasantville.k12.nj.us/schools/washington/.
Lincoln Elementary School, Hasbrouck Heights School District: Despite struggling previously, the school now scores in the top 10 percent of schools in the entire state. The most dramatic statistical gain occurred in mathematics where the percentage of the total population of students scoring advanced proficient more than doubled. For more information: http://lincoln.hhschools.org/.
Ridgefield Park Junior-Senior High School, Ridgefield Park School District: Ridgefield Park Junior-Senior High School implemented new courses and refocused teacher efforts; this has led to an improved school. For more information: http://www.rpps.net/rpjrsrhs.html
Peter Muschal Elementary School, Bordentown Regional School District: The school has been able to increase fourth-grade scores in the proficient range in both mathematics and language arts, as well as significantly decrease the number of partially proficient students. This has allowed the Peter Muschal Elementary School to meet and surpass the NCLB requirements. For more information: http://www.bordentown.k12.nj.us/
Garfield East Elementary School, Willingboro School District: Student achievement, as indicated by their test scores for the past four consecutive years, has improved dramatically. For more information:
Dr. William Mennies Elementary School, Vineland School District: Many students are at-risk; the school has improved by building a strong partnership of parents, teachers, and community.
For more information: http://www.vineland.org/mennies/notes_from_office.htm.
Max Leuchter Elementary School, Vineland School District: The school has the district’s highest number of transient students as well as a large number of families who are homeless. To address these issues, the school has created and sustained a strong partnership with the parents and the community. For more information: http://www.vineland.org/leuchter/index.html.
Holly Glen Elementary School, Monroe Township School District: Over the past two academic years, there has been a significant improvement in academic achievement. Specifically, early intervention, continual review of its curriculum, integration of technology and improved teaching techniques has been the key to its success. For more information: http://www.monroetwp.k12.nj.us/es/hollyglen/hollyglen.htm.
W.C.K. Walls Elementary School, Pitman School District: The school has improved its language arts literacy and mathematics NJASK test scores, which is the direct result of focusing efforts on improving performance in language arts and math. For more information: http://pitman.k12.nj.us/admin/wallsopen.htm.
Hurffville Elementary School, Washington Township School District: The school has focused on improvement by stressing “building a better world, one student at a time.”
For more information: http://www.wtps.org/hurff/.
Washington Township High School, Washington Township School District: Washington Township High School is the largest high school in South Jersey and the third largest high school in the state. Student performance on the HSPA remain on the rise.
For more information: http://www.wtps.org/wths/.
Phillip G. Vroom Elementary School, Bayonne Public Schools: The school has been successful in turning things around and was able to close the achievement gap for its economically disadvantaged students. Consequently, it was also removed from the federal NCLB list of schools that needed improvement.
For more information: http://www.bhs.bboed.org/schools/vroom/index.html.
Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School, Jersey City School District: School has improved achievement in a district that is represented by 31 different languages. For more information: http://www.jcboe.org/mcnhs/.
Jose Marti Middle School, Union City School District: Formerly Christopher Columbus Middle School has exceeded expectations and received numerous accolades for its technology integration across the curriculum. New standards-based assessments and programs, and a focused vision all figure prominently in promoting and sustaining the school’s goals are apparent.
Woodbrook Elementary School, Edison Township School District: The school has been able to increase their performance levels on language arts and mathematics tests by always taking the time to recognize success and then raising the bar higher. For more information: http://www.edison.k12.nj.us/wbrindex.htm.
John F. Kennedy Memorial High School, Woodbridge Township School District: The school fosters an atmosphere that promotes students’ confidence as scholars and their importance as viable members of the community. For more information: http://www.woodbridge.k12.nj.us/SchoolsHS/JFK-HS/high_jfk.htm.
Robert Mascenik Elementary School #26, Woodbridge Township School District: The school’s unique learning environment has resulted in significant improvement in language arts and mathematics test scores.
For more information: http://www.woodbridge.k12.nj.us/elementary_26.html
Marine Academy of Science and Technology, Monmouth County Vocational School District: The school’s mission is to create literate, moral, productive members of society, who are empowered to meet the challenges of a global community and is realized though its unique approach to building a functional community.
For more information: http://www.mast.mcvsd.org/.
Tinton Falls Middle School, Tinton Falls School District: Improvement in language arts literacy and mathematics test scores occurred because of the school’s plan designed to best identify and tailor their teaching to the unique needs of each child. For more information: http://www.tfs.k12.nj.us/tfs/default.htm.
Bedminster Township School, Bedminster Township School District: As a result of a dedicated effort to renew curricula, improve teaching and learning, enhance purposeful professional development, and acquire and retain high quality staff, its students emerged as performance leaders in all areas of literacy. For more information: http://www.bedminsterschool.org
Kittatiny Regional High School, Kittatinny Regional School District: In order to assist their students in improving their GEPA and HSPA test scores, the school implemented a variety of programs that allowed their school to increase their test scores significantly. For more information: http://www.krhs.net/.
Nicholas Murray Butler Elementary School No. 23, Elizabeth School District: A school in an urban district with low-income families, a high mobility rate and two-thirds of its families who do not speak English in the home, No. 23 has improved consistently on standardized tests.
For more information: http://www.elizabeth.k12.nj.us/schools/23/front.html.
For more information, please contact the Department of Education Public Information Office at (609) 292-1126.
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Only in the ‘dirty 30s’ (as weatherman Tex Antoine used to say) could a laundry be named the most beautiful building in Queens…though in the borough of Archie Bunker, maybe that isn’t such an anomaly after all.
Your webmaster has been riding the Long Island Railroad for nearly a decade now, and on each trip on the north side of the tracks, you could always see the Knickerbocker Laundry. The 1936 building was an exaggerated streamline design, a side category of Art Deco called Streamline Moderne. (Other examples are the Triborough Bridge approaches and the set design of 1936 H.G. Wells adaptation, Things To Come.)
Curvilinear lines, perfectly symmetrical design, and a huge clock above the front entrance earned the “Beautiful Building” accolade from the Queens Chamber of Commerce soon after its opening. It was quite modernistic for its time and its design would be echoed in the futuristic buildings featured in the 1939-40 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows.
The Knickerbocker Laundry, and later, Naarden Fragrances, occupied the structure until 1986 when it began a slow slide into utter oblivion and disrepair, which is how your webmaster encountered it in 1993. But just a couple of years later, there was a renaissance…
The New York Presbyterian Church, with a primarily Korean congregation, purchased the building, and as you can see, renovated it from stem to stern. Very few of its original Streamline Moderne Le Corbusier-ish touches remain.
In any case it’s a lot better than the shape it was in just a few years ago!
It seems to be the height of redundancy and a complete waste to post TWO maroon landmark street signs at one corner in Jackson Heights. What’s the Department of Transportation up to?
And what the heck are the little numbers after each letter in the sign? This calls for a bit of sleuthing.
It’s all because of Alfred Butts, the inventor of a popular board game. As the website ideafinder.com told it…
Butts, attempting to create a game that would use both chance and skill, combined features of anagrams and the crossword puzzle-and called his new game “Criss Cross Words.”
The game was strictly a home entertainment for his family and friends. Many of the friends to whom Butts supplied handmade sample But the established game manufacturers to whom he submitted his invention were unanimous in rejecting it for commercial development. Butts, again busy as an architect, put aside his efforts to develop the game.
In 1948, Mr. and Mrs. James Brunot, owners of one of the original Criss Cross Words sets, thought the game should be marketed. Butts authorized the Brunots to manufacture the game. Mr. and Mrs. Brunotformed the Production and Marketing Company setting up shop in their Newtown, Connecticut, home. The Brunots rented a little abandoned schoolhouse in Dodgingtown, Connecticut, where with friends they turned out 12 games an hour, stamping letters on wooden tiles one at a time. Later, boards, boxes and tiles were made elsewhere and sent to the factory for assembly and shipping.
The first four years were a struggle. Mr. Brunot kept his regular job. In 1949, the Brunots made 2,400 sets and lost $450. However, year by year, the orders increased as news about the game spread, mainly by word of mouth. Then, in 1952, the Brunots left for a trip to Kentucky, returning to find their little factory deluged with orders. Obviously, the game was no fad. Sales have gone steadily upwards, and today SCRABBLE® Brand Crossword Game is one of the leading board games in America, and by far the most popular word game. Today, Scrabble ranks (just below Monopoly) as the second best-selling game in U. S. history.
Alfred Butts was a Jackson Heights resident, and the Department of Transportation, in an unusually playful move for the usually-dour agency, assigned numerical values to the letters in 35th AVENUE matching the values they are assigned on Scrabble tiles. Only the H and V are worth much, at 4 points; the other letters are worth one each.
Your webmaster ALWAYS wins at Scrabble except if there’s money on the table.
The special sign is back on 35th and 82nd after a few years’ hiatus.
Long Live Rocks
The boundary line between Brooklyn and Queens has been zigzagging back and forth for the better part of three centuries. Here, Bob Singleton, Queens historian and program director of the Greater Astoria Historical Society, stands at a boulder, that, records indicate, marked the Brooklyn-Queens boundary in the 18th Century. The rock can be found at Varick Avenue and Randolph Street.
The Adrian and Ann Wyckoff Onderdonk House, at Flushing & Onderdonk Avenues, was built, it is thought, by Paulus Van der Ende in about 1712, but it’s what’s in the back yard that has our attention today…
This is purportedly the famed “Arbitration Rock” that formed another disputed Brooklyn-Queens boundary. It was located to the west of Flushing Avenue and Onderdonk Avenue until Onderdonk was extended west in the 1930s. According to the Greater Ridgewood Historical Society, Arbitration Rock was buried beneath the pavement for decades, until, the story goes, a chance excavation in December 2000 revealed it once more. It has been placed in the back yard of the Onderdonk House (which is entirely in Queens) for the time being. Surveyor Peter Marschalk set the boundary, originally the Kings County-Newtown Township line, in 1769.
On Morgan Avenue and Rock Street, somewhat to the south and west of the other two stones, is yet another boundary rock. This one appears to have been artificially cut at some time in the past; it’s certainly been artificially decorated with the tribal markings of the 20th Century.
The rock disappeared sometime in 2008, but has recently magically reappeared, sans graffiti.
The Kings-Queens boundary was set sometime in the late 1700s as a straight diagonal line that cut through Ridgewood and Bushwick. But more changes were to come: as the area became more populated and row and detached homes replaced the farms, some houses found themselves with their kitchens in Queens and their bathrooms in Brooklyn! In the 1920s, the boundary was placed in a zigzag line, with Cypress and St. Nicholas Avenues getting the lion’s share of the boundary.
Sugar refineries, called sugar houses, were built in lower Manhattan during the mid to late 1700s to alleviate the need to import refined sugar from Europe. The sugar houses, with their small windows and low ceilings, were considered ideal by the British as prisons, and as on the prison ships in Wallabout Bay, conditions were notoriously inhumane, and may patriots died in captivity.
This sugar house stood at what is now Avenue of the Finest and Madison Street; its window was later incorporated in the Rhinelander Building, itself torn down in 1968. The window now stands in the pedestrian plaza behind the Municipal Building near City Hall.
As many as 800 Americans were crammed in a typical sugar house,
suffering a tremendous amount of abuse and left with the choice of either starving or freezing to death. Conditions were so bad that many inmates carved messages and their names on the beams and walls. For years afterward these ‘last wills’ remained.–Kenneth Dunshee in As You Pass By
Inspiration Point and Civic Virtue
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s “Manhattan”, written in 1925, works as a handy dandy travelogue of the five boroughs. But…since it was written over 7 decades ago, some of the landmarks mentioned have modern-day listeners scratching their heads and reaching for their NYC guidebooks! Take the fourth verse….sing along if you want…
We’ll have Manhattan,
The Bronx and Staten Island too,
We’ll try to cross Fifth Avenue.
As black as onyx
We’ll find the Bronix Park Express,
Our Flatbush flat, I guess,
Will be a great success,
More or less.
A short vacation
On Inspiration Point we’ll spend,
And in the station house we’ll end.
But Civic Virtue cannot destroy
The dreams of a girl and boy –
We’ll turn Manhattan
Into an isle of joy!
Inspiration Point? Civic Virtue? What could Rodgers and Hart been referring to?
Inspiration Point, a sightseeing and romantic mecca in its early days, was built in 1924. The site of a natural rocky outcropping in the Hudson River, the site got its Greek temple shelter that year, and it undoubtedly inspired the song lyric.
A view of Inspiration Point is not easily attained these days. Robert Moses completed a long-sought for personal dream when he finished the Henry Hudson Parkway in 1937, and the um, er, recreational role of Inspiration Point was pretty much abandoned after that.
An abandoned park along Fort Washington Avenue leads down toward the Henry Hudson Parkway and “Inspiration Point” is visible through the trees.
The park is near the beautiful Castle Village complex, which replaced Paterno Castle in the late 1930s.
Walking north from Inspiration Point, you can see the remains of a gateway that led to the castle-like grounds of one of the mansions that overlooked the Hudson River. Just north of here, you enter Fort Tryon Park and the Cloisters are in view.
Further south, a similar structure has been refurbished with the basement serving as the Grant’s Tomb Vistor Center.
“Civic Virtue” meanwhile is a large statue of a naked youth astride a pair of writhing mermaids, produced by Frederick McMonnies in the 1920s and placed at Queens Boulevard and Union Turnpike in Kew Gardens in 1941, after a stint at City Hall Park.
In 2012, there was chatter about moving the statue once again, to Green-Wood Cemetery, as some Queens politicians are uneasy with the work’s perceived sexism.
Finally, on the upper west side we are reminded of our place in the world, as if we needed reminding.
Historic Preservation in Queens, Jeffrey Kroessler and Nina Rappaport, 1990 Queensborough Preservation League
Maspeth, Our Town, by Barbara Stankowski, Maspeth Federal Savings & Loan Association 1977
Thanks to Bob Singleton and Christina Wilkinson for assistance with this page
3/21/02; revised 2012
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As the Israeli Army buries its dead in what seems to be a war that the Jewish State can never win, we happen to learn from a high official within the Pentagon that Israel is about to make use of what seems to be its ultimate devastating weapon. We also have discovered that the recent French-American diplomatic push for a UN Security Council Resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire is there to postpone the deployment of this new weapon, preventing Israel from dragging the world into a new horrifying phase of warfare, with results whose outcome cannot be predicted.
According to the Pentagon official, who asked that his identity not be revealed for obvious reasons, in a private telephone call between the Israeli Foreign Minister Mrs Tzipi Livni and the American Secretary of State Ms Condoleezza Rice, Livni confessed that as an act of despair, Israel is left with no recourse but the immediate deployment of its entire WW Martyr Brigade, (code name for the new weapon). Though Ms Rice initially attempted to persuade Livni to avoid undertaking such a reckless action, our foreign reporters near the Israeli border with Lebanon already confirmed that such deployment is already taking place.
As the news keeps filtering in from the battlefield, we hear more and more about weirdly shaped Israeli combatant platoons popping out of some large armoured containers that look very much like oil tankers. Sky Fox, our correspondent in Kiryat Shmone has been reporting for days that the new Israeli platoon looks like nothing he has ever seen before. In one of his latest reports he argued that the new Israeli warrior looks very much like a heavily armoured giant penis. As the details emerge at a steadier rate, we now realise that the WW Martyr Brigade refers to Israel’s most secretive units: the ‘Wailing Wall Martyr Brigade’. In the last 24 hours we have learned as well that WW martyr commandos are already operating deep within Lebanon, and even north of Beirut destroying Katyusha launchers and Hezbollah infrastructure.
Dr. Moishe’le Heritage of the Negev University’s History Department told us that already in the early 1950’s Shimon Peres, then a young politician closely related to Ben Gurion, brought the attention of the Israeli Government to a scientific study by the famous Jewish Harvard biologist Prof. Willy Short. The scientific work explored the varied possibilities of cloning and transformation of isolated human tissue into functional operating human subjects. With the academic approval of Prof. Short, Peres advised the Israeli government that the Jewish State could clearly benefit from genetically cloning tons of foreskins that are usually binned after the Brit Mila ceremony (a Jewish tribal blood ritual still very common amongst Jews both religious and secular). Peres and his team had found out that more than 7.8 tons of Jewish foreskins were being disposed of every month. Totally inspired by Short’s research, Peres realised already then in the 1950’s, that tons of fresh Jewish DNA penis waste could be transformed into battalions of young Jewish platoons, sailors, pilots and Mossad agents. Yet, while in his research Prof. Short insisted that it was only just a question of time before genetic engineering would allow standard technological practice of such nature, Ben Gurion, the Israeli PM at the time, decided to explore Short’s different scientific and technological ideas without delay.
Within days Israel allocated 15% of its annual budget towards a major scientific laboratory known as Jewrassic Scientific Park near Kfar Giladi. Within less than a month, a team of leading Jewish scientists including Dr Doovid Little (Doolittle) from Oxford. The Swedish zoologist Prof Pipi Chopsky and even the world renown Berkley physicist Prof Dick Cutoffvitz were recruited. Together with Prof Willy Short they all made Aliyah, settling in the North of Israel and helped create the Jewrassic Scientific Park, turning it into the secret core of Jewish power and the bank of some infinite Jewish human resources.
Not many people know, but even El Al, the Israeli commercial airliner that seems to be an innocent air carrier specialising in serving Kosher food as high as 30,000 ft. in altitude, is in fact operating under the direct control of the Jewrassic Park Headquarters. Seemingly, El Al’s primary national mission is to deliver live foreskin stock from the Diaspora to the scientific park in Northern Galilee. Each of El Al’s Boeing jets is equipped with a large refrigerated compartment made especially for transporting deeply frozen tiny live tissue segments.
While the Jewrassic Scientific Park started to operate as a research plant already in the early 1950’s, it wasn’t until 1956 that the first ‘Motherless Jewish Soldier’ was born. Though in its early days the Scientific Park managed to produce one soldier a month at the very most, nowadays, in peak production, with the development of genetic engineering and other new technologies, it can clone a paratrooper division within days. In other words, Israeli military livestock is basically unlimited not to say infinite. Yanka’le Schwantz from the Scientific Park told us that “with the ‘Motherless Soldier’ in mind, for the first time in our Jewish history, Israel is not afraid of large scale casualties amongst its combatant soldiers.”
According to an official Israeli unofficial source, the deployment of the Wailing Wall Martyr Brigade is taking the Hezbollah by complete surprise. Jihad Abu Az Zamman, the self-appointed Hezbollah spokesman from London, confirmed that Israel is indeed changing its tactics: “…the Israelis are currently deploying thousands of its soldiers against each of our heroic Guerrilla fighters. While in the past Israel was proud handling a war of ‘a few against very many’, now things are turning the other way around. It is our Hezbollah warrior who single-handedly defeats divisions and brigades of Israeli cowards.” Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz confirmed already over a week ago that Israel is putting on the battlefield some new tactics and strategies it has never before used. We are now guessing that it was the WW Martyr Brigade and the deployment of massive Israeli military forces he was referring to.
We have learned as well from the Israeli source that some of the early Jewrassic clones made it into the Israeli high command and beyond. There is some gossip in Israel that Dan Halutz (Daniel Pioneer) is actually the first foreskin embryo to see the light of day. When Dan was eighteen he joined the Israeli Air Force, he was indeed one of Israel’s best pilots ever and it didn’t take long before Dan became the Air Force commander and later the IDF Chief of Staff. Yet it is probably Dan Halutz’s Jewrassic past that may explain why the Israeli Major General behaves and looks like a dickhead.
Just before closing this news update it is rather crucial to mention that the international scientific community is taken by shock at the devastating news from Israel. “Using science and genetic engineering to spread violence is unforgivable,” said yesterday PhD Adolph Dove from the EU Dogwatch for Science and Ethics. “Baaa…” was the immediate reaction of Dolly the Scottish heroic scientific clone. Jewish anti-Zionists around the world are outraged as well. We learned just minutes ago that two of the most famous British Jewish ethnic campaigners, Tony Trans and Roland Greenpiece plan a huge protest in front of London’s Israeli Embassy next Friday. “I want my Foreskin back,” shouts Greenpiece. “Using my DNA against the innocent Lebanese people without my approval is nothing but an utter war crime,” cries out Tony Trans. On the other hand, more than a few Christian Evangelical Americans already contacted the Jewrassic Park toll-free number and offered to donate their testicles in support of the ‘Israeli war effort’. We have learned from Yossi Bollox that Jewrassic Park has politely rejected the kind Evangelicals due to some obvious racial purity reasons.
We will be following this developing story and keeping you informed.
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Farmers set to reap bumper profits
Farmers across the country will see healthy results this financial year despite recent widespread flooding, with official figures suggesting profits will rise for the first time in three decades.
Research by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) forecasts that farm export earnings will rise 9.4 per cent this financial year to $35.5 billion.
Rain and strong commodity prices were behind the result, says ABARES executive director Paul Morris.
But now it is a case of too much rain rather than too little; flooding has damaged some properties and reduced harvests such as cotton, of which around 10 per cent has been lost.
"It's important to note that we were expecting a record crop of cotton this year, and so while there may be some reduction as some result of the floods it's still likely to be a very high production level," Mr Morris said.
Mr Morris says it is the first time in 30 years that farms in all states and territories will turn a profit.
"That's a very positive picture compared to where we have been, obviously, over the last decade, and one that I think provides farmers with a good position to start thinking about how they plan the future and to manage some of those risks we know will come over the next few years," he said.
The mix of exports is changing.
The Australian economy has not ridden on the sheep's back for decades but Mr Morris says sheep farming is experiencing a revival.
"Wool prices have recovered quite a bit compared to where they were, and also meat prices are quite high," he said.
"So we are starting to see a bit of a move back towards herd rebuilding and flock rebuilding in Australia. Sheep numbers are starting to go up."
It is a welcome change for sheep producers such as Jock Laurie, president of the National Farmers' Federation.
"All industries have their ups and downs and the sheep industry has had a pretty torrid run the last 15 to 20 years," Mr Laurie said.
"So there's a great future in a lot of the agriculture commodities but, like all of them, they do have their cycles and they have their ups and downs, and that's just something that we tend to get used to."
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Planning applications are handled by the council's Development Control section. This page and associated links set out general guidance on the submission and handling of planning and other associated applications. Applications are dealt with as part of the democratic process with full public participation and consultation and are considered by the council in the light of:
Planning permission is generally required for the carrying out of any form of development which includes the change of use of land and buildings. Internal and external alterations to Listed Buildings also require consent as in many instances does the display of advertisements and the carrying out of works to trees that are protected by Tree Preservation Orders. Within conservation areas consent is normally required to demolish buildings and the council must be notified before works are carried out to any tree.
Viewing planning applications online
All planning applications that have been received since January 2006 are now available to view on line.
Making planning applications
The St Edmundsbury standard planning application forms have a number of advantages for planning applicants and agents:
- The same forms are by every local authority avoiding confusion about what is required:
- when you need two planning consents at the same time (for example planning permission and listed building consent), you will only have to complete one form: and
- an online forms service is available, including help to make sure you submit the correct form.
We encourage you to submit applications online to help speed up the process and save on printing costs, however the new 1APP application forms can be downloaded and sent by post to the Planning Department, West Suffolk House, Western Way, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3YU.Copies of the forms will be available online , or you can request paper copies of the forms from the Planning Helpdesk 01284 757675.
1APP - Planning application - forms and planning fees
Also available are information leaflets:
For further information and details Design and Access Statements:
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Linux sound is a pain - adding wine makes a real PITA.
I just noticed that my "record what you hear" thru wine wasn't working anymore...sigh. Various versions of wine seem to have different sound problems. (Here: wine-1.5.14 and pulseaudio 1.1)
Here's what I did to fix it, and FWIW you might try the same or something similar:
- install/enable pulseaudio
- install "pavucontrol" (small program).
- another thing to check is "alsamixer", mostly to see that nothing's muted. You should already have it.
- while using the mic & program, try the various settings on pavucontrol (I had to change the Config/Profile value to various values - then the recording worked, then I set it back to where it started - analog stereo duplex - and it still worked....bigger sigh).
Anyway, pavucontrol has settings for mics.
- winecfg shows my driver as "winepulse.drv"; the devices have a choice of Pulseaudo or "System Default" - they're all Default (just checked: "Pulseaudio" works, too). My recording program (audition w/wine) has a device/driver choice of "Pulseaudio" or "Wave Mapper", and they both work (wine probably points Wave Mapper - and "Default" - to Pulseaudio). My playing program - foobar under wine - is set to Pulseaudio but "Primary Sound Driver" works too.
Summary: I think the secret lies in having pulse and pavucontrol, having wine use winepulse.drv, and fooling around with pavucontrol until your mic works....wish I had something smarter to tell you!
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Picasso’s paintings of his mistress Marie-Therese are among the most tender images of love in twentieth-century art, while Schiele’s drawings of his mistress Wally are among the most tormented. Magnificent examples of both are on public view at Sotheby’s Bond Street this week (until 5 Feb) – run, don’t walk, to see them in the saleroom before they vanish into a private collection.
I asked Helena Newman, Chairman of Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Department Europe, to tell me the stories behind the Picasso and the Schiele works. She also gave me a tour of other highlights from the Impressionist/Modern sale, also on view until 5 February.
Schiele’s gouache double portrait of himself with Wally is a spine-tingling work – its lines seem to move of their own accord and the intense, evocative colours blend the two figures into one, expressing the pathos and passion of the end of their affair in a single vision. This electric work, along with an erotic drawing and a stunning self-portrait, is being sold by the Leopold Museum in Vienna – one of the pre-eminent collections of Austrian art of this period – to settle a restitution claim.
The painting of Marie-Therese is from 1932, the year Picasso made his affair with the young Swede public in a sumptuous exhibition filled with sensual portraits of her. (see RA Magazine Winter 2010)
Picasso incised the black, drawn outline of her figure with his paintbrush, creating an almost sculptural female form from which the colours seem to pulsate.
More of my favourites from Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art sale included a late Monet painting of waterlillies at Giverny, reminiscent of the quasi-abstract paintings of this scene shown in the RA’s ‘Late Monet’ show, as well as two jaw-dropping painterly pastels by Degas of his key themes, the dancer and the bather.
Another, more surprising view of Giverny in the Frost (see right) is a wonderful study of white on white from the collection of the Earl of Jersey, a rare British Impressionist collection, that also includes work by Sisley and Henri Edmond Cross.
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Trayvon Martin, left, and George Zimmerman. / AP
NEW YORK - Robert Zimmerman wears bulletproof vests when he goes outside his house. He doesn't greet neighbors or look grocery store cashiers in the eye. Once, angry customers at Starbucks confronted him over one of the nation's most controversial cases.
Zimmerman is not a suspect, but his brother, George, is the man accused of murdering Trayvon Martin a year ago Feb. 26. Like Trayvon's family, Zimmerman's family has been forever changed since the night Trayvon, a teenager whose parents say was racially profiled, was fatally shot in a dark Florida subdivision.
Amid plans for a vigil in memory of Trayvon in New York City, the families of George Zimmerman and Trayvon are speaking as publicly about the case as ever.
"George's entire family was smeared by proxy," said Robert Zimmerman, 31, who moved from Virginia to act as a full-time spokesman for his family. "The situation goes from peaceful to anxious, having uttered the Zimmerman name in public."
Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, 46, continues to be haunted by the moment he identified his son's dead body. For him, Feb. 26, the day of the shooting, and Feb. 27, the morning he identified his son, mark the worst days of his life.
"I just want to erase those two days," he said. "No healing has been done inside my heart."
Martin, a truck driver, hasn't gotten a chance to grieve because of his public battle to get George Zimmerman arrested and charged. Instead of grief counselors and moments of reflection, the last year has been about speaking out against the racial profiling he says led Zimmerman to target his son. For Martin, peace may begin if a jury convicts Zimmerman.
In the weeks after Trayvon's death in Sanford, Fla., the nation focused on the narrative of a young unarmed black man who was killed while walking home with a bag of Skittles and iced tea. People - fixated on Trayvon, Zimmerman and Sanford, Fla. - debated about race, gun laws and the meaning of self-defense
Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who called the police after seeing what he said was a suspicious character in a neighborhood with a history of break-ins, pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge and said he acted in self-defense. He remains free on $1 million bond.
Robert Zimmerman hopes a judge and possibly jury will look past the public discourses that tied this case to race and gun laws and see it for what he says it is - straightforward self-defense.
"George had to do what he did to save his life, and that tragic reality is a situation no one wants to find themselves in," Robert Zimmerman said.
He said Zimmerman, whose father is white and mother is Afro-Peruvian, grew up appreciating diversity among Spanish-speaking family members and Peruvian customs and festivals. Robert Zimmerman insists his brother did not act based on any racial notions the night of the shooting.
The death threats against Zimmerman and family have continued all year - spiking on Feb. 5, what would have been Trayvon's 18th birthday. The Zimmerman family spends most days holed up, talking about developments in the case.
There are small traditions, such as Sunday Salsa nights when homemade appetizers ease the isolation. However, it's in this recluse setting that George Zimmerman has gained more than 100 pounds."We don't even say hi to the next door neighbor or look at the cashier in the eye or talk to the guy at the gas station," Robert Zimmerman said. "Your entire human interaction is the people you grew up with. It's this survivor island."
For Trayvon's family, there obviously is no interaction with the young man who died before realizing his dreams of fixing and flying planes. For the teen's family, there are only days filled with sadness and the building of Trayvon's legacy.
Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon's mother, has spent the year trying to heal and working with other families whose children have been killed. She tells parents about her experience and lobbies for changes in "stand your ground" laws across the country.
"The first six months, we were crying a lot," Fulton said. "But we can't continue having our kids die for no reason. We have to come up with some plan to stop this violence. I don't know if it's gun control or educating people with guns."
Dozens of people gathered in Union Square Park Tuesday to mark the night Trayvon was killed. Many in the large crowd carried signs displaying the late teen's face, small white candles, and wore hoodies during the chilly, rainy event.
Surrounded by supporters, Trayvon's parents, both donning black hoodies, and their attorneys reiterated their interest in seeing the murder case against George Zimmerman move through the courts. The two parents thanked supporters and blew out candles at 7:17 p.m., the exact time Trayvon died.
Meanwhile some well- known faces, Jamie Foxx and Michael Eric Dyson, also spoke through megaphones at the park.
"It's the one year anniversary of the forced martyrdom of a young man who sought nothing more than to exercise his right to breathe and exist," Dyson said, later calling Trayvon a "hate crime victim."
Foxx later added that people should think of Trayvon as a typical teen who enjoyed his family and adolescent activities.
"The simple thing is allow the court system to work and allow a person to have their day and trial," Foxx said.
The vigil, which lasted about an hour and a half, did not attract the same massive number of people as the rally held in New York for Trayvon last year.
Mikey Jay, 34, a rapper from the Bronx, offered his take on the smaller numbers. "People are probably just worried about themselves," he said. "But me? I still care."
Experts say this case will continue to hold the nation's attention because of the public conversations it sparked.
On the surface, Sanford, Fla. looks normal. Weekly block parties have resumed, and residents stroll in and out of the downtown's cafes, antique furniture stores and quirky bookstores. But people still quietly talk about the case in barbershops, church meetings, and living rooms.
No doubt, across the nation, the case has polarized people.
Supporters of Zimmerman have continued to donate his legal defense fund, giving more than $300,000. There are also online postings that argue Zimmerman should never have been arrested and that the murder charge he faces is an attack of self-defense laws.
Tens of thousands of Trayvon supporters have posted pictures of themselves wearing hoodies on Twitter, Facebook and other social media. While the rallies and protests seen in the weeks following the shooting have subsided, people continue to talk about the case as an example of the dangers of stereotyping.
"Trayvon Martin gave race in this country a very tangible representation of what it means to be a black man," said Keisha Bentley-Edwards, a professor at the University of Texas-Austin who studies race, adolescence and academic and social development. "It triggered the realization that America can't be post-racial when unarmed black children are being killed because they are perceived as a threat."
Melinda Anderson, 49, has used the Trayvon Martin case to have an ongoing conversation about race with her son, Colin, 12. Both are black.
"There is still a level of outrage and resignation over if this boy will ever get justice," said Anderson, a writer who lives in Silver Spring, Md. "I would hope that people don't just use the day as an opportunity to go to a vigil but to really think about whether we are any closer to ensuring that another mother won't be Sybrina Fulton."
Zimmerman attorney Mark O'Mara hopes the case against his client will be unlinked to civil rights issues, saying his client is a "proven non-racist." He acknowledges the case continues to polarize the nation.
"Everyone is holding their breath waiting for a verdict," O'Mara said. "I don't think it's going to be healthy no matter what way it turns out. Half the people will be very unhappy."
Copyright 2013 USATODAY.com
Read the original story: A year after Trayvon Martin death, families reflect
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Proposed bill would give sheriff new four-wheeled authority
SALISBURY — Rowan County Sheriff Kevin Auten said legislation that would allow deputies to use patrol cruisers for private use would boost school safety.
Auten said the bill filed this week in Raleigh would allow deputies to drop off and pick up their children from school. As it stands, officers have to use private vehicles, he said.
“What I wanted to do was allow officers when they’re coming to work to drop their kids off at schools. That’ll put them on campuses at schools,” Auten said. “Maybe in the mornings, maybe in the evenings. We ain’t talking about using them to go to the beach or grocery shopping and all that kind of stuff.”
Auten left his comments in a voice mail message Thursday evening in response to a Post reporter’s telephone call. He could not be reached for more details Friday.
N.C. Rep. Harry Warren and Carl Ford introduced the bill on Feb. 18.
If enacted, it would give Auten the authority to use the department’s vehicles as he saw fit.
But, the bill said, the uses would have to be submitted in writing to Rowan County commissioners, who could override the sheriff’s decision with a simple majority vote.
Warren and Ford said Auten could also use the authority to place unmanned patrol cars on campuses across the county.
The purpose, they said, would be to display a law enforcement presence at school facilities.
“That was the motivation behind the bill,” Warren said. “A very non-costly, non-expensive response to school security.”
Contact reporter Nathan Hardin at 704-797-4246.
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Top of the Form
Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, Lionel Gamlin, Richard Dimbleby (early hosts)
John Ellison and Robert MacDermot
Scorekeepers included: Joan Clark
BBC Light Programme, 1 May 1948 to 1967
BBC Television, 25 April 1953 and 27 February 1954 (specials)
BBC Radio 2, 1967-70 (sometimes simulcast on Radio 1)
BBC Radio 4, 1970-86
Legendary long-running contest between two secondary (read: grammar) schools.
Each series was run in a knockout format with the curious feature that both teams would answer questions from their own school, with the two locations linked by telephone lines. A different question master asked the questions in each site, with the action constantly bobbing back and forth between the teams throughout the programme.
Teams would consist of four players from different school years, with two marks for a correct answer and (for some rounds) one mark on offer if it was passed over to your opposite number in the other team.
Most of the appeal lay in seeing the pupils give well-meaning but misguided answers to basic questions, such as the girl who thought that "soft soap" was a type of detergent rather than flattery. In of themselves, the questions give an excellent indication of the knowledge currency of the day. For instance, a 1961 round on "recent words and phrases" asked the pupils for the definitions of such cutting-edge concepts as a photo finish, a barbecue, an astronaut, a cover girl, a documentary, denier, fellow travellers (Communist sympathisers) and apartheid.
It transferred to television as, logically enough, Television Top of the Form.
"Marching Strings" by Marshall Ross, performed by Ray Martin and His Concert Orchestra. Emerson, Lake and Palmer's recording of Aaron Copeland's "Fanfare For The Common Man" was used for the last few series.
Long-serving co-host Tim Gudgin was best known as the bloke that read out the Full Time scores on Grandstand.
A former contestant on the show was the actor Hugh Grant who represented Latymer Upper School.
Former producer Paul Mayhew-Archer recalls that when an increasingly irate technician was trying to get the Post Office telecommunication lines to work, it wasn't realised that, while the lines weren't working to his eyes, the pupils in the Kent school hall could easily hear him swearing like a docker.
Many quiz books were published.
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BY AMY L. SMITH
With GPS devices in hand, Geocachers gathered at Glooscap Elementary School recently and headed off to find hidden treasures. Some were newbies, some old pros, but after a few minutes it was clear that what these cachers found is a very active and exciting pursuit. “This way!” a young searcher shouted.
After entering co-ordinates into hand-held Global Positioning Systems no bigger than a cell phone, groups made up of all ages crossed through the field and forest to find their targets, small boxes called “caches”.
Watching the numbers on their screens, they walked until they “zeroed out” -- until the GPS finally reported zero metres from the destination.
With nothing but a tree in front of one particular group, the real hunt began. The young searcher scoured its roots while a more vertically inclined group member reached into the branches. “Found it,” he says nonchalantly as he hands the cache to the excited youth.
Ed Fitzgerald is an experienced geocacher. While the Glooscap event was foremost a demonstration for those looking for something new, several seasoned cachers came out to partake. They’re excited to get new people into the sport and love an opportunity to meet up with fellow finders in the region.
Caching community based online
The Geocaching community is based online at geocaching.com. The site is where participants employ a user name to reference co-ordinates for new treks, record their progress, discuss the sport and register any new caches. Although people often make fast friends - almost like teammates - online, these Internet monikers usually remain a geocacher’s main means of identification.
Ed is known better to those out and about at Glooscap as 4Fitzs. He said a lot of “geonicks” as they’re called, start numerically like his. They correspond to the number of people participating in the sport as a family. “Nowadays,” he grinned, “it’s more often his two dogs rounding out the four Fitzgeralds than his two grown sons.”
Peeking inside the newly opened cache, the young searcher found a stamp to adorn the group’s list of co-ordinates. These caches we’re only for demonstration and therefore a bit different than their more authentic counterparts.
Caches usually contain a logbook and some trinket or prize for the discoverer. In geocaching terms, the group had just achieved a FTF, or a “first to find”. Competitive geo-cachers thrive on being the first to uncover a new cache and will triumphantly sign its logbooks virgin pages as well as log their find online. Later in the day many of the Glooscap groups would report a less welcome DNF, or “did not find”, when faced with a cleverly hidden cache in the roots of an old tree stump.
Customize the experience
Now onto the second set of co-ordinates, the group turned north. Most of the democaches were made to be an easy find, and with the clue “where the water goes” the group quickly zeroed in on a drainpipe.
The more challenging caches found on geocaching.com also contain clues, but they are usually encoded using ROT13; each letter in the clue must be rotated 13 letters down the alphabet in order to reveal the word. The encoding makes uncovering the clue a little more challenging for those who choose to use it and ensures that those looking to go without won’t spoil their fun accidentally.
This kind of customizable experience is what geocaching is all about. Cachers can choose to go for a demanding hike with a few friends or a family walk in the woods. “You can go to Cape Split and find seven caches on the trail, or to Lockhart and Ryan Park and find one 100 metres from where you parked,” said Roger Rafuse, an avid geocacher who has even traveled to Beaver Creek, Oregon to the original cache.
Geobuffs can even move their search into urban settings.
Urban caching can have its setbacks, though, mainly in the form of “muggles”. Geocaching has borrowed this term, meaning non-magic people in Harry Potter, to refer to those who don’t geocache. Muggles may interfere by inadvertently displacing caches hidden in storefronts or public places.
Anyone can create a cache so long as it abides by the safety, environmental and distance regulations stipulated on the geocaching.com website. While some who create caches position them particularly to be a challenge, some intend to share beautiful or important outdoor spaces with others.
Paul Madden, a geocacher from Sheffield Mills, says this is his favourite part. “There’s a lot to be said for the places it takes you, the most beautiful places you’d ever want to know about.”
Paul himself has placed a cache near a long forgotten monument to help remind the community of its past.
Shannon Bishop, event organizer, was pleased to see the enthusiasm from participants. Kings County Recreation, in conjunction with New Minas and Canning and District Recreation, are trying to boost awareness of this pastime.
Though the activity boasts high-tech gadgets, and an online base of operation, it seems to bring participants back to values of natural beauty, the adventure of outdoor discovery, and time spent with family and friends.
To check out more about Geocaching, head to:
www.geocaching.com – The international online database
www.atlanticgeocaching.com - The Atlantic Canada Geocaching Association’s website
Geocaching catches on
Space-based sport brings people back to earth
BY AMY L. SMITH
- Top of the page
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A weekend or two ago I took the family and joined a guided walk along the Aloe Trail in Port Elizabeth. The trail is situated between Bluewater Bay and Amsterdamhoek and consist of 2km as well as 7km trail options. Because we had the Rugrats with us we decided just to do the 2km section which offered fantastic views of the Swartkops River as well as a number of interesting plants and flowers.
It isn't hard to see where the nature reserve got its name from. Where ever you look there are aloes with a number of them being in full bloom already and others on the verge of blooming. The predominant ones in flower at the moment are these that I know as Fence Aloe, although I may be wrong. But one doesn't have to know its name to appreciate its beauty.
This bush had everybody in the group stumped. All its new leaves are pink and as time goes on they then turn green. It didn't have any flowers on it, but the pink leaves does make it look like its flowering.
The Vygies are in full bloom with their brilliant purple flowers standing out against the green background.
The tree on every body's lips at the moment is the Spekbook (Portulacaria afra). People are encouraged to plant spekbook due to its ability to store big amounts of carbon in its roots. So if you want to decrease your carbon footprint, plant a spekboom. Spekboom usually flower in spring especially after good winter rains of which we have had lots this year.
Another type of spekbook is what we call the wide leave spekboom. Again the non-botanist in me tells me I'm probably wrong. I have a couple of them in my garden which has pink flowers, but these had a white one.
You can't just venture off the path, otherwise these guys are waiting for you...
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Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the RSA, trails tomorrow’s Comprehensive Spending Review (aka What’s Going to be Cut) with a hint that local authorities will get less money but more freedom to spend it.
He argues that amidst the news of cuts there should be mention of the Big Society, because it offers far more than the easily-caricatured idea of volunteers stepping in to provide cut-back public services.
Big Society is relevant at a time of austerity because it can, potentially, help us think about releasing assets of three types: in the individual, the community, and the organisation.
(I’m experimenting here with auto posting to my socialreporter blog, and tweeting. Let’s see if it works. I’m using Amplify to post about Big Society here. By including the hashtag and @rsamatthew in the headline I’ve created something that can be usefully autoposted to Twitter)
At the level of the individual we know that people accept that they should engage more and give more back to society. While three quarters of respondents regularly tell pollsters that local people should have more influence over local decision-making, fewer than a quarter say they are prepared to participate in community activity themselves. The Big Society is about releasing this asset by making it easier, more enjoyable and more powerful for people to engage.
At the level of the community, we know that even deprived neighbourhoods have many human assets. For example, there are often strong social networks but these are hidden from policy makers and service providers, different networks don’t always join up and many people who could join in are isolated (these are all findings from the RSA Connected Communities project in New Cross). The Big Society is about a deeper understanding of community assets and how to foster and mobilise them.
At the level of organisations a huge amount of benign social potential is wasted. The reasons are many ranging from unclear mission, lack of ambition and an overload of external demands and targets to a failure to engage and innovate or the deadening impact of organisational culture. The Big Society approach challenges organisations in the public, private and voluntary sector to maximise the social multiplier effect of their actions (this is what the RSA 2020 Public Service Commission meant by ‘social productivity’).
In the face of a lot of bad news tomorrow, people who think (for reasons good and bad) the Big Society is vacuous or a scam will have an easy script from which to read. The rest of us, with a more positive inclination, need to sharpen our argument and deepen our evidence that whatever the immediate context our country cannot flourish in the long term unless we get better at mobilising social assets.
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Oil weaker after Iraq agrees to UN oil-for-food roll-over
Crude prices fell back on Monday, December 3 after Baghdad accepted another roll-over of the UN "oil-for-food" program, removing the threat of interruptions to Iraqi exports.
A barrel of Brent North Sea crude for January delivery was quoted at $18.75 from $19.14 at the close on Friday. The New York January light sweet crude contract closed up 82 cents on Friday at $19.44 a barrel.
"A lot of the reasons why the market rallied on Friday was because Iraq had threatened to take away oil from the market," said Paul Goodhew, a dealer with the GNI brokerage. "There was no loading (of oil) scheduled to take place from December 1. But all of a sudden on the weekend, the loading took place."
The five-year oil-for-food program, under which Iraq exports oil in return for food and medical supplies, was rolled over until May 2002. Previous roll-overs have whipped up rows between Baghdad and the United Nations, threatening disruption to Iraqi supplies. — (AFP, London)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
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600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091
September 20, 1996
Contact: Jeff Weathersby, (360) 902-2256
News release corrections
OLYMPIA -- A press release issued Sept. 13 about the opening of several beaches to shellfish harvesting contained some errors.
The release should have said three beaches reopened for oyster harvesting on Monday. They also opened for clam harvesting on the same dates.
Dosewallips and Potlatch state parks opened to oyster harvesting Monday and will remain open until further notice. They are also open to clam harvesting. A fourth beach, Seal Rock Forest Service Camp, remains open to the harvest of both shellfish species.
Mystery Bay State Park reopens Oct. 1 and remains open until further notice. The beach currently is closed by the Department of Health because the shellfish in the area contain high levels of marine toxins. Fishers should call the Department of Health Marine Biotoxin Hotline (1-800-562-5632) before harvesting in October.
The beaches are reopening because they contain harvestable numbers of oysters. Harvesters should check the Sports Fishing Rules pamphlet for additional regulations.
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This page details 100 countries’ policies on prostitution, brothel ownership, and pimping. These countries were chosen in order to be inclusive of major religions, geographical regions, and policies towards prostitution. Taiwan and Scotland were included in the country listings for China and the United Kingdom, respectively, in accordance with the country listings and population estimates provided in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook.
Whenever possible, we have included government documents regarding prostitution such as laws, court decisions, employment information, etc. under the name of the country. While reasonable efforts have been made to assure the accuracy of the data provided, do not rely on this information without first checking an official edition of the applicable law. This page was last updated Nov. 4, 2009.
Legal in 50 (50%); Limited Legality in 11 (11%); Illegal in 39 (39%); Total: 100 (100%) [of the countries surveyed]
In some sex tourist destinations (Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines) prostitution is totally illegal. Amazingly, Germany is one of the most liberal countries. Brothels are legal, prostitution is legal, pimping is legal.
Legalized in 1927.
[Editor's Note: The date of the legalization of prostitution in Germany is disputed. Some consider prostitution to have been legalized or decriminalized since the passage of the 1927 Law for Combating Venereal Diseases. However, others consider prostitution was legalized through the Prostitution Act of January 2002 that improved the social welfare and legal rights of prostitutes. Although prostitution is legal under the German Constitution, prior to the 2002 Prostitution Act, a series of regulatory laws and court rulings had restricted the legal and social welfare rights of prostitutes because prostitution was considered in violation of Germany's moral code.]
Brothel Ownership: Legal
Exploitative behavior considered criminal.
"An estimated 400,000 prostitutes work in Germany, and 1.2 million customers are said to use their services daily. Revenues are estimated at 6 billion euros every year – equivalent to those of companies like Porsche and Adidas.
It is interesting how two of the most organized countries in the world have legal prostitution, instead of the morass of prohibition and illegality.
Prostitutes must register with city authorities and health authorities and get regular health checks.
Brothel Ownership: Legal
Legalized in 1992.
Prostitution is legal in Switzerland, and its residents have the world’s highest purchasing power, according to a study published in December by UBS AG. Prostitutes from the European Union don’t need a work permit for the first three months of residence and can offer their services as self-employed workers, provided they register with police and comply with tax laws.
The lack of restrictions, combined with the country’s wealth, has pushed the number of prostitutes per capita in Zurich to the highest among industrialized countries, a city employee heading a project for improvement of the Langstrasse area, Zurich’s red-light district, Rolf Vieli, said. Based on police figures, Zurich has about 11 prostitutes per 1,000 people, similar to the rate in Amsterdam, known for its sex trade."
</ALIGN="JUSTIFY">There are no regulations for adult prostitution.
Brothel Ownership: Illegal
"[R]ather than comply with an American demand that all foreign recipients of AIDS assistance must explicitly condemn prostitution, Brazil has decided to forgo up to $40 million in American support….
‘Our feeling was that the manner in which the Usaid [sic] funds were consigned would bring harm to our program from the point of view of its scientific credibility, its ethical values and its social commitment,’ Pedro Chequer, director of the Brazilian government’s AIDS program, said… ‘We must remain faithful to the established principles of the scientific method and not allow theological beliefs and dogma to interfere.’…
"Prostitution was made illegal in 1928, and the laws against it strengthened in 1960. But it is an omnipresent part of the Thai society, tacitly accepted and tolerated. Prostitution goes on in brothels in the countryside, behind the garish signs over Bangkok’s girlie bars and massage parlors. The industry is estimated to account for an estimated 3 percent of Thailand’s economy, or about US$4.3 billion a year."
Prostitutes must be at least 21, register, and have health checks every 2 weeks.
Brothel Ownership: Legal
"Greece, whose ancient civilisation introduced the world to high class prostitutes in the sixth century BC, has at last decided to salute their contribution to society.
Athens has announced that its economy is 25% bigger than thought thanks, in part, to the round-the-clock duties of the country’s prostitutes, who were known as hetairai in ancient times. The Greek authorities are revising the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) after deciding that the black market should be included in the figures."
Nicholas Watt, "Greek Economy Up 25% – With a Little Help From Prostitutes," Guardian, Sep. 30, 2006
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(DENVER) -- A lawsuit seeking federal class-action status in Colorado is accusing an Arizona non-profit of conducting illegal robocalls to campaign for Mitt Romney during the presidential election.
Marlo Edholm, 34, filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court in Denver on Monday against Americans for Responsible Leadership, a non-profit group in Arizona.
Edholm, a recent nursing school graduate from Denver, said she received at least five illegal robocalls to her cellphone from the group.
She said the calls are a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, according to the lawsuit. The law prohibits unsolicited robocalls to cellphones, which can cost the telephone call recipient money for the minutes used.
Americans for Responsible Leadership spent millions of dollars last year supporting Republican candidates, including presidential candidate Romney and opposing ballot initiatives in Arizona.
The group's stated purpose on its website is to "promote the general welfare of the citizens of the United States of America by educating the public about concepts that advance government accountability, transparency, ethics and related public policy issues."
In January, ProPublica said it obtained Americans for Responsible Leadership's application to the IRS for tax-exempt status, which stated that it would not "spend any money attempting to influence the selection, nomination, election, or appointment of any person to any Federal, state, or local public office or to an office in a political organization."
Multiple calls to the three men who registered Americans for Responsible Leadership with the Internal Revenue Service were not returned.
"The annoyance is getting calls that you haven't asked to receive and you're getting charged for them," said Joseph Mellon, an attorney for Edholm.
On Sept. 11, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission published an enforcement advisory in light of the 2012 election season. The advisory reminded campaigns and consumers that pre-recorded voice messages and auto-dialed calls to cellphones and other mobile services, including paging services, are prohibited. The two exceptions are if the calls are made for emergency purposes or with prior express consent.
Mellon said he believes groups representing either party may have used robocalling to campaign during the last election.
"This is not a partisan issue," he said.
He added that his client was registered to vote, but he is not sure how she may have been targeted to receive a call.
"She doesn't fit the profile of a politically active type of person," he said.
According to the court case, the calls Edholm received were said to be from two people, "Olivia" and "Pam," who stated they represented Americans for Responsible Leadership.
On Friday, Nov. 2, 2012, she received this pre-recorded message on her cellphone, according to the court document:
"Hello, my name Olivia and I'm a volunteer with Americans for Responsible Leadership. I'm calling because I'm worried about our future. Twenty-three million Americans are out of work, we're sixteen trillion dollars in debt, and we borrow four billion dollars a day. It's disappointing, but President Obama's policies haven't worked. That's why I encourage you to vote for Mitt Romney. He has real world business experience and knows how to fix the economy. He can break through the partisan gridlock in Washington because as Governor of Massachusetts, he worked with a legislature that was 90 percent Democrat to reduce the state's debt. Thank you very much for your time. Paid for by Americans for Responsible Leadership and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. www.ARL-national.org."
Mellon said he hopes to learn from the discovery process how many calls were made to cellphones.
If the court finds the group conducted illegal robocalls, the lawsuit states that Edholm "and the other members of the proposed class are entitled to statutory damages of $500.00 for each unlawful robocall and an injunction prohibiting ARL from engaging in similar conduct in the future."
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
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The Nichols Fire Department has one of the most comprehensive training programs of any department in New England. The use of guest instructors from the state fire academy in conjunction with our own state certified instructors give firefighters a well-rounded education in fire service topics and techniques.
Drill is held every Thursday evening where firefighters study and practice fire behavior, forcible entry, engine and truck company operations, building construction, search and rescue, hazardous materials, high rise operations, motor pump operator and many more specific topics.
In addition to the regular drill schedule, Nichols and other companies in town host Firefighter 1 and 2 classes annually. We have approximately 40 state certified Firefighter I, and 28 state certified Firefighter II firefighters, providing the community with unsurpassed fire protection. We also allow our members to participate in almost any fire service class offered by the Connecticut Fire Academy or its affiliates.
Our department has been very fortunate to have structures donated to us by the community for live-fire training. We utilize these structures to train in a real world structural firefighting environment. Initially, we will conduct training on these structures that does not involve burning and fire supression. After these topics are practiced and exhausted, live fire training will begin. Donating a structure to the fire department is very beneficial to us for the training environment and experieince, but also saves the homeowner a considerable amount of money for demolition costs. When finished with training or when the house is deemed unsafe for training, we typically burn the house right to the ground.
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Princeton students in the Program in Dance are preparing for two February events that celebrate the mid-20th-century collaboration of dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham and artist Robert Rauschenberg. Silas Riener, a 2006 Princeton alumnus and former member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, is teaching the students a "collage" of Cunningham repertoire to be performed at the Princeton University Art Museum and the Berlind Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center.
Video stills courtesy of the Lewis Center for the Arts
Video feature: Celebrating choreographer Merce Cunningham and artist Robert Rauschenberg
Posted February 7, 2013; 12:00 p.m.
Silas Riener, a 2006 Princeton alumnus and a former member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, has returned to campus to work with students in the dance program at the Lewis Center for the Arts on two performance projects that celebrate the mid-20th-century collaboration of dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham and artist Robert Rauschenberg.
In this video, Riener explains how he selected a "collage" of pieces choreographed by Cunningham, comprising dance repertory from the 1960s to the 2000s, to teach the Princeton students. The compiled works, titled "MinEvents for Princeton," will be performed at two events: "Spheres of Influence" at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14, in the Princeton University Art Museum, and the Program in Dance's Spring Dance Festival at 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday, Feb. 22 to 24, in the Berlind Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center.
Play the "Merce Cunningham and Robert Rauschenberg, revisited" video.
The opportunity to learn from a professional dancer at the apex of his career made an impression on the students. "In my dance experience, most dance teachers are retired performers," said Tess Bernhard, a junior majoring in ecology and evolutionary biology who is earning a certificate in dance. "Silas is so much in his prime, fresh out of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and can really demonstrate this work that he was performing just last year or the year before."
Freshman Colby Hyland observed how carefully Riener worked with the students, many of whom have had little experience with dance. "Silas definitely took a lot of time explaining each step," he said. "How he took Merce's original notes, how he transitioned from each movement and the timing — it's so intricate, and I think it's really amazing how he transformed that and set it all on us."
Cunningham had an enormous influence on American dance in the 20th century and was at the forefront of the avant-garde for more than 50 years. His frequent collaborations with other artists included not only Rauschenberg but also musicians John Cage and David Tudor; visual artists Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella and Andy Warhol; and designers and architects. Rauschenberg served as the Merce Cunningham Dance Company's resident designer from 1954 through 1964 and created "décor" (sets and costumes) for several of the company's early works.
"Spheres of Influence," the program at the museum, begins in the Marquand Mather Gallery with a student-led tour of a selection of paintings, drawings and prints from the 1960s and 1970s — including works by Rauschenberg created for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company — on loan from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. The exhibition is the first of several the museum will present through the new Rauschenberg Loan Bank Program.
Following the tour, students from the Program in Dance will perform "MinEvent for Princeton" in another of the museum's galleries. Jeff Snyder, co-director of PLOrk (Princeton Laptop Orchestra), and Cenk Ergün, a graduate student in music composition, both in the Department of Music, composed the music for the performance and will provide live accompaniment.
The performance will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Claudia La Rocco, a visiting faculty member and frequent contributor to The New York Times, with Nancy Dalva, Merce Cunningham Trust Scholar-in-Residence; John King, composer/performer and former co-director of the music committee for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company; Abigail Sebaly, Cunningham Research Fellow at the Walker Art Center; and Riener. A reception in the Sterling Morton Gallery will conclude the evening.
The Spring Dance Festival program will include a slightly different "MinEvent" of Cunningham choreography, as well as performances by more than 50 students of excerpts of works by internationally recognized choreographers Mark Morris, Zvi Gotheiner and Karole Amitage, and the premiere of two works by New York-based choreographers Raja Kelly and Laura Peterson created in collaborations with Princeton dance students.
Riener said the experience of coming back to campus and working with the students has been particularly meaningful. "I feel like I have something now to offer back to the University community at large. It feels really special," he said.
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welcome to the WELLNESS Center
Southern's Wellness Center is a non-judgmental, confidential place for members of the Southern community to come for information, conversation, and referrals about topics related to health.
The Wellness Center collaborates with other offices on campus and in the community to provide comprehensive services. It provides outreach, educational workshops, and programs on campus. The Wellness Center also maintains resources on a wide array of topics including work-life balance, nutrition, fitness, illness and disease, sexuality, and stress management.
All services are provided by health educators, graduate and undergraduate interns, and student volunteers. Programs (workshops, presentations, tabling, and health and wellness fairs) offer opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to learn about general health and safety, work-life balance, sexual health, nutrition, body image, disease prevention and early detection, alcohol and drug use, gay/lesbian/transgender issues, stress management, smoking cessation, eating disorders, and contraception.
You can request a health education program by calling (203) 392-6526.
The Wellness Center is located in Granoff Hall, room 47. For more information, you can reach us by telephone at (203) 392-6526, or by email at email@example.com.
The mission of the Wellness Center is to promote the health and well-being of individuals throughout the Southern community and to assist other departments and university programs in creating a well environment for living, learning, and working.
HEALTH PROMOTION OPTIONS
Making healthy choices isn't always easy. Many of us need support from the people in our lives: our friends, parents, etc. Most of us need tools and encouragement to help us to change our behaviors and maintain those changes. The Wellness Center has designed several "survival" kits to assist you in making and maintaining healthy choices.
The Wellness Center also supports other healthy behaviors, such as exercise, eating a well-balanced diet, and positive communication. Contact us for more information on new programs that address these areas of health and wellness.
follow us on twitter @SCSUWellness
student health 101 is now here. Enter to win $1,000!
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Montana's News Station and First Interstate Bank have formed a partnership to show our commitment to education by offering a weekly grant program called "One Class at a Time." If you know of a class or school program that could use some extra help, please log in, fill out the application and help us help Montana kids "One Class at a Time."
What is "One Class at a Time?"
"One Class at a Time" is a joint effort between Montana's News Station and First Interstate Bank to help fulfill needs of area schools. The KBZK program serves Bozeman area schools.
Each week during the school year, a representative from First Interstate Bank and a KBZK reporter will visit the selected classroom to receive that week's grant. The teacher and class are presented a check for $250 to assist the class in attaining their goals. The winning class is then featured during the Monday 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts.
What kind of projects are considered for "One Class at a Time" grants?
There are so many different type of projects submitted! Some examples: digital video recorder for a dance class; hardcover journals for students; parts for an auto mechanics class; crafts supplies to build scale models; and science kits to supplement textbooks.
Who can apply for a "One Class at a Time" grant?
Teachers, parents, students or anyone who is aware of a special project that would enhance the educational objectives in a classroom can apply from Aug. 1 through April 1. This program is currently available to schools located in the KBZK Bozeman, Q2 Billings, KRTV Great Falls and KXLH Helena viewing areas. If you are unsure if your school is located in an area serviced by one of these TV stations, please contact Erika Epple at firstname.lastname@example.org or 406-922-2400.
How can I apply for the grant?
Applicants can apply by clicking this link to the First Interstate Bank website. You may submit either the application online or print and mail the form and any attachments to:
One Class at a Time
90 Television Way
Bozeman, MT 59718
How often can I apply?
There is no limit to the number of projects or times you can apply. The applications are considered for the entire 2012-2013 academic school year.
Who determines which class will receive the award?
The awards are chosen by a committee that meets the second week of each month. The committee members include employees of Montana's News Station and First Interstate Bank, as well as area educators.
How many applications do you receive?
We received more than 100 applications during the past school year. Each year we receive applications for worthy projects that we may not be able to fund due to time constraints. Please re-apply if your special project was not chosen in the past. Our goal is to enhance our area students' educational experience "One Class at a Time."
For more information, please contact:
Ms. Erika Epple
or visit First Interstate Bank's One Class at a Time page via the link below:
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Bill Moyers & Naomi Klein: How Climate Change Is an Historic Opportunity for Progressives
Naomi Klein, author of the international bestseller The Shock Doctrine, says the tragic destruction of Hurricane Sandy can also be the catalyst for the transformation of politics and our economy. She’s been in New York visiting the devastated areas — including those where “Occupy Sandy” volunteers are unfolding new models of relief — as part of her reporting for a new book and film on climate change and the future, and joins Bill to discuss hurricanes, climate change, and democracy. “Let’s rebuild by actually getting at the root causes. Let’s respond by aiming for an economy that responds to the crisis both [through] inequality and climate change,” Klein tells Bill. “You know, dream big.”
Full text of the transcript below the video:
BILL MOYERS: If you've been curious about why New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg endorsed Barack Obama for re-election, just take another look at the widespread havoc caused by the Frankenstorm benignly named Sandy. Having surveyed all this damage Bloomberg Business Week concluded: “It’s Global Warming, Stupid: If Hurricane Sandy doesn't persuade Americans to get serious about climate change, nothing will."
Well it was enough to prompt President Obama, at his press conference this week, to say more about global warming than he did all year.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I am a firm believer that climate change is real, that it is impacted by human behavior and carbon emissions. And as a consequence, I think we’ve got an obligation to future generations to do something about it.
BILL MOYERS: But he made it clear that actually doing something about it will take a back seat to the economy for now. He did return to New York on Thursday to review the recovery effort on Staten Island. Climate change and Hurricane Sandy brought Naomi Klein to town, too. You may know her as the author of "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.” Readers of two influential magazines to put Naomi Klein high on the list of the 100 leading public thinkers in the world. She is now reporting for a new book and documentary on how climate change can spur political and economic transformation. She also has joined with the environmental writer and activist Bill McKibben in a campaign launched this week called "Do the Math." More on that shortly.... First, congratulations on the baby.
NAOMI KLEIN: Thank you so much.
BILL MOYERS: How old now?
NAOMI KLEIN: He is five months today.
BILL MOYERS: First child?
NAOMI KLEIN: My first child, yeah.
BILL MOYERS: How does a child change the way you see the world?
NAOMI KLEIN: Well it lengthens your timeline definitely. I’m really immersed in climate science right now because of the project I’m working on is related to that. So you know there are always these projections into the future, you know, what's going to happen in 2050? What's going to happen in 2080? And I think when you're solo, you think, "Okay, well, how old will I be then?" Well, you know, and now I'm thinking how old will he be then, right? And so, it's not that-- but I don't like the idea that, "Okay, now I care about the future now that I have a child." I think that everybody cares about the future. And I cared about it when I didn't have a child, too.
BILL MOYERS: Well, I understand that but we're so complacent about climate change. A new study shows that while the number of people who believe it's happening has increased by, say, three percentage points over the last year, the number of people who don't think it is human caused has dropped.
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We already know original Watchmen creator Alan Moore isn't a fan of the new Before Watchmen run of prequel comics. He's so opposed, in fact, that he apparently turned down about $2 million when DC asked for his blessing. Now, that's sticking to your convictions.
In an interview with Left Lion, Moore touched on his experience in the lead-up to the release of Before Watchmen, which is currently rolling out new issues. Judging by his statement below, it seems he didn't even blink at the offer:
"Well, they asked me if they could give me a huge amount of money to bring out these Watchmen prequel comics - which they were going to do anyway - and that was probably a couple of million dollars. I should imagine with all of the films it would be another few million? In a way it's really empowering to do that.Now, though Moore remains a staunch opponent of the prequel series, original Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons was reportedly paid in the neighborhood of half a million dollars to get behind the series, which he did, bringing some legitimacy to the project in the eyes of hardcore fans.
You can't buy that kind of empowerment. To just know that as far as you are aware, you have not got a price; that there is not an amount of money large enough to make you compromise even a tiny bit of principle that, as it turned out, would make no practical difference anyway. I'd advise everyone to do it, otherwise you're going to end up mastered by money and that's not a thing you want ruling your life. Money's fine if it enables you to enjoy your life and to be useful to other people. But as something that is a means to an end, no, it's useless."
What do you think? Do you respect Moore more for sticking to his guns, or do you think he's nuts for turning down the cash?
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Just 12 months after breaking ground, the Little House in Tsawwassen celebrated its official grand opening on Sunday.
The project, however, and a new direction for the Little House Society have been almost three years in the making - and the story is far from over.
Originally a family home, the little white house on 12th Avenue was purchased by Delta in 1979 to serve as a home for programs offered by Delta Mental Health and Richmond Alcohol and Drug Action Team.
In May 1982, it was made available for 12-step meetings and in 2004 the Little House Society was established to oversee the facility.
For 27 years, the house served as a meeting place for recovery and support groups before being destroyed by fire in 2009.
After the original Little House was gutted, Jim Stimson was approached by a few board members and those who used the facility to head the board and the rebuilding of the house.
Stimson, who had visited the Little House in the past, knows a few things about substance abuse and addiction.
As a registered social worker and a licensed counsellor, he has spent almost 30 years working with clients struggling with addiction. He worked for Weyerhaeuser Canada and MacMillan Bloedel, managing their employee and family assistance programs.
He also has a lifetime of personal experience with addiction.
Stimson grew up with an alcoholic father. He took up drinking at 15 and has spent 40 years working on his own recovery from that addiction.
He said he agreed to come on board but with the stipulation the society would work on a larger vision, not merely rebuilding the house.
He was interested in creating a place where groups supporting addicts and their families could meet that also offered the society a means to increase the level of substance abuse and addiction knowledge in the community.
Stimson's vision included proactively dealing with the issue of substance abuse, while still offering support to those in, or considering, recovery and their loved ones.
"I was interested in an educational society that can become a cornerstone resource facility for addressing substance abuse, addiction and recovery."
Working with the Corporation of Delta, the society developed a plan and at the end of 2010, reached out to the community for donations.
Stimson said the society made a conscious decision to make this a community project. Over the course of fundraising for the Little House, the society did not seek any provincial or federal funds and also limited corporate donations to a maximum of $1,000.
Within a few weeks of word about the society's vision getting out, more than $30,000 in donations came in from the community.
Stimson said it was then he knew this was a project that was needed, and wanted, in the community.
"That was an absolute clear indication that we needed to move forward," he said.
And so the fundraising push began.
Ground was broken on June 10, 2011 and work began almost immediately.
More than 100 local companies and businesses donated $350,000 worth of labour, services and materials for the house. As well, more than $150,000 in cash came in.
"It is the most heart touching of all the community development work I've done in my career," Stimson said.
Hundreds from the community came out for the official opening ceremony on Sunday and, Stimson said, many opened their wallets as donations from the day totaled around $4,000.
The society still has to raise another approximately $20,000 to finish paying off the construction costs.
After just 10 months of construction, the 1,800-square-foot facility quietly opened two months ago and it's already well used.
Stimson said seven separate groups dealing with substance abuse meet a total of 52 times a month at the Little House, and there are another three groups looking at using the facility.
As well, other community groups and local businesses that use the space as a training facility rent out the Little House regularly.
"This is the heart, soul and spirit of the community," he said.
The new Little House might be complete, but the work is not over for the society.
"The real work of the society now begins," Stimson said.
After some rest, the board will begin revisiting its strategic plan and looking towards the future.
Stimson said the society has a vision of creating opportunities to help reduce the effects of substance abuse for individuals, families and the community as a whole.
He said more workshops for mothers of addicts, which were originally presented last year, are planned. As well, he also has a group of young adults, who are all in recovery, who are committed to speaking at workshops for both parents and youths.
The society believes that increased education might help save some from the pain and heartache of substance abuse and addiction.
For more information about the Little House Society, visit www.littlehousesociety.ca.
Donations can be made by calling Jim Stimson at 778-887-1828 or through Delta's parks, recreation and culture department.
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Did you by any chance mean responsibility?
Sorry, no definitions found.
“Make the parents take responibility, take away benefits, imprison them if they do not comply.”
“The FAA has the commercial space responibility in LAW go read it.”
“(Note: this blog will also bear full legal responibility for the genesis of Harmless And Innocent Material once the “powers that be” come looking for me …)”
“Until then, you need to accept responibility for the damage you have done to our country.”
“I thought you were the party of personal responibility, why are you crying?”
“No, but the principal of personal responibility does. you lose.”
“What happened to the party of personal responibility?”
“So there you have Congress, off your bottoms, and take responibility with out going to "war" on the sign of a sneeze!”
“Sooner or later your going to have to take some responibility.”
“Instead we have an internecine fight that is entirely the responibility of Joe Lieberman's anti-democracy GOP vote seeking vanity trip.”
‘responibility’ hasn't been added to any lists yet.
Looking for tweets for responibility.
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Interactive Drum Workshops and Festivals
The best way to get practical drumming experience is to play! So here's
your guide to drum and percussion workshops and festivals that all have
one thing in common: They welcome your participation. So come on out,
sit-in, and play!
All American Music Festival
Choral Groups, Concert Bands, Marching Bands, Jazz Bands, Orchestras, Color Guard, Drill Teams & Dance Groups are welcome to perform as part of Walt Disney World Resort's Millennium Celebration. Performance opportunities are available year round for all types of performance groups. Check it out.
This summer program was founded in 1984 for kids age 9-15 who are interested in playing rock 'n' roll. Students can learn guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, vocals and (yuck!) DJ. There are currently nine camp locations throughout the United States. During a week-long program, kids join a band, pick their band name, compose an original tune, and more. Friday evening the camp concludes with a concert held for family and friends. Check 'em out.
Held each July, the Vermont Jazz Camp is aimed at intermediate to advanced players. There are four bands and each band will have only one drummer. Activities for non-players as well, so friends and spouses are welcome. This year's special guest musicians are Jerry Bergonzi, Tony Lada and Mark Van Cleave.
Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
It started as a party in 1976, 25 years later it's still going strong: "The week where we revel in all things female, where we are wild and strong and sexual, where womyn are sacred and girls are safe. We invite you to come and join us as we celebrate the existence and persistence of this planet called Michigan." Check them out at the link above.
Northwest Percussion Festival
The annual Northwest Percussion Festival is held each April at the University of Oregon School of Music in Eugene. Percussion ensembles from universities and colleges from 12 northwest states and provinces in the US and Canada participate in the event, which has been held the for the last 16 years. Check out their latest schedule.
SIUC Summer Music Festival
Check out their Percussion camp (for all ages), it focuses on mostly on concert percussion but Jazz, Latin, and Marching will also be discussed. They hold a Jazz Improvisation Camp every year also, and it's open to high school musicians only. Check the site for the latest dates.
The annual World of Music Arts and Dance festival features more than 40 artists from all over the globe appearing on five stages, plus lots of workshops you can join. And all this spread out over 15 acres of Marymoor Park in Redmond, Washington in July. WOMAD also offers other festivals around the world. Check the above site for a list of upcoming events.
World of Pageantry's Hawaii Invitational Intl. Music Fest
Bring Your Band, Drill Team, Orchestra, Flags or Pep squad to the World Famous Hawaii Invitational. An annual event for more than 20 years.
World Percussion Festival
Berkelee College of Music's annual World Percussion Festival is held for a week each June. If you're going to be 15 years old by June 25th, you can join. Check out their latest summer workshop schedules.
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About the Program
Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania and Dennis Thompson, political philosophy professor at Harvard University examine why compromise is so difficult in today's political world. The author's argue that constant campaigning rather than a focus on legislation has produced the current discord and posit this is due to the campaign mindset, which they contend is built to distrust one's opponent. Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson speak with Andrea Mitchell, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
Amy Gutmann is the president of the University of Pennsylvania, where she is also a political science professor. She is the co-author with Dennis Thompson of Democracy and Disagreement and Why Deliberative Democracy?.
Buy the author's book from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound
Dennis Thompson is a political philosophy professor at Harvard University.
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You are here
FM Chuto: 1001 Inventions Part 1
FM Chuto reports from the ongoing exhibition at the National Science Museum of London. 1001 Inventions traces the forgotten story of a thousand years of science and culture from the Muslim civilization, from the 7th century onwards. Our reporters Andrea Glioti and Yuki Terada interviews Professor Salim T S Al-Hassani at the University of Manchester, the author of the book by which the exhibition was inspired.
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Guwahati: The flood situation in Assam on Monday turned grim with the water level of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries rising in five districts following incessant rainfall in the catchment areas.
Over one lakh people have been affected by the third wave of floods in the five districts of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Golaghat, Sonitpur and Kamrup, official sources said.
Vast areas of human habitation and crop land have been inundated by the rising water of the Brahmaputra which was flowing above danger level at Nematighat, the Jia Bhoroli in Sonitpur, Gai Nadi in Dhemaji and Singora in Lakhimpur districts.
Relief and rehabilitation are being provided to the victims and relief camps have also been set up in the affected districts, the sources said.
There has been, however, no loss of human lives so far.
In the worst-ever flood to hit the state during the last decade, 126 people lost their lives this year during the first and second waves of floods while 631 animals perished in Kaziranga National Park alone.
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The high profile patent infringement lawsuit filed by NTP against RIM, the makers of Blackberry, has finally been settled, with RIM handing over $612.5 million. TMCNet.com explains the significance:
Under the deal, Research in Motion Ltd., the Canadian company that pioneered the BlackBerry service, will license technology to keep it in business and allow it to transmit e-mail that government, emergency services and much of professional Washington have come to rely upon.
The case attracted the close scrutiny of business and government leaders, many of whom walk down K Street or Wall Street tapping the palm-size devices. The case also took on special significance to inventors and big businesses, who viewed it as a test of the patent system in the digital age.
In addition to the impact in the mobile market -- Blackberry's stock is up about 19% in extended trade, with Palm down about 4% -- this also raises further questions about the patent process in the United States. From FT.com:
Some experts have also argued that injunctions are too blunt an instrument to be used in the case of intellectual property disputes like this, since they can destroy a successful service built up by a company like RIM.
The BlackBerry case “serves as another reminder of the precarious state of intellectual property law in the US,” said Roger McNamee, a Silicon Valley financier.
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Note: Use the 'Back' button on your browser to return to this page
If you are interested in this course, then these occupations may also be of interest. Note that these suggestions are not intended to indicate that this course leads directly to these occupations, only that they are related in some way and may be worth exploring.
Economics involves the examination of questions such as how we get incomes and spend them, how prices are determined, how inflation arises, what causes employment to expand or contract, why countries are more or less prosperous. No previous knowledge of economics is assumed.
As part of an Arts degree, this subject is one of three or four subjects you choose in first year. You may choose some modules from outside the BA Arts subjects list. See UCD Horizons. In the later stages of your course you will specialise in one or two subject areas.
Careers or Further Progression...
As a generalised subject, economics can lead into careers in banking, financial services, accountancy, economic consultancy or research, administration, journalism, teaching, or public relations.
The following course suggestions share some interests in common with this course. and are from colleges in the same region. These might be worth exploring further. You can sort the list by Title or College by clicking on the column headings. You can Tag any of these courses from within the individual course pages.
Sarah is the Group Resourcing Manager in the Bank of Ireland. She is responsible for overall service delivery of a team of recruiters, ensuring all team members have the skills and knowledge to perform to their full potential. She also is responsible for delivering a superior recruitment service to her own portfolio of customers and Executive Resourcing.
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There is a big market for people wanting to monitor their computer or someone elseís computer. As a concerned mother or father, you might be in dire need of insight into your childís digital life, or at least the comfort of knowing what they are doing online and how long they are doing it for. A key logger
is the type of tool that can help you do this, especially if you use one as advanced as WebWatcherNow.
In the most basic sense, a key logger is something that records the keystrokes entered onto a computer keyboard. This can be done with either software or hardware, but can understandably be seen as something that the average person would want to do with software. This is true for a lot of reasons, but most importantly for secrecy. Monitoring is being done without the computer userís awareness, and you want it to stay that way. Our computer monitoring software
is so advanced that not only will the person using it not know they are being recorded, but you wonít find any trace of our software (after installation) anywhere in the Registry, the Process List, the System Tray, the Task Manager, on the Desktop, or even in Add/Remove Programs.
To protect your child, there is almost no end to what a parent will do. This is why monitoring can be so effective. While the average person might call our software (erroneously) computer spy software
, this isnít how we classify it. Being used by even law-enforcement agencies around the US, our software is top of the line, and designed to be used to enhance the quality of life, not hinder it, like many spy programs do. With our key logger you can be aware of every website your child is going to, and how long they are spending there. As well, you can even block websites on the fly, remotely, meaning you never have to sacrifice the level of protection you have over your kids.
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Hibiscus during the Winter
I recently purchased and potted two tropical hibiscus. Will I have to move them indoors during the winter to survive?
Micale, Gwinnett Resident
The hibiscus will need to be moved indoors before our first frost. Typically we recommend bringing in your tropical plants like hibiscus, bougainvillea, etc by September 15th just to be on the safe side. Place your topical hibiscus in a sunny location inside away from any cool drafts.
See more articles about: Hibiscus
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NIJ Conference Panel
Moderator: Linda Truitt, Senior Social Science Analyst, Justice Systems Research Division, Office of Research and Evaluation, National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
Linda Truitt: Good afternoon. Does everyone hear me OK?
Good afternoon — there we go. My name is Linda Truitt. I'm with the National Institute of Justice, which is part of the Office of Justice Programs and the U.S. Department of Justice. NIJ is the development, research and evaluation department. Our job is to study objectively, independently and using evidence based knowledge to develop tools and information particularly for state and local interests.
Today's panel is on alternative sentencing policies for drug offenders. Its based on an NIJ grant to evaluate the effectiveness of Kansas Senate Bill 123, which — as you'll learn — mandates drug abuse treatment for nonviolent drug possession offenders in lieu of prison.
Very briefly, I just want to describe NIJ's portfolio of drugs and crime research. Here, we develop and evaluate effective law enforcement, court and corrections responses to criminal behavior related to alcohol and other drugs. This research informs crime reduction through several approaches listed here, including epidemiology, prevention/intervention, drug markets, market disruption and technology.
This important policy analysis presented today is a genuine researcher-practitioner relationship and partnership, and I want to acknowledge a couple of our audience members who are the executive director and the research director of the Kansas Sentencing Commission. Thank you very much for coming today.
Our panel begins with Roger Werholtz. He is the secretary of corrections for the state of Kansas and a member of the Kansas Sentencing Commission. They work closely with NIJ's researchers on this project for quite a while now. Mr. Werholtz chairs also the Kansas criminal justice coordinating council and is a member of several councils concerned with several things, including re-entry, sex offenders, rehabilitation and restoration, information technology, mental health services, substance abuse prevention, and community corrections.
Next, NIJ's grantees will present findings from their research on criminal justice processes and offender performance.
Dr. Andres Rengifo is an assistant professor in the department of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. His interests include communities and crime that emphasize neighborhoods, social networks and informal controls.
Dr. Don Stemen is an assistant professor in the criminal justice department at Loyola University, Chicago. His interests focus on sentencing and corrections, in particular innovation in policies and their impact on agencies and other systems. They began this grant at Vera Institute of Justice, which graciously allowed the researchers to continue working independently on this project with the Sentencing Commission.
Please note that Ill leave about 20 minutes at the end of this for Q and A after hearing final comments from Mr. Werholtz. Ill advise the presenters to take some questions but mostly for points clarification. And I think we also have some handouts that you may want to get at the end of this. If we don't have enough to go around — which I don't think we do — please feel free to contact the researchers at the end of this to request more information.
Lastly, I just want to point out some of the information resources we have at NIJ. All of the work products that result from our cooperative agreements and grants and contracts are made available through several archives. The first is NCJRS, which houses all of the work products that are written — reports and other. Also NACJD, where we house all of the data archives — whether its qualitative or quantitative research results. And also for this panel, I wanted to note the commissions Web site, which provides information on SB123 and a host of other information.
So I'll start with Mr. Werholtz.
Roger Werholtz: When we were talking about how to organize this, my role really devolved to talking about the history and implementation of Senate Bill 123. If you want to examine the mechanics of that bill and the implementation processes, go to that Web site; its a 135-page document that offers incredible detail on what the content of the legislation is and how the bill was actually implemented over time and how its evolved in our state. The other thing that I have become aware of is that Ill have to be careful not to jump into any hyperbole here. I have to be very careful about stating the facts because as Linda pointed out, Helen Pedigo, who's the executive director of the Sentencing Commission, is here so I've got a fact checker in place, and I don't want her to get up and say, What the secretary meant to say was this, that or the other. One more disclaimer I'm not an attorney; Helen is an attorney, and if you have some interest in the actual mechanics of the legislation ... Were you working for the legislature at the time that this was passed or were you still with JJA?
Helen Pedigo: [Inaudible.]
Werholtz: At any rate, there's the expert for a lot of the legal mechanics and the legislative mechanics for this particular piece of legislation. Now to get to the point of why I'm here.
Senate Bill 123 was one of the products of the Kansas Sentencing Commission, which has a statutory requirement that any time our states prison population reaches 95 percent of capacity or is projected to be reaching 95 percent of capacity within the coming year, it is incumbent upon the Sentencing Commission to propose one or more alternatives to construction of prison beds. One of the duties assigned to the Sentencing Commission was to create a nonpartisan, objective mechanism to depoliticize the process of coming up with alternatives to incarceration. And in the 2003 legislative session, this was the product put forward by the Sentencing Commission. In going over some of the context of what was happening at that time — this came two years after the passage of Senate Bill 323, which had two components to it — it increased the amount of good time that individuals could earn, and it shortened the period of post-incarceration supervision that offenders would serve after they were released from prison. It had the effect of very rapidly reducing the prison population and the parole population because of folks who suddenly had their periods of post-incarceration supervision shortened. And one of the byproducts of the passage of that legislation for one of the politicians who supported it was losing an attorney generals primary that everybody in the state assumed that he would win. Obviously folks in the legislature — particularly folks who were supportive of policies that would help control the prison population — were a little bit gun shy about supporting various kinds of alternatives to incarceration. But two years later we were facing the prospect of having to add capacity to the prison system in the very near term, and the Sentencing Commission — in fulfillment of its statutory duties — proposed Senate Bill 123.
What that piece of legislation proposed were that individuals with certain low-level criminal histories who were convicted of — essentially possession only — drug offenses could not be sentenced to prison but instead were sentenced to community-based supervision supplemented by intensive community-based substance abuse treatment.
Is that us that's doing that? I don't know.
The stated intent ... I'm just having way too much fun up here. I suppose its the chocolate mousse that's kicking in.
The stated intent of Senate Bill 123 was to provide offenders with the needed level of treatment, coupled with the appropriate level of supervision. Obviously, the underlying intent was to prevent growth in the prison population. The initial proponents of this legislation were the — one of Helens predecessors as executive director of the Sentencing Commission and the chair and the vice chair of the Sentencing Commission — which were a district court judge and a district attorney from one of the more populous counties in our state. As a brand new secretary of corrections who was working for a democrat in Kansas — and democrats in Kansas are kind of an endangered species — working for a minority-party governor, my official position was neutral on the legislation, but the bulk of the testimony that I offered was how it could be successfully implemented. And as the session continued to progress, the governor declared her support for the legislation, and it was otherwise supported by treatment professionals and advocates throughout the committee testimony. The primary opponents of the legislation — as one might expect — would be prosecutors and in some instances some law enforcement folks. But the interesting piece of history about this was having the district attorney from one of our most populous counties — who was also the vice chair of the Sentencing Commission — able to take on his peers in that committee testimony and actually challenge a lot of the assumptions that they put forth. But that gives you kind of a sense of what the political atmosphere was like in our state at the time that this legislation was initially proposed.
The primary issues in terms of how to implement the legislation actually may be of greater interest if you consider a policy like this in your own state. One of the fundamental questions was where to place it. If you're familiar with Kansas, our field services structure is chaotic and extremely fragmented. We have 105 counties in Kansas; every country has three adult field services agencies that supervise felony offenders. They are configured in 31 judicial districts, 30 community corrections programs and two parole regions, and none of those boundaries — that's a little hyperbole; I'm sorry, Helen — some of those boundaries don't overlap.
Traditional probation is supervised by the administrative judges of 31 judicial districts. The employees are state employees, and the operational funding comes from county governments. Community corrections, which supervises high-risk probationers, are county employees whose operational funding comes primarily from the state. They are configured into 30 geographic organizational areas, which sometimes follow judicial district lines, sometimes combine judicial districts, and sometimes divide judicial districts. And then parole is configured into two regions, which are operated by the Department of Corrections; the employees are state employees, and the operational funding comes through the state.
So one of the fundamental questions is who's going to supervise these folks? Well the analysis that was done by the Sentencing Commission research folks indicated that the bulk of people who were picking up what would become Senate Bill 123 sentences were supervised by traditional probation or court services. But court services was actively lobbying not to supervise these individuals. What eventually evolved was that the community corrections program stepped forward and said, if we are adequately funded with treatment resources and if we are given adequate financial resources to hire the additional supervisory personnel, we will take on — what was at that time estimated to be I think — about an additional 800 individuals — which essentially would be transferred from court services to community corrections.
Now this is one of the mistakes that we made that as researchers I think most of you would say, Well of course, you should have considered this, but we made an assumption that because most of these individuals were on court services they must be low-risk people. Nobody was doing any kind of risk evaluation at that time. We are now, as a state, heavily committed to the LSIR, but nobody was doing it at that time. And what we ultimately learned was that instead of our assumption of 20 percent of them being high risk, and 80 percent of them being moderate or low risk, it turned out that 80 percent of them were high risk and 20 percent were moderate or low risk. So [this is] one thing to consider in your own implementation story if you decide to embark on replicating our experience. At any rate, the decision was made to place this particular responsibility for supervision with the community corrections programs in our state.
The second responsibility that came with Senate Bill 123 was certification of drug treatment, and that was assigned to my agency. The rationale for assigning that responsibility to us, I think, primarily had to do with the level of confidence that the legislature had with the Department of Corrections to see that a program was properly implemented, but it created some interesting dynamics for us in that we are not the state agency that's responsible for licensing substance abuse treatment programs. And in essence, it gave us credentialing and oversight responsibility for programs that were traditionally outside our bailiwick and created an opportunity for us to come into conflict with a peer agency. So the particular approach that we took was to say that we are not going to try and duplicate either the credentialing responsibilities for individual practitioners nor the licensure of substance abuse treatment programs. Those responsibilities will remain with the department of social and rehabilitation services. But what we will do to establish [a] certification process is to try and ensure that the agencies wishing to be certified as an S.B. 123 recipient — which means that they would have access to that funding — can demonstrate some competency and expertise in working with offenders. The approach that we took to trying to put that component into place was to say that you must demonstrate competence in delivering cognitive behavioral treatment. You either need to show that that's integrated within the curriculum of your particular treatment program, or you need to go through training that will be provided by the Department of Corrections — not to teach you how to do substance abuse treatment but to teach you how to work with criminal populations.
The third thing that occurred — and this is one that I never ceased to be amazed that it happened and the first part of this ... I've already started saying it so its going to come out wrong — but what we did was work with treatment providers to develop a set of services and a set of funding caps and costs for unit of service for each of the S.B. 123 treatment components. Now that part seems like an obvious thing to do, and that's not the part that surprises me — we ought to do business this way. The part that surprises me is that when we came back to the Sentencing Commission with the fee structure for this particular set of treatment components, it was significantly higher than what the state had typically paid for its other treatment services. And the Sentencing Commission signed off on that, and I thought, Well, OK; I'm a little surprised by that, but the legislature will never let this happen. When it went to the legislature, the legislature signed off on it, too. So we then had two different sets of treatment menus with two different sets of unit costs attached to them, and the set that was tied to Senate Bill 123 was significantly higher than the set that was tied to traditional state-funded substance abuse treatment. It was one of the hopes of this legislation that we would, by virtue of providing this additional revenue stream, create additional substance abuse treatment capacity in our state — that was the second incorrect assumption.
What happened instead was that the Senate Bill 123 people got into treatment faster — which is a good thing for criminal populations — but they displaced the people who were getting access to treatment capacity coming through the SRS, our traditional substance abuse services funding streams. So we displaced the population instead of growing treatment capacity throughout the state; something for you to consider if you embark on this particular solution.
The other thing that I think we learned in implementing 123 was the importance of providing regular oversight. Initially it was intended that the community corrections programs be the gatekeepers, both in the sense of connecting offenders to treatment programs — and that is a role that they did and continued to perform — but they were also supposed to be the performance monitors. The role of the Sentencing Commission was initially to simply evaluate the performance of the programs over time. But what we learned were two things: The community corrections programs felt they didn't have the capacity to manage the billing processes (that defaulted to the Sentencing Commission), and a number of the community corrections programs felt that they could not call their substance abuse treatment providers into account for their performance or lack of it — and this is a function of being predominantly a rural state. What the directors of the programs were telling us is, I don't want to tell my treatment provider that they're not doing a very good job because they're the only one I've got in my district, and I cant afford to alienate them. So the responsibility for doing the performance accountability piece again has defaulted to either the Sentencing Commission or to my agency to carry out. But that's been one of the other experiences that we've had that I think has potentially been problematic.
The only other comment that Id make at this point is what has happened to the bill over time, and for some of those details — during the Q and A piece — we may want to defer some of the questions to Helen. But what I liked so much about the initial version of Senate bill 123 was that for the treatment population, it acknowledged the reality of relapse and the expected occurrence of relapse, and so one of the attractive features of that legislation, from my point of view, is that if somebody came up with a dirty U.A., they could not be revoked and sent to prison. That was simply not an option. Repeated treatment episodes were an option. They way that you got out of Senate Bill 123 behaviorally was committing a new offense or simply becoming so uncooperative with the treatment process that your behavior was disruptive to the treatment program. But relapse in and of itself was not a gateway to get somebody back into prison. That particular feature has eroded a little bit over time; the limitless chances don't exist anymore. And the breadth of the target population has been narrowed over time. There are still attacks that are made on 123, typically by prosecutors. When we get into an analysis of some of the data that Don and Andres have to share with you, there's been some discussion about the cost benefit analysis that has been done. Rather than jumping into that now and anticipating what they have to share with you, I think it would be much more interesting to you to go through the material that they have. And then we can talk about how this debate has matured and evolved in Kansas and what the prospects for the future of Senate Bill 123 look like, so let me defer to the experts here.
Don Stemen: You'll have to defer beyond me. So, let me make sure Roger erased this for me.
Roger Werholtz: I was having so much fun with that.
Stemen: It looked like it; it did make me nervous, too.
Audience Member 1: Changing all the results.
Stemen: Yes, that's right. Andres and I had a long discussion about what we should title this. I wanted to call it Nothings the Matter With Kansas, maybe The Road From El Dorado. Andres chose this one. Its exciting, straightforward and functional, which is fine. Linda pointed out at the beginning that much of the research that NIJ funds — in fact all of it — is a partnership between researchers and government and this project in particular has been a strong partnership between ourselves and, and the folks in Kansas — both Roger and his staff at the Department of Corrections, who have been patient with us and provided us with much data after repeated requests and changes to what we wanted. The Sentencing Commission has been great and helped us a lot with advice, with assistance in understanding what's going on in Kansas, with accessing data for us and helping us understand how to work with the data, and NIJ with their continued support of this project and advice early on about the way to approach what we were doing there.
I just want to say one thing about S.B. 123 — its unique and not unique in different ways. There have been a number of states in the last 10 years or so who've taken on an initiative of mandatory drug treatment in some way in the community in lieu of incarceration. California's Proposition 36 did it; Arizona's Prop 200 attempted the same thing and Kansas — both through voter initiatives, though. Kansas's initiative is the first legislatively adopted statewide initiative to provide mandatory community-based drug treatment in lieu of incarceration. Other states have done it on a smaller scale through legislation. Texas has a small program for people who are state jail based or who would be directed to state jail in the state for low-level drug possession. Indiana has what they call a forensic diversion program, which attempted to do the same thing but was watered down soon after its passage.
Kansas is unique though, in a statewide effort to provide mandatory drug treatment in the community in lieu of incarceration for those convicted of low-level drug possession. Roger touched on several of the things that were going to talk about. The goals of the program as we see them were twofold. One, to affect the state at a systemic level — right — to affect practices within the criminal justice system. Sentencing practices to change the way that people were being sentenced in the state for low-level drug possession to have them sentenced to the community-based corrections rather than to prison. It was intended to affect supervision practices in the state. Not just who was supervising drug possessors in the community but how they were supervising drug possessors in the community — the point about understanding that relapse is part of treatment, understanding that the focus on partnerships with drug treatment providers was important to the success of the program. And what we found in early conversations with folks in the community corrections districts who were responsible for supervising offenders was that these treatment partnerships were happening, that changes in focus or approaches to supervising drug offenders in the community was changing. And it was also intended to have an impact on treatment provision in the state — increasing availability of treatment, the number of treatment providers in the community. So at the systemic level it was intended to have an impact — reducing reliance on prison, changing practices in the community. And it was intended to have an individual-level impact as well, to actually change recidivism rates, to change offender behavior, to change substance abuse patterns among offenders.
What Ill talk about is the systemic level and how successful the state has been in actually changing practice in the state; and its been very successful. Andres is going to talk about the individual-level impact where there's success but not at the same scale as at the systemic level. And well talk a little bit at the end about how these things go together and how it may, you know, how you may evaluate the overall success of the program in lieu of these two kinds of separate goals that the program is intended to have.
As Roger pointed out early on in his talk, the point of S.B. 123 was to change sentencing practices. People, prior to implementation of S.B. 123, those convicted of ... This is S.B. 123-eligible cases; these are offenders convicted of a first or second offense of simple drug possession. Andres and I had a long conversation about what was complicated drug possession. We couldn't come up with what it was. Nonetheless, simple drug possession, who have low-level criminal histories — criminal history score in Kansas, E through I, which means they have no prior person offenses. They're also ineligible if they have any prior drug sale or manufacturer offenses. So when we talk about S.B. 123-eligible cases, we mean people convicted of simple drug possession, a first or second offense, who have no prior person offenses, drug or manufacturer or sale offenses.
So prior to S.B. 123 most people were being sentenced to court services which is, as Roger said, was standard community ... standard probation in the community. Its minimal supervision; its minimal conditions; its for relatively a short period of time — about 12 months — and that's what most people were getting. Few people were getting community corrections; about 30 percent were going to that, which is somewhat more supervision, more conditions than court services, still supervision in the community. And about 10 percent, 8 percent were going to prison prior to implementation. And you can see afterwards, sentencing practices changed dramatically. Right now, most people are going to S.B. 123 — about 70 percent — and it plateaued fairly quickly. And the rest are dispersed through court services, community corrections and prison, which is, as Roger pointed out, the intent. These people would be shifted off of the court services caseload and onto the community corrections caseload. Now, initially, the impact on admissions directly to prison looks slight. It decreased from about 10 percent of all cases prior to implementation to about 4 percent afterwards. Later well talk about how many people that actually turns into over the first five years of the program — but sentencing practices changed quite quickly.
If we just look at this, which puts it in a different context rather than over time, you can see the shift. One thing to consider is ... well, there are two things. One is the burden placed on community corrections. Prior to implementation of this act, they supervised about 30 percent of drug possessors convicted in the state. They now supervise 88 percent of all drug possessors convicted in the state. As Roger pointed out, that was the intent. They were willing to take on the burden.
Sorry about that; the middle one should be community corrections. Sorry, the light blue one is community corrections. I apologize. Andres was supposed to type ...
I was the conceptual person. Andres was the detail man. Nonetheless, so for community corrections, it had a strong impact on agencies in the state. They are now burdened with 88 percent of drug possessors. Prior to implementation, they were burdened with about 30 percent.
It has a profound impact on individuals, as well. Prior to implementation of S.B. 123, 62 percent of drug possessors in the state received minimal supervision, minimal conditions while in the community, a short period of time, about 12 months, that they were supervised. Now 88 percent of drug possessors in the state receive much more supervision, a lot more conditions under community corrections, and spend about four more months under supervision in the community than they would have prior to implementation — about 16 months. When we talk about at the end, the impact of the program and individual outcomes — matters a lot, right? When you talk about impacts on recidivism rates, the more you're supervised, the more conditions you're put under; the longer you're supervised, the more likely you are to fail — through revocations primarily. And we see that later when Andre — I don't mean to steal your thunder — later at the end of the presentation.
Well also see how community corrections has responded over time, though. When this first happened right after passage and they brought on all of these drug offenders onto the cases of community corrections officers, they continued to supervise these offenders much the way they had supervised anyone else in the community — monitoring, surveillance, enforcement — in the same way they had in the past, rather than, as Roger pointed out, looking at this as a treatment population, looking at relapse as part of treatment, as part of the process of treatment. And it took time for that change to kick in among probation officers. And we can see that in their use of supervision interventions and treatment interventions over time.
But you can see there is still 30 percent of what we deem eligible offenders not going to S.B. 123. And that's a questions for us is Why is that? which we haven't determined entirely yet. So there's something happening in the state, whether its about circumvention by judges or something else going on. But we can see that its across all different criminal history scores. Again this is criminal history E through I, which means people have no prior person offenses they've been convicted of. And you can see among this group that this particular group — criminal history score ... they either have no prior criminal history or they only have prior misdemeanor convictions. Of any of the groups on this chart, this is the group that should all be going to S.B. 123, but there's a sizeable number that haven't over the life of the program.
S.B. 123 is meant to be mandatory is two senses — one on judges, in that they had to send eligible offenders to the program. There was some ability to depart from that if they provided reasons, if they could sentence someone to another sanction. Its also mandatory on offenders, that they cant opt out of the program. This is also what makes it different than things like Proposition 36. Prop 36, you can be sentenced to Prop 36 and then decide you don't want to go and take whatever other sentence you're given. In Kansas that's not possible. You have to go to S.B. 123 and serve the sentence in the community with treatment. So we find some apparent circumvention here, but we also find it at the other end of the spectrum in that many offenders who aren't eligible for S.B. 123 are nonetheless getting sentenced to S.B. 123. These offenders with criminal history scores A through D are people who have prior person offenses in their histories and who would be ineligible for the program. Again, judges can depart and sentence someone to S.B. 123 who is otherwise ineligible. Nonetheless, there's some circumvention of the law going on among judges. So its chain sentencing practices almost entirely the way they expected, but there's still these instances in which its not happening.
What we found when we were — we were looking across the state is that these circumventions were rather concentrated in particular areas of the state. There was a divide between rural and urban counties in their departure from the mandatory nature of S.B. 123. There's also a difference between the rural and urban jurisdictions in their supervision practices of S.B. 123. So there's something going on in the state around implementation in these jurisdictions that were still trying to understand.
So this shift in offenders from court services to community corrections for their supervision has also led to a pretty big change, as I said before, in the length of time they're actually supervised in the community. You can see S.B. 123 offenders spend about 16 months in the community under supervision. S.B. 123 allows judges to sentence people up to 18 months of supervision and treatment in the community. There's no requirement that they sentence folks for up to 18 months, but that's generally the sentence that's imposed. But you can see its significantly longer than what they were getting prior to implementation — about four months. And that four months matters a lot given the conditions of supervision that they have under community corrections and how different they are from court services.
And this is partially due to the, as I said, to the structure of S.B. 123 rather than any change in practices. So these have several ... implications, sorry. The number of offenders sentenced under S.B. 123 has grown steadily throughout this period. The system itself has seemed to adapt fairly well to that, given ... even given the volume, the change in volume of offenders coming through, there's no real change or delay in processing, in assessments for offenders before they're sentenced to S.B. 123 or afterwards; the state has responded very well to that. Community corrections seems to have responded very well to that, to the increases in case loads. There has been a reduction in the number of people going to prison under S.B. 123. While it may appear slight in percentage forms, in the absolute numbers that well see over a five-year period, its actually quite large for a state the size of Kansas, and it has a profound impact on the costs of prison in the state.
And overall the system appears to be working the way it was intended. There are some issues and some challenges still though. This determination of eligibility for S.B. 123 is still a question: whether everyone understands eligibility even after five years of implementation. Whether everyone agrees with the eligibility criteria under S.B. 123 is another question. Whether judges are going around the law for certain groups of offenders who either aren't deemed the right population for community-based supervision and treatment. There's also these urban and rural differences in the practices in the state, and this overall increase in sentence lengths, none of which may have been intended during ... at the time of implementation.
So the second piece that we wanted to look at was whether supervision and treatment practices have changed as well. Sentencing practices clearly have. Supervision practices also have changed quite profoundly in the state. We looked at the types of interventions that community corrections officers were using. As Roger pointed out, there was supposed to be a change in their approach to the supervision of drug offenders in the state. We wanted to look and see how probation officers were using interventions that they could use — employment programming, education programming, mental health programming and reintegration programming. You can see over time, there's a huge increase in the number of mental health interventions that community corrections officers are using. This may be a nature of dual diagnosis in the state, that many of the people who are drug offenders also have mental health issues that the community corrections officers are trying to address. But you can certainly see over time — after about 18 months of program implementation — the number of interventions goes up significantly and has continued to rise over the study period.
The other interventions show less of a dramatic increase except for in unemployment programs, where the community corrections officers have also started to use those a lot more. So we see a change a bit in the use of these supportive — what we've called supportive supervision practices — and we've seen a decrease in what we've decided to call restrictive supervision interventions. Those things like curfew, increased surveillance, restrictions on movement, reporting practices, things like that. Particularly around issues of restrictions on movements and increased surveillance, probation officers have started to use these a lot less over time, so we do see some change in their approach to supervising this particular population, at least in the use of their restrictive supervision interventions that they've been using.
As far as treatment goes, we haven't seen a real change in treatment modalities imposed. For the most part they've remained fairly stable, particularly those around outpatient, individual or intensive treatments. There's some decrease in the use of outpatient group treatment and an increase in relapse treatment provision, which you would expect over time; you would expect the use of relapse modalities to increase, but generally its remained fairly stable. What has changed, and as I said before, is this approach to treatment as a team approach. Probation officers and counselors alike told us that they see themselves as working as a team now? That they're both invested in both supervision and treatment and understanding the needs of offenders in the community and working together to make sure those needs are met. Probation officers and treatment counselors meet regularly to devise plans, to reform those plans over time, to make sure that they're meeting all of the needs of offenders.
Two things that we have noticed in the state around supervision practices and treatment practices that ultimately affect the overall impact of the program are the concentration of S.B. 123 sentences. These counties — oh man, I cant count them that fast — 10 counties account for more than 50 percent of all S.B. 123 cases in the state. There are 105 counties in the state and more than half of all the S.B. 123 offenders come from just ten counties, which means that the success of the program is heavily dependent on the supervision practices of these 10 counties. In a similar way, they're heavily dependent on a certain group of drug treatment providers. The dark line here represents — the dark blue line — represents the total number of treatment interventions that have happened in the state. You see they've gone up dramatically since implementation. The red line represents the percentage of those interventions that are provided by the top 15 treatment providers in the state. There are about 120 drug treatment providers in the state ... Is that right? One-hundred, forty drug treatment providers in the state and just 15 of them account for more than half of all treatment provided in the state. So treatment is heavily concentrated in very few providers. The success of the program is heavily dependent on the success of these particular providers to provide treatment in the state.
What this means for the state is that the availability of treatment is very limited by the market. As Roger pointed out, the program was to rely on existing, private drug treatment providers in the community — non-state drug treatment providers. So its heavily dependent on the treatment that they provide, where they happen to provide it, the number who happens to be providing it. So what's been happening is, we found — to a large extent through our discussions with probation officers — was that treatment decisions were often made based on availability, access to providers rather than needs. And this concentration in a few providers has created this particular approach to treatment. But S.B. 123 also hasn't created incentives for more people to enter the market. The number of treatment providers in the state has not grown over the last five years as was initially expected. As Roger said, they pay more for treatment under S.B. 123 than they did for other state ... I'm sorry, I'm [drawing] a blank. Than other treatment paid for by the state. But that increase in the amount paid for treatment did not translate into an increase in the market. And what you find in the state, as Roger pointed out, in very rural parts of the state, there's one drug treatment provider, and if they're bad it doesn't matter, that's where the people have to go; that's the only treatment provider. Or you may find that the only person who provides residential treatment is hundreds of miles away from the person who needs residential treatment. So they either don't get residential treatment because its too burdensome to send them there or they're sent far away from their community and family to get residential treatment. So what happens is, people have changed their approach to treatment — that you may not get what you need, you may get what's available right now.
And what this is — the next question, this is where Ill end — is the impact on the prison system. As Roger pointed out at the beginning, this bill was passed at a time when the prison population was reaching capacity, was going to go over capacity. This bill was intended to reduce the number of drug possessors going to prison as a way to prevent the prison capacity, or the prison population from going over capacity. So the question is what impact had it had on the prison system. In the first five years of the program, S.B. 123 averted approximately 463 sentences to prison for drug possessors; of course, that's only part of it. This is directly from court. So that reduction from about 10 percent to four percent in the number of people going to prison has translated to about 463 people being averted from prison. That's only half the question of its actual impact on the prison system because, as Andres is going to talk about, its also about revocations to prison. And the shift in people from court services to community corrections has changed revocation rates; the revocation rates for this population have gone up. The next question is how much has that affected the impact on the prison system? And Ill leave it for that for Andres to talk about this individual-level impact of the program that we've also been looking at.
Andres Rengifo: So during the past couple years we've been looking at offender-level impacts of S.B. 123, trying to assess to what extent the passage of this law can be linked to changes in behavior for offenders going through S.B. 123 and to what extent those changes in behavior are of greater value to the state of Kansas compared to what other drug possessors are getting in the state, either because they're going to prison or because they're going through standard community corrections or court services. So today were going to be talking mostly about recidivism — looking at the effect of S.B. 123 on reconviction and revocation rates for S.B. 123 offenders but also comparing those rates to similar offenders going through alternative sanctions — again, mostly court services, prison or standard community corrections.
Now a separate question is about the content of treatment, and were at this point trying to work with the administrative data produced by the Department of Corrections to look at what predicts success within S.B. 123; what combinations of treatment modalities are related to low recidivism rates. Were also trying to expand on the list of outcomes to move beyond criminal recidivism to look at other aspects of offender performance that can be linked to participation in S.B. 123 in terms of compliance with treatment but also in terms of risk levels and addiction scores. For the most part today were going to be talking about recidivism.
So the first set of questions have to do with offending and failure while on community supervision. For the most part, what were trying to do again is comparing S.B. 123 to the alternative sanctions that were available to the state of Kansas prior to the implementation of S.B. 123 and after implementation of S.B. 123 because — as Don pointed out — we have a substantial number of drug offenders still being sentenced to court services or standard community corrections or court services. We also, again, have a set of questions about other outcomes related to S.B. 123, and that's preliminary work; we can talk about that work in the Q and A.
So just to reiterate here, we are looking at S.B. 123 illegible offenders, so that's offenders who have been convicted of first or second simple drug possession who have nonperson offenses — that's criminal history scores E through I. Were looking at about 5,000 of those individuals convicted of drug possession and sentenced to S.B. 123 between implementation in November of 03 through November of 08. And we are looking at outcomes of a comparison group that we constructed looking at, also, low drug possessors who were sentenced to prison, community corrections and court services, both prior to implementation of S.B. 123 and then after implementation.
The way we look at recidivism is we measure recidivism by looking at two outcomes: reconviction for a new offense and revocation from supervision. For both of these outcomes A complete report looks at failures that are linked to a new prison stay and a more general measure of failure that does not include a prison stay. For example, you can be convicted of a new offense but be reinstated to community-based supervision. So here were going to be looking only at failure from supervision that are linked to a prison stay because those are the ones that have the most direct impact on the prison system in Kansas. We looked at failures at different thresholds; today I will be talking mostly about failures at 24 months of exposure in the community, but we also have available rates at 12 and 18 months.
So these are the recidivism rates by group. The darker blue shows the recidivism rates at 12 months of risk exposure and the lighter blue at 24 months. So we see that that about a third of drug possessors sentenced to prison fail within 24 months. That's closely followed by community-corrections folks and then by folks sentenced to S.B. 123 — again, this is at 24 months. And just to reiterate, were looking at S.B. 123 illegible drug offenders, so were looking at offenders who have a relatively minor criminal history score, and all of them have been convicted, obviously, of simple drug possession. So this is what were trying to predict: the variation in the rate of failure across these groups.
[For] the first set of analysis, we ran a set of logistic regressions, just creating a set of dummies for participation. So we would just be interested in associating participation in court services, S.B. 123 or prison with that variation and the likelihood of failure. Then we also implemented a set of models looking at the time to failure, trying to predict whether S.B. 123 clients would fail at a faster rate than other drug possessors sentenced to an alternative sanction. One important challenge with this set of models is that they do not control for selection. The fact that drug offenders — low-level drug offenders — sentenced to prison may still be different from drug offenders sentenced to court services or drug offenders sentenced to a community-based program, even though we are looking at low-level drug possessors. So in order to control for that selection process, in order to model that selection process, we implemented a relatively new approach that seeks to reproduce follows a quasi-experimental design. So were trying to reproduce the likelihood of individual offenders who received an S.B. 123 offense an S.B. 123 sentence. By doing that, we will be sort of matching offenders who eventually went through S.B. 123 with those who went through an alternative sanction and then looking at their outcomes. So its a procedure by which you realign the sample in order to make the elements in that sample be at least statistically equivalent to one another. I will be talking about that in a second.
This table presents the summary results for our logistic regression that is our analysis looking at unmatched samples. Now the coefficients in this table represent the likelihood of failure associated with each of the alternative sanctions compared to S.B. 123. We also split the results by cohort, thinking that during the first two years of program implementation, we would not be able to observe the full impact of the program, so we split the sample into two different cohorts: the first cohort of S.B. 123 offenders — those sentenced to S.B. 123 between November of 03 and November of 05 (so giving the program two years to realign treatment and supervision practices) — and then after those two years, from 2005 to 2008 is our second S.B. 123 cohort. So again, the bars represent the change in the likelihood of failing, and here were looking at reconviction and revocation.
For the first S.B. 123 cohort, participation in S.B. 123 is related to a negative change in the likelihood of failing when S.B. 123 is compared to community corrections. So offenders going through S.B. 123 are 36 percent less likely to fail than those drug offenders sentenced to community corrections. Now compared to court services we find a significant effect by which participation in S.B. 123 for that first cohort increases the likelihood of failure by about a third — so 36 percent. When looking again at this second cohort — so allowing the program to align services, allowing the staff of the Kansas Sentencing Commission and the DOC to disseminate practices associated with the new program — we see that there is no significant relationship between ... no significant difference between those who participated in S.B. 123 — that second cohort — and those going through court services. So we find a significant effect of S.B. 123 compared to community corrections and compared to prison. And by that we mean that offenders going through S.B. 123 are less likely to fail than those going through community corrections and prison — again, more specifically looking for that second cohort. This is looking at logistic regression models with unmatched samples; so at this point were not controlling for the selection process in the sample. But we are just looking at drug offenders sentenced of single drug possession with low-level criminal history scores.
Our main interest was to look at the effect of program participation — whether offenders went through S.B. 123 performed better than offenders going through a different community-based or prison-based program. We also had a series of covariants of recidivism. Some of these have been identified in the literature, also associated with recidivism and community supervision; a couple of them were interesting. First, the importance of context [on] this relationship between the county of conviction and the likelihood of offenders failing while in the community. So, on the one hand offenders who were residing in more urban locations were more likely to fail, according to these models. Sort of an interesting finding because in urban areas you would think there would be a greater number of treatment providers, but also there is more supervision; so its important to think that a number of patterns that we've detected here are linked mostly to revocation procedures that are linked to failures, rather than new offending.
Now the other important pattern that is crucial is the performance of the offenders that we aggregated in that second cohort — so those offenders participating in S.B. 123 starting in November of 2005 — were performing better in terms of recidivism rate compared to S.B. 123 offenders who went through the program earlier.
So here we ... As I said earlier, one problem with the analysis; the problem was we didn't control for the selection process — the fact that not all simple drug possessors with low[-level] criminal history had the same chance of being selected into S.B. 123, although the program is supposed to be mandatory. Some of them have a greater likelihood of being sentenced to S.B. 123. So we first tried to model that selection process in order to reconfigure the sample to make the cases be similar to one another. In order to reconfigure the sample we fit a product model that first estimates the likelihood of receiving an S.B. 123 sentence, and then with that matched sample, we estimate the recidivism rates and then compare those recidivism rates and the match sample to assess the treatment effect — in this case, the effect of participating in S.B. 123 compared to court services and community corrections.
What we found is that S.B. 123 increases the likelihood of recidivism at 12 and 24 months compared to court services — and again here were matching samples, I can get into the details on how we did that: We tried different matching algorithms, and the results were robust to the matching procedure, which is something ... Its kind of a weak point of the propensity score matching is that findings are usually sensitive to the different procedures. So we tried different algorithms, and we found basically the same results. We also found that there was no impact of S.B. 123 on recidivism rates compared to community corrections. So individuals going through S.B. 123 did not [do] better than equivalent offenders going through community corrections. And here's a table summarizing the results. The 24-month follow-up for the first two rows for court services, the last two rows for community corrections. So you will notice sort of the unmatched sample is the raw sample the way we get it. You see the recidivism rate: so 22.7 percent for S.B. 123, 16 percent for court services in the unmatched sample. Once we realign those cases in order to make them equivalent, we reduce our sample to about 660 cases and then we compare recidivism outcomes for both offenders going through S.B. 123 and offenders going through either court services [or] community corrections. So this table shows that individuals going through court services — all the things being equal — have a lower rate of recidivism compared to those going through S.B. 123. Well take questions later but ...
Audience Member 1: Yes, but its a question of clarity. Can you just define, again, what is recidivism?
Rengifo: Recidivism — we use two different measures — these tables here combine reconviction and revocation.
Audience Member 1: [Inaudible.]
Rengifo: Leading to a prison stay for any offense, yes. So reconviction for a new offense and revocation for a technical violation, revocation due to a new offense we counted as a reconviction, but here were combining them. But again, most of these are operating through the revocation failure, and we can talk about it in the Q and A.
Results at 12 months were relatively similar, although the path of the difference in the coefficient for the average treatment effect was larger when looking at 24 months. So we also looked at time to failure and tried to estimate the speed at which offenders going through S.B. 123 and going through other sentencing alternatives were failing in the community. And here, the models were presenting. Twenty-four-month threshold: we found that participation in S.B. 123 delays time to failure relative to community corrections and relative to court services — I'm sorry, related to prison — but accelerates that time to failure when compared to court services. So offenders going through court services take longer time to fail using unmatched samples but also fail less than those going through S.B. 123, when we looked at the propensity score matching and the samples of equivalent offenders.
This is the survival curve. Here well look at the fraction of offenders who remained free in the community by ... The horizontal axis has the time to failure in days, and we see that ... You don't see really the colors ... The blue line, sort of the second line from top to bottom, is the line for S.B. 123 offenders. So the first line — the green line — is court services who had greater fraction of individuals remain in the community — survive in the community to use the terminology that linked to this methodology — than offenders in the other three groups. So again, offenders going through S.B. 123 fell faster ... a greater fraction of them failed faster than those going through court services.
So what are our implications of the findings at the offender level? S.B. 123 has a slightly greater impact of revocations than reconvictions. When we look at unmatched samples — not controlling for the selection process — we find a positive effect of S.B. 123. The problem is once we control for the selection process, then impact of S.B. 123 is really produced by differences in the characteristics of the sample and in the attributes of offenders going through court services versus the attributes of offenders going through other alternatives.
We found, again, that later cohorts of S.B. 123 do better than earlier cohorts, which is important from an implementation point of view, and its important in terms of the timing of additional reforms to S.B. 123. And, again, we found that compared to standard community corrections and prison, offenders going through S.B. 123 do better than offenders going through those programs; but they don't do better than those going through court services, mostly because individuals in court services are not revoked as much. And when they are revoked, they are moved from court services to community corrections, so there is an increased level of supervision but not necessarily they are going straight to prison from court services — so that's an important difference to keep in mind.
So what we learned in terms of the system level impacts — as Don had mentioned earlier — is that S.B. 123 has effectively reduced the use of prison in different ways. First, the most direct and straightforward impact is by reducing the drug possessors sentenced to prison. This is a mandatory program; again, we have more than 70 percent of simple drug possessors going now to S.B. 123 instead of going to prison. But also the use of prison has been averted by a reduction in the number of people who received that S.B. 123 sentence and were then revoked and sent back to the community. Because we have fewer failures in the community, then we have decreased use in the use of prison. Mostly through revocations, so we see fewer technical violations being handled in terms of sending the offender back to prison and also through reconvictions, although in a smaller number.
Thinking about the overall cost of housing offenders in state prisons and working with the staff of the Sentencing Commission, we estimated the cost avoidance of S.B. 123 to about $30 million, and we can, again, go over the details of that analysis in the Q and A. But again we have fewer bodies in prison linked to simple drug possession, again, not only at the sentencing stage but also in terms of the handling of technical violations. From our process evaluation where we spend a significant [amount of] time in Kansas interviewing community corrections officers and interviewing providers, both providers and officers indicated that they were comfortable and they were addressing the needs of offenders by having team meetings, by spending more time with the offenders. We see some of that not only because they are telling us that that's what's going on but also in terms of the administrative data recorded on the case management information system.
Also, in terms of how S.B. 123 connects to a broader set of corrections reforms that are taking place in Kansas — and I think, Roger, it would be great to hear a little bit about that it in your follow-up intervention — in terms of how, for example, the handling of revocations has something to do with S.B. 123 but also has something to do with the handling of revocations at large in the Department of Corrections, and how probation officers, but also parole officers, are now trained to look at failures and to look at supervision processes from a different point of view by using the LSIR, by working closely with community-based organizations. So its not only about S.B. 123 but its also about a broader initiative in Kansas on risk reduction and public safety.
We see some net widening taking place in terms of individuals who were sentenced initially to low levels of supervision and low levels or no treatment at all under court services that are now being funneled through S.B. 123 with higher levels of supervision and higher levels of treatment. So by that we have a greater share of the populations under state supervision; some of that linked to greater levels of failure, again, linked to higher revocation rates. And as Roger pointed out, there is more information on the Kansas Sentencing Commission Web site, and we have a preliminary report posted on the Web site. Please do not hesitate to contact us for additional information. Thank you.
Linda Truitt: We have about 15 minutes left in the session. We are recording today, and so I'm going to ask that if you have a question, if you'd raise your hand, state your name and your affiliation, and then as briefly and straightforward as you can, pose the question and to whom you'd like to answer that question. Any questions, please? Mike Finnigan?
Mike Finnigan: [Inaudible.]
Andres Rengifo: So the question is about sort of the intensity of supervision and whether the ... under S.B. 123 we see greater levels of accountability for offenders than standard community corrections or court services. And we think that the answer is yes. So we ... so the program was housed in community corrections, so that meant that already it was sort of a more intense level of supervision. Under court services, some people argue, there is no supervision — you're just pushing paper around — and no treatment. So if that's the baseline, then its sort of easy to move up from that. Looking at interventions — intervention data recorded on the case management system — we see that for individuals going through S.B. 123, there are more interventions associated to supervision practices than we have on the court services side. A big problem is that the data on the court services side — because its not centralized — there is very little of it. So LSIR scores, program implementation, program participation, supervision interventions — we don't have almost [any]thing on the court services, so our ability to see what's happening with that population is restricted. But from everything we have at the moment we think that yes, offenders are more accountable on the supervision side on S.B. 123 than on court services.
Roger Werholtz: Let me add one other thing and that is, we've debated this a little bit over breakfast this morning. There are no risk assessments done at court services, so we don't know the risk levels of those individuals. What we do know is when the group shifted initially from court services to community corrections in that first cohort, we had seriously underestimated the level of high-risk offenders in that group. The other thing that I have no idea how this plays into some of the research results, but one of the things that we know is that the defense bar is ...
[Break in recording.]
Rengifo: ... the textbook threshold for significance. So what ... so we did two things. We adjusted the caliber in order to make those cases look like one another more closely, right? So by adjusting the caliber, were being more demanding on the quality of the matching, but then we lose initial representativeness. But by reducing the sample size in such a way that the offenders in both groups are similar to one another but not necessarily similar to the groups they're supposed to represent — so we did that. And in one or two matching algorithms, that significant relationship went away. For the ones that were very demanding on the matching procedure, which I think was an important part for us to make sure we were getting rid of that selection effect, the findings were robust in terms of trying with different algorithms to make those ... to generate the match. We tried nearest neighbor; we tried kernel based; we tried with radius caliber. As part of our report then in the appendix, we list all these tables — the table with all the different matching algorithms. But yes, it is sensitive to these decisions that have to do with a trade off to how representative you want your results to be and to what extent you highlight more the fact that these have to be similar offenders on the observables. And that's a separate question, in terms of how many observables do we have. So we may be matching on age, criminal history, gender, but still we only have six or seven or eight administratively recorded variables, so that's also another limitation. Thank you.
Truitt: Other questions? Yes, please.
Audience Member 1: [Inaudible. Recording includes loud static.] ... Foundation of Baltimore. I was curious, when you did your cost estimate, did you use a variable rate for the prison stay? You know, a lot of times they say, If you don't close a prison wing then you really cant say that you're saving X amount of dollars ... [inaudible].
Werholtz: I'm not the researcher in the room; let me make that really clear. But I talk with the legislature about this a lot, and the way that we couch this is in cost avoidance. At the time that the bill was passed, we were looking at prison construction and we could honestly and directly talk about the beds that we did not have to build and operate and could create an average cost for them. We had a discussion very recently, now that what's happened in my state is prison populations decreased by 7 percent. Well, we don't save $25,000 a year for every person that we keep out of prison; now we save 2,000, and the cost of treatment is about 3,000. And the critics of the legislation want to make that comparison saying, Well, we don't need to pay for all of this expensive treatment because we've got cheaper prison space that's available. Now we took that argument away when I closed four prisons in the last year so now I don't have surplus beds again. But that has been probably the crux of the debate around S.B. 123 at this point. My personal opinion is its pretty well institutionalized in our state with the majority of the legislature and with the courts; the judges like it and now want to see it expanded. So, you know, if you want to talk about cost reduction, its probably not cost effective, but at the time that it was passed, I believe it was an effective cost avoidance bill for the state, and its what historical context you look at it in. Does that make sense?
Truitt: I think we have time for one or two more questions. Anything? Yes, sir.
Audience Member 2: [Inaudible. Recording includes loud static.]
Werholtz: Let me talk about it from kind of the political or the small P point of view, and then Don and Andres may want to talk about it from the research point of view. I think that the question that you pose is perfectly logical. You know, the crime of conviction doesn't necessarily relate at all to the responsivity to treatment. But the overarching political issue is the degree of seriousness that we've attached to the offense. Coming from the Midwest, you know the issues around meth, and meth is the boogie man in our state, and so we have disproportionate sentences for convictions around possession and manufacturing a methamphetamine, as compared to other sentences. That's still a political discussion that hasn't been overcome in terms of an alternative ... treatment as an alternative to prison. I think there's widespread support as treatment in prison. The other thing that I would say that we — my personal opinion — that we have not done a good job on in Kansas at this point around this legislation is we have not held the treatment providers accountable for their performance. We hold the community corrections programs very accountable for their performance. We track and publish their revocation rates. We've invested a great deal of time in training them on how to supervise, but we have done next to nothing in terms of publishing the performance of various treatment providers. And in part that's because some of our community corrections programs are very concerned about alienating the only game in town. I think that's something that we need to tackle because you could argue if you're not getting much change in offender behavior out of the treatment intervention that you're providing, what's the value that you're receiving for your investment? Obviously were saving some prison beds, but were in a heavy cut back mode in our state right now, and this may be a really good opportunity to start singling out treatment providers that aren't working well with offender populations. I don't know if that answers your question, but that's what it made me think of.
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Moderator: Linda Truitt, Senior Social Science Analyst, National Institute of Justice Panelists:
Date Modified: April 5, 2010
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Finally, the moment nobody was waiting for. This is the new MCA ALA 50, a prototype for an upcoming supercar from Monte Carlo Automobile. Evidently, it's some sort of birthday present to Prince Albert. Styling looks to be inspired by '90s Group C racers, but that's not stopping those Monegasque boys from planning to enter the car in the 2010 LeMans 24 Hour race. We're not exactly sure what class they plan on running in, but the car is made almost entirely of carbon fiber and is said to be powered by a V8 making 650 HP, so it should be pretty fast. There's even a proposed street version, but we're not holding our breath. Press release from Monte Carlo Automobile after the jump.
Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco unveils the prototype of the new ALA 50. The car was built in honour of the 25th anniversary of Monaco's first-ever car brand in May.
To celebrate 25 successful years, Monegasque car manufacturer Monte Carlo Automobile has created a brand-new GT and is dedicating it to Prince Albert II. Company founder Fulvio Maria Ballabio designed the ALA 50, and is building it in conjunction with father-and-son partnership Guglielmo and Roberto Bellasi. The trio have previously worked together on other projects.
The name ALA 50 is a tribute to Prince Albert's 50th birthday in March, and also symbolizes the model's aerodynamic system, styled on those found in wing cars. Made entirely of carbon fibre, the car features a 650-horsepower V8 engine put together by Christian Contzen, the former CEO of Renault Sport, and Daniel Trema, who is currently helping engineering firm Mecachrome prepare for the GP2 series.
Ballabio and Alberto Raffaele Colman are currently planning an ambitious project together with Bartoli de Clarion (the sponsor and a supplier of car accessories) and another partner company - to enter the ALA 50 and a team of three Monegasque drivers into the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours race.
After the official launch of the ALA 50 racing car late this year, a road-going version will be produced, and this will be made to order.
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'If I were designing a system from scratch, I would probably go ahead with a single-payer system," Barack Obama told an audience in Albuquerque on Monday. He was lauding the idea of a health-care market -- or nonmarket -- entirely run by the government.
Most liberals support single payer, aka "Medicare for All," because it would eliminate the profit motive, which by their lights is the reason Americans are uninsured. The Democratic Presidential candidate takes a more moderate campaign line, though we suppose just about everything is "moderate" compared to a total government takeover. While preferring that option in theory, Mr. Obama continued, his health-care plan is designed to "build up the system we got," and over time, "we may . . . decide that there are other ways for us to provide care more effectively."
The Senator has expressed similar sentiments before, including throughout his combat with Hillary Clinton. But repetition doesn't make it any less telling, especially about his political instincts and the breadth of his ambitions. Mr. Obama's health-care plan includes a taxpayer-funded insurance program, much like Medicare but open to everyone. The goal, like HillaryCare in the 1990s, is to displace current private coverage and switch people to the default government option. What's new is Mr. Obama's smoother political packaging.
With good reason, critics often call this a back-door route to a centrally planned health-care bureaucracy. For all his lawyerly qualifications, Mr. Obama has essentially admitted that his proposal is really the front door.
If only he could befriend the facts. Otherwise, health outcomes will be getting worse in America.
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Breaking Out of the Shell of the Ego
I have been always surprised by the number of people who come to me and say they are afraid of love. What is the fear of love? It is because when you really love somebody your ego starts slipping away and melting. You cannot love with the ego; the ego becomes a barrier, and when you want to drop the barrier between yourself and the other, the ego says, "This is going to be a death. Beware!"
The death of the ego is not your death; the death of the ego is really your possibility of life. The ego is just a dead crust around you, it has to be broken and thrown away. It comes into being naturally--just as a traveler collects dust on his clothes, on his body, and he has to take a bath to get rid of the dust. As we move through time, the dust of our experiences, our knowledge, of the life we have lived, of the past, collects. That dust becomes the ego. It accumulates and becomes a crust around you, which has to be broken and thrown away. One has to take a bath every day, in fact every moment, so that this crust never becomes a prison.
It will be helpful to understand where the ego comes from, to understand the roots.
A child is born and is absolutely helpless, particularly the human child. He cannot survive without others' help. Most children of the animals, the trees, the birds, can survive without the parents, can survive without a society, without a family. Even if sometimes help is needed, it is very little--a few days, at the most a few months. But a human child is so helpless that he has to depend on others for years. It is there that the root has to be sought.
Why does helplessness create the human ego? The child is helpless, he depends on others, but the ignorant mind of the child interprets this dependence as if he is the center of the whole world. The child thinks, "Whenever I cry, my mother runs immediately; whenever I am hungry, I just have to give an indication and the breast is given. Whenever I am wet, just a slight cry and somebody comes and changes my clothes." The child lives like an emperor. In fact he is absolutely helpless and dependent, and the mother and father, the family and his caretakers, are all helping him to survive. They are not dependent on the child, the child is dependent on them. But the mind of the child interprets this as if he is the center of the whole world, as if the whole world exists just for him.
And the world of the child is, of course, very small in the beginning. It consists of the mother, the caretaker, the father on the fringe--this is the child's whole world. These people love the child. And the child becomes more and more egoistic. He feels himself to be the very center of all existence, and in that way the ego is created. Through dependence and helplessness, the ego is created.
In fact the child's real situation is just the contrary from what he thinks; there is no real justification to create such an ego. But the child is absolutely ignorant, he is not capable of understanding the complexity of the thing. He cannot know that he is helpless, he thinks he is the dictator! And then for his whole life he will try to remain the dictator. He will become a Napoleon, an Alexander, an Adolf Hitler--your presidents, prime ministers, dictators, are all childish. They are trying to achieve the same thing they experienced as children; they want to be the center of the whole existence. With them the world should live and die; the whole world is their periphery and they are the center of it; the very meaning of life is hidden in them.
The child, of course, naturally finds this interpretation correct, because when the mother looks at him, in the eyes of the mother he sees that he is the significance of her life. When the father comes home, the child feels that he is the very meaning of the father's life. This lasts for three or four years--and the years at the beginning of life are the most important; never again will there be a time in a person's life with the same potential.
Psychologists say that after the first four years the child is almost complete. The whole pattern is fixed; throughout the rest of life you will repeat the same pattern in different situations. And by the seventh year the child has all his attitudes confirmed, his ego is settled. Now he moves out into the world--and then everywhere he encounters problems, millions of problems! Once you are out of the circle of the family, problems will arise--because nobody else bothers about you in the same way your mother bothered about you; nobody is as concerned about you as your father was. Instead, everywhere you find indifference, and the ego is hurt.
But now the pattern is set. Whether it hurts or not, the child cannot change the pattern--it has become the very blueprint of his being. He will play with other children and try to dominate them. He will go to school and try to dominate, to come first in his class, to become the most important student. He might believe he is superior but he finds that all the other children believe the same way. There is conflict, there are egos, there is fighting, struggle.
Then this becomes the whole story of life: there are millions of egos around you, just like yours, and everybody is trying to control, maneuver, dominate--through wealth, power, politics, knowledge, strength, lies, pretensions, hypocrisies. Even in religion and morality, everybody is trying to dominate, to show the rest of the world that "I am the center of the world."
This is the root of all problems between people. Because of this concept, you are always in conflict and struggle with somebody or other. Not that others are enemies to you--everybody else is just like you, in the same boat. The situation is the same for everybody else; they have been brought up in the same way.
There exists a certain school of psychoanalysts in the West who have proposed that unless children are brought up without their fathers and mothers, the world will never be at peace. I don't support them, because then children will never be brought up in any way! Those psychologists have something of truth in their proposal, but it is a very dangerous idea. Because if children are brought up in nurseries without fathers and mothers, without any love, with total indifference, they may not have the problems of the ego but they will have other, even more damaging and dangerous problems.
If a child is brought up in total indifference he will have no center. He will be a hotchpotch, clumsy, not knowing who he is. He will not have any identity. Afraid, scared, he will not be able to take even a single step without fear, because nobody has loved him. Of course, the ego will not be there, but without it he will have no center. He will not become a buddha; he will be just dull and crippled, always feeling afraid.
Love is needed to make you feel fearless, to make you feel that you are accepted, that you are not useless, that you cannot be discarded in the junkyard. If children are brought up in a situation where love is lacking, they will not have egos, that's true. Their life will not have so much struggle and fight. But they will not be able to stand up for themselves at all. They will be always in flight, escaping from everybody, hiding in caves in their own being. They will not be buddhas, they will not be radiant with vitality, they will not be centered, at ease, at home. They will simply be eccentric, off-center. That will not be a good situation either.
So I don't support these psychologists. Their approach would create robots, not human beings--and robots of course have no problems. Or, they may create human beings who are more like animals. There will be less anxiety, less ulcers, less cancer, but that is not worth achieving when it means that you cannot grow to a higher peak of consciousness. Instead you would be falling downward; it will be a regression. Of course, if you become an animal there will be less anguish, because there will be less consciousness. And if you become a stone, a rock, there will be no anxiety at all because there is nobody inside to feel anxious, to feel anguish. But this is not worth achieving. One has to be like a god, not like a rock. And by that I mean it to have absolute consciousness and still have no worries, no anxieties, no problems; to enjoy life like the birds, to celebrate life like birds, to sing like birds--not through regression but by growing to the optimum of consciousness.
The child gathers ego--it is natural, nothing can be done about it. One has to accept it. But later on, there is no need to keep carrying it. That ego is needed in the beginning for the child to feel that he is accepted, loved, welcomed--that he is an invited guest, not an accident. The father, the mother, the family, and the warmth around the child help him to grow strong, rooted, grounded. It is needed, the ego gives him protection--it is good, it is just like the shell of a seed. But the shell should not become the ultimate thing, otherwise the seed will die. The protection can go on too long, then it becomes a prison. The protection must remain a protection while it is needed, and when the moment comes for the hard shell of the seed to die into the earth, it should die naturally so that the seed can sprout and life can be born.
The ego is just a protective shell--the child needs it because he is helpless. The child needs it because he is weak; the child needs it because he is vulnerable and there are millions of forces all around. He needs protection, a home, a base. The whole world may be indifferent but he can always look toward home, and from there he can gather significance.
But, with significance comes the ego. The child becomes egoistic, and with this ego arise all the problems you face. This ego will not allow you to fall in love. This ego would like everybody to surrender to you; it will not allow you to surrender to anybody--and love happens only when you surrender. When you force somebody else to surrender it is hateful, destructive. It is not love. And if there is no love, your life will be without warmth, without any poetry in it. It may be prose, mathematical, logical, rational. But how can one live without poetry?
Prose is okay, rationality is okay, it is utilitarian, needed--but living just through reason and logic can never be a celebration, can never be festive. And when life is not festive, it is boring. Poetry is needed--but for poetry you need surrender. You need to throw off this ego. If you can do it, if you can put it aside even for a few moments, your life will have glimpses of the beautiful, of the divine.
Without poetry you cannot really live, you can only exist. Love is poetry. And if love is not possible, how can you be prayerful, meditative, aware? It becomes almost impossible. And without a meditative awareness, you will remain just a body; you will never become aware of the innermost soul. Only in prayerfulness, in a deep meditation and silence do you reach the peaks. That prayerful silence, that meditative awareness is the highest peak of experience--but love opens the door.
Carl Gustav Jung, after a lifetime of studying thousands of people--thousands of cases of people who were ill, psychologically crippled, psychologically confused--said that he had never come across a psychologically ill person whose real problem after the fortieth year is not spiritual. There is a rhythm in life, and in your forties a new dimension arises, the spiritual dimension. If you cannot tackle it rightly, if you don't know what to do, you will become ill, you will become restless. The whole of human growth is a continuity. If you miss one step, it becomes discontinuous. The child gathers ego--and if he never learns to put the ego aside he cannot love, cannot be at ease with anybody. The ego will be constantly in fight. You may be sitting silently, but the ego is constantly fighting, just looking out for ways to dominate, to be dictatorial, to become the ruler of the world.
This creates problems everywhere. In friendship, sex, love, in the society--everywhere you are in conflict. There is even conflict with the parents who have given this ego to you. It is rare that a son forgives his father, rare that a woman forgives her mother. It happens very rarely.
George Gurdjieff had a sentence on the wall of the room where he used to meet with people. The sentence was this: "If you are not yet at ease with your father and mother, then go away. I cannot help you." Why? Because the problem has arisen there and it has to be solved there. That's why all the old traditions say love your parents, respect your parents as deeply as possible--because the ego arises there, that is the soil. Solve it there, otherwise it will haunt you everywhere.
Psychoanalysts have also come to the conclusion that all they do is bring you back to the problems that existed between you and your parents and try to solve them somehow. If you can solve your conflict with your parents, many other conflicts will simply disappear because they are based on the same fundamental conflict.
For example, a man who is not at ease with his father cannot be at ease with the boss in the office--never, because the boss is a father figure. That small conflict with your parents continues to be reflected in all your relationships. If you are not at ease with your mother, you cannot be at ease with your wife because she will be the representative woman; you cannot be at ease with women as such, because your mother is the first woman, she is the first model of a woman. Wherever a woman is, your mother is, and a subtle relationship continues.
Ego is born in the relationship with the father and mother, and it has to be tackled there. Otherwise you will go on cutting branches and leaves of the tree, and the root remains untouched.
Excerpted from Being in Love by Osho. Copyright © 2008 by Osho. Excerpted by permission of Harmony, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Does Regionalism Matter Anymore, Y'all?
The race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination is fixing to get, as we Southerners tongue-in-cheekly say, about as slippery as a greased pig in a hog wallow. Nasty as a old possum in a croaker sack. Murky as South Carolina swamp mud.
The Republican primary focus is shifting to the South, where folks talk and act different from the rest of the country. And where they look for different characteristics in candidates than other regions of the ...
Whoa now, hoss. That last part may not be so true anymore. It's true that Georgia's Newt Gingrich is nipping at the heels of Mitt Romney like a pup on pepper sauce.
But if Romney winds up winning Saturday's South Carolina primary, you could argue that it's because the good people of Columbia have the same interests, the same concerns and the same passions as the denizens of Des Moines and Nashua.
After all, Romney was a lead dog in Iowa and New Hampshire, two distinctly different states with two distinctly different constituencies. So if he's as successful in South Carolina, does that signal the end of regional bias in national politics?
We asked a passel of political scientists.
Mac McCorkle, who teaches the politics of public policy at Duke University, says South Carolina's support for Romney is in stark contrast to the state's support in 1948 for its Favorite Son, segregationist Strom Thurmond, who defected from the Democratic Party and signaled the demise of the solid Democratic South.
Now, McCorkle says, if a moderate Massachusetts Mormon is the pick of the litter for the dominant Republican Party in South Carolina and the South, "that would be an amazing turn of events," McCorkle says, "and would seem to be the end to Southern regionalism."
Pork Chop On A Stick
The presidential election sure enough brings out the media's obsession with regional differences. Reporters file dispatches from dimly lit diners and indigenous state fairs. They do stand-ups from cornfields in the Midwest; beaches in California; honky-tonks in Texas and Tennessee.
There have been a mess of local color moments during the 2012 cycle: Fox News showing Herman Cain sending one of his staff members to get a "pork chop on a stick" in Iowa. MSNBC featuring Jon Huntsman speaking at a traditional town hall meeting in New Hampshire.
And then there was CNN's Soledad O'Brien explaining to legal correspondent Jeffrey Toobin — speaking of Haley Barbour, governor of Mississippi and former chairman of the Republican National Committee — that Boss Hogg was the big bad sheriff in the TV show Starsky and Hutch.
Of course, Boss Hogg was actually the big bad county commissioner in the TV show Dukes of Hazzard, but that makes no never mind. To the denizens of midtown Manhattan, the streets of Southern California might as well be the dirt roads of Georgia. Same difference.
To many Americans, regionalism has become a virtual reality. The rest of the country is a pasticcio, a variegated video-game landscape where tumbleweed rolls past skyscrapers, Minneapolis is close to Montana, and the St. Louis Arch is the gateway to the Rockies.
'Too Much Of A New Yorker'
In the past, regional distinctions definitely mattered. They could make or break presidential campaigns.
Writing in the 2000 Facts on File Dictionary of American Regionalism, Robert Hendrickson points out that in 1940 many Americans "voted against what H.L. Mencken sarcastically called 'the caressing rayon voice' of the politician Wendell Willkie because the Hoosier pronounced 'American' as 'Amurrican' ...got Henry Wallace in trouble south of the Potomac in 1946 for using the term the common man, which is regarded there as a term of contempt. Some Spokanians voted against John F. Kennedy because he pronounced their city's name Spokane (to rhyme with cane) instead of Spoke-ann."
And speaking at a pro-Kennedy rally in 1960, former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt said of 1948 Democratic candidate Al Smith: "I think that he was too much of a New Yorker. He knew only New York; he didn't know the rest of the country at all."
Regional preference has continued to play a pivotal role in the system. Ron Elving, NPR's senior Washington editor, says it wasn't that long ago — much more recently than Strom Thurmond — that "we still had lots of Favorite Son candidates who were nominated at the convention."
At the appointed time, Elving says, the Favorite Son would deliver the state's delegates, en masse, to some candidate in exchange for a plum posting — the vice president's slot or a juicy Cabinet seat — or just to make a big regional splash on nomination night.
Occasionally, Elving says, "the Favorite Son from one Southern or Western or even Midwestern state could bond with others from elsewhere to form a regional bloc and really do some serious bargaining over who would get the nomination."
In 1976, Elving says, Jimmy Carter ran as a regional candidate — with enough national appeal among Democrats to win. In 1984, Walter Mondale was a regional candidate "in that he did better in his home region of the Midwest than elsewhere, while losing all but his home state."
Four years later, Al Gore "was an explicitly Southern candidate who did not contest Iowa and New Hampshire but got enough action going in the South on Super Tuesday to establish himself as a player for the future," Elving says. (Ironically, when Gore did finally get the nomination in 2000, he lost his — and this reporter's — home state of Tennessee.)
In 1992, Bill Clinton relied on regionalism "in the sense that he could contest Southern states like Florida, Georgia, Arkansas and Tennessee," Elving says. "He was never going to win the South overall, but he could cut into the popular and Electoral College margins there."
And in 2004, Elving adds, George W. Bush "won everything in the South and Mountain West, period. But he lost the rest of the country by an Electoral College ratio of 2-to1. How much more regional than that can you get?"
Economy And Electability
This time around, however, there are mitigating circumstances, says Caroline J. Tolbert, professor of American politics at the University of Iowa and co-author of Why Iowa? How Caucuses and Sequential Elections Improve the Presidential Nominating Process. In 2012, the economy is "the overarching issue for voters" in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Lynn Vavreck, a political science professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, agrees with Tolbert. "The state of the nation's economy and the slow recovery make the context across states similar and important," Vavreck says.
The economy is almost always a campaign issue, Vavreck says, but this year it has become a hot-button issue earlier in the game. The country's slow economic recovery, she says, "has sharpened the focus on the economy during the nominating process."
Another element, electability — that is, the probability of beating President Obama in the general election — "has always been an important consideration to primary voters, and this year I think the differences on this dimension are more clear than in previous years," Vavreck says.
"This has also made Romney a focal candidate. The others in the field this year have more profound weaknesses in terms of electability than did Mike Huckabee or Rudy Giuliani or Fred Thompson, for example, all of whom were popular candidates at this point in the process in 2008," Vavreck continues.
If Romney does win South Carolina and/or Florida and other primaries in the South, it will be meaningful. Larry M. Bartels, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University, says that "the South has gradually become less politically distinctive over the past 60 years."
But, Bartels adds, specific primary and caucus outcomes are still "quite sensitive to idiosyncratic factors — for example, who else is in the field, who has money and organization, who has 'momentum' based on recent outcomes and media coverage."
If Romney carries the South in the 2012 primary season, according to Bartels, "it will say more about the weakness of the Republican field than about the state of Southern regionalism."
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Sixteen-year-old Ramos, who attends Tuloso-Midway High School, is the queen for the 54th annual Trail Ride to the 64th annual San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
The South Texas Trail Ride is an eight-day ride from Corpus Christi to San Antonio on horseback. Everything that is needed for the ride is carried either on the horses or in covered wagons. Sleeping is done outside or in the horse trailers and much of the cooking is outdoors. According to the group’s website, the ride is “Keeping The Cowboy Tradition Alive.”
Ramos has been riding on a horse since she was one and has been a part of the trail ride most of her life.
“I was raised around horses,” she said. She credits her involvement in the ride to her parents, Larry and Sherry Ramos, who she says have been saddling up and taking part in the ride for about 25 years.
“It’s been a dream of my father’s and mine since I was a little girl to be queen of the ride,” she said.
Ramos has been coming on the ride even before she was old enough to ride her own horse.
“My dad used to pony me along because I didn’t know how strong a horse was,” she said. “As I got older, he let me ride alone.”
While it may seem easy to ride a horse down the side of the road, Ramos said there is a lot more to it than that.
“You have to get your horse conditioned,” she said. “There is a lot of packing involved too. It takes preparation to get ready for this type of ride.”
Lucky for Ramos, this year’s trip so far has been pleasant.
“Normally we are bundled up or are in rain slickers,” she said. “This year is really enjoyable. It’s not too hot and it’s not too cold. This is the best weather we have had since 2006.”
She said the worst weather she experienced included seeing a tornado off in the distance.
The possibility of bad weather never deters her from coming back yearly. She has made lifelong friends through the ride and she said she considers them her second family.
“They have helped shaped me into the person I am today,” she said.
Her position as rodeo queen is voted on by her peers, so the group appears to be as fond of her as she is of them.
The group rides about 20 to 22 miles a day and stops at a different camp site every night.
Her favorite was the Tuesday night stop in Falls City.
“We have a little dance and the food is amazing there,” she said. “The people in Falls City are really friendly.”
It also helps that the campsite itself is down by the river and one of the prettiest on the whole ride, but she only gets to enjoy it for one night.
Wednesday morning the group was up and at ’em early, moseying on down the rode to the next stop.
The ride itself ends on Friday when the group gets to San Antonio but Ramos will still have duties there as queen to represent and promote the ride while in San Antonio.
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Museum Plans Artist Demonstration and Family Activity Workshop
The Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University has planned an artist demonstration and family activity workshop in conjunction with its Recycled Art exhibition, which is on display until Nov. 4.
On Sept. 23 from noon to 4 p.m., mixed media artist Ross Palmer Beecher will make traditional quilts and flags from aluminum cans and other found objects. Beecher attended the Rhode Island School of Design and has lived and worked in Seattle since the late 1970s. She has been featured in numerous one-person and group exhibitions and was the recipient of the Betty Bowen Award in 2002, which is given by the Seattle Art Museum to visual artists in the Northwest.
Recycling artist and "Dumpster Diving Diva" Diane Kurzyna will
lead a family activity workshop entitled "Curious Creatures" from
noon to 4 p.m. Oct. 7. Participants will create interesting and
unusual beasts from telephone wire, fabric scraps, bottle caps,
candy wrappers and other junk. Kurzyna is a graduate of Rutgers
University and an artist-in-residence with the Washington State
Arts Commission. Learn more about Kurzyna at
Both the artist demonstration and family activity workshop will be held in the lobby of the museum. Admission to both is free.
Recycled Art has been supported in part by grants from the City of Salem Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission.
The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is located at 700 State St. (corner of State and Cottage streets) in downtown Salem near the campus of Willamette University. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed Sunday and Monday. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. Children younger than 12 are free, and Tuesday is an admission-free day. For more information, please call (503) 370-6855.
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Are you a tinkerer that would like to get into microcontrollers but wants to do more than simply get started? The Maker Shed’s Ultimate Microcontroller Pack includes what you need to get started and to grow with microcontollers. The 100+ components include everything from servos to an LCD screen, plenty to keep you busy without having to source individual parts. Everyone from beginners to advanced users will appreciate all that the Ultimate Microcontroller Pack offers. It’s available with Arduino, Netduino, and without a microcontroller, just in case you already have one. It really is the ultimate parts assortment!
Don’t want to pay for shipping? Check your local RadioShack for availability!
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By Stephanie Zacharek
By Stephanie Zacharek
By Inkoo Kang
By Alan Scherstuhl and Stephanie Zacharek
By Ciara LaVelle
By Alan Scherstuhl
By Calum Marsh
By Amy Nicholson
Explained Biblically, the sinking of R.M.S. Titanic 400 miles off the southern coast of Newfoundland in 1912 is an act of divine one-upmanship. The White Star Line's 46,328-ton "ship of dreams" was struck down on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, because mere mortals should not presume to blithely conquer the sea. Unsinkable? Ha!
Viewed in a Hollywood frame of mind--in other words, vengeful, envious, anxious--the James Cameron film Titanic should also be struck down, because mere mortal film directors should not presume to run up a tab of more than $200 million to make a movie that should have been called Romeo and Juliet Get Dunked.
But hubris in Hollywood comes with the territory. And sometimes the gods smile. For all its bulk and blather, Titanic is no disaster. It's closer to being a great big romantic cornball success. The film makes it safely into port courtesy of its co-stars, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, and its sheer golly-gee monumentality.
Movie spectaculars are often anything but. Speed 2: Cruise Control, for example, cost $160 million, which was about $160 million too much. Titanic at least lets you know you're watching a movie--or, to be more exact, a movie-movie, the kind you responded to as a kid when you sat wide-eyed in the front row and couldn't even follow the plot but it didn't matter.
Director Cameron, who also wrote the screenplay, seems to have conceived Titanic in precisely those googly-eyed terms--which is both the film's triumph and limitation. As a piece of storytelling, it's almost as easy to read as a grade-school primer; even toddlers shouldn't have trouble following the action. But one doesn't necessarily look to a movie like this for complexity. Cameron's script is all splash and swoon--it serves up the pleasures of the obvious. The people aboard the Titanic are instantly pegged: They're either greedy or good-natured or craven or valiant. Ambiguity and subtlety are strangers to this film.
The Titanic disaster is one of those epochal events that allows everybody to derive from it his own meaning, his own "spin." Just recently, there's been a gargantuan Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Titanic, and a spectral, delicate novel, Every Man for Himself by Beryl Bainbridge. Close to a dozen movies have already been made about the Titanic, and the most famous of them, the 1958 British A Night to Remember, is, in its stiff-upper-lip rectitude, at the opposite end emotionally from Cameron's film.
Cameron's "spin" is a most familiar one: With its strict demarcations of first class, second class and steerage, the Titanic was a floating--or sinking--microcosm of stratified privilege. Of its approximately 2,000 passengers, the 700 or so survivors were overwhelmingly from first class. Cameron pushes the class inequities with an almost Marxist zeal: At times we could be watching a blockbuster Hollywood version of vintage Soviet realism. Almost without exception, the rich in this film are effete rotters and scoundrels, while the working class is bursting with the life force. The wealthy represent the vanishing, Edwardian order of things, while the immigrant poor are the frontier spirit of the future.
And yet the class "analysis" in this movie isn't really political at all. It exists to set up the film's star-crossed romance. Poor boy gets rich girl--it's the oldest romantic ploy in the book. Jack Dawson (DiCaprio), a footloose, tousle-haired scamp who has made his living for the last two years sketching on the streets of Paris, looks up from steerage deck at a first-class vision of loveliness--Winslet's Rose DeWitt Bukater, a society girl who is returning to Philadelphia with her mother Ruth (Frances Fisher) and filthy-rich snob fiance Cal Hockley (Billy Zane). Jack wins his steerage ticket in a last-minute dockside card game in Southampton, and yet he seems more at home on the great ocean liner than Rose, who walks around as if entrapped in a gilded cage.
While looking for a way out of her loveless betrothal, she comes to see Jack as her true love. He tolerates a dinner with her condescending consorts in first class, and then smuggles her into a steerage hoe-down where she boozes and stomps it up. Those poor people really know how to party! Jack even teaches her to spit.
But she's not just slumming--Jack, we discover, has the soul of an artist. When he sketches Rose nude in the privacy of her stateroom, he's making love to her. It's a thrilling scene because it's both intensely erotic and pristine; Jack and Rose are like blushing cherubim. When they actually do make love later, it's something of a letdown--they've already done it.
The romantic scenes in Titanic are extravagantly affecting, and that is a tribute both to Cameron and his co-stars. Jack and Rose tightly embracing on the roving ship's prow evokes the scene in Superman where the Man of Steel flies Lois Lane through Manhattan's night sky. The audience experiences the scene as a collective swoon. It's pure schlock raised to the level of schlock poetry.
It's popular to call Cameron an action-hardware auteur, but he's always had a ripe, almost fervid, romantic streak. In his underwater epic The Abyss, which was partly inspired by the first movies brought back from the ocean floor of the sunken Titanic, there's a sequence in which Ed Harris attempts to revive a drowned Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio that is almost frighteningly rapturous. He's trying for the same effect in Titanic; here, the rapture comes from the beauty and innocence of its lovers, and the fright comes from what we know about the huge doom awaiting them.
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“Israel has undermined the trust in its willingness to negotiate,” government spokesman Steffen Seibert said of the settlement plans, adding that they led to the “further shrinking of the geographical space for a future Palestinian state which has to be the basic requirement for a two state solution.”
Emerging from the German-Israeli government consultations today, a regular meeting of both cabinets, Merkel and Netanyahu were keen to stress the good state of relationships at all levels between the two countries.
“Thank you, Angela, for the warm welcome,” said Netanyahu.
“What a pleasure it is that we can communicate in this way today, given our history,” said Merkel. And the settlement issue? Quickly dealt with for reporters: “We agreed to disagree.”
Germany is not only one of Israel’s most important trade partners, it also provides arms and military equipment at very generous terms, such as submarines specifically developed for the Israeli Navy and capable of launching missiles with nuclear warheads.
“Israel has got used to unconditional support from Germany,” says Avi Primor, Israeli ambassador to Germany between 1993 and 1999. “So it was surprised and hurt by the official criticism.”
But the chemistry between Merkel and Netanyahu has deteriorated over the past months, according to Mr. Primor, and Merkel needs to reconsider her support for Israel against a backdrop of critical German public opinion toward Israel’s role in the Middle East.
“I think Germans are losing patience with our settlement policy and our treatment of the Palestinians in the occupied territories. It’s a factor the German government can’t ignore,” says Primor.
This would not translate into an immediate policy change on the German side. But if after the Israeli elections in January the new government continues a confrontational course toward the Palestinians, there is a possibility that Germany might actually join the chorus of rather strong critics within the European Union, Primor believes.
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Get involved: send your photos, videos, news & views by texting 'OXFORD NEWS' to 80360 or email
Protests come too late
4:50pm Wednesday 16th May 2012 in Letters
Sir – The resistance to the Cogges Link Road seems to be to be a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.
Something has to be done, and the proposed road is probably the least-bad option available.
The queue to reach the town centre often stretches along Newland as far as Church Lane. It is a certainty that Wood Green Hill, West End and Mill Street have similar queues.
A road siphoning off most of the traffic from Newland would take around a quarter of the traffic away from the Bridge Street junction, meaning that the three other incoming roads would flow more readily.
The fact of the matter is that, as is often the case with proposed new roads, the damage has already been done.
The time to forestall the building of this road is many years past. The town should have taken steps to prevent the housing and shop-building schemes which have been a feature of Witney over the past decade or so.
It should also have curtailed development of the surrounding villages.
Traffic problems always follow a rise in population as more people move into an area and discover a need to move about.
Local councils love these housing schemes, which mean increases in rate revenue as well as a pretext for greenwash charges and fines, while local people watch their tranquil towns and villages change into bustling, pressurised, congested and expensive places.
The fact is, the population of England is increasing and the South East is suffering from the consequences, while politicians avoid the subject.
England has a population density of almost 1,100 to the square mile, which, in the counties of the South East, rises to 1,800 per square mile.
People cannot live at such a density without causing environmental degradation.
If this continues, supporters of the environment will forever be fighting a losing battle against the encroachment of humanity.
If local people really care for their environment, then they have to confront the problem at its root. Opposing this road is like treating a rash while ignoring the disease.
Ralph Ingham-Johnson, Witney
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Apr 15, 2007
Hi, my name is Devon I am 17. My mom has had hepatitis c for a while now. She is 43 now. She has been having flu like symptoms, not eating(lost 80lbs in last 8 months), and is tired all the time. She was a very heavy drinker up until a year ago...I was wondering if you could tell me if there is a way for her to get treatment to cure it(she makes very little money and has no insurance) or at least tell me how much longer she has to live. I need to know if i need to make arrangements for my little sister who is currently in her care or is she going to be ok.
| Response from Dr. McGovern
I would bring your mom to a public health hospital to get evaluated medically. Losing that amount of weight is a big concern. I can't tell you unfortunately any other advice other than that. She clearly needs a doctor and can get care through a public health hospital in your area. If you don't know one off hand, call you local health department for advice.
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Ramallah, 2-1-09: The first day of the New Year, Israel continued its attacks on the Gaza Strip, in which an additional 23 Gazans lost their lives, including 11 children and 9 women.
Since the beginning of the Israeli invasion, 420 people in Gaza were killed, of which approximately 50 children and 25 women. By now, a total of 2200 Gazans are injured.
It is a war that has predominantly been waged against civilians.
Meanwhile, the attention of the international media is still diverted, emphasises Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative. "Due to Israeli movement restrictions imposed on press and media personnel, the international media became a tool for Israeli to maintain its security discourse. The media globally reports on the treats Israel is confronted with, but has proven inadequate to cover the full story from the perspective of the Gazan population that is under attack, and whose human rights are violated on massive scale."
Might one still be confused about whom to define as perpetrator and whom the as victim, the death toll speaks for itself. On Israeli side, 4 have lost their lives versus 420 Palestinians that have been killed.
The fact that Israel prevented the press from entering Gaza is not only violating press freedom, it is also indicative for Israelís intention to cover the massive crimes it inflicted on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
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The American Red Cross of the Mohawk Valley is recognizing its heroes today.
March is Red Cross Month and officials say it's the volunteers in surrounding communities that make the difference.
The Bunce family attended a flag raising ceremony in honor of their daughter Julia Ann this morning, who lost her fight against cancer.
The Red Cross says Julia Ann was a true ambassador.
"Not only was she a recipient and understood the need for blood, but also because of that gift of life. She also wanted to give back by making sure other people in community; especially in Herkimer County the need for blood is great. She wanted people to come out to give blood to help people not only like herself, but other people," said Jennifer Balog of the Red Cross Mohawk Valley chapter.
The Red Cross says everybody can become a hero. The organization says donating one pint of blood can save up to three lives.
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21 Dec 2012
As we wind down for the end of the year, we review the biggest stories in the environment space for 2012.
29 Oct 2012
Humans have altered our environment to the extent that nature is reliant on us for management. It's time we acknowledged our new role. More
1 Jun 2012
The water that has been found for the environment in the Murray-Darling Basin has come at a high price. It's a policy that is bad for farmers, bad for the environment and bad for the community in general. More
31 May 2012
The latest version of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is as unloved as the last. Coming from a government that can't communicate their rationale, is it any wonder? More
15 Dec 2011
The proposed Murray-Darling Basin Plan is like a long-suffering three-legged mongrel. And someone just took away two more legs.
7 Dec 2011
Economic modelling that shows communities in the Murray-Darling Basin will only be lightly affected by returning water to the environment is based on flawed assumptions.
6 Dec 2011
Powerful commercial interests are keen to maintain the status quo on the Murray-Darling but this will wreck the river, destroying lives and livelihoods. More
Insiders 4 Dec 2011
Water Minister Tony Burke has begun a consultation tour to sell the draft Murray-Darling basin water plan. More
Rural Online 1 Dec 2011
A lack of planning, proper management and accountability in the Federal Government program designed to save the Murray Darling Basin is actually wasting water and taxpayer money, says Lucy Knight. More
23 Nov 2011
With competing interests for the world's resources, the environment needs to bargain hard to get a good deal for itself. More
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MAYWOOD, Ill. -- Since she was a baby, Carleen Trautz's left eye turned outward, rather than looking straight ahead, and it made her life miserable.
Kids teased her mercilessly. When she talked to people, they couldn't tell which of her eyes was looking at them. As an adult, Trautz was self-conscious, lacked self-esteem and always tried to hide the left side of her face.
But since Dr. James McDonnell, an ophthalmologist at Loyola University Health System, performed surgery to repair the defect, Trautz's eye has been in a normal position.
"It turned my life around," said Trautz, 48.
McDonnell has performed thousands of corrective surgeries in children and adults whose eyes are misaligned for various reasons. But many adults who have this defect, called strabismus, wrongly believe there's no treatment.
When Trautz was a child, she was told to do eye exercises, which didn't help. "No one told me it could be repaired," she said. It wasn't until Trautz took her mother to see McDonnell for an unrelated eye surgery that she learned from McDonnell that her strabismus could be corrected.
Strabismus "is emotionally debilitating," Trautz said. "After the surgery, my self-confidence expanded by leaps and bounds. I never dated before. Now, I'm engaged."
She underwent the surgery 11 years ago, and the condition remains completely repaired, she said.
Patients are given many reasons why they shouldn't get treatment: Nothing could be done after a certain age; they would outgrow the problem; they would need another surgery or if they had undergone a previous surgery nothing further could be done. Some patients are told that insurance won't cover the procedure.
"None of these things are true," McDonnell said. "This type of misinformation can come from friends, family doctors, and even ophthalmologists and optometrists."
McDonnell has performed the procedure on patients ranging in age from infancy to past 90, with excellent outcomes. In addition to restoring normal appearance, the surgery also can improve depth perception and eliminate double vision or eye strain.
About half of the strabismus surgeries McDonnell performs are on adults. To correct the misalignments, he operates on the muscles that control the movement of the eyes. He uses a different technique than those typically used on children. In some patients he uses an adjustable suture technique that allows him to fine-tune the eyes into the exact alignment.
“Our goal is to restore patients' eyes to a normal functional alignment so they can use their eyes together to the best of their ability," McDonnell said. “We want them to be able to look anyone directly in the eye and feel confident that their eyes appear normal. When you can't look someone in the eye, it affects your fundamental ability to communicate. It can be very debilitating."
Risks of the outpatient surgery, which are very rare, include infection and detached retina.
Many adult patients have had the condition all their lives. Others develop strabismus as a result of such conditions as stroke, tumor or brain injury. Studies show these patients think about their eyes almost every hour of every day.
"You become very self-conscious about it," said William Stofan, 59, who underwent surgery on his right eye, which drifted to the right. "I would not even think about asking a woman for a date."
Stofan said not being able to make eye contact was horrible. "When people looked at me, I felt like a freak," he said.
Stofan said he has had strabismus for years, but the condition became more noticeable about two years ago. He would make jokes about it, "but it got to the point where it wasn't funny anymore."
The surgery caused minimal pain -- Stofan took just one Advil the next day. "I'm back to being the old me," he said. "My confidence is stronger than it ever was."
McDonnell said the surgery is very rewarding. "There are always tears of joy and relief from the patient and from me," he said. "I’m like the town crier, but it’s just so wonderful and humbling to see each person after surgery. It’s a shame when patients wait years to correct something we can address in about one hour.”
Some adult patients can be treated with Botox, which temporarily weakens muscles. The drug weakens the pull of a strong muscle, allowing the weaker muscle to gain strength. When the drug wears off in about two months, proper muscle balance and eye alignment often are restored, McDonnell said.
McDonnell is a professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.
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Utah's aerospace and high-tech manufacturing industry is poised for some significant growth.
Three of the leading companies that operate in that sector of the state's economy Hexcel Corp., L-3 Communications and Futura Industries are either considering or preparing to launch major expansions of their Utah operations that combined could see those corporations investing nearly $700 million in the coming decade and creating more than 1,200 jobs.
Hexcel Corp. is contemplating investing as much as $650 million in its West Valley City operations over the next 10 years. If that investment is completed in its entirety, it could result in more than 600 new jobs, which would double the number of its Utah employees.
At a meeting Thursday of the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) board, Hexcel official Brett Schneider signaled that his company was accepting a $7.7 million tax incentive from the state, which GOED awarded based on the company hiring more than 600 employees over a 10-year period in conjunction with a projected $650 million expansion.
But later in the day in an interview with The Tribune, spokesman Michael Bacal, speaking from Hexcel's base in Stamford, Conn., said the investment had not yet been approved by its board of directors.
"They haven't authorized any such investment," he said, adding that if such an expansion were to take place it would occur in several increments over a period of years. "A lot is going to depend upon whether the demand is there from our customers."
Hexcel is one of the world's largest producers of carbon fiber that is used to create high-strength, low-weight composite components used in everything from recreational products to high-end sports cars and commercial and military jets.
The company's facility in West Valley City is one of Hexcel's largest operations.
The planned expansion is in addition to the two new production lines that Hexcel unveiled in early November that are expected to result in the addition of approximately 50 jobs in coming months.
Schneider said Hexcel's growth in Utah is in part being driven by the A-350, a long-range, wide-body jetliner that is under development by Airbus, the European aircraft manufacturer. The fuselage and wing structures of the plane will primarily be made of carbon-fiber composite materials.
Thursday's announcements by Hexcel, L-3 and Futura signal that businesses across the country recognize "the strength of our economy and our business-friendly environment," said Utah Gov. Gary Herbert. "All three of these companies could have expanded their operations anywhere, but they chose Utah."
L-3 Communications, which already employs some 4,000 Utahns at its Communications Systems West division in Salt Lake City, expects to invest $5.6 million to $6.1 million in an expansion program that will begin next year and result in the hiring of 500 employees over the next decade.
The company's division in Utah provides network engineering, software integration, hardware manufacturing and test support services for the military/defense market.
"L-3's longtime presence in the military communications field and the Utah defense and aerospace industry has been key to that sector's growth [in the state]," said Jeff Edwards, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corp. of Utah.
On Thursday the GOED board approved a $5.5 million tax incentive package for L-3.
Futura Industries, a Clearfield-based company that turns raw aluminium into extruded parts for a variety of industries, said it is preparing early next year to launch a two-phase $23 million expansion of its aluminium production lines.
"We've experienced tremendous growth in the past four years," said President Sue Johnson. "We're at a critical juncture where expansion of our operating facilities is imperative."
Johnson said the expansion over the next eight years could add more than 140 jobs to the company's existing workforce of 250 employees.
The GOED board on Thursday approved a tax credit of $1.7 million for Futura over the eight-year life of the project.
"Over the past few years, northern Utah has created a critical mass of high-tech manufacturing firms, and Futura Industries has been a partner in that effort," said Spencer Eccles, executive director of GOED.
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Save money with an energy audit
While you're busy cutting the clutter out of your life, how about cutting some wires, cords and energy waste, too? This week, Surf Report highlights some of the most interesting power products and innovations.
Belkin Conserve Insight
It's time for an energy audit. To cut down on energy consumption and bills, a good starting point is to find out how much power your devices are using. In a glance, Belkin's Conserve Insight tells you device-specific facts about the amount of carbon dioxide produced to generate the electricity consumed, the number of watts used and even total cost of operation.
With this insight (get it?), you can figure out which electronic devices are the worst power culprits and make necessary adjustments: I learned that my 70-watt incandescent light bulb uses 72.5 watts, costs $74 in energy annually and contributes 770 pounds of carbon emissions each year. Once I switched over to a 15-watt compact fluorescent bulb, I was able to cut back energy consumption by about 80%, using a total of 19 watts, costing $19 per year and 199 pounds of carbon. Available for $29.99.
Pod Power includes five outlets connected by a 15-foot cable to bring the outlet to you, and not you to the outlet.
Power strips are hardly interesting, but a new concept gadget is reinventing their traditional design. Pod Power is a project on Quirky.com, a community of inventors whose submitted designs and ideas are voted by members — each week Quirky transforms two popular ideas to market-ready products. Pod Power includes five outlets connected by a 15 foot cable — that's three feet of slack between each pod.
Alice Truong, for USA TODAY
The PlugBug helps declutter your workspace by allowing multiple devices to charge from one accessory.
The design makes it easy for teams to work together so they don't all have to hover around one surge protector. It's also handy around the house, since you can bring the outlet to your electronic devices and not the other way around.
The Audiovox turns wall outlets into USB charging ports for $19.99.
The length between each outlet is adjustable, and the cord can be wound around the individual pods. Pod Power comes with an on/off switch, sliding clips to help manage the cord and 900 Joules of surge protection. To support the project, visit its Quirky page.
The LUXURY sea MIG 675 uses a hydrogen generator for power.
When the PlugBug from Twelve South first came on the market in November, everybody and his mom wanted one. How could you not want a product backed by Guy Kawasaki, an Apple Fellow who, back in the 1980s, marketed the Macintosh? On its surface, the PlugBug looks like a USB wall charger, but it also connects to the power brick of MacBooks, allowing simultaneous charging from one accessory.
If you're a frequent business traveler, this means a decluttered hotel workspace. The 10-watt PlugBug is designed to provide the fastest possible charge for the iPad. (Fun fact: Did you know USB ports on most MacBooks don't charge at full speed?) When you're going from plane to meeting, you don't want to wait on your devices to juice up. That's where the PlugBug comes into play. Available for $34.99.
RCA USB Wall Plate Charger
Perhaps the most modest selection in the Consumer Electronics Show Best of Innovation Honorees (usually home to flashy gadgets), the RCA USB Wall Plate Charger adapts wall outlets to our 21st century needs by incorporating USB ports.
The plate plugs into dual standard outlets and converts them into two USB charging ports and a single outlet. The USB ports allow two smartphones or one tablet (this device was optimized for the iPad at 2.1 amps) to charge at full speed. Given how mobile devices have saturated our lives, I would gladly trade an outlet for two USB ports.
The wall plate charger is plug-n-play, so it can stay in the office or join you on the road. Available for $19.99.
While we're on the topic of energy, the blogosphere has been buzzing over the LUXURY sea MIG 675, a boat that claims to use water as fuel. But before eco-friendly boaters jump the gun and spend six figures on this, some are questioning the MIG 675's eco-friendly claims.
The boat purportedly uses a hydrogen generator, which harvests hydrogen from surrounding seawater to power the boat and on-board electronic devices, such as GPS, LED navigation system, touchscreen controller and bar fridge. As it stands though, today's hydrogen generators need to use fuel, most likely diesel, to separate the hydrogen from the water's oxygen. Unfortunately, this splitting process uses more energy than it creates.
But if you're entranced by the "cool" factor and can look past the energy claims, the boat has a top speed of 70 miles per hour and includes a shower, toilet, sun deck, teak flooring and leather interior and can be all yours for 250,000 euros, or $329,727, beginning next year.
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Commerce Department orders tariffs on Chinese solar panels
To curb dumping from several Chinese solar panel companies, the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed 31 percent tariffs on the products, according to a May 18 article from the Wall Street Journal.
The action came in response to a complaint by the U.S. unit of German firm SolarWorld AG and a half-dozen other solar-energy companies. The Commerce Department determined that the Chinese manufacturers were selling solar panels at below-market prices, according to the WSJ article.
Cardinal Tempered Glass is among the glass industry companies feeling the effects of the Chinese pricing. In April, the company laid off 33 employees at its plant and off-site warehouse in Chehalis, Wash., according to an April 17 article in The Chronicle. Mark Reidy, the plant manager in Chehalis, told The Chronicle that Cardinal had to lay off the employees because the Chinese were dumping solar panels into the U.S. market at a low price. "U.S. manufacturers are paying the price for it," he was quoted as saying.
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Jaguar HistorySource: JaguarOverview
The Jaguar Story was, for 50 years, the story of one man, founder Sir William Lyons, who built up one of the world´s greatest automotive names: renowned for captivating style, breathtaking performance, and a commitment to quality.
Since the company was founded in 1922, Jaguar has evolved from the production of motorcycle sidecars to become one of the world's leading designers and manufacturers of premium sedans and sports cars.
Over the past 18 months the Jaguar product range has gone through a period of remarkable change. There have been continuous developments, including revised versions of the compact X-TYPE and distinctive S-TYPE and the beautiful XK sports car range. Jaguar has also launched the all-new aluminum XJ, and the beautiful XJ long wheelbase models. The stylish and flexible X-TYPE Sportwagon is scheduled to launch in late 2004.
This significant list of updates and replacements, in less than two years, provides proof that Jaguar is an inspiring combination of performance, comfort and driving enjoyment, with the ability to change character to reflect customer needs and desires.
At the heart of our product philosophy is a firm commitment to emotional engineering: the production of beautiful, fast cars that combine intelligent, relevant technologies and contemporary luxury. While modernization is part of this commitment, we will not lose sight of our traditional values. Our customers are those who seek out and demand excellence.
The Years 1922 to 1932
To trace the birth of Jaguar, we must go back to the northern seaside town of Blackpool. Here a young motorcycle enthusiast by the name of Bill Lyons, not yet 21 years of age, met William Walmsley, who was building a rather stylish sidecar which he was attaching to reconditioned motor cycles. Young Lyons immediately displayed the two traits that would be his greatest qualities for the next 50 years or so. His business acumen shrewdly espied a good commercial opportunity and his eye for style appreciated the attractive appearance of these normally mundane creations. He felt there was great potential if the activity could be organised along business lines and production increased to make the operation viable. As soon as William Lyons came of age, the Swallow Sidecar Company was formed in September 1922, with a bank overdraft of £1,000. Humble first and second floor premises were obtained in Blackpool and, with a handful of employees, production commenced. A young Arthur Whittaker was taken on to help with sales but proved better at buying. He remained with the company for around 50 years becoming one of the shrewdest buyers in the business.
Pioneering the use of aluminium, the very stylish sidecars were immediately popular and production expanded rapidly. Then in 1927 Herbert Austin introduced his baby car, the famous Austin Seven. Intended to bring motoring to the masses, the tiny Sevens were cheap, easy to drive and reliable, but lacked individuality. Lyons saw another opportunity. He created a most stylish two-seater body which was mounted on the Austin Seven chassis. An order for 500 was obtained from one of the main London garages and production commenced. It was the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship between Lyons and Bertie Henly, who operated Henlys, one of the country's leading garages. At £175, or £185 with a hinged hardtop, the splendid little Austin Seven Swallow proved highly popular and the company introduced a Swallow body for the larger Morris Cowley chassis. The range then increased significantly with the introduction of the Austin Seven Swallow Saloon in late 1928. Priced at £187 10s, the Saloon was not expensive but it looked it. At a time of economic hardship, many people were having to lower their expectations, yet the Swallows, by aping the style of the more exotic or luxurious machines of the era, softened the blow and allowed owners to 'keep up appearances'. Such features as the polished radiator cowl and Ladies Companion Set elevated the Swallows above the average. With sales of the cars and sidecars continuing to increase, it was decided to move to the Midlands, traditional heartland of the British motor industry. Thus, the young company was moved 'lock, stock and barrel' to Coventry.
At the annual London Motor Show of 1929, three new Swallow models appeared for the first time. These were based on the Fiat Tipo 509A, the Swift Ten and Standard Big Nine. Most important of these was the Standard for it was the beginning of a significant relationship, as we shall see. The Standard Swallow was a rather larger saloon and sold for £245. Again the body style offered a more extravagant treatment than the manufacturer's own product and an extrovert range of colour schemes.
In 1931 the larger Standard 16 hp six-cylinder Enfield chassis received the Swallow treatment and this introduced the company to the 2054 cc sidevalve engine, which admirably suited Lyons and Walmsley's purpose for the next ambitious step forward. Meanwhile a model of rather more sporting pretensions was introduced with the addition of the Swallow version of the Wolseley Hornet. Offered just as a two-seater at first, a four-seater was added a year later in 1931 and, a year after that, the bodywork could be supplied mounted to the even more sporty Hornet Special chassis. The Swallow company had now been in existence for a year short of a decade and it had been an exciting time of steady expansion and sound success. But the ambitious Lyons was far from satisfied and a further bold step forward was needed.
The Years 1932 to 1935
William Lyons was not content to merely build bodies on other people's chassis. This constrained his creative desires and equally restricted him to products which were stolid rather than sporting. If Lyons and Walmsley were to throw off these shackles, they needed to create their own chassis to suit their ends. However, the industry was littered with failures and Lyons determined that a cautious approach was necessary. Consequently, he arranged for the Standard Motor Company to build a chassis to Swallow's design but fitted with Standard engines. Meanwhile Lyons, the shrewd publicist, had set the scene. 'WAIT! THE 'SS' IS COMING,' stated an advertisement in July 1931. '2 New Coupes of Surpassing Beauty. SS is the new name of a new car that's going to thrill the hearts of the motoring public and the trade alike. It's something utterly new … different … better!' Thus announced, the SS I and SS II Coupes were duly presented at the 1931 London Motor Show, and sensation they certainly caused. The body was ultra low and the bonnet outrageously long. It had, stated the press, the £1,000 look, yet was priced at a very modest £310, highlighting Lyons' unique ability to offer remarkable value for money.
Lyons was almost obsessive about making his cars as low as possible. By moving the engine further back in the chassis than was normal practice and by mounting the road springs alongside, Lyons was able to achieve this long, low, sporting appearance. The SS II, which appeared alongside and was inevitably over-shadowed by the SS I, was simply a smaller version based on the Standard Nine chassis. Basking in the reflected glory of its more flamboyant and larger sister, the SS II would be popular and sell well. Remarkably it cost only £5 more than Standard's own version. Shortly after the announcement of the new SS models, the larger 2552cc 20 hp Standard engine could be specified and for 1933 a number of revisions were introduced to make the larger car a little more practical. Lengthening the wheelbase by seven inches and widening the track by two, allowed two passengers to be carried in the rear.
In July 1933 the SS I Tourer joined the Coupe, and apart from being the first open SS model, the significance of the Tourers was that they were the first to be entered in a serious competitive event. A team of three Tourers was entered in the 1933 Alpine Trial in mainland Europe and the following year they enhanced the SS name very considerably, taking the team prize on this particularly tough event. The little SS II was considerably improved in late 1933 when it was given its own purpose-designed chassis which gave a wheelbase more than a foot longer. At the same time the front wings were altered to conform to the new style of the larger model. Also, following the form of the SS I, Saloon and Tourer models of the SS II were introduced. For 1934 a new saloon was added to the line-up. Known as a four light (four windows) saloon, this model was rather less flamboyant and rather more practical - at least the rear seat passengers could now see out!
William Walmsley, who did not share his partner's driving ambition and was losing interest in the venture, severed his connections in late 1934. Lyons now turned his attention to improving the mechanical integrity of the cars. First he turned to Harry Weslake, a distinguished engineering consultant specialising in cylinder head design. Then he formed an Engineering Department and appointed a young William Heynes to be his Chief Engineer. Heynes was to play a major role with the company for the next 35 years. The range was once more supplemented in 1935 with the addition of the SS I Airline Saloon. This design was not a particular Lyons favourite but the shape was fashionable for the time and sold well. Yet another model joined the line-up in March of that year when the SS I Drophead Coupe was introduced. In appearance it was very similar to the Coupe but now the whole hood folded away under a hinged cover on the luggage locker and resulted in a most pleasing appearance. The fruits of Weslake and Heynes' work were shortly to be seen but, meanwhile, a very stylish sports car was introduced. Known as the SS 90 and powered by the 2.7 litre side-valve engine, the performance once again did not quite live up to the car's dramatic appearance. But all that was about to be changed.
The Years 1935 to 1938
In 1935 the 'Jaguar' name sprang upon the scene for the first time with a completely new saloon and sports car range. William Heynes had been working to produce a completely new box section cruciform braced chassis for a vastly improved new model range. Meanwhile Weslake had been turning his talents to the Standard engine and by adopting overhead valves he succeeded in increasing output from 75 hp of the previous 21/2 litre sidevalve engine to no less than 105 hp. For the new chassis and engine unit, Lyons designed a fresh body style, less flamboyant than previous models, yet still stylish. Indeed it was closer to contemporary Bentleys which cost nearly four times the price!
Sophistication was increasing, and now customers were offered four doors for the first time on an SS. Indeed so different were the new models that it was felt that a new model name was needed. The Company's advertising agency suggested 'Jaguar' and though Lyons took some persuading, it was finally adopted. Thus the new cars would be known as SS Jaguars. The 'Jaguar' name was an ideal choice - feline grace and elegance, combining docility with remarkable power and agility. The cars have matured and developed to justify the analogy in every way. With typical showmanship, Lyons had arranged a lunch at the Mayfair Hotel in London to launch the new model to the press a few days before the 1935 Motor Show. The SS Jaguar 21/2 litre saloon was unveiled to much favourable comment and the assembled company were asked to guess the price. The average guess was £632. The actual price… just £395.
All the earlier SS designs had been superseded with the exception of the larger Tourer body which lived on with a revised radiator grille and the fitment of the new 21/2 litre engine. The superb new sports car design, which had been glimpsed just briefly as the SS 90, reappeared in similar form as the SS Jaguar 100. With a revised treatment around the fuel tank area at the rear, and more importantly, the adoption of the new chassis and engine, the company now produced a sports car to be proud of. For many, the SS 100 is a pre-war classic amongst sports cars. The price, incidentally, was just £395. This new model was to be used to considerable effect in competitions, both national and international.
In 1936 the motoring journalist Tom Wisdom, driving with his wife Elsie, won the International Alpine Trials in an SS 100. This car, which came to be known as 'Old Number 8' was run very successfully at the Brooklands circuit by Wisdom and in the Shelsley Walsh hillclimb by Coventry garage and theatre owner, Sammy Newsome. A year later a team of three cars was entered by the factory in the RAC Rally, the premier rally event in Britain. The team, which included the Hon. Brian Lewis (later Lord Essendon) took the Manufacturer's Team Prize but outright success eluded them. Instead the event was won by a privately entered SS 100! A new, enlarged 31/2 litre engine had been developed and tested in 'Old Number 8'. In September 1937, this engine, together with a new 11/2 litre unit, joined the 21/2 litre version in a completely revised model range. The new models were not very different in appearance, distinguished from their predecessors by the lack of the side mounted spare wheel, but the range now employed 'all steel' construction. Additionally the old Tourer was replaced by Drophead versions of the saloon in each engine size.
Heynes had designed a further stronger chassis for the new body construction resulting in more interior space and bigger doors. Prices ranged from £298 for the 11/2 litre saloon to £465 for the 31/2 litre Drophead Coupe. The new 31/2 litre engine was fitted to the '100' model and this gave genuine sports car performance with sixty miles per hour reached from a standstill in 10.5 seconds and a top speed of over 100 mph. At £445 the bigger-engined SS 100 was in a class of its own. Meanwhile the experimental 31/2 litre unit fitted to 'Old Number 8' was being increasingly modified. Responsible for this work was a man who had accepted the position of Chief Experimental Engineer with SS in 1938. His name was Walter Hassan, a man destined to become a legend in the motor racing world and one who would play an important role in the Jaguar story. For the Motor Show of that year Lyons had designed a stylish closed body for the SS 100. Reminiscent of the Bugattis of the period, just one was made before the outbreak of World War Two decreed an end to car production.
The Years 1938 - 1953
During the war, the manufacture of sidecars was increased for military use with nearly 10,000 made. Additionally, aircraft and fabrication work had the beneficial side effect of introducing the company to aircraft design and techniques. Not surprisingly Coventry had been a particular target for bombing raids, and it was necessary to organise rosters of people for what was known as 'fire-watching'. One such group consisted of Lyons himself, Heynes, Hassan and Claude Baily. Together they made plans for a new engine that would establish the company as a world force. Early post-war times were difficult for British companies. Amongst other problems were shortages of steel and foreign currency. The Government issued the dictum, 'Export or Die' and steel quotas were closely related to export performance - in other words, no exports, no steel! Firstly however, it was necessary to resurrect production as soon as possible and the best way to do this was to reintroduce the pre-war range in largely unchanged form. At the same time it was decided to drop the SS name, which had acquired an unfortunate wartime notoriety and simply call the company Jaguar Cars. Soon after the war the sidecar division was sold and the 11/2, 21/2 and 31/2 litre saloons and dropheads were reintroduced to begin the big export push. The 31/2 litre model proved a little thirsty for the UK market, but was ideal for the USA where the majority were shipped. The SS 100 model was not produced after the war, but a lone example had been stored, unregistered throughout the war. Known by its subsequent registration, LNW 100, the car was very successful in the Alpine and Tulip Rallies in the hands of Ian Appleyard.
In September 1948 Jaguar announced its first new post-war, stop-gap model. Something more radical was being conceived but various constraints dictated that the Mark V would carry the company's fortunes for a couple of years. The main innovation was the adoption of independent front suspension, conceived by Heynes. The exciting new engine was virtually ready for production, but it was considered that the Mark V was a little too conservative to launch it in and so the Saloon and Drophead Mark Vs were offered with the usual 21/2 and 31/2 litre power units. Lyons had specified that the output from the new engine should be that ultimately achieved with 'Old Number 8', 160 bhp. The designers bravely chose an overhead camshaft layout and after trying several configurations, the final engine was decided upon. It was to be a straight six of 3442 cc and given the name XK. The achieved output was 160 bhp! Jaguar now had an excellent new chassis, a tremendously exciting new engine, but no sports car. So the decision was made to produce a small number of sports cars, which would generate publicity and perhaps gain a few competition successes. The task fell then to William Lyons to design a suitable body in just a couple of months for the 1948 Motor Show.
The result 'stole the show'. It was known as the XK120 and was destined to become one of the greatest sports cars of all time. This was no thinly disguised racing machine. It was refined in the usual Jaguar manner, had unrivalled comfort for such a car, and to cap it all, was priced at just £998 (£1,298 with tax). The name was based on top speed which made it the fastest production car in the world. Indeed at first people were sceptical and refused to believe what was being claimed for the XK120. To convince the sceptics however, some tangible proof of the claimed prowess was needed. Accordingly Jaguar took over a closed section of dual carriageway at Jabbeke in Belgium where, in front of the assembled press, a standard XK120 proceeded to clock 126 mph. With the windscreen removed 133 mph was achieved and, as if this was not enough, the driver then pottered past the amazed press at a mere 10 mph in top gear. The orders came flooding in and Jaguar quickly realised that the couple of hundred originally intended could not possibly meet demand. The waiting lists were lengthened still further after the XK's racing debut at Silverstone in a Production Sports Car race. Three cars were loaned by the factory to well known drivers Peter Walker, Leslie Johnson and Prince Bira of Siam. Bira was unlucky enough to have a puncture, but the others finished first and second.
In 1950 it was decided to take three cars to France for the world famous Le Mans 24 hour race, merely to assess their capabilities against international opposition. They were unlucky not to finish in the top three, when the leading example succumbed to clutch trouble after 21 hours. However, valuable lessons had been learnt.
One of six specially prepared XKs had been lent to Tom Wisdom for competition use. He proposed offering the car to a young up-and-coming driver for the famous Dundrod Tourist Trophy race in Ulster. Jaguar were not too keen as this young man was reputed to be too fast for his own good. Reluctantly they agreed, and in appalling conditions, Stirling Moss left the field behind to take one of the most important wins of his career. On the rallying front Ian Appleyard had replaced LNW 100 with one of the six special XKs. NUB 120 took Appleyard and Lyons' daughter Pat, to success in the Alpine Rallies of '51 and '52 and the Tulip Rally in '51 and became one of the most successful rally cars of all time.
At the 1950 Motor Show the Mark VII saloon was unveiled and once again Lyons 'stole the show'. Designed with the US market in mind, it was, by European standards, a very large car. It was certainly a full five-seater but being powered by the now-famous XK engine it was no slow coach. Americans took to the Mark VII and some $30m worth of orders were taken within months of the car's introduction. Such was the demand that a larger factory was required and the company moved to the present manufacturing plant at Browns Lane, Coventry in 1951/52. 1951 also saw an addition to the XK120 range - The Fixed Head Coupe. As the name implied, the model had a solid roof reminiscent of the one-off SS 100 Coupe prepared for the 1938 Motor Show of pre-war Bugattis. The long distance capabilities of the Fixed Head Coupe were demonstrably proven when Bill Heynes' own road car was taken to Montlhery Autodrome near Paris. Here Stirling Moss and three others drove the car for seven days and nights at an average speed in excess of 100 mph.
After the three XK120s' exploratory trip to Le Mans in 1950, it was realised that Jaguar had the makings of a successful competition car if weight could be saved and aerodynamics improved. Consequently Lyons was persuaded by Heynes and the Manager of the Service Department, Lofty England, that a car should be produced solely with racing in mind. Hence was born the XK120C, or as the car is more generally known, the C-type. To reduce weight, a multi-tubular triangulated frame was chosen and designed by Bob Knight. The body was designed by an aerodynamicist, Malcolm Sayer, who had joined the company from the aircraft industry. Many components were carried over from the production XKs including, of course, the engine. This, however, was modified with larger exhaust valves, higher lift cams and larger SU carburettors.
Three C-types were finished just in time for Le Mans in 1951. They were to be driven by Stirling Moss (now the team leader) and 'Jolly' Jack Fairman; the Peters, Walker and Whitehead (a couple of gentlemen farmers); and Leslie Johnson with Clemente Biondetti. The Jaguars were an unknown quantity and the crowd were watching the Ferraris, Talbots and Cunninghams. However, Moss set off at a great rate of knots breaking the lap record and the opposition. An amazing 1,2,3 looked possible until an oil pipe flange broke on Biondetti's car. Then a similar fate befell Moss. The third car's luck held however and Peter Walker and Peter Whitehead recorded a remarkable victory first time out for the C-types. Unfortunately the return to France in 1952 did not yield the expected second victory. Concerned about reports of the new Mercedes' straightline speed, Jaguar hastily and unwisely fitted more streamlined bodies but were unable to test them at sustained speeds of 150 mph. Within hours all three had retired with overheating problems. Jaguar built a small quantity of 'production' C-types and of the 53 built, including the works cars, a number found their way to the States where they were successfully raced.
In April 1953 a third version of the XK120 joined the Open Two-Seater Super Sports and the Fixed Head Coupe. It was a cross between the two and known as the Drophead Coupe, being a more sophisticated open version. Meanwhile Jaguar engineers had been working in conjunction with Dunlop on a completely new type of brake that had, as yet, only been used on aircraft. The new development was the disc brake and was to be Jaguar's secret weapon upon their return to Le Mans in 1953. The 24 hour race that year was notable for having representatives from most of the leading European motor car manufacturers and most of the top Grand Prix drivers. Rarely, if ever, had the competition been so intense. With their fade-free brakes the C-types could decelerate at the end of the three and a half mile Mulsanne Straight from speeds of around 150 mph, time after time, with complete confidence and furthermore, they could leave their braking far later than their rivals. The result was a complete walkover, the Jaguars finishing first, second and fourth.
The winning car was driven by a couple who typified the amateur drivers of the era. Major Tony Rolt had won the Military Cross for distinguished war service and Duncan Hamilton was a larger than life character to whom it was very much sport for sport's sake. Moss and Walker finished second after suffering fuel feed trouble early on. If further proof were needed that Jaguar was now a world force and the XK engine a world beater, then the emphatic triumph of '53 against one of the strongest fields any race had ever seen provided it.
The Years 1953 to 1963
In 1954 the XK120's were superseded by the mechanically updated XK140's fitted with the more powerful 190 bhp XK engine which had been used in the Special Equipment 120's. The new models were visually similar to their predecessors differing in external details only. The fixed head had an extended roof line and together with the Drophead Coupe, was given two small extra seats in the rear, suitable for children or adults for a short journey, but they made the XK's a little more practical for the family man.
Overdrive was now an optional extra and the car could be ordered with a C-type cylinder head in which case power output was increased to 210 bhp. The price of the roadster, all but a handful of which were exported, was now £1,127 (plus tax). Special Equipment versions were known in the States as XK140M's and, when fitted with the C-type head, as MC's. The XK140's maintained the XK's popularity but very few found their way into competition. However, the C-type was just about to be superseded by the D-type. A prototype had made a couple of private appearances in 1953 and this was a halfway stage between the 'C' and eventual 'D' models.
The D-type was to break fresh ground as it was of largely monocoque construction. To this 'tub' of magnesium alloy was attached a tubular front sub-frame which carried the engine, steering and front suspension. With its bag tanks for the fuel, the D-type borrowed a good deal from aircraft practice. It was created by Bill Heynes and Malcolm Sayer. The new D-types were taken to Le Mans in 1954 with high hopes pinned upon them. Engine problems early on in the race were traced, rather suspiciously, to the presence of a fine grey sand in the fuel supplied. With the cause diagnosed the drivers began a valiant battle to make up lost ground. Hamilton and Rolt leading the charge in the 'D' they were sharing. Further frustration was experienced when Rolt was pushed off by a slower competitor and the heavens opened to almost flood the track - Hamilton was getting wheelspin at 170 mph! After many hours of driving as fast as they dared, during which the D-type ran faultlessly, they finished just one minute and 45 seconds adrift of the winning Ferrari after 24 hours. Revenge was gained a few weeks later when Peter Whitehead and Ken Wharton won at the 12 hour race at Rheims. Jaguar had now carved for itself a fine reputation. It had in production a superb large saloon and a very fine sports car, but it needed a high volume smaller car.
One million pounds in 1955 was a very significant amount and that was the investment expended on designing and developing Jaguar's important new compact saloon. The saloon's unitary method of construction was a new venture for Jaguar. This type of body, in which the basic shell doubled as the chassis, had an advantage in that it saved weight and was inherently more rigid. There were concerns that the new models might be too noisy, because unitary bodyshells often acted like steel drums when noise and vibration were fed into them. Here, Bob Knight founded his reputation for ride and refinement by insulating potentially noisy components from the bodyshell by the use of rubber mounting blocks, a technique still prominent in today's assembly methods.
When Heynes, Hassan and colleagues had first designed the XK engine the intention had been also to produce a four cylinder version, and indeed an XK100 was actually listed. This engine was considered for the small saloon but the refinement levels were not up to Jaguar's requirements and high standards. Consequently the decision was made to use a reduced version of the 3.4 litre six cylinder. Thus a 2.4 litre was produced and fitted to the new saloon, the model simply being known as the Jaguar 2.4. Indeed this was to be a most important model for Jaguar and would remain in production, in one form or another, for more than 10 years.
Le Mans 1955 had all the makings of a titanic struggle. British driver, Mike Hawthorn, joined the Jaguar team as Moss had moved to Mercedes-Benz in his quest for Grand Prix success.
For the first hour or so a magnificent race was fought by Castellotti in the Ferrari, Fangio in the Mercedes he was sharing with Moss and Hawthorn in a D-type. The D-types had been revised and now wore 'long-nose' bodywork to improve air penetration. A new 'wide angle' cylinder head with increased valve sizes had been designed with a resultant increase in power to 275bhp. Sadly this was the year of the tragic crash with a large number of spectators killed when one of the Mercedes crashed into the crowd. Fangio and Hawthorn were locked in a thrilling tussle, passing and re-passing until the remaining Mercedes were with-drawn. Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb went on to a rather empty victory.
Just as Jaguar had manufactured a small quantity of 'Production C-types' so they now began selling a limited number of 'Production D-types'. Again these were mainly intended for competition use. Of the 42 made, some 18 were exported to the States. The big Mark VII's were showing that they could also be used to good effect in competition. Indeed Ronnie Adams crowned a number of successes with victory in the 1956 Monte Carlo Rally. Jaguar thus became the first manufacturer ever to win both Le Mans and the Monte Carlo Rally in the same year. Indeed 1956 was a very special year for Jaguar and Sir William Lyons, for such he had been bestowed in the New Year's Honours' List.
Le Mans that year was a curious one for Jaguar. On the second lap two of the cars collided with each other in the Esses and the third was put out of contention by a split fuel line. It would have been a complete disaster had it not been for the fact that Jaguar had, in effect, a back-up team. A private Scottish team by the name of Ecurie Ecosse had been racing Jaguars for several years and were running two D-types. Luckily for Jaguar the one driven by Ron Flockhart and Ninian Sanderson crossed the line in first position.
Late in 1956 the Mark VII was replaced by the evolutionary Mark VIII. In appearance the car benefited from being given a one-piece windscreen, and the radiator grille was altered. Mechanically the car was given a new cylinder head christened the B-type, illogically following the C-type! This new head had an altered valve angle and enabled the engine to produce 210 bhp. Around this time the very exciting XK-SS, a road-going version of the D-type, with refinements, was produced. Amazingly, this was to use up D-type parts which were surplus because of poor sales of that model! However, XK-SS production was abruptly halted after just 16 had been made due to an enormous, and potentially catastrophic, fire at the factory. Luckily damage was reasonably restricted, and with marvellous co-operation from workforce and suppliers, normal production was resumed remarkably swiftly. But the vital jigs for the D-types and XK-SS's had been destroyed.
The same near-disaster almost ruined the launch of a new sister for the 2.4 saloon. Logically, Jaguar had decided to fit the 3.4 engine in the saloon body and this made a very sprightly sporting saloon. Maximum speed was 120 mph and 60 mph could be reached in just 11.7 seconds. Having developed disc brakes in the best testing conditions possible - endurance racing - Jaguar were ready to fit them to production cars and the first models to benefit were the new XK150's in May, 1957. Fitted as standard with the 190 bhp XK140 engine, the 150 could also be purchased in Special Equipment guise with the 210 bhp B-type engine. Braking had never been the XK's strongest point and with performance and weight gradually increasing, the new disc brakes adequately provided much needed improvement.
At the end of 1956 Jaguar announced that it intended retiring from motor racing, at least for a year or so. The small engineering team was hard-pressed to maintain Jaguar's outstanding record on the track, and also design and develop new road cars. There were no factory D-types at Le Mans in 1957, but there were private entries and Ecurie Ecosse had a pair of ex-works cars out once more. All five D-types finished, the Ecurie Ecosse cars driven by Flockhart and Bueb and Sanderson and Lawrence, taking the first two places, the French duo of Lucas and Mary third, and the Belgian pairing of Frere and Rousselle fourth. Duncan Hamilton and American Masten Gregory, though the fastest, were delayed when the exhaust burnt a hole in the floor, and came home sixth. That same year it had been decided to mount a challenge race between the best of Europe and the fastest Indianapolis cars from the States.
Billed as the 'Race of Two Worlds' it was to be held on the banked track at Monza in Italy and was given the name, Monzanapolis! With the exception of Ecurie Ecosse, the European teams boycotted the event. The US cars were designed specifically for this type of event but only three of their eight starters were still running at the finish. The three D-types, two of which had just completed 24 hours of racing, ran faultlessly and finished 4th, 5th and 6th.
In early 1958 the roadster version of the XK150 joined the other two body styles in answer to demand from the States. This roadster had the luxury of wind up windows and a less crude hood. Coincidental with the launch of the XK150 Roadster was the introduction of the 'S' variant with a new cylinder head developed by Harry Weslake. This was known as the 'straight port head' and, with three SU carburettors, increased power considerably to 250 bhp. With this engine the XK150 could attain 133 mph and reach 50 mph from stationary in just 7.3 seconds. Soon afterwards the 'S' engine became available in the other XK150's. At the 1958 Motor Show the Mark VIII was succeeded by the Mark IX. Visually the cars were virtually identical, but the new car was given an enlarged 3.8 litre version of the trusty XK engine and disc brakes. Power assisted steering was also offered.
During '59 it was the turn of the small saloons to receive attention and a vastly improved Mark II model was announced towards the end of the year, these benefiting from an increased rear track and disc brakes fitted as standard. The changes that were most apparent, however, were in appearance, with the glass area being increased significantly by using slender roof supports. The 120 bhp 2.4 litre and 210 bhp 3.4 litre models continued to be offered, but were joined by a racy stablemate in the shape of the new 3.8 litre. With 220 bhp on tap this turned the already rapid small Jaguars into businessmen's expresses, which cost only £1,842. As the horsepower race continued to hot up in the States, Jaguar countered once again by offering the new 3.8 litre engine in the XK150 from 1960. This could also be had in triple carburettor 265 bhp 'S' form giving a top speed of 136 mph. Not surprisingly, a number of Mark I's and II's were raced. Their successes were prodigious and examples were driven by top Grand Prix drivers of the day, such as Mike Hawthorn, Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Roy Salvadori, Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme and Mike Parkes.
A positive plethora of rallying successes were gained with overall success in the Tulip Rally for the Morley brothers in 1958 and team prizes and class wins in the Monte Carlo, RAC and Alpine Rallies. Five successive victories were gained in the increasingly tough Tour de France. The 1963 event, which saw Jaguar's last victory, consisted of 3,600 miles of high speed motoring. Touring car races were won in Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania, and International Long-Distance Records set in Italy. In the UK the Mark II's kept up Jaguar's tradition of winning the Production Car race every year at Silverstone and in 1961 took the company's 13th annual win. In 1960 Jaguar purchased the motor pioneer firm of Daimler. Jaguar needed more space and Daimler had a large factory in Coventry, to which engine manufacture would subsequently be transferred.
The Years 1963 to 1968
Jaguar had planned a short retirement from racing, but various factors delayed their return. The factory fire; the need to concentrate on road cars and, above all, high market demand for the product. However, the engineering department had been planning a successor to the D-type as far back as 1955. Malcolm Sayer, the legendary aerodynamicist, had been working on a car that could be both a sensational road car and a Le Mans winner - the E-type. Sayer was one of the first to apply the principles of aerodynamics to motor car design. During development the E-type project diverged into two distinct categories; a road car and a sports racing car, a prototype of the latter being built in 1960.
Briggs Cunningham, the American sportsman and gentleman racer, had, in the mid-fifties, transferred his allegiance to Jaguar. He opened a large dealership and ran D-types in American colours. Whilst visiting Jaguar in early 1960, he was shown the prototype, E2A, and persuaded Lyons to let him run it at Le Mans that year. Lack of development time mitigated against the venture and, although it set the fastest time in practice, retirement followed in the race during the early hours of Sunday morning.
By 1961 the XK150s, though good cars, were no longer pacesetters and Jaguar needed to make a quantum leap forward to maintain sales and prestige. The E-type, which was announced at Geneva in March 1961, was just that. Like the XK120 in 1948, it was an absolute sensation. The body styling was sensuous, beautiful, and the car set new standards in all areas. A brand new independent rear suspension was designed by Bob Knight and situated in a cradle, which was mounted via rubber blocks to the body unit. The brilliant rear suspension, used on the XJ-S, gave excellent roadholding, a first class ride and great refinement. The car had the triple carburettor 3.8 litre XK engine first seen in the XK150 'S'. Producing 265 bhp in a lighter aerodynamic body gave virtual 150 mph performance, with acceleration of 0-60 mph in 6.9 seconds.
The E-type, or XK-E as it would be known in the States, seemed to have the best of all worlds. It was very fast, had vivid acceleration, great flexibility, unheard of comfort and refinement for such a car, and pure good looks. Even the launch was dramatic. Most testing had been carried out on a couple of open roadsters, but it was decided to produce a Fixed Head after a brilliant American sheet metal craftsman, Bob Blake, created a mock up for Lyons. The Fixed Head version was built and loaned to various motoring magazines and newspapers in early 1961. The car was just capable of the magic 150 mph, a relief to Jaguar who had already printed the brochures.
This same car was due to be launched to the press at Geneva. The press reaction was ecstatic, as was that of the public. Rarely, if ever, had a car been so lauded. The price added to the incredulity at £1,830 for the Roadster and £1,954 for the Fixed Head. Aston Martins were twice the price and Ferraris nearly three times. A few weeks later two Roadsters and two Fixed Heads were shown at the New York Motor Show. The reaction was equally extraordinary. As with the XK120, Jaguar's claims were tested on the racetrack. Two cars were entered in the 25 lap GT Trophy race on the twisting, undulating circuit at Oulton Park. They were entrusted to Graham Hill and Roy Salvadori, who were up against competition Ferraris and Aston Martins.
The two E-types led until Salvadori experienced brake trouble and was passed by Grand Prix driver Innes Ireland in a DB4 GT Aston Martin. Try as he might, Ireland could not pass Hill who used all his skills to fend off the Aston and the three finished in close formation. It was a brilliant victory first time out and unassailable proof of the E-type's prowess. Later the same year, Jaguar announced another new model, a replacement for the Mark IX. This time the new Mark X was no evolutionary update but a completely new concept. Whereas the Mark IX had still employed a separate chassis, the Mark X was of full monocoque construction. It used a widened version of the new independent rear suspension as fitted to the E-type and was fitted with the same engine. The car was designed almost wholly with the US market in mind. It was very large by European standards and seated five people. In spite of the car's bulk, it was not slow with a top speed of 120 mph, and it certainly appealed to Americans with the US and Canadian dealers placing orders worth 63 million dollars (£22.5m). Unfortunately the model did not turn out to be quite as successful as hoped, though gradually it matured into an excellent vehicle capable of transporting four or five people quickly and in great comfort.
Three E-types were privately entered for Le Mans in 1962. One retired but the Briggs Cunningham entry, driven by Briggs and Roy Salvadori, finished a highly creditable fourth followed by the Peter Lumsden/Peter Sargent E-type one place behind. Meanwhile E-types had been clocking up a number of successes around the world and one car, entered by Jaguar dealer John Coombs, was being increasingly developed. The success of the E-types inspired Ferrari to build the 250 GTO and this led Jaguar to counter with a special racing version of the E-type, developed from the Coombs car. Generally known as the 'Lightweight E', these cars, of which just 12 were built, had an aluminium monocoque body and engines with a block of the same material. With fuel-injected, dry sump engines, considerably stiffened suspension and wider wheels, they posed a genuine threat to the Ferraris and beat them on a number of occasions.
In 1963 Cunningham took three Lightweight E's to Le Mans. Unfortunately one retired with gearbox problems, the second crashed heavily after hitting an oil patch at 170 mph on Mulsanne and the third only managed to finish ninth after a long pit stop to repair a badly damaged bonnet. Also in 1963 the S-type saloon car was announced. This was a pleasing compromise between the Mark II and the Mark X in shape. Most importantly the S-type was given independent rear suspension and the S-type was offered with either the 3.4 or 3.8 litre engine. Two 'Lightweight Es' were entered for Le Mans in 1964. Sadly, both cars retired with mechanical problems. To improve torque, the E-type was given a new 4.2 litre XK engine and synchromesh gearbox. Braking was improved by the deletion of the Kelsey Hayes bellows-type servo in favour of a Lockheed vacuum booster. Internally the 4.2 E-types were given far better seats. The aluminium dash panels and centre consoles were now covered in black leathercloth. Like the Mark X, the only external way of distinguishing the 4.2 E-types was by the badge upon the bootlid.
Sir William Lyons had felt for some time that the company needed a four seater 'sports car'. In 1966 this was achieved by lengthening the E-type and adding a pair of small seats in the rear, so that the car could 'extend dad's youth for another seven years' as Motor put it. The new car, known as the 2+2, was not to everybody's liking but certainly made a more practical machine. Performance was not helped by the extra weight and frontal area. Top speed was now down to 136 mph. Price, as ever, was very competitive at £2,385 and a very healthy number were sold with, like all E-type production, the vast majority crossing the Atlantic to the States. The 420 saloon was introduced in 1966. This was akin to a revised S-type with the Mark X frontal styling treatment. Offered, as the name implied, with the 4.2 litre engine, the 420 was an excellent car. It was, though, a stopgap model for Lyons and Knight who were working on something very special which would appear in a couple of years time.
For many years Jaguar had been Britain's top dollar earner and the most popular imported car in the US. By 1966 Jaguar's post-war exports totalled £200m. A year later the Mark IIs metamorphosed into 240s and 340s. The models, now near to the end of their lives, were rejuvenated by a few minor trim changes and the 3.8 model was dropped from the range. From time to time Jaguar's thoughts had turned to competition and Sayer had wanted to build a mid-engined car. Heynes and colleagues had realised that if Jaguar was to remain competitive it would need to design a completely new engine, preferably of 12 cylinders. In 1965, with the Lightweight E-types uncompetitive, a small team including Sayer and Mike Kimberley, later to head Lotus Cars, drew up plans for a mid-engined sports racing car. To power it, they designed a four cam V12 of 5 litres.
The car, the XJ13, was built in great secrecy in 1966 but there was an unfortunate lack of urgency about the project. It was eventually run in 1967. Sadly it was never to race and has become a museum piece for enthusiasts. The shape was another Sayer masterpiece. Of obvious ancestry, it was one of the most beautiful cars ever conceived, and a lasting tribute to this brilliant man who prematurely died in 1970. In 1968 the E-types underwent changes dictated by the US Federal Regulations. With a less clean shape and increasing weight, the E-type was in need of another boost both in terms of prestige and performance. Jaguar was working on the answer and it had rather more than six cylinders.
The Years 1968 to 1979
In the late sixties Jaguar had rather too many saloon models for a relatively narrow sector of the market. Equally, those worthy models were becoming a little outdated and it was time for another quantum leap and some rationalisation. The XJ6 arrived in 1968 and it was undoubtedly just what was required. Without question it was the finest Jaguar yet, and met with instant and ecstatic praise. First and foremost, the shape was another Lyons masterpiece. In an era when cars were starting to lose their character, the Jaguar strongly retained its identity. Not only did the car look superb, thanks to Bob Knight's sterling work on development, the XJ also set new standards of ride and refinement. With the advent of the XJ saloons, all other saloon models were deleted with the exception of the 420G which continued for a while at low volume. To satisfy a larger spread of the market with just one body style, Jaguar offered a choice of the familiar 4.2 litre XK engine, or a new 2.8 litre variation. However, the majority of XJ6's were sold with the larger engine.
The price, at just under £2,253, as ever was quite remarkable, and the waiting lists were long, to say the least.
Sir William Lyons' decision to concentrate on one model proved to be the right one, for the XJ range eventually sustained the company for nearly two decades. During 1969 William Heynes retired from the company. He had been in overall charge of engineering since 1934 when he joined SS Cars at the age of just 32 and he had moulded together and guided a brilliant team. Heynes and his colleagues had been thinking of a new engine for some time, inspired by the racing cars, and a need to keep ahead of their rivals. They had always leaned towards a V12 configuration and such a unit had been built for the stillborn XJ13 project in the mid-sixties. By this time, emission controls and safety regulations were blunting the E-type's once electrifying performance. Equally the XJ range needed another engine to satisfy a wider range of markets.
In 1963 Jaguar had acquired Coventry Climax who in the fifties and sixties had built highly successful Grand Prix engines. Wally Hassan had left Jaguar in the early fifties, joined Climax and been responsible for the world-beating engines. He was now brought back into the fold and there was nobody better to design Jaguar's new engine. Heynes and Claude Baily designed the four cam racing engine that powered the XJ13 and, following their retirement, Hassan and colleague, Harry Mundy, carried out extensive research with single camshaft engines before building 'their' single cam V12 of 5.3 litres. To save weight, the block was to be of aluminium and for the first time transistorised ignition was used. Both to give the E-type a boost, and to prove the engine in a relatively low volume model, the new V12 unit was offered in the E-type from 1971. The appearance of the Series III, as the V12 engined E-type was designated, was changed quite considerably. A larger mouth air intake was now covered by a grille, and flared wheel arches allowed for the increased track and bigger tyres.
The Fixed Head model was dropped and just the Roadster and 2+2 variants produced. The open car was now based on the longer four seater floorplan and as a result could for the first time be offered with automatic transmission. Power steering was fitted as standard on both models.The V12 engine was remarkable for being silky smooth. It powered the car effortlessly and thus the image of the V12 E-types was entirely different from that of their predecessors. They were no longer a raw sports car but an increasingly sophisticated, touring machine.
In 1972 the car for which the engine had been primarily designed was finally launched. The XJ12 was another triumph of even greater proportions than the XJ6, which it joined rather than replaced. This was Sir William Lyons' crowning achievement. He had set out to imitate the style of the most expensive cars with styling that suggested rather more performance than his cars really had. He was now producing a car that gave these eminent manufacturers a run for their money in any department you cared to name - style, performance, refinement, comfort or the use of traditional materials. Performance, not surprisingly, was superb and Jaguar could now claim that the XJ12 was the fastest production four-seater in the world. That maximum speed was just short of 140 mph, whilst 60 mph could be accelerated to in 7.4 seconds.
Daimler versions of the XJ saloons were also produced though they were identical mechanically and differed in appearance only by having the traditional fluted grille. In 1972 a Vanden Plas version of the V12 engined Daimler Double Six was introduced. One criticism levelled at the XJ saloons was that they were a little cramped in the rear and so, in September 1972, a longer wheelbase Vanden Plas Daimler Double Six was introduced. Soon after that the long wheelbase body became available for the rest of the range. These were designated the XJ6L or XJ12L, as appropriate.
Aged 71, Sir William Lyons retired in 1972, handing over the Jaguar reins to Lofty England. The company had been in existence for some 50 years and was now one of the most respected in the world. An autocratic man, Lyons had led from the front, building a sound business empire and a product that enjoyed a rare loyalty. Apart from being a superb businessman, he was one of the finest stylists of his era.
Most of his designs have stood the test of time and are a monument to his unique contribution to the history of the car in the twentieth century.
In 1973 the immensely popular XJ's received a facelift, the new Series II versions were introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Also at Frankfurt, Jaguar launched a new body style. This was the XJ Coupe and exceptionally stylish it was too. The basic shell was changed to have just two doors and no window frames. Thus with no central window pillar the door windows and rear quarter windows could be lowered to give a complete pillarless effect. In this guise the XJ6C and XJ12C were extremely good looking and had a sporting appearance.
A pair of V12 XJ Coupes were being prepared and raced by Broadspeed for British Leyland in the European Touring Car Championship. In spite of using top drivers, such as Derek Bell, the cars were not successful in '76, lacking development. Just as they were starting to become a serious proposition the following year, they were retired for good. Sadly after a relatively small number of the beautiful Coupes had been built, Jaguar decided in November 1977 to discontinue manufacture of the short wheelbase shell and concentrate on production of the saloons in the long wheelbase version.
Meanwhile in the USA the V12 E-type was making a big impact on the racing scene. Bob Tullius, whose team Group 44 had successfully entered Triumph and MG sports cars in SCCA racing, persuaded Jaguar that the E-type would be competitive. Jaguar decided to back Group 44 on the east coast and Joe Huffaker, who had been similarly successful with MGs over the years, on the west coast. The E-types dominated their respective regional championships for two years, breaking the Corvette domination of the series. In 1975, Tullius easily won the B Production Championship. To put this into perspective it is worth reflecting that in the previous 17 years Corvettes had won the championship 14 times. Ironically, the E-type had gone out of production towards the end of 1974 and these racing successes just served to illustrate what an advanced design it had been in 1961. Arguably the most famous sports car of all time, some 70,000 had been built with around 60% shipped to the States. US legislation played a major role in the design of the E-type's replacement, which was not a conventional sports car but was rather more of a Grand Touring car.
Launched in September 1975 the XJ-S was closely related to the XJ saloons. While some considered the overall appearance of the new car to be somewhat controversial, no one could argue about its impressive specification. The fuel injected V12 engine was used and gave the car superb performance. 0-60 mph was achieved in 6.9 seconds and the maximum speed was 150 mph. Levels of refinement and quietness were raised to saloon car standards with air conditioning as a standard feature. Initially both manual and automatic transmissions were available but later the manual option was dropped. With the advent of the XJ-S, Group 44 built an example to go Trans-Am professional racing. A few exploratory outings in 1976 showed the potential and a full season was planned for '77. Group 44 fought off a multitude of Porsches with their XJ-S, which was now developing 540 bhp, and Tullius ended the season as Category 1 Trans-Am Champion.
The following year, with a new lighter car fitted with a 560 bhp engine, Tullius won the last seven races and again took the Championship. By entering the '77 XJ-S for Brian Fuerstenau, the car's designer, to drive in the last three events, Jaguar took the Manufacturer's Championship as well. In 1979 the XJ saloons were extensively revised. The new Series III range was subtly restyled with a flatter roofline and a larger glass area giving the car crisper lines. This, together with improved ancillary equipment had the effect of modernising the car and increasing rear seat headroom. Indeed it seemed almost to have become a timeless style of enduring popularity.
The Years 1979 to 1989
In 1980 a new era began at Jaguar with the appointment of John Egan as Chairman and Managing Director. Egan's motor industry career had taken in General Motors (AC Delco), Triumph Cars, Unipart (British Leyland) and others. Jaguar's quality had not been all that it might have been in the late seventies and Egan's immediate goal was to restore customers' confidence in the British marque.
This he proceeded to do and Jaguar enjoyed a strong resurgence of demand, particularly in the States. Jaguar's style stood the company in good stead and ensured loyalty amongst owners. However, fuel crises of the seventies had not helped matters and in 1981 Jaguar announced new High Efficiency cylinder heads for the V12 engines. These were based on principles espoused by Swiss engineer Michael May, and Jaguar engineers had spent five years applying them to the V12 engine. The result was a very healthy decrease in fuel consumption which gave the V12 engined saloon and XJ-S a considerable advantage in the more fuel conscious eighties.
The XJ-S HE was now capable of 155 mph and returning 27 mpg at a steady 56 mph. Also Jaguar could claim that the model was the fastest production car in the world, fitted with automatic transmission. At this time Jaguar was seeking a new six cylinder unit to replace the venerable XK unit. It had been intended to build a V8 version of the V12, or even a six cylinder by, as it were, chopping the engine in half. Neither of these courses turned out to be practical and so a completely new design was embarked upon under the guidance of Engineering Director, Jim Randle and Trevor Crisp, Chief Engineer Power Units. After many experiments, it was decided to offer the new straight six engine with two types of head. The higher performance version would use a four valve arrangement and an economy unit would use the V12's head which benefited from the May principles.
The new engine was named the AJ6 and for Jaguar represented an investment of over £21m. It had a capacity of 3580 cc and was inclined at 158 degrees from the vertical. With the 24 valve head the output was 225 bhp which compared favourably with the current 3.4 litre XK engine which was producing 162 bhp. Additionally the new AJ6 was around 30% lighter due to the use of an aluminium block. The AJ6 was intended for a completely new range of saloons but, in true Jaguar tradition, it was first fitted in a lower volume model launched in September 1983. The six cylinder XJ-S had automatic transmission or a Getrag 5-speed manual gearbox. Sixty miles per hour could be reached in 7.6 seconds and a top speed of 145 mph was possible. At the same time a new version of the XJ-S also became available. This was the Cabriolet, Jaguar's first open car since the demise of the E-type. Retaining the cantrails, roof pillars and a cross bar, the Cabriolet had two lift off, interlocking roof panels and the option of either a folding rear hood or a fixed rear window. Safety regulations decreed that the XJ-SC was just a two-seater.
Late in 1982 Group 44 had been given the go-ahead to design and build a sports racing car around the Jaguar V12 engine. The car was built for IMSA racing in the States. Named the XJR-5, the car featured an aluminium honey-comb monocoque which employed the mid-mounted engine as a stressed member from which was hung the rear suspension. A striking fibreglass body was finished attractively in white with green stripes. The car finished third on its debut at Road Atlanta and won at the same venue in '83. Two further victories followed at Mosport and Pocono, much to the delight of the British racing fans. The following season brought a late decision to enter the Le Mans French classic, as a learning experience. One car retired after damage sustained from a puncture and the second was running in the top six after 18 hours. It sadly succumbed to gearbox maladies.
Back in Britain a new force had appeared on the competition scene. Racing driver, Tom Walkinshaw had prepared an XJ-S for racing in Australia in '82 and had the idea of building a pair of cars for the European Touring Car Championship. The first season brought first and second in the Tourist Trophy Race at Silverstone. The following year the Jaguars took five wins to BMWs six; weight of numbers telling with around five of the German cars entered for each of the two Jaguars. Sir William Lyons had merged Jaguar with the British Motor Corporation (later to become BL) in 1966, in the belief that he was safeguarding the future of the company. The reality, however, was that the company suffered a severe loss of identity and image. The Conservative government, elected in 1979, planned to privatise a number of state-controlled companies, however, and in the early eighties Jaguar began to prepare for privatisation. In August 1984, Jaguar shares were floated on the London Stock Exchange for the first time. The government was keen to encourage public share ownership - and the share offer was oversubscribed eight times.
The 1984 season was a good one for Tom Walkinshaw Racing, who had added a third XJ-S to the team. The team dominated the European Championship with a string of wins and Walkinshaw ended the season as the European Champion. Following their emphatic success, TWR were given the task of designing a sports racing car to take on the world and win Le Mans for Jaguar for a sixth time. Teams such as Porsche and Lancia were well established but the British Formula One teams were worldleaders in chassis design and Tony Southgate, an ex-Grand Prix designer, was retained to pen the new XJR-6. Current Grand Prix cars used the 'ground effects' phenomenon to 'suck' the car down on to the road at higher speeds and Southgate's design made good use of this. Indeed the car was unusual in that the rear wheels were covered by spats to heighten this effect.
In February 1985, Sir William Lyons passed quietly away at his home, Wappenbury Hall having lived to see his beloved company returned to independence the previous year. The tributes were plentiful and glowing. For fifty years 'he' had been Jaguar and the part he played in the history of the automobile is quite immeasurable. In July the XJ-S Cabriolet became available with the V12 engine and a few months later the new XJR-6's made their debut at Mosport Park. They finished third, an excellent debut. It was decided to bring the TWR XJ-S's out of retirement for the prestigious Bathurst 1000 race in Australia in October. The dominant Jaguars finished first and third. Group 44 debuted a new XJR-7 at the end of '85 and in 1986, in front of the home crowd the team managed two fourths and a string of seconds, this consistency rewarding them with second in the Manufacturers' Championship once again. The TWR team had a fair season taking victory in the Silverstone 1000kms and coming close to achieving the World Championship.
The engineers in Coventry had been working for some time on a saloon replacement. The XJ6 was still selling well which meant that Jaguar could ensure the new car would be really right. Jaguar consulted several distinguished Italian styling houses but eventually it was Bob Knight who created the initial shape of the XJ40, as the project was entitled. A number of styling clinics were held with the new designs alongside Jaguar's main rivals. The new designs had little difficulty in scoring more votes than Jaguar's competitors, but the hardest car to beat was the existing Series III and Jaguar learnt from these clinics how important were the traditional materials used inside Jaguars. The Americans were emphatic; the appeal of the Jaguars lay in handcrafted leather upholstery and walnut veneers - British craftsmanship made a Jaguar!
Bob Knight had retired at the beginning of the decade and Jim Randle took over responsibility for engineering, designing a completely new suspension for the car. Prototypes were built and tested in every extreme of climate over a total of 51/2 million miles. Launched in Europe in late 1986 and in the States in early '87, the new XJ6 met with widespread approval. Offered with the 3.6 litre AJ6 engine and, in Europe, a 2.9 litre version as well, the waiting lists were once more extended. The 3.6 had very lively performance and the new suspension gave superb levels of ride and roadholding.
Either 5-speed manual or automatic transmission could be ordered. The automatic had a novel gear selector, the brainchild of Jim Randle. The 'J' gate allowed the easy and rapid selection of gears for more lively motoring. Three model derivatives were offered - the XJ6, Sovereign and, top of the range, Daimler. The Series III was not to be completely dropped from the range continuing in V12 engined form for certain markets. It was appropriate that in the year that the new XJ6 appeared, John Egan was knighted for his vital contribution to Jaguar. An excellent ambassador, he had admirably filled the gap left by Sir William's retirement. For 1987 the TWR XJR-6 was considerably revised and re-named XJR-8. They were now stiffer, lighter, more powerful and had greater downforce to assist roadholding.
The changes were effective for the Jaguars won the first four rounds of the 1987 Championship. The next round was Le Mans and Southgate produced a body design specifically for the fast French circuit. Three XJR-8LM's, as they were entitled, were entered but luck was not on their side as a puncture and cracked cylinder head eliminated two of the
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Mon 31 Jul 2006
Filed under: International,News
Trade counsellor Jean-Jacques Bouflet said in a telephone interview that EU members were now focusing on pushing for political reform in Burma.
“We feel it is the main issue that we have to consider as we decide whether to proceed on free-trade association negotiations with Asean,” he said.
The Burmese issue has often emerged as a thorny one during meetings between Asean and EU ministers. While EU ministers tend to favour adopting strong measures to force the junta to move towards political reform and the release of pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, Asean members tend to prefer a more lenient approach with their neighbour.
Bouflet added that the wide difference in economic performance among Asean countries was another difficulty for the prospective FTA talks.
Asean and EU ministers have long floated the idea of creating a trade deal between the two regions. A study by a “vision group” set up by the two sides found that such an agreement would be beneficial to both sides, stimulating the economy of Asean members by another 2 percentage points of gross domestic product by 2020.
The vision group suggested that the agreement should be a comprehensive package covering trade, services and investment.
But Malaysia, Laos and Burma have already said that they cannot accept the inclusion of government procurements in the scope of the framework for negotiations on any Asean-EU free-trade pact.
The EU has already wrapped up free-trade talks with South America’s Mercosur group – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. The union is preparing to open talks with the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC). The Gulf country members are the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
The European Commissioners will soon send a recommendation to the members’ states for seeking ideas on the prospective FTA. Members should conclude their viewpoint whether to hold the talk before the beginning of next year, he said.
Chutima Bunyapraphasara at the EU section of the International Trade Strategy Agency said it was likely that the EU and Asean would agree to open free-trade talks.
She noted that Asean economic ministers were scheduled to discuss the issue at a meeting next month in Kuala Lumpur.
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“The power of Twitter is in the people you follow.”-@nytimes
As this feature has rolled out, I’ve read knee jerk criticism, thoughtful analysis, wild evangelizing and observed “lists of lists” be collected as sites like Listorious and Listatlas.com spring up to rank them.
Tech pundits and, rapidly, news organizations have all created lists that offer apply new taxonomies, imposed human-defined categories onto the roiling real-time tweetstream.
Readers are defined and informed by the diversity of the information sources that they consume. In a user-created Web, we are defined by those who choose to follow us, including any lists or tags that they associate with our names.
It’s been exciting to watch. And if you’re a reader of David Weinberger, author of “Everything is Miscellaneous,” you might recognize this emergent behavior as a familiar phenomenon. Twitter users are using lists to organize one another into understandable taxonomies. Folksonomies, to use the term coined by Thomas Vander Wal.
Users have some control over which Twitter lists they appear upon. If you block a user, for instance, you can remove yourself from that user’s lists, if for some reason you don’t want to appear on it.
What we can’t control, once we make ourselves public there or elsewhere on the Web, is how others tag or list us.
I suspect that in the weeks ahead, both companies and individuals may find themselves on lists that they perhaps would not wish to define as part of their brand identities.
“I would not join any club that would have someone like me for a member”
As I quote Groucho Marx, today, I feel fortunate, for two different reasons.
First, to date, I’ve been included on 176 lists, none of which I’m embarrassed or insulted to be on. You can see all of them at “memberships,” which is a friendly way of describing inclusion.
Thank you. I’m humbled.
Second, most of the lists are being used by an individual user to categorize others for providing particular sort of information.
Overall, I’m most closely associated with technology, journalism, security and media. That’s a good sign, given my profession! I was glad to see that the account I maintain at work (@ITcompliance) has been added to 33 lists, primarily compliance, information security, cybersecurity and GRC.
I’m talking about the right things in the right places.
Certain lists, however, have meant that many more people reading me than would have otherwise because of the hundreds or thousands of people that have chosen to follow them, due to the influence of their creators. I’m thinking about lists like these, some of which have gone on to become popular at Listorious.com.
Thank you, fellas.
Like any other tools, lists will no doubt be used for good and ill. An outstanding article by Megan Farber, “Fort Hood: A First Test for Twitter Lists” in the Columbia Journalism Review, shows how news organizations can leverage the feature to curate the real-time Web for the online audience.
The lists—which offer a running stream of information, updates, and commentary from the aggregated feeds—represent a vast improvement over the previous means of following breaking news in real time. In place of free-for-all Twitter hashtags—which, valuable as they are in creating an unfiltered channel for communication, are often cluttered with ephemera, re-tweets, and other noise—they give us editorial order. And in place of dubious sources—users who may or may not be who they say they are, and who may or may not be worthy of our trust—the lists instead return to one of the foundational aspects of traditional newsgathering: reliable sources. Lists locate authority in a Twitter feed’s identity—in, as it were, its brand: while authority in hashtagged coverage derives, largely but not entirely, from the twin factors of volume and noise—who tweets the most, who tweets the loudest—authority in list-ed coverage derives from a tweeter’s prior record. Making lists trustworthy in a way that hashtagged coverage simply is not.
Farber goes further in exploring what role lists may play in journalism’s future, as organizations collaborate with both their audience and one another in curating user-generated content. It’s a great piece. Pete Cashmore, of @mashable, has written more about this at CNN in “Twitter lists and real-time journalism.”
Individuals and news organizations alike can create lists as needed. For instance, as the House debates a historic health care bill here in Washington, you can follow the discussion at @Mlsif/healthdebatelive
As Cashmore points out, in the social, “people-centric Web,” we use our friends as a filter. As Paul Gillin observed, everything that you’ve learned about SEO may be useless in a more social Web. Google’s new Social Search shows how, if we choose, our search results can be populated with content from our circle of friends.
On Twitter, we can now use the lists from trusted friends and news organizations to curate the real-time Web. That makes them useful, immediately.
And after a week full of public grief here in the U.S., that’s good news.
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Published in Medicine and Law Weekly, August 17th, 2007
"The article traces efforts to redress this since the 1960s. It nevertheless remained a minority concern, mostly of critical criminology. Yet crime has been politicised in various ways by other developments, also examined in the article," wrote R. Hogg and colleagues.
The researchers concluded: "The events of 9/11 have crowned the emergence of crime as a strategic security issue posing a challenge to criminology to...
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|March 5, 2011 3:00 pm||to||March 10, 2011 10:00 pm|
Cinisi is a beautiful town about 12 miles away from Palermo, surrounded by the mountains and Mediterranean Sea. Carnival is certainly one of the the most important traditions and cultural events in town.
Each year thousands of visitors come to Cinisi to actively take part to celebrate Carnival. The brightly colored and paper-maché floats mounted on carriages are the main attraction of Cinisi’s Carnival. These two-story high floats are put in motion with mechanical movements. The characters, usually of satirical nature, move their arms and heads while strolling along main street of the town. The floats – illuminated and surrounded by masked dancers – create an impressive atmosphere. Loud speakers blast sambas and Latin-American music to which it is impossible to resist.
This year the Carnival celebrations start on Saturday March 5 for five days of thrilling excitement. The arrival of the nannu, a puppet that represents the spirit of Carnival starts the celebrations. In the evening musical bands perform in the town’s main square. Sunday is the big day of the the Carnival Float Parade to which all school children participate dressed up.
On Monday, comical performances of improvised actors enchant the public with their original sketches and funny costumes.
On Tuesday the colored floats make their way again along the main street to reach the square where the jury decides which float is the winner of the 2011 Carnival Contest. After that, the
celebrations continue with masquerades and dancing until dawn. Cinisi’s Carnival is popularly known as one of the most involving and most exciting carnivals in
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Time is money, and some members of Bethlehem City Council would like to buy some time to save some money.
At issue is Mayor Don Cunningham's proposal to float a bond early next year to pay a $13 million landfill debt that must be satisfied by September 2004.
In the worst-case scenario, the city could be on the hook for up to $27 million to retire the bond over the next 25 years, which could mean tax increases after the 2001 mayoral election.
Council and its newly hired financial analyst, Jeffrey Skinner, are enviously eyeing a $7 million sewer fund surplus, hoping to use some of it to pay on the landfill debt while evaluating whether the city needs to shoulder all-time-high debt to meet the obligation.
Council will hold another public hearing on the budget at 7:30 p.m. Thursday that will include a look at the sewer fund. Final adoption of the budget is scheduled for mid-December.
"Let's take the first couple years and make do with what we can," council Finance Committee Chairman James Delgrosso said. "Every year that you buy time, you give yourself the opportunity to find some money here and some money there."
Delgrosso said the city's sewer fund surplus "keeps showing up and growing and growing."
Three scenarios the administration is considering are:
A $13 million bond issue paid off over 25 years with no supplemental revenues at a cost of $27 million.
A $13 million bond, paid off over 19 years, with $6.5 million coming from logging and the sale of easement rights at the city watershed in Carbon County at a total cost of $19.5 million.
An $8 million bond issue to be paid over 16 years with the help of $9.5 million from logging and easement payments to the city at a total cost of $17.5 million.
The numbers are staggeringly high because the city sold its landfill while it still held nontaxable bonds on it. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is forcing the city to make monthly payments of $247,000 until the debt is paid off in 2004.
The city doesn't have the money to do that now and, under the deal with the IRS, if it borrows the money, it has to be taxable and would be at interest rates at least 2 percent higher than its usual nontaxable borrowing options.
But the alternative to floating the taxable bonds is a 25 percent tax increase, unless alternate funding is found, city budget officials said.
The problem, from city council's view, is that no one knows how much the city will get from timbering, and the sale of easements in the watershed to the Nature Conservancy is not yet final.
Estimates on the timbering range from $2 million to $4.5 million and the city hopes to reach a deal with the Nature Conservancy for $5 million for easement rights.
Council is talking about delaying the bond until the city knows how much money it can count on.
Bethlehem Business Administrator Dennis Reichard said the administration would like to bank on the second option as the most realistic.
Reichard said the timbering is expected to begin soon, with the first proceeds coming to the city before the end of this year. The city may solicit logging bids as soon as early December.
Cunningham said the city could use some of the sewer fund surplus in conjunction with $490,000 already budgeted for next year to cover at least the first two landfill payments.
That would give council and the administration time to better understand how much money it will need to retire the landfill debt, Cunningham said.
"What we've proposed accomplishes two things: It gets the monkey off the back and it creates a manageable situation for the city," Reichard said.
Reichard said the city is loath to touch the sewer surplus because budget projections for next year already show a $1.7 million operating deficit.
Delgrosso scoffed at the projection.
"The sewer fund always projects deficit over revenues," he said. "Last year projected a $1 million deficit and we came in with a $1.8 million surplus."
Councilman Michael Schweder also proposed waiting on the bond and finding revenues to meet the city's obligation.
Schweder said the city should consider forgoing some money it uses for matching grants from the state and federal governments and scrutinize positions proposed in the 2001 budget.
"I just can't see any rationale for doing this," Schweder said. "If you take the mayor at his statements that prosperity is just around the corner, then we ought to be finding ways to bide our time until those revenues come in so we're not committing ourselves to a $27 million debt."
Both Reichard and Cunningham said they are open to council's proposals and are waiting for suggestions from Skinner to pinpoint funding alternatives.
Skinner, too, has said the bond should be delayed but hasn't yet offered specifics on how to pay the landfill obligation, short of sleight of hand.
"I've been hired to pull a rabbit out of a hat," Skinner said.
Reporter Chuck Ayers
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